Headteacher

Situated in Bermondsey, in the northern part of Southwark, close to the River Thames at Tower Bridge, Grange Primary School is near a number of places of interest including the Globe Theatre, the Tate Gallery, the Unicorn Theatre and numerous riverside regeneration projects. 

The school is an Edwardian building, on three floors with a library, ICT suite and parents’ room.  The playground area includes a garden, grassed and tarmac areas, a climbing frame and a very popular multi use games area. Planning permission has been granted for a complete refurbishment and new buildings at the front of the school. Works are expected to start in May 2015.

Grange Primary School is about a 15 minute walk from the Elephant and Castle tube (Northern and Bakerloo line), Borough tube (Northern line), Bermondsey tube (Jubilee line) or London Bridge Station (main line, Northern line and Jubilee line). It is also well served by bus routes from Elephant and Castle with buses stopping very close to Webb Street (where the school is situated) on Tower Bridge Road.  Tower Hill (district and circle line tube and Docklands Light Railway) and Liverpool Street (main line and Central line tube) stations are also within an easy walking distance from the school with either an (approx) 25 minute walk or short bus ride away. There is bicycle storage for staff. Although outside the congestion charge zone, we are currently unable to offer car parking facilities.

Grange Primary School is an improving school, which had a good judgement in our most recent OFSTED inspection in October 2012. Our ethos is one of providing positive support for all our pupils, their families and for our staff. We are continuing to work hard to raise levels of achievement for all our pupils through an emphasis on personal and social development, alongside a creative curriculum, whilst retaining time for basic skills. We aim for every child to be a reader and a mathematician and have specialist staff to carry out interventions and support. There is a successful Pupil Development Centre, led by the Learning Mentor. Some support staff run programmes for the children based on developing social skills or using a version of the SEAL activities.  There is a strong emphasis on philosophy for children.  In 2014 we became part of the Paths Plus social skills programme and in 2015 we launched a self-esteem programme, Be The Best You Can Be!

We wish to appoint staff who are committed to delivering a high quality learning experience, within a caring and supportive framework.  Key to this is the relationship between pupils, families and staff and the work we do in raising children’s self esteem.

Our administration team provides effective support to staff, pupils and families. All members of our staff team, whatever their role, are involved in helping, guiding and supporting children.  We have proactive safeguarding procedures in place for all staff and visitors to the school.

Our pupils come from a wide variety of backgrounds with ethnic origins reflecting the diverse community served by the school.  Around 50% of pupils are entitled to pupil premium and many children have English as an additional language.  End of KS2 SATs results have been improving year on year and pupils’ progress over the last few years has been good to outstanding.  Provision for Special Educational Needs and EAL is well organised and effective. There are 35% of children on SEN register and currently seven pupils with statements/EHC plans.

We are all enthusiastic and hard working and place a high value on teamwork.  Phase and year group teams plan the curriculum together so that there is continuity and progression for pupils, at their individual level.  We use outside visits and concrete experiences to motivate and stimulate our children and to encourage an enthusiasm for learning.  We are committed to developing all our staff and CPD is well organised and resourced.  The enthusiasm that our staff have for learning, and the consistent implementation of school policies ensures that Grange is a calm, purposeful and happy learning environment.

Parental involvement is developing well.  The Parent Support Advisor works tirelessly to ensure quality courses are run for parents and teachers work closely with many parents to support children’s learning and well-being.

We have volunteer helpers in school from local businesses, VRH reading volunteers and parents. 

The Governing Body is very committed to the school and is keen to appoint well qualified, enthusiastic, dedicated staff join the Grange team. Governors meet regularly and support the school in a number of ways, with the appropriate level of challenge.