Academic Excellence

Academic excellence lies at the heart of our educational philosophy

As children begin their educational journey at Polam, we aim to equip them with the skills they need to navigate their own emotions and support their academic development.

We are very proud of all our pupil’s accomplishments, whatever their strengths or abilities, and celebrate each individual’s achievements.

Our aim is to produce happy, confident children who are excited and engaged in their learning, ready to take their next step in education.

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Curriculum
Mental Wellbeing
SEND
Educational Technology
Academic Results

Curriculum

A Creative Curriculum Approach

At Polam, we offer a creative curriculum approach to learning. This enables children an opportunity to tap into their creativity, imagination and critical thinking skills.

Our children are able to use their topic based learning to apply their knowledge and understanding across a range of subjects. We take this one step further with our immersive learning initiative, where we transformed ordinary classrooms into themed, interactive learning spaces. We currently have two rooms complete – Discovery, our space-themed IT suite and Amazonia, our plant-filled rainforest room.

Dressing classrooms with themed resources encourages the students to be absorbed and engaged, making their learning more purposeful – and lots more fun! Having a unique, multipurpose space like our Rainforest room is a perfect environment to support well-being, providing the opportunity for meditation and mindfulness, imaginative storytelling and academic achievement.

Great learning environment where my children feel safe to express themselves and look forward to coming to school everyday.

– Parent, Polam School

Join us for an Open Day

At our Open Days you will have the opportunity to meet our Head and other key members of staff, and learn more about what a Long Close education looks like.

Please click below to register to attend our upcoming Open Day. We can’t wait to meet you!

Mental Wellbeing

A strong focus on mental wellbeing

We provide a unique home-from-home learning environment, where every child is known by every member of staff, with a distinct focus on pastoral care, mental health and wellbeing, all contributing to excellent academic achievement.

As part of the Cognita Schools group, Polam School regularly takes part in Cognita’s annual Global Be Well Day. From this we developed our own Week To Be Well, a dedicated wellbeing week at the beginning of the school year. This has since blossomed into dedicated wellbeing activities becoming part of the weekly timetable for all classes.

With a Wellbeing Champion in School as well as a Mental Health First Aider, this is testament to our commitment to wellbeing all year round, reinforcing the importance of wellbeing as the foundation that needs to underpin every aspect of education.

SEND

Partner School - Assessment for Dyslexia

As a school, we have been praised for our dedication and support to children with dyslexia and are proud to announce that we have been recognised as a Partner School with Assessment for Dyslexia.

This achievement promotes our focus on wellbeing and commitment to ensure children feel confident, independent, and resilient and have opportunities to make good progress and enjoy their learning.

Educational Technology

Educational Technology

All children at Polam benefit from our growing suite of EdTech devices, tools and digital learning provision, with teachers receiving digital learning training from our in-house digital innovation team, to equip them with the best tools and knowledge to ensure that every child benefits.

We continue to invest in and develop our EdTech to provide children with exciting and innovative experiences that support independent learning and enhance lifelong skills such as digital literacy, collaboration, communication and self-awareness; the skills and knowledge which will allow them to take advantage of the quick-fire changes in technology and thrive in this rapidly evolving world.

Children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 have regular access to 1:1 iPad devices, with additional shared devices in nursery and preschool. This type of EdTech promotes learning and development when used as a tool to support learning (rather than a replacement for learning!). We look forward to keeping you updated on this throughout the summer term.

Academic Results

"Double Excellent" & "Outstanding" - OfSTED

We consistently celebrate exceptional results for children sitting entrance exams for Harpur Trust schools, with the majority of our Year 2 children receiving an offer at their first choice school.

We maintain our excellent academic achievements as you can see from our teacher term assessments, along with standardised results, shown here for Maths, Writing and Reading.

For our 4th consecutive OfSTED inspection, we achieved a rating of "Outstanding" for our Nursery & Preschool and "Double Excellent" for our Preschool and Pre-Prep. This is a reflection of the exceptional quality of education provided at Polam.

Our Nursery & Preschool demonstrated excellence in all aspects of early education, from curriculum delivery to the welfare and development of our youngest learners. This rating acknowledges that we are exceeding the expectations set by educational standards, providing a nurturing and enriching environment that sets a strong foundation for our children's future learning journeys.

Our Preschool and Pre-Prep result is also a remarkable achievement. Independent schools are graded for both academic success and personal development.

Achieving ‘Excellent’ in both categories awards a ‘Double Excellent’. It signifies that not only do we consistently deliver an exceptional early education experience, but we also excel in preparing our students for the rest of their primary education and beyond.

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