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 placed upon pupil ownership, responibility, and accountability, strongly supported by school staff through relational practice, coaching and mentoring. We believe having a strength of character, the skills to engage in community and educational life, along with a broad range of experiences, foundational skills and a broad general knowledge ensures pupils are well prepared for secondary education and beyond.
Teaching Sequences and Lesson Structure
Great care and attention to detail is placed upon ensuring that equences of lessons are appropriate for pupils' start points and build coherently. Teachers design sequences to provide conceptual understanding, opportunity to practise and embed skills, apply learning to a range of contexts and complex tasks, as well as opportunities to revist and review learning across the year. Along the way, opportunities to check progress and revisit areas of learning are built into the learnig journeys to ensure both teachers and pupils are acutely aware of next steps and how to develop.
Lesson structures vary depending on what is being taught, the purpose of the lesson, and the stage of learning. Pupils may engage is exploritory tasks to develop understanding, or be taught through explicit instructional methods to learn skills, processes and disciplinary knowledge. Teachers have a variety of roles within the classroom, sometimes acting as facilitators, and at other times they may be instructors or coaches, challenging pupils to make decisions, link learning and problem solve.
‘Teaching is a creative profession, not a delivery system. Great teachers are not just instructors and test administrators: They are facilitators, mentors, coaches, motivators, and lifelong sources of inspiration to their students. ’ Sir Ken Robinson
For further information on how pupils are taught, please find the Teaching and Lesson Delivery document at the bottom of this page.
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
- Inclusive teaching practice- access for all.
Please see the inclusion strategy document at the bottom of this page for further information
“Fairness does not mean everyone gets the same. Fairness means everyone gets what they need.” — Rick Riordan
Foundational Knowledge
At the heart of the academic approach is an uncompromising focus on fundamental skills, knowledge and experiences. As a Junior school, much emphasis is placed upon embedding firm and fluent foundations before moving through the KS2 curriculum. Regulalr opportunities are provided to practice, rehearse, revisit 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 competency and fluency within reading, writing and maths, alongside learning behaviours such 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 a trauma informed practice approach, ensuring we know our pupils well, create strong authentic relationships and approach 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.