Education at Halfway Juniors
Our Approach to Education
Personal development underpins the aproach to all aspects of school life at Halfway Juniors. Fundamental to the approach to learning is a strong and deliberate focus on relationships and community, bonding pupils, school staff and families. The culture within school is rooted in growth and character development, where school staff create challenge, explorative opportunities and foster a sense of curiosity. Whether in the classroom or out, an emphasis is places on pupil ownership and responibility, and accountability, strongly supported by school staff through relational practice, coaching and mentoring. We believe having a strenght of character, skills to engage in community and educational life, along with a broad range of experiences and general knowledge ensures pupils are well prepared for secondary education and beyond.
Inclusion and Engagement
Here at Halfway Juniors, inclusive practice underpins the curriculum, culture and approach to teaching and learning. It focuses on creating an environment where all pupils can thrive, feel safe, enjoy learning and access the full range of opportunities on offer. The key aspect of inclusion is a committment to overcoming barriers and providing an equitable education, regardless of background, prior experience or need.
Key principles include:
- Knowing our pupils well
- Providing emotionally available adults
- Establishing a strong sense of community
- Providing full access to classroom learning
- Ensuring a model of equity to all pupils
- Expertise within the staff body
- Child centred personalised curriculum
- Empathetic approaches to child development.
Core Fundamentals
At the heart of the academic approach is a uncompromising focus on fundamental skils, knowledge and experiences. Regulalr opportunities are provided to practice, rehearse, revisity and embed content which is fundamental to acessing and suceeding in wider areas of the curriculum. The aim to reduce cognitive load by developing fluency and mastery of the basics, allowing more complex and demanding learning and problem solving within the classroom. This has a core focus on reading, writing and maths, alongside learning behaviours succh as resilience, interracting with knowledge, critical thinking and oracy.
Relational and Restorative Practice
At Halfway Juniors, Relational practice is the deliberate culture-driven commitment to forming respectful, trusting and empathetic relationships between pupils, staff and families. Whilst this is rooted within a trauma-informed approach, relational practice is practical culture, approach, systems and procedures which underpin how the curriculum is delivered and the school community interacts, ensuring a safe, emotionally available and positive environment, conducive to engagement and learning for all pupils. Our approach at Halfway promotes growth, transparency, accountability and emotional management through staff presenting themselves as coaches and mentors, empowering pupils to consistently engage positively and safely. A deliberate partnership is created ensuring a responsibility to manage, repair, restore and be accountable for behaviours, emotions, learning and engagement within the school community, with high expectations coupled with high levels of support.
Trauma Informed Practice
Past trauma is affecting more pupils and negatively impacts on pupils engagement and success in school. At Halfway, we are committed to supporting pupils through trauma informed practice, ensuring we know our pupils well, create strong authentic relationships and aproach school engagement with an empathetic and supportive mindset. Our pupils are the core of our school community; a flexible and bespoke means of support is essential in ensuring past traumas do not negatively impact on our pupils' futures.