Community Links

At Stanley Park Junior School, we value the strong links which we have developed across our local community and also communities further afield.

We welcome visitors into school from various walks of life who provide workshops, assemblies and activities which help to provide our children with new inspirational experiences, and a greater awareness of life outside school.

Transition from the Infant School

We work very closely with Stanley Park Infants' School to support a smooth transition into our school. Children in year 2 visit the Junior School regularly to enjoy a variety of enrichments. They also spend some time in the Junior School prior to starting in the September.

Our year 3 teaching staff spend time in the Infant classes to understand more about their prior learning environment and experiences. Transition Meetings between the year 2 & year 3 teachers take place to ensure that important information is transferred to help continuity in the childrens learning.

Transition to High School

To help our year 6 pupils prepare themselves for their transfer to High School, we arrange visits from staff from their new schools, which give the children an opportunity to discuss any concerns or worries they may have. The children also take part in a series of workshops run by outside organisations; for example, Transport for London come in to talk to them about using public transport, applying for Oyster Cards and keeping safe when getting around. Our local police community support officers also provide some useful advice.

School Links

Every term we are able to send groups of children to workshops at local schools. Some of the activities that we arrange are for selected children, whilst other activities are for whole classes or year groups. Our children have been involved in maths masterclasses at Wallington High School for Girls and Wallington Boys; an outside maths trail at St Philomena’s; a DT & science workshop at Trinity School in Croydon; a sports festival at Sutton High; and a technology day at Wallington High School for Girls.

Music & the Arts

Although we have not formally renewed our Arts Mark, we have regularly performed at local events and invite a variety of arts performers into school to enrich the learning. We have close links with Sutton Music Trust who provide professional peripatetic teachers who offer private individual or small group tuition within school time. Every Christmas a group of year 6 children and their parents go carol singing; also a group from our school choir sing carols to the residents at “Brambledown Lodge”, a local warden-assisted home for the elderly.

Sports

We have football, netball, tagy rugby, cycling and swimming teams who take part in local competitions, and we regularly send an athletics team to the Borough Sports competition. We have formed close links with JDS Football (a local club) and Sutton Sports Partnership to enrich the curriculum and provide staff CPD.

PGCE / Work Experience

We are pleased to be able to support a new generation of teachers, by providing placements for student teachers from Roehampton University. We also welcome in year 9, 10 and 11 students from our local High Schools for work experience every year.

Sutton Churches

We regularly enjoy visits from members of the Sutton Churches group who provide dramatic performances that encourage our children to make positive choices.

Charity

As a school, we support various different charities throughout the year. We hope this demonstrates to our pupils the importance of helping and empathising with others who are less fortunate than ourselves. Our School Council reps help to decide which charities we support. This is done through collections at various events at school; and by our year 6’s carol singing to our neighbours at Christmas. In the past, we have supported the Children in Need charity, Help the Heroes, Poppy Appeal, Red Nose Day, Sports Relief, and Save the Children. During the Harvest Festival, donations are collected by Sutton Food Bank who help to support families in need in Sutton.

The School Nursing Service

We are in regular contact with our school nurse, who regularly provides parents and staff with advice, and help us to manage any medical issues in the school environment. We also call on the school nursing service to provide training for staff (e.g. in the use of Epipens), and also to support our year 5 and 6 teachers when they cover sex education as part of the science curriculum.

Supporting the elderly

When our choir visit the residents at “Brambledown Lodge” at Christmas, they also have the opportunity to chat to the residents which has proved to be a very rewarding experience for both the residents and our children.