About our school

Welcome to St Catherine’s C of E School

At St Catherine’s Church of England School, we strive to educate our children to realise their aspirations and to contribute positively to society guided by our Christian principles.

Our aims for teaching and learning are that all the children will:

be tolerant and understanding with respect for the rights, views and property of others;
develop a responsible and independent attitude towards work and towards their roles in society
not be limited in terms of their academic achievement, aesthetic appreciation and spiritual awareness.

Our school believes that:

Children are the only reason why this school is here. Each child comes with amazing gifts, remarkable talents and immeasurable potential. We have a moral duty to ensure that each child is able to discover and develop these.
Pupils will be happy and will flourish when working with adults who inspire them to learn. Relationships, based on mutual respect, trust, fun and high expectations are the key to excellent learning.
Pupils will be happiest and achieve best when their families, in whatever form they happen to be, are involved and working closely with us. We will strive to develop strong partnerships with families.
A broad and balanced creative curriculum inspires and motivates every child.

Welcome to St Catherine’s School!

We thank you for your interest in our school and extend a warm welcome to children, parents and carers who come to our school.

We feel that we can achieve the best for the children in our care through close co-operation between home and school. We welcome your involvement and support in any aspect of school life and will always make ourselves available to you to discuss any aspect of your child’s development. Together we shall endeavour to make school life an enjoyable, productive, successful and worthwhile experience for the children.

The handbook below is designed to give you information about the life and organisation of our school and hopefully give you an insight into what we are about. Please contact us if you require any extra information at any time. Visits to school by new pupils and their parents are encouraged. We look forward to a positive partnership with you. St Catherine’s Church of England School and Nursery is part of An Daras Multi Academy Trust.

School Handbook Editied May 2025

Metacognition here at St Catherine's

Metacognition, or "thinking about thinking," is crucial in primary schools because

it equips young learners with the skills to become active, independent, and successful learners

By developing metacognitive skills, students gain awareness of their own thinking processes, learn how to monitor their learning, and adapt their strategies to improve their understanding. This leads to better academic outcomes, increased motivation, and a stronger foundation for lifelong learning.

Learning Characteristics

Here at St Catherine's the pupils have helped us to design animal characters to represent our five learning characteristics: Responsible Elephant, Respectful Bee, Resilient Tortoise, Reflective Owl and Resourceful Squirrel. These characters help children to understand and develop the skills they need to be independent, self-motivated learners. Learning characteristics are crucial in primary schools because they focus on how children learn, not just what they learn and build a foundation for lifelong learning and development by fostering positive attitudes and behaviors towards learning. By understanding and nurturing these characteristics, we can help children become more effective, motivated, and confident learners, both in the classroom and beyond.

Visible Learning

We are Visible Learning trust and school and this is fundamental to our offer to pupils in the area of enhancing the learning skills which will support them and in later life. Visible Learning, based on John Hattie's research, is important in primary schools because it emphasizes making learning processes transparent and impactful, leading to improved student outcomes. It encourages teachers to reflect on their practice, use evidence of student learning, and tailor instruction to meet individual needs. This approach fosters a positive learning environment where students understand learning intentions, actively participate, and receive effective feedback.

More information can we found here: https://visible-learning.org/

Thinking Matters and Thinking Schools

The Thinking Matters approach is one we have recently adopted as a trust in support of our work in promoting metacognitive skills. It utilises a range of resources which support pupils to order and explore their own thinking and thinking skills. Through the explicit use of these resources, called Thinking Frames, Thinking Schools focus on the explicit teaching of fundamental cognitive processes and use a common language of thinking, which leads to better understanding and effective construction of knowledge for students. Students are supported to become self-managing and independent.

More information can we found here: https://www.thinkingmatters.com/