Personal Development 

At Stimpson Avenue Academy, we recognise that the primary years are a key time for children to develop their own identity and aspirations for the future.

As well as academic development, it is essential that children are given opportunities, through the curriculum and beyond, for personal development. We understand the crucial role school plays in helping children to prepare for their adult lives so they can go on to engage positively in society. The opportunities we offer them while at Stimpson Avenue Academy will impact upon their future, helping them to develop the core values we hold at the school. 

School values, ethos and behaviour.

We follow the 3 guiding behaviour principles of being ready, respectful and safe. Our behaviour principles are underpinned by a range of values, which are promoted within and outside of school.

Vision for Personal Development

• Children have opportunities throughout their time with us to access rich and varied experiences. 
• All children develop their ‘cultural capital’ while at Stimpson. 
• Physical and mental well-being are prioritised as much as academic achievements.
• Families are involved wherever possible, to support all areas of their child’s personal development.

Pastoral Team

• Pastoral Lead
• SENCO
• Designated Safeguarding Lead and deputies

In addition to the in-house team, we also have access to a wide range of external agencies, including the Mental Health Support Team, Educational Psychologists and our local EHA Coordinator. 

Our Pastoral team offer a range of support and nurture through school-based and co-ordinated intervention to help individual pupils to improve their social, emotional, and behavioural skills. Work is completed to develop whole school practice as well as offer timely and targeted support to individuals or groups identified when concerns are raised, sometimes by the pupils themselves, their families, or colleagues.

Enrichment

Enrichment is crucial at Stimpson Avenue Academy, and as such, pupils have the opportunity to choose from a wide range of extra-curricular activities. 

In addition to the extra-curricular clubs, we provide a broad range of enrichment opportunities; we strongly believe that these opportunities have several benefits for our pupils, both academically and personally, by broadening their life experiences.

We believe that providing these experiences can help to raise academic standards, enhance performance, and teach life skills which will equip our pupils for an ever-changing world.

Primary enrichment gives students the chance to participate in activities that supplement learning and enable them to broaden their skills and experiences, identify talent and enhance it.

Activities include visual and performing arts, including drama and music. There is also a focus on art, sport, and developing life skills. 

Junior Leadership Team

At Stimpson Avenue, we feel that listening to the voices of the children is vital to help us to improve and develop. Our Junior Leadership Team is democratically voted in each year, and we hold regular meetings to allow the children to discuss key issues, including which charities we will raise money for, how we will do this and other projects that the children would like us to carry out, as a school. 

Eco-Committee

A crucial role of the committee is to lead the school on the three Eco Topics of Litter, Waste and Energy.

Throughout the year we take the lead in Eco Projects including:

• Energy conservation – we complete monitoring with our Site Supervisor to make sure we are as energy efficient as possible. 
• Waste- we promote the use of the recycling bins in our year groups as well as raising the importance of not wasting food at lunchtimes. 
• Litter- we encourage no littering in our school grounds and take part in litter picks. 
• Caring for our Environment- we take the lead in gardening in our school grounds.

As ECO Ambassadors, we want to help other pupils to be more environmentally aware and make a difference both within and outside of school. 

Playtime Buddies

Our Playtime buddies are trained to create positive relationships, listen to your worries and play some great games! We have a designated ‘Buddy Bench’ on our playground and our buddies can be easily identified by their yellow bibs. 

Forest School

Forest Schools is designed to provide opportunities for outdoor learning in a natural environment.  As a school we are very fortunate in having our own forest school area and a teacher trained to deliver the Forest Schools programme. orest Schools is new this year and we look forward to developing the programme throughout the year. Each session will be specifically designed around the needs of the pupils taking part. 

Music

Pupils take part in a wide range of musical activities beyond the National Curriculum. Pupils will have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument in Key Stage 2. We also have a school choir, who last year participated in a musical performance at Wembley Arena. We also have pupils who access Rocksteady as well as peripatetic music lessons within the school day. Theses pupils will perform to the school and the community in a range of ensembles. 

PE & Sport competition and healthy lifestyles

At Stimpson Avenue Academy, we provide a high-quality physical education curriculum that inspires all pupils to succeed and excel in competitive sport and other physically demanding activities. We provide opportunities for pupils to become physically confident in a way which supports their health and fitness. Furthermore, we provide opportunities to compete in sport and other activities to build character and help to embed values such as fairness and respect.

We provide pupils with a wide range of PE & Sport opportunities beyond the school day, including sports festivals and local cluster fixtures. After school clubs such as football, basketball, dodgeball, gymnastics, and golf further provide opportunities for pupils to develop sporting skills, healthy lifestyle and positive attitudes.

Assembly programme

A programme of assemblies based on our values-based ethos helps to promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development, and provide clear guidance for pupils on how to grow up to be the best person they can possible be. As well as the values assemblies, each term pupils also take part in:

• safeguarding assemblies, for example, E-Safety
• music performance assemblies
• weekly celebration assemblies 

Trips and visits

Trips and visits take place throughout the school year, in all year groups linked to the curriculum. Where appropriate, we also invite external speakers to deliver talks and workshops. As a culturally diverse school, we also ensure our pupils have the opportunity to visit a range of places of worship.

Family Events

Engaging with our community is at the core of what we do at Stimpson. Parents play such a crucial role in the development of our pupils and as such we try to invite them in as much as possible. Here are just a few ways in which we do so:

• Come and See us Learn - view an ordinary day in the classroom!
• Termly Learning Conferences (link to new page on website) 
• Curriculum workshops – Phonics, Reading and Maths
• Trails of Knowledge – a showcase of the pupils’ learning
• Mums’ Afternoon Tea and Dads’ Breakfast
• International Food event
• Careers Fair 

Links with the community and wider world

We want our pupils to develop positive links within the community and to understand their impact within the wider world. As such, we participate in a wide range of local, national and international events. 

A few examples of these are:

• Partnership with the McCarthy-Dixon Foundation, providing food parcels to those in need. 
• Yearly donations to the Hope Centre, Northampton (Reverse Advent collection)
• Ripple Effect (charity working to fight hunger and the climate crisis).
• #Hello Yellow – raising awareness of mental health. 
• Red Nose Day
• Children in Need
• Pyjamarama