Trent Schools

January 7, 2022

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”
John Quincy Adams

Every lesson at The Elms aims to answer a fundamental question – what skills and knowledge do our pupils need to succeed in today’s society? We believe that relevance should be at the heart of education, from Nursery through to Year 6, and it is one of the reasons we don’t do SATs.

The resourcefulness, independence and adaptability that Elms pupils are known for is not achieved while cramming for SATs, but through opportunities to grow from real-life experiences that take learning beyond the classroom.

The Elms’ Leadership Programme is key to the development of these transferable skills. Equipping pupils with a broad skillset is essential in preparing them for achievement throughout the whole school journey.

The leadership programme includes two exciting projects, unique to our school community. The ‘Elms Wild’ project and The Elms Endeavour Award gives pupils the chance to give something back to their school and local community.

The ‘Elms Wild’ Project

Led by children in Year 5 and 6, and members of our school Eco-Council, Elms Wild challenges pupils to work together to sustain a biodiverse garden within our 45-acre school campus. Designed and developed by the pupils in 2020 all year groups are involved in developing and maintaining the garden alongside members of our Eco Club.

The garden provides a range of effective and exciting learning opportunities and is used throughout the academic year to inspire wonder in Art, Science and DT lessons. The garden is used to paint beautiful flowers, study the life cycles of plants and minibeasts and to create habitats like hedgehog hotels. It also provides involvement that engages children in looking, thinking and most importantly experiencing the world around them with a real-life hands-on resource. As well as the horticultural skills pupils acquire as they plant and sustain the garden over time, the project supports the development of essential life skills such as budgeting, collaboration and organisation.

The Elms’ Endeavour Award

The Elms Endeavour Award was introduced in 2019 with the aim of fostering a sense of independence in each Year 6 child, one that they could carry with them and develop in their future lives. The award was designed to allow each child to experience success at their individual levels in an area not solely linked with school life. It has allowed children a chance to contribute to their local community, their families and themselves in four principal areas:

  • Community (e.g. contributing to the school, local, national or world community)
  • Personal Development (e.g. becoming a ‘learning buddy’, developing presentation skills or personal organisation)
  • Skills Development (e.g. learning life skills, such as preparing a meal to a defined budget or setting meaningful academic or personal goals)
  • Knowledge and Enquiry (e.g. researching using referencing skills then presenting findings to a group)

From our 2020-2021 Year 6 cohort, 27 pupils achieved Bronze, 18 achieved Silver and 17 achieved a Gold award.

Elms parents have praised the award for the positive skills their children developed, including greater responsibility, improved organisation and other key skills.

 

Admissions for September 2022 and 2023 are now open.  Book your place on our upcoming Whole School Open Morning, Saturday 5th March 2022.