Take A Step Inside Stratford Manor
As you step into the school grounds, you instantly recognise the rich history of the school, a school that has served the community for generations spanning over 125 years, yet you can see how it is equipped for a current, forward-thinking curriculum with inspiring learning environments. You get a sense of a small, child-centred school where every child is valued and known well by the staff team.
Entering the main school office, our friendly admin team are ready and waiting to greet and support you. As you are warmly welcomed to Stratford Manor, you’ll be asked your reason for visiting us. As you tell us it is your first visit and would like to find out more, they’ll do everything they can to help you.
A member of the school’s leadership team will meet and welcome you. You’ll have the opportunity to meet our delightful children and ask them questions about their school experience. You’ll see that they’ll be keen to share their insight to why Stratford Stratford Manor is special to them as they give you a guided tour of their school – or what many children refer to us as ‘their second home’. They’ll probably have many questions for you too.
As our happy children show you round, you’ll encounter them speak confidently and enthusiastically about their learning as they guide you around our three storey Victorian school building. You’ll hear about how the children benefit from the vast range of educational visits, their exciting lessons, after school clubs and much more including their lunches! Most importantly, they’ll tell you how the school cares for them.
As you’re guided around the school, you will see our dedicated Early Years areas for nursery and reception classes, including the outdoor area complete with our very own London Taxi for our children to learn in. You’ll see children engaging in self-initiated learning activities as well as adult-led focussed sessions. As the children are immersed in their theme of learning, you’ll see them communicate with each other and learn together. You’ll see children role play, build models and explore their own interests. As you enter the nursery class for 3 and 4 year olds, you’ll pass their indoor reading garden complete with a bright red telephone box full of exciting books for the children to explore.
At the other end of the ground floor hall, you’ll come across our Learning Showcase – an exhibit of our bespoke curriculum, one that we are proud of. In each section, you’ll be presented with samples of learning that demonstrate the breadth and depth of the curriculum and the experiences our children are offered. Take a look at how Year 1 explored technology from the past or see how Year 5 investigated the threats to the Amazon Rainforest.
Just beside the Learning Showcase is our Children’s Leadership Hub. The colourful and comfortable booth provides a purposeful space for our Children’s Leadership Team to work and collaborate together on matters that mean a lot to them. During their weekly drop-in session, they’ll be there on hand to meet with other children throughout the school to both listen to their ideas and suggestions but also to provide support and advice.
On your way upstairs, a class passes you smiling and looking very excited as they’re on their way for an educational visit. This class is off to The British Museum this time but our classes visit many places including significant places of worship, theatres, parks, farms and zoos and the many museums that London has to offer. Many are linked to the curriculum areas that the children are learning but others link to our Making Stratford Manor Memories programme that give our children the opportunities and experiences they deserve.
As you move throughout the school, you’ll notice keen learners who are engaging in a rich curriculum. In English lessons, you will see children keen to expand their vocabulary as they generate their ideas through experience sessions before learning the craft of writing. In Maths, you’ll see children using concrete resources to truly develop a deepened understanding of mathematical concepts. You’ll see in Science, children ‘blast off to space’ as they explore the Solar System by using Virtual Reality headsets.
At Stratford Manor, we love reading – and you will not fail to notice books everywhere – the halls, the classrooms and in our reading hut in the playground. Inviting book corners in the classrooms invite children in to select their new favourite. You’ll see children relaxed, reading for pleasure in one of the many dedicated reading areas – be it one of our comfortable sofas, deck chair style seats or on a large bean bag.
Now that you have ventured way beyond the ground floor, you’ll notice something perhaps you were not expecting to see… or in fact not seeing what you were expecting to see. Classroom doors. Our middle floor and top floor classrooms have an open-plan design so that learning is not just confined to the classroom – the buzz of learning spills into the halls as children learn collaboratively and creatively- every corner of the school is used to maximise learning.
You will also see a class being taught music by our specialist music teacher in our dedicated music room. We have a broad music curriculum that engages the children in order to develop a love of music, and their own creativity. They are taught specific skills to develop both their singing, and instrumentation, and have opportunities to perform in a range of contexts, for a range of audiences. Music provides children with an outlet for their creativity, and develops their confidence.
As you walk around the school, you’ll be surrounded by the children’s stunning art that is proudly displayed around the school. Our classrooms and halls demonstrate the breadth and depth of our bespoke curriculum that incorporates our school values and school threads.
As you walk through the playground you will see another class being taught PE by our specialist PE teacher. Our PE curriculum provides a rich balance of sports and activities, with a clear progression of skills to be learned and refined. Our approach also encompasses other opportunities for physical activity, sport and active learning in order to make sure that the children are as physically fit and active as possible. The curriculum is supplemented by a wide range of sporting opportunities which the children love, and compete in enthusiastically. The trophy cabinet in the main reception reflects this.
At lunch, you’ll notice children displaying our core value of ‘community’ as children of mixed ages have their lunches together, enjoying their food that is cooked freshly on site. You’ll see children wearing their aprons as our values of responsibility and community extend into lunchtime where all Key Stage 2 children are on a rota to support the staff in operating a smooth and happy lunch service. In the playground, the children spend time with their friends playing, taking part in organised games led by our PE teacher and support staff or opting for quieter activities such as drawing, playing with puzzles and board games, or enjoying a book from one of our outdoor reading areas. On the meadow, some children relax and socialise as they impulsively decide to create a dance routine to the music that is being played in the background whilst others play a game of giant Connect 4.
In one of our playgrounds, you’ll spot a bus – but not any ordinary bus. Our double-decker jungle themed bus is an attractive fully themed learning space where classes jump on-board to experience a lesson beyond their classroom. Beside the bus is our garden area where children experience how food and plants are grown, taking pride in and being amazed by seeing their own seed grow.
The other side of the playground is the My Place at Stratford Manor building where our Breakfast Club and After School Provision are based, providing an extended day from 7:45am to 5:45pm should you need it. These are staffed by school staff who know the children well, and they provide a warm and welcoming environment for the children at the beginning and end of the school day. This extended provision is supplemented by a range of after school clubs that run each term and are run by a combination of school staff and external specialists. The children really enjoy these, and talk enthusiastically about them. Each term, the children are consulted about what clubs that they would like to be provided with and we do the very best that we can to make these happen.
At other times, depending when you visit, you may see other events taking place at the My Place at Stratford Manor building as this is where we host many of our school community events, whether that be a workshop, coffee morning or hosting a local course or class.
As we come towards the end of the school week, our headboy and headgirl lead the weekly Star of the Week assembly. Here, they will deliver important messages and lead the assembly in acknowledging the successes of the week – the weekly awards include a Star of the Week award that is nominated by class teachers, as well as weekly Manners awards, children selected to have lunch with our headteacher, Ms McGee and much more. Our Headboy and Headgirl also are on the lookout each week for children who are consistently demonstrating our core values.
