The Shaw School mission — “To explore God’s amazing universe, valuing everyone and keeping children at the heart of all we do” — has been in place for several years.
Simon White, headteacher states, “It really does sum up the approach we take here at Shaw School. Children are naturally curious and love finding out new and interesting facts and figures.”
Children arrive at Shaw School with very different experiences of life during their pre-school years. Some arrive from homes full of books and having had lots of exciting experiences of travel and visits, whereas other families are not in such a fortunate position. The school aims to make sure that this doesn’t matter by delivering a curriculum full of exciting new experiences that give all children the chance to question and explore.
Undoubtedly, the highlights of the Shaw School approach are the residential visits organised for all KS2 year groups. Every child is able to experience these enrichment opportunities, which they look forward to every year.
This year, our year 3 children spent a night in a youth hostel on the Jurassic Coast and became fossil hunters. Our year 4s stayed at the Oxenwood Centre for two nights and experienced life as Viking warriors as part of their learning in history. They also faced their fears on a spooky night walk. Shaw’s year 5 pupils enjoyed a two-day trip to Braeside, where they developed their teamwork skills and personal courage by climbing and leaping off high ropes, and also learned about the area’s amazing canal heritage. In their final year with the school, our year 6s spent four nights in North Cornwall, where they cycled the Camel Trail, explored two stately homes, and searched for crabs in rock pools on Cornwall’s lovely beaches.
The residential trips have proven to not only boost pupil morale, but also be invaluable to the children’s academic learning, adding impetus to classroom-based lessons. This was backed up by our pupils’ success in national tests, assessments, and academic progress scores, which continue to evidence Shaw as a school where children improve, thrive, and achieve.
Shaw School has also had a successful year on the sporting front. Our football team were recently crowned champions at an inter-school football tournament. The boys and girls played extremely well, demonstrating excellent teamwork, determination, and sportsmanship.
This year, we’ve placed an increased emphasis on improving our communications, and our new Twitter and Facebook accounts have allowed us to share what makes Shaw School such a special place. A great example of this is the weekly ‘Kindness Cup’ competition. Every week, children are nominated for acts of kindness, and the overall winner is announced to parents and the school community via social media and awarded the trophy, which they keep for the whole week.
2019 has seen us welcome a new vicar, Rev Jane Palmer, to the school, and we were delighted to be named winners in the newly-founded Shaw Church Christmas Tree Festival. Our links with the church and diocese remain strong, and our faith continues to lie at the heart of everything we do. Alongside The Shaw mission, we have introduced a school bible text to further illustrate our school’s ethos. We chose a passage from Jeremiah 29, which reads:
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”
Simon White said, “As we enter 2020, we seek to continue to put these words into action. We aim to provide a rich and exciting curriculum that empowers children to prosper and gives them hope for the future. They are, after all, the ones we all need to trust to create a bright and harmonious future for us all.”