Summary of Our School Vision

To help you understand Birchfield School and to show you what a truly special place it is - we would liken our school to the globe itself. There are three key factors that make up our school that can be likened to the three layers of the Earth. Imagine the globe in cross section and look at its layers the core, the mantle and the crust. Firstly, theres the molten iron core, this foundation represents the quality of learning and teaching in a school and it is the schools greatest strength. The schools constant focus upon delivering high quality personalised learning to all our pupils depending upon their levels of ability and achievement is our primary purpose. We have a talented and committed staff team who are supported through a generous training budget, non-contact time for marking and preparation that all adds strength to the schools academic life. A good lesson is one in which ideas are expressed and challenged; children learn to use language with accuracy and purpose. Our teachers encourage our children to use higher-order thinking skills by asking open-ended questions utilising the global dimension to extend their learning. The Earths mantle feeds from the molten core and this layer represents the cross -curricular programmes we offer in school time and as an extended curriculum after school: music, art, sport, drama, visual literacy, family learning, growing gains, emotional intelligence, Comenius, technology and healthy eating. This broad curriculum allows our children to have a wide range of experiences and to find where their passions in life lie. All our children have the opportunity to be exposed to these activities and are encouraged to develop talents they may never have thought they had. The crust of the Earth holds the whole together- this represents pastoral care, a sense of community and the involvement of parents. Above all, children should be happy and safe at school. It is our aim at Birchfield to ensure we take the time to show and prove to our children and their families, that they are valued and understood as individuals, socially, emotionally and as a spiritual being. They are integral parts of our school and are seen as partners in a great education. Birchfield Community School encourages our whole community to look outside of Aston, beyond Birmingham, outside our region or even nationally to study the major issues affect our global community. We have a commitment to providing our children with a world-class education and the opportunity to find out about the diversity of the world and the ways in which people differ but are intrinsically the same. The families we serve come from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds and speak many different home languages so the school draws upon our own community to support our curriculum. We also supplement this by carrying out visits and exchanges with many schools from around the world this year alone, we have linked up with schools from as far away as Uganda, Martinique, Belgium, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Turkey and the Czech Republic. Everyone who visits our school comments that our school is a magical place and that we have something special that other schools struggle to attain. Birchfield Community School is a wonderful place and it is the launch pad for us all to explore the world together.

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