ST. JOHN’S CATHOLICPRIMARY SCHOOL
St. John’sCatholicPrimary School is a voluntary aided school, with a Nursery Unit, for children from the age of 3 to 11 years which was built to cater for the educational needs of children of St. John’s Parish. The site is shared by a CatholicComprehensiveSchool. The school works in partnership with Kent Local Authority and is one of many schools in the Archdiocese of Southwark.
We are a 3 form entry school with approximately 30 pupils per class. Each class contains pupils with a similar age. Two Reception classes are taken in September, with the youngest children joining the school in January. The Reception Teacher works with January intake pupils on a regular basis whilst they are still in the Nursery. Pupils who do not attend the Nursery are invited to visit the school each week and work with the Reception teacher who provides a home/school work pack.
The school is held upon a Trust, which has as its objective the “establishing, maintaining or advancing of the Catholic Religion in the Diocese and in one or more of the charitable objects promoted or served by the Catholic Church within the Diocese”.
Being a CatholicSchool the aim of St. John’sPrimary School is to provide for the spiritual, ethical, and moral training of the children as well as the academic achievements and progression.
At the heart of the Mission Statement which follows is the community relationship between the church, home and school which ensures a warm welcome for staff and children to the school. We value the contact we have with parents and hope that the relationship will bring mutual benefit, ensuring that the years children spend with us will be happy, successful and fulfilling.
As a school, led by Mrs Ann Marie Ratcliffe, St. John’sCatholicPrimary School enjoys the shared expertise of 26 full time teaching staff, 5 part time teachers and 21 classroom assistants, 2 nursery nurses, 4 administrators, 2 caretakers and 20 support staff. Ours is a happy, hard working school where good relationships exist between staff, with pupils and with parents, and everyone is valued. We welcome as much parental involvement as possible, and benefit from their assistance in classrooms. We have a very active Parents Association who are dedicated to promoting strong links with the community and improving resources and facilities at the school, through fund-raising activities.
-2 –
With a Senior Leadership Team who oversees every possible facet of school life, coupled with teacher co-ordinators for every curricular areaand year leaders, teaching and learning is of a high standard.Newly appointed members of staff have a good network of support. We are fortunate always to be able to operate as part of a team when planning and implementing our work.
Ofsted 2007 and 2010 and Sec 48 judged the school as outstanding in all areas. Please visit our website for further information.
One of the advantages of such a large establishment lies in the fact that we have sufficient managerial posts to cover all curricular areas. We feel that we are making excellent progress with planning and assessment and we have always completed school development objectives in good time.
WholeSchool resourcing is continually reviewed and improved, and we are fortunate to have classrooms that are bright, attractive and well stocked. The premises are large, including two halls, being surrounded by a vast open space.
There is a great team spirit amongst the staff who share problems and help each other generously. We welcome warmly new members of staff and feel that we all benefit from the fresh approach offered by new colleagues in our school, whether they are NQTs or experienced teachers.
The school is situated in Gravesend, a Thames-side industrial area about 20 miles from London and near to the A2/M2, and M25 and Dartford Tunnel. Ebbsfleet International Rail Station is close by;London is 20 minutes away and Paris is only 2 hours away.
There are fairly high densities of mixed housing. Although some of the traditional industries have now closed down, there is considerable expansion of smaller businesses and the shopping area of Gravesend. Nearby we can boast the largest indoor shopping area in Europe, Bluewater, which contains many excellent shops including John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and House of Fraser. Despite the industrial emphasis of the immediate environment the beauty of the Kent countryside and villages are within quick and easy reach. Road and rail links to London and France are excellent. So we get the best of both worlds.
H:\DMP's Folders\Job descriptions & Application forms\Description of St. Johns 2012.doc