Hello,
I am very pleased to welcome you to our school website. Thank you for your interest in our wonderful school!
I am exceptionally proud to lead this unique, welcoming and happy school. We are blessed to have created and nurtured a very special, supportive and close community, where all members of the school community are valued: children, parents, staff and governors.
We all take a genuine interest in every member of our community and live out our vision through all we do:
We live and work in harmony
with love for one another,
so that we can achieve our potential
within a community of life-long learners.
Our vision guides all of our work and it speaks of the unique nurture, care and focus on developing all aspects of each person in our community. This means that with our children, we support all children achieve their potential in a full, enriching, broad and balanced curriculum. At the same time, we promote positive social development, developing strong professional relationships with everyone in the community.
I am very proud of our exceptionally dedicated and professional staff team. We work incredibly hard to serve the school community in every aspect - from exciting and enriching learning activities to church services; from keeping the site clean and safe to welcoming each and every visitor warmly.
As mentioned above, our community is very special here at Shelford. We work exceptionally closely with parents, forming a good partnership and professional relationships. We welcome you to the school and are fortunate to receive such immense support in many ways. The PTA work tirelessly to support the work of the school in creative ways. Other parents volunteer in classes with reading, group activities and baking. We always ensure parents are part of the learning journey of their children. We hold termly Class Briefings, an annual Meet the Teacher evening and two Pupil, Parent, Teacher consultations per year.
Our Governors work to support and challenge the leadership of the school. This highly-effective team is made up of Foundation, Parent, Local Authority and Ex-Officio Governors. You can find out a little more about their work here. We are delighted to have such a highly-skilled team who also have a wealth of knowledge about the school, the village and beyond.
Pupil Leadership and Pupil Voice are highly-embedded in the school. We have a variety of responsibilities for pupils to access across the school: School Councillors, House Prefects, Head Boy & Head Girl, Ministry Team, Peer Mediators, Eco Warriors and Digital Leaders. Further to this, we operate several buddy systems that continue to promote the special relationships between older and younger pupils.
We have a range of awards, accreditations and specialisms that make us unique. We have achieved an International Schools Award for the outstanding development of the international dimension of the curriculum. This is lived out through our work with many international partner schools and working closely with the village twinning association. We have a careful and mindful focus on mental health and wellbeing for all members of the school community. This is further reinforced by our promotion of Forest School and outdoor learning - which have many benefits including on promoting wellbeing. More recently, we have been engaging with and leading our own research as a body of staff. This has enabled us to continue to improve practice and design an exciting and engaging curriculum tailored to the needs of our pupils. Some of this research has also led to redesigning and renovating areas of the school - internally and externally. This ties in with our wellbeing focus as we know that the physical environment around us impacts on how we feel.
Despite there being a plethora of information at your fingertips on our website, it cannot replace a visit to our wonderful school. If you'd like to find out more or arrange a visit, please do get in touch with us by phone (01223 843107) or email: office@shelford.cambs.sch.uk . I would be delighted to welcome you to the site and share the many exceptional elements of our wonderful village school.
With best wishes,
Chris Grey
Headteacher