North West London

PRIMARY EDUCATION

lives. Over the last five years we have worked hard with staff, parents and pupils to embed a culture of challenge – rooted in the work of Carol Dweck and the understanding of what it means to foster a growth mindset. Rather than being viewed as a miracle cure it has meant we are on our own continuous learning journey. Our curriculum and learning experiences are created with the aim of building autonomy for pupils and emphasising that success is achieved through personal effort, a willingness to try new things and by embracing and persisting through challenges. Learning is carefully differentiated and pupils are encouraged to choose their level of challenge. Over time and with careful guidance pupils have become more adept at making good learning choices. This approach to developing a culture of taking risks, enjoying challenge and developing creativity has been extended to how we approach lunchtime at West Lodge. Working with OPAL (Outdoor Play & Learning) and Recipe for Change we have transformed both the outdoor and indoor experiences for pupils. As an OPAL Platinum Award school we have enhanced pupils’ outdoor play using pallets, cable drums, fabric, old computer keyboards, table tops and more. Pupils’ experience at lunchtime is now filled with creativity and risk taking.

Kaleidoscope has gained an excellent reputation and enables us to provide appropriate support for pupils with autism and a foundation for these pupils to access mainstream. Over the last three years we have built our internal capacity and were appointed a learning hub for autism and we now provide training for teachers from other local schools. West Lodge is proud to be an inclusive school which strives to meet the needs of all our pupils – we believe every child has the capacity to exceed their expectations and we are proud of the progress our pupils make. Monitoring the progress of all pupils allows us to identify needs, which in turn informs our provision. By working closely with outside agencies and families of children with additional needs we ensure that children are well supported. In addition, the school has worked hard to become “attachment aware” – providing training for staff and drop-in sessions for parents to build understanding of attachment issues. As an outward- looking school we work collaboratively with other schools and external agencies which enables us to share good practice and continue developing. Positive learning culture Our school lays the foundations for a life-long learning journey which provides students with the tools to live happy, fulfilling and successful

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Our curriculum aims to provide a range of opportunities to meet the varied give every child the best possible chance of finding their ‘song’, their ‘element’, their ‘spark’ needs of all learners and

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A Lego zone session in Kaleidoscope

Practical learning opportunities

53 WEST LODGE PRIMARY SCHOOL |