Ribbleton Avenue Methodist Junior School

Our commitment to the dignity and ultimate worth of each child is rooted in each being created in the image of God. As a result of this, safeguarding has a high profile at RAMJS. The school is fully compliant in all areas of safeguarding (See Safeguarding Page). Staff receive annual training to refresh their understanding of safeguarding.  School use the 7-minute briefings from LCC to keep school staff up-todate with their safeguarding understanding and as a school we commit to training all senior leaders as DSL’s to ensure that we can support the ever-complex needs of our school community.  Children are taught about how to keep themselves safe through our mapped-out curriculum, e.g. Year 6 have a ‘Aspirations’ which is a programme aimed at helping them to make informed decisions to positively impact on their future.  Close work with the police takes place and we access different services such as the police, CAMHS to build on the children’s knowledge of the world around them. As a Kids Safe school, we deliver a specialist safeguarding curriculum aimed at keeping children safe and both the FSW and LM are trained in the delivery of this nationally acclaimed programme. Special assemblies are planned to increase children’s awareness of safeguarding issues e.g. bullying, courageous advocacy, asylum seekers.

The school actively seek to reduce and remove any barrier that might limit the life chances. The school adopts an approach of ‘Quality First Teaching’ to provide an inclusive environment for all; this may include the use of kinaesthetic resources or additional adult support. The SENCO (See SEND Page) meets with the teachers at least four times a year to discuss the progress of children who have a learning difficulty or any child that has a cause for concern. Following this, interventions are put in place e.g. daily reading or precision teaching (stored on CPOMS).  Alongside quality first teaching, school offer a daily SEN group which provides learning aimed at the individual needs of our most vulnerable SEND children.  In focussing this time on the writing and maths, the children are more confident in the other subjects and feedback from both children, their parents and staff has evidenced that as a result of this provision, our SEND children working on P Scales are more confident and accessing the rest of the curriculum, demonstrating their knowledge and understanding with greater ease.  Alongside this, we run a nurture curriculum which focusses on children with additional social, emotional and behavioural needs.  These afternoon sessions are linked to the main curriculum within school but have a heavier focus on address some of the complex issues that arise with low self-esteem, poor behaviour choices etc. 

At RAMJS we believe that all God’s child should be loved for who they are and embraced for their uniqueness.  By allowing each member of our school community to be who they are, we believe that everyone can be the best they can be.  The celebration of diversity starts in our classrooms and is embedded within our curriculum.  From morning worship to celebration assemblies, our cultural diversity is celebrated.  Eid, Diwali, Christmas etc (see Faith Days) are celebrated and old testament stories are linked with other examples from other faiths.  The children are encouraged to make connections between the faiths to highlight are interlinked our cultures can be and builds our tolerance in school.

Interfaith week focuses on the religious diversity of our school underpinned throughout the whole curriculum is the building blocks of tolerance and respect.  Our policies reflect our culture of tolerance and racial incidents, homophobic incidents etc are tackling proactively, addressing misconceptions, building trust and using restoration as the foundation for our future generations to grow and develop their love for all those around them.

We recognise that within the context of our school there is a large ethnic minority, therefore we are committed to raising awareness of equality for all and regularly invite in visitors of other faiths and backgrounds e.g. During Interfaith Week we invite in a member of the community to talk about different religions and beliefs.  We have welcomed representatives from our local Mosques, Sikh Temples and Jehovah's witness community.

The school environment and learning resources encourages dignity and respect for all e.g. within the school library there is a large selection of books which promotes diversity and books about different cultures.  Children develop respect and understanding by learning about different religions and cultures e.g linking to our whole school World War topic and intertwined within out Interfaith week, children in Year 5 and Year 6 look at the contribution other religions made to the great wars e.g. The Gurkhas. 

During whole school theme days, we learn about the lives of people from different cultures e.g. Diwali day, Eid day where children are encouraged to wear traditional dress to raise awareness and provide talking points for children.  Throughout the school year, children learn about significant events from different cultures e.g.  Chinese New Year and Harvest time around the world.  Our pen pals in Hong Kong will open another exciting cultural development opportunity for children in school.  We received over 50 letters from Lui Ming Choi Primary School in Kowloon Bay.  

The school is working on an agreed SRE Policy which will meet the needs of the whole school community and enable all children to access the statutory information they are entitled too.  As a school community, we see a significant number of parents and carers opting their children out of the SRE education therefore we are working to develop a curriculum that will meet the needs of all.  As a school we are using Jigsaw, a programme of study recommended at the Methodist MAST meeting for schools and as a school we feel it meets the PHSE needs of our whole school community well. Children learn about relationships and body changes throughout school and this is taught through our PSHE curriculum.  The aims of the sex and relationship education programme will be delivered at RAMJS in the context of the school’s Christian ethos and values. The Governors seek to provide a well-balanced programme of sex education that reflects the age and maturity of both girls and boys. Sex is not only a given fact of human existence but, in Christian belief, a gift of God as part of creation.

Next Steps

• To continue to build on the interlinking curriculum in reflection of our new developing curriculum across school.
• To develop an SRE curriculum that reflects the needs of all stakeholders but is true to the Christian values of the school