Horsenden Primary School

Welcome

Announcement: 
Voice 21 Oracy Centre of Excellence Award

We are thrilled to share some fantastic news with you – Horsenden has officially been accredited as a Voice 21 Oracy Centre of Excellence for 2024/2025!

This is a huge achievement for our school and a proud moment for our whole community. Voice 21 is the UK’s leading oracy charity, and this award recognises the hard work we’ve put into developing our children’s speaking, listening and communication skills over the past few years.

We’ve been a Voice 21 school since 2022 and have worked steadily to embed oracy into every part of school life – from classroom talk and performances to problem-solving, debates and restorative conversations. This award is a real milestone in our journey and shows that Horsenden is now seen as a model of best practice for schools all across the country.

To become a Centre of Excellence, we had to show how oracy is central to our school’s vision, curriculum, teaching and learning, and the impact it’s having on our children. The award team were particularly impressed by how empowered our pupils are to share their ideas, express themselves clearly, and speak with confidence in a wide range of situations.

We’re so proud of our children, our staff and our whole community for helping to make this happen. Thank you for continuing to support our work – we look forward to building on this success together.

You can find out more about oracy and Voice 21 here: https://voice21.org/

Horsenden Primary School is a large and culturally diverse school where children play and learn well together and everyone is valued for their differences. The staff and governors strive to develop teaching that is exemplary and a learning environment where high expectations are the norm. We aim to develop our children to be confident, ambitious and critical thinkers who have the skills to explore their interests and be curious about the world around them. We provide a range of opportunities for children to work collaboratively, be inquisitive and to develop new skills within the classroom and beyond.

We pride ourselves on delivering a curriculum that teaches our children about how they learn best so that they can challenge themselves in every lesson. The curriculum is planned to allow children to take responsibility for their learning and to develop the skills and character virtues that lead to success in school, at university, in work and life beyond. We do this through providing an exciting and innovative curriculum and by developing a genuine partnership between home, school and the local community.

If you are looking to join our vibrant learning community, or would like to know more about our amazing facilities we hope you’ll find what you’re looking for in these pages. If you would like to speak to a member of staff, you are welcome to contact the school to make an appointment; we would be delighted to meet you.

Mrs Emma Appelby

Headteacher