Children

At Ridgeway, children are the heart of our community.

They are our most important stakeholders and we believe they each should be heard and considered individually, wherever possible. We strive to maximise their opportunities to demonstrate and develop their passions, interests, knowledge and skills, through our curricular and extracurricular activities.

We value what each child can offer and achieve in our school community, which is why we choose not to have a school council or other similar roles. Staff at Ridgeway, including the Headship Team, make themselves available to all children, so they can share their thoughts and ideas about how we can improve all aspects of our school life. From learning in the classroom to clubs, whole-school systems to wider community initiatives, the children know we will listen to and consider their ideas. Over the years, we have implemented many of the ideas that children have brought to us, including child-led clubs and ideas for peer-to-peer nurture.

In classrooms, teachers encourage children to take an active role in shaping the learning. Children’s prior knowledge, research from pre-think home learning, ideas and experiences are all harnessed to enhance and direct their learning journey.

At Ridgeway we understand that children learn best when:

• They feel secure and confident in the knowledge that they are valued as individuals;
  
  
• They learn in an environment which promotes independence;
  
  
• They are actively involved in the learning process;
  
  
• They are presented with tasks which are meaningful, relevant and appropriate;
  
  
• They are actively involved in setting targets and aware of learning goals;
  
  
• They are offered a broad, balanced curriculum, which gives all children the opportunity to develop their own strengths;
  
  
• They are offered different strategies for learning
  
  
• They are given opportunities and the time for reflection, evaluation and self-assessment.