The development of Burford's vision began with governors and staff asking ourselves, 'why are we educating children?' Once we had agreed on the why, we asked ourselves 'how can we achieve our whys?' We finished by asking ourselves 'what would it look like if we were successful?' 

 

Why?

Our aim at Burford is to promote achievement in every aspect of our children’s life. We strive to ensure every child achieves the highest possible academic standards whilst working to develop the character of all children so they become resilient, empathetic, critical thinkers.

 

We work to broaden the life experiences of our children to show them the myriad opportunities they have . We do this in the hope that our children will go on to make a positive contribution to wider society as they grow up.

 

How?

To achieve our aims we know there must be consistently strong, innovative teaching in school that is responsive to children’s needs and interests. This means we must have an exciting, broad and balanced curriculum that makes learning fun, engaging and purposeful. Our curriculum must also encourage practical experiences, it must be immersive and responsive to current events.

 

We also strive to develop a culture in school where children and staff are happy and enthusiastic about learning in the widest sense of the word. This culture grows when children and staff have relationships that are warm and built on mutual respect.

 

What will this look like?

If we are successful, the children, and staff, at Burford will be happy, self motivated learners who display a ‘Can Do’ attitude. We will see children who are articulate and happy to ask questions. Politeness and respect will be seen in every day conduct around school e.g. opening doors for one another, saying please and thank you. Our children will also take time to reflect, and process, their emotional responses. This will lead to our children securing academic and social outcomes that equip them to be successful and happy in life.

 

 

 

 

Our vision is summed up in the 3A's - Attend, Aspire and Achieve - which is our school motto. 

 

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Our motto is brought to life in school in the following ways:-

 

Attend

• As a school, we believe good punctuality and attendance are the essential first steps on the road to success in life.

• In order for children to make the most of their learning time, they must arrive on time every day.

• To ensure all our pupils develop good attendance and punctuality habits, we closely track attendance and intervene early if an issue begins to emerge.

• Attendance and punctuality have a high profile in school. We encourage good attendance habits in a number of ways. For example, the three classes with the best attendance receives stars each week (1 for 3rd place, 2 for 2nd and 3 for 1st place). The three classes with the best attendance at the end of each half term receive a prize. 

• This approach has led to Burford achieving high levels of attendance over a number of years (we expect to match, or surpass, national averages every year). This is something we are very proud of.  

 

Aspire - aim high!

• We want the children at Burford to aspire to be the best that they can, both personally and academically.

• We want to open their eyes to the possibilities that lie beyond their own experience.

• We do that by offering a broad and balanced curriculum that is rich in fostering knowledge and experiences.  

• The children at Burford also take part in a wide variety of extra curricular activities such as competitive team sports, Glee Club and Burford News.

• We discuss with children what they aspire to be today, tomorrow and in later life, and talk about what they need to do to achieve those dreams.

• We communicate that aiming high and trying hard in school paves the way for a future full of opportunity and choice.

• We believe that if our children try their best at all times, and view disappointment and losing as a reminder to persevere, then they will go on to achieve their potential.

 

Achieve

• As a staff, we work tirelessly to ensure there are always high standards of teaching and learning in school.

• We deliver a high quality, inspiring curriculum which, on the whole, leads to a happy learning environment which enables children to achieve their potential.

• We expect children at Burford to show good standards of behaviour and self discipline.

• We help them to make positive behaviour choices and maintain their wellbeing in a variety of ways, including providing an in-school counselling service 'Place2Be'.

• We believe our children can achieve in a number of ways, both collectively and individually, and that this can look different for different children.

• In academic terms, we expect our children to meet, or surpass, national standards in reading, writing, maths and science at the end of each key stage.  

• We provide a broad and balanced curriculum so that children are provided with a wealth of opportunities and ways to succeed.

• Our curriculum includes competitive activities which foster a healthy level of challenge and competition - e.g. participating in city-wide sporting opportunities.

• We often seek opportunities to contribute to our wider community and our children are proud to represent our school and do this in a fitting manner. For example, we expect the children who represent Burford in competitive sports to play to win but accept defeat gracefully and sportingly.