At Durham Gilesgate Primary School we want every child who attends to develop a love for learning and to grow in self-confidence. In order to do this we have re-designed our curriculum to make sure that it meets the needs of the pupils who attend here.
We plan engaging and meaningful, real life learning opportunities which are motivational for children and which allow them to apply their reading, writing, mathematical and computing skills across the whole curriculum. We also utilise the impact of educational visits and visitors to school and every parent can expect that every class will be involved with visits and visitors every year. You can find out more about our curriculum for each year group here.
There are three key drivers which underpin our curriculum and these drivers ensure that the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of children is present throughout the whole curriculum. The first of these is ‘values’ and we have recently introduced the explicit teaching of values, including British Values, into the curriculum. The second driver is about heritage and opportunity and through this we seek to recognise the diverse cultural backgrounds of our children and the aspirations that we have for them. The third driver is growth mind-set and through this we aim to develop the character education of our children.
We also have very high expectations for our children and we aspire for every child to make good progress and be successful. In order to do this we work closely with families and we like you to support your child’s learning by making sure that they attend school regularly, by attending parent evenings to find out about your child’s progress and achievements, by ensuring that home work is completed and by coming to school events to support and encourage your child.
We are a very nurturing and supportive school, we have excellent access to support services for children and enjoy positive relationships with our families. This ensures that children are valued and that they develop their sense of self-worth. Our school has also developed a wide range of links with the local and wider community; from planting bulbs for the local Parish Council, through to linking with primary aged children in schools as far away as America and Sri Lanka.
I hope that you enjoy browsing through our website; if you wish to contact us to find out more please phone or call in to make and appointment.
Mark Turner
Head Teacher