At our school, we believe that learning is for everyone. Our pupils, staff, leaders, governors, families and wider community are all part of a culture in which we continually learn, reflect, collaborate and improve.
Our approach is closely aligned with the Schools as Learning Organisations (SLO) model in Wales and the principles of Curriculum for Wales. We recognise that creating the best possible learning experiences for our children depends upon our school having the capacity to learn and develop too.
We also believe that learning does not begin and end at the classroom door. Our locality, community, local businesses, families and partner organisations all have knowledge, skills, histories and experiences that can enrich our children's education.
Our vision places our learners at the heart of everything we do. We want every child to feel valued and included, while being challenged and supported to make progress, develop confidence and recognise their own potential.
Through Curriculum for Wales, we aim to support our children to develop towards the four purposes, becoming:
Our vision is not something that simply sits on a page. It informs our curriculum, our teaching, the decisions we make and the opportunities we create for our children.
A fundamental part of being a learning organisation is recognising that our pupils have an important contribution to make to the development of their school.
We have numerous pupil voice groups across the school, providing children with meaningful opportunities to share their views, take responsibility, lead change and contribute to decisions that affect their learning and school experience.
Pupil voice is more than asking children what they think. We want pupils to understand that their ideas can lead to action. Through their groups and wider opportunities for consultation, pupils identify priorities, discuss ideas, work collaboratively, make decisions and evaluate the difference their work has made.
This develops confidence, communication, leadership and decision-making skills while giving our learners an authentic experience of participation and democracy.
Most importantly, it ensures that when we reflect upon our school and consider “What could we do better?”, the voices of our children are part of the answer.
Cynefin is an important part of our curriculum and our identity as a school in Wales.
We want our children to develop a strong sense of belonging and an understanding of the people, places, stories, landscapes, cultures and communities that have shaped the world around them.
Our local area therefore becomes part of the curriculum itself.
Through relationships with local residents, community organisations, businesses, councils and other partners, children develop their understanding of their immediate locality and their place within it. They have opportunities to explore how their community has developed, how it functions today and how they themselves can contribute to its future.
Our work with local businesses, our food bank, residential home and other community partners allows children to build genuine connections with the people around them.
Cynefin also encourages our learners to consider how their own locality connects with the wider story of Wales and the world. In doing so, we aim to develop children who are proud of where they come from while remaining curious, respectful and interested in the experiences and perspectives of others.
Understanding our own identity goes hand in hand with understanding and respecting the identities of others.
Throughout the year, we hold multicultural celebrations that enable pupils to encounter and celebrate different cultures, traditions, languages, beliefs and experiences.
These opportunities enrich our curriculum and help children recognise both the diversity within their own community and the wider world.
We want our pupils to develop curiosity about difference and an appreciation of the richness that different cultures and perspectives bring. Through learning, celebration, discussion and shared experiences, children develop respect, empathy and a broader understanding of the world around them.
This complements our work on Cynefin: children develop a secure sense of their own identity and belonging while learning to see themselves as ethical, informed citizens of Wales and the world.
We recognise the importance of science, technology, engineering and mathematics in preparing our learners for their futures.
Our dedicated Discover Rooms provide exciting environments in which high-quality STEM learning can take place. Here, pupils have opportunities to investigate, design, build, test, problem-solve and learn through practical experiences.
These opportunities encourage curiosity and creativity while helping children understand that learning has applications beyond school. They develop the confidence to ask questions, experiment with ideas and recognise that making mistakes, evaluating outcomes and refining solutions are important parts of the learning process.
Our STEM provision also supports our ambition to help pupils make connections between their learning, technological developments, the world of work and the skills that may be important in their future lives.
We believe that children should encounter a wide range of possibilities for their futures from an early age.
Our annual Careers Day brings local businesses and vocational professionals into school, giving pupils opportunities to meet people from different occupations, discover different career pathways and ask questions about the skills, knowledge and experiences involved in their work.
These encounters help children understand the relevance of their learning and broaden their aspirations. Importantly, they expose pupils to both professional and vocational pathways, helping children recognise that there are many different routes to future success.
Throughout the year, we continue to build relationships with local businesses, councils and organisations, including Tesco, providing opportunities for pupils and staff to learn from expertise beyond the school.
These partnerships help us ensure that our curriculum remains connected to our locality and to the lives and futures of our learners.
Our community is one of our most valuable learning resources.
We actively seek opportunities for pupils to contribute to their local area and learn alongside the people who live and work within it. These experiences enable our children to see themselves not simply as pupils attending a school, but as active members of their community who have the ability to make a positive difference.
Our participation in Silver Readers provides valuable opportunities for pupils to develop relationships across generations. Children also visit our local residential home, spending time with residents and developing communication, empathy and understanding through meaningful intergenerational experiences.
Our pupils also help at our local food bank every week. This gives them an authentic opportunity to develop responsibility, compassion and an understanding of the needs of others.
These experiences connect directly with our work on Cynefin and our commitment to developing ethical, informed citizens. Children learn about their community by participating in it.
Citizenship is therefore not simply something we discuss in lessons; it is something our pupils experience through their actions.
Our Bike Maintenance and Swap Shop is another example of how we create authentic learning opportunities that connect practical skills, sustainability, community and enterprise.
Through bike maintenance, pupils develop practical problem-solving skills and learn about tools, mechanisms, safety, repair and maintenance. It provides a meaningful context in which STEM knowledge and practical skills can be applied to real situations.
The swap-shop element encourages pupils to think about reuse, sustainability and responsible consumption, helping children understand that repairing and reusing items can have both environmental and community benefits.
It also encourages enterprise, responsibility and community participation while promoting cycling and active lifestyles.
The initiative brings together several elements of Curriculum for Wales: developing capable learners, encouraging enterprise and creativity, promoting healthy lifestyles and supporting children to become responsible and informed citizens.
We recognise our staff as learners too.
Professional learning is an important part of school improvement and is connected directly to the needs of our pupils and the development of high-quality teaching and learning.
Staff are encouraged to reflect upon their practice, explore new approaches, share expertise and learn from one another. Professional dialogue, collaboration and enquiry help us consider not simply what we do, but why we do it and, most importantly, the difference it makes to our learners.
We value opportunities to work together across the school and beyond it, learning from colleagues, other schools, professional networks, businesses, local organisations and our wider community.
We want our school to be a place where both children and adults feel confident to ask questions, explore ideas and try new approaches.
Developing our curriculum is an ongoing process. We use evidence, professional knowledge, pupil voice and our understanding of our own school community to evaluate what is working well and identify where we can improve.
We recognise that meaningful improvement takes time. Rather than seeing change as a series of isolated initiatives, we seek to develop sustainable approaches that become embedded in everyday practice and have a positive impact on our learners.
Our Discover Rooms, pupil voice groups, community partnerships, multicultural celebrations, Careers Day, Silver Readers, food-bank involvement and Bike Maintenance and Swap Shop are therefore not viewed as a collection of separate activities.
Together, they form part of our approach to providing authentic, purposeful learning experiences that connect our curriculum with our Cynefin, our community and the wider world.
Collaboration is central to our approach.
We recognise the expertise that exists within our school and create opportunities for staff to share practice, discuss learning and solve problems together.
We also understand that some of our most valuable learning comes from looking beyond our own school. Partnerships with families, other schools, councils, local businesses, community groups, care settings and other organisations bring different knowledge and perspectives into our school.
These relationships are two-way. We want our pupils to learn from their community while recognising what they can contribute to their community.
The same principle applies within school. Adults learn from children, children learn from adults and pupils learn from one another.
Effective learning depends upon strong relationships. We aim to create a safe, inclusive and supportive environment in which children and adults feel that their contributions, identities and experiences are valued.
Well-being is therefore integral to our approach rather than separate from learning.
By developing relationships based upon respect, trust and high expectations, we want everyone within our school community to feel confident to contribute ideas, ask questions, seek support and learn from both successes and challenges.
Our pupil voice groups, multicultural celebrations and community experiences reinforce an important message: everyone has a voice, everyone belongs and everyone has something to contribute.
Experiences such as working alongside older members of our community, supporting the food bank, maintaining bikes, meeting people from different professions and celebrating different cultures also help pupils develop qualities that cannot always be measured on a page: empathy, resilience, independence, responsibility, confidence and a sense of belonging.
As a learning organisation, we continually consider the impact of what we do.
We draw upon a range of evidence to understand our learners and evaluate our provision. This includes teachers' professional observations and assessments, pupil voice, engagement and well-being, discussions with families, and evidence of children's learning and progress.
We are interested not only in what children know, but also in how effectively they can use and apply their knowledge, skills and experiences in different contexts.
Listening to our pupils is an important part of this evaluation. Our pupil voice structures allow us to understand children's experiences of school and provide another valuable source of evidence when considering our next steps.
This helps us identify strengths, recognise where further development is needed and make informed decisions about how we continue to improve.
Leadership for learning exists throughout our school.
While school leaders have an important responsibility for establishing the conditions in which learning can flourish, we recognise that every member of staff has expertise, ideas and the potential to contribute to improvement.
We seek to develop leadership capacity across the school by encouraging professional responsibility, collaboration and opportunities for colleagues to lead aspects of learning and development.
Crucially, we also recognise our pupils as leaders.
Through our numerous pupil voice groups, community involvement, projects and opportunities to take responsibility, children learn that leadership is about listening to others, making informed decisions and taking action to bring about positive change.
Being a School as a Learning Organisation is not a destination or a badge to achieve. It describes the way we want our school to work.
We continually ask ourselves:
What are our learners telling us?
What does the evidence tell us?
What can we learn from our community and from others?
What are we learning as a school?
What could we do even better?
The Eden Education Centre is proud to be the first education centre to bring LEGO® Education to Wales. This unique partnership combines the versatility of a LEGO® brick with the latest innovative teaching methodologies to ensure students to become creative, active and collaborative learners.
The Eden Education Centre consists of three purpose built classrooms designed to meet the learning objectives for Key Stages 1-4 bringing engaging workshops to schools. LEGO® Education encourages students to learn in a way that is creative, engaging and inspiring.
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