Preparing our children for life in modern Britain

Hurdsfield Primary School recognises the importance of a positive and respectful school culture, in which our staff know and care about our pupils as individuals.  We believe that a whole-school, holistic approach to personal development is the best way to remove barriers to learning, prepare pupils for their adult lives, and teach them to understand how to engage with an ever-changing global society.  Our school is a place where we want children to feel safe, happy and engaged with their learning, where they have respect for themselves and others, and where they aspire to be better and to learn more.

These beliefs of Hurdsfield Primary School run through our school values: Respect, Reflection, Resilience, Encouragement, Challenge & Global Citizen.  These values are discussed in classrooms on a daily basis and celebrated in whole school assemblies to recognise and reward pupils for demonstrating them.  More on our school values can be seen here.

Personal development is embedded within and across school life at Hurdsfield Primary School.  Children learn how to stay physically, emotionally and mentally healthy, and understand why it is important for them to develop and continue with healthy habits as they move up to secondary school and beyond, including recognising and managing online and offline risks. 

Our PSHE curriculum helps pupils to recognise that personal choices, values and characteristics guide people's behaviour and aspirations.  Helping children to develop a positive sense of self is an integral part of our school ethos.  See our PSHE curriculum page for more details.on our curriculum overview and content of learning.

We take a ‘tiered’ approach to helping those children who may need some additional support with their emotional health and well-being, whether this is through regular pastoral ‘check-ins’ or through targeted interventions.  These include working in partnership with our NHS Mental Health Support Team and other external agencies to ensure that the right support is in place.  

Oracy at the heart of what we do

Hurdsfield Primary School's senior leaders recognised the importance of Oracy for our pupils and in 2024-25 made it a school priority for the school.  This led to an action plan of implementation ensuring that staff were appropriately trained and pupils were taught the foundation skills and strategies.

Hurdsfield Primary School puts oracy at the heart of what we do: encouraging our children to use both exploratory and presentational language in a range of formal and informal contexts, including giving children the opportunity to participate in formal debates as part of their class presentations or assemblies to speak to larger audiences.  We encourage our children to be reflective learners, to understand that their opinion is important and that they have a voice in society, but also that others may hold differing beliefs or world views that are equally valid.  As they move up through school, pupils are encouraged to recognise moral or ethical issues that may not have a simple or straightforward resolution, and they are supported to consider the consequence or legality of their own and others’ actions.  

More details on how we support children to understand the rule of law and other fundamental British Values can be found on our British Values page.

Providing Opportunities for our pupils outside of the classroom

Cultural development is embedded in our school ethos, as our children are encouraged to understand and appreciate the cultural influences and values that have shaped their world locally, nationally and globally. Our curriculum is ambitious for all pupils, and provides our children with a broad range of cultural capital. All children are able to actively participate in a wide range of artistic, musical and sporting opportunities, including educational and cultural trips, experiential learning with visitors in school, and extended residential visits.  

Singing for pleasure

“When you sing, musical vibrations move through you, altering your physical and emotional landscape.”– Julie Lyonn Lieberman

At Hurdsfield, we love snging, so much so that we have a weekly singing assembly.  This provides our pupils with the opportunity to express themselves through song, and grow in confidence in performance.  We look forward to performing singing whether that be in school performances or a parent events such as our magical Christmas Carol service at Holy Trinity Hurdsfield Church.

Learning in Nature

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything.” -Albert Einstein

In 2024-25, Hurdsfield Primary School launched its own bespoke HOWL - Hurdsfield Outdoor & Wildnerness Learning.  These outdoor learning sessions recognise the needs of the school's pupils to further develop collaboration, teamwork, communication and problem-solving skills.  Whilst also supporting pupils' mental health and wellbeing through learning within nature, and outside of the classroom, these sessions are child-led to support the needs of pupils and build upon PSHE learning.

You can find out more about what we do in the HOWL on its specific page.

In 2024-25, Hurdsfield Primary School pupils, staff, parents, and governors collaborated to create a bespoke '100 Things You'll Do Before Leaving Hurdsfield' which specifically identifies the many cultural, social, and citizen opportunities and experiences that we offer as a school that are not part of the national curriculum.  These recognise the enhancements and activities that pupils take part in throughout their life at the school to further develop them as individuals and prepare them for high school and life in the wider world.