SPIRITUAL
We provide pupils with opportunities to explore other faiths and beliefs and to reflect on their own life experiences. Our children demonstrate enjoyment and fascination when learning about others and the world around them, achieved through an imaginative and creative curriculum.
Assemblies are held in school which address a whole host of issues both secular and non-secular:
Monday is our whole school assembly.
Wednesday is our phase assembly.
Our assemblies cover a wide range of topics including religious festivals, children’s rights and national and international days of celebration.
Friday is our celebration and achievement assembly which recognises and values children's triumphs both in and out of school.
Pupils also have opportunities to visit our local church and we have frequent visits from local religious leaders. At harvest, we have a whole school celebration for the Christian festival and further religious festivals are marked through whole school assemblies and class activities throughout the year.
MORAL
Our children learn make excellent progress in learning how to recognise the difference between right and wrong and how to take responsibility for their actions. They value our school community, willingly take on responsibility and participate enthusiastically in school life beyond the normal school day.
Sacriston Academy is a Rights Respecting School (RRS). This aims to put children’s rights at the heart of our school and is based on principles of equality, respect, non-discrimination and participation. Children are encouraged to use the language of rights and respect in school. Our School Ambassadors forum encourages all pupils to develop their own voice within school.
SOCIAL
Our children have many opportunities to contribute to community life and to take responsibility around school. They show initiative and are willing to take on the responsibility to improve aspects of school life including school ambassadors, sports captains and play leaders elected from each class. Our play leaders are trained by a sports coach to plan and deliver activities at lunchtime to other children, to model how to cooperate well with others and resolve disputes effectively. A range of other pupil vacancies are applied for by the children including library monitors, communication assistants and walk to school monitors.
Educational visits and residentials allow our children to gain experience beyond the classroom and promote independence. Visits widen pupils’ horizons, encourage collaboration, and allow pupils to become involved in what may be a completely new experience.
We help our children make progress in developing essential personal qualities for future life and the world of work with a range of activities. Our children attend and participate in a range of projects to raise aspirations for future careers. We have successfully taken part in the ‘Primary Inspiration through Enterprise’ challenge which pairs schools with local business people to support and encourage our pupils to start their own business projects.
Our school is also very proud to support several charities. We have hosted coffee mornings to raise money for MacMillan and children have donated food for harvest festival which is distributed to local people. We also regularly take part in national fundraising events such as Children in Need and Red Nose Day.
CULTURAL
Activities are planned throughout the year for children to engage in artistic, sporting and cultural opportunities. Our curriculum prepares children for life in Modern Britain through a range of different cultures, extending pupils’ knowledge and use of cultural imagery and language.
A whole school art exhibition is held annually, our pupils work towards a purpose and share their artwork with their families. A specialist art teacher also works in school regularly and we are developing our own art studio at the request of our pupils.
We have also been awarded the Music Mark Award in recognition of the value we place on Music and the high-quality music education we provide. We have taken part in the national ‘Big Sing,’ performed at community concerts and at the Sage Gateshead. Our children learn to play brass instruments in keeping with local mining traditions and ensuring children have an appreciation for their own local heritage. We value termly live performances in school from Durham orchestra.
We hosted a French day for the whole school community. Children applied their growing knowledge of the French language, learned about living in France and a chef shared a range of French cuisine.