St Johns Primary - what do you think?

[movetobristol]

Hi would appreciate any feedback on St. Johns Primary in Clifton - thanks very much!

Sorry, I meant to respond to this ages ago! I don't know if my thoughts will be worth much since I haven't been in Bristol or the UK long and i don't have experience with any other schools to compare with St. John's. My daughter transferred into reception after the Christmas term break and I was extremely impressed with how much care was given to helping her transition in. We met with the teacher and a health specialist ahead of time due to my daughter's food allergies and they seemed very on top of everything. All the teachers and staff seem very friendly and skilled and I get the impression they take their work (and their Ofsted outstanding rating) very seriously. Academically the kids seem to be broken into groups according to ability and allowed to learn at the level most suitable for them. (There are various names to the methods they use for maths and reading but I'm not very good at remembering those). The themes for the terms seem fun and kid friendly (outer space, mini-beasts) and all the extra activities like music, P.E., free-play, yoga, computers, forest school and assembly seem to balance out (and compliment) the more academic learning. The student body is fairly diverse (if self selecting for a high-achieving school) and the school really works hard to promote tolerant and kind behavior among the students. My daughter finds the long days exhausting after a few weeks in a row but couldn't wait to get back to school after term break! That's really all I can speak to except that next year the school will be broken into two campuses so reception, year 1&2 will be at a new site down the road.