Cradley C of E Primary School is a small school that values standards and achievement.

We are extremely proud of all that goes on here. As our website demonstrates, the children at Cradley Primary School are supported in their learning by dedicated staff, governors and parents.

I encourage you to browse around our website - you will find details of school events, visitors and activities that serve to enliven the curriculum, alongside information about our after-school clubs and extra-curricular activities in which your children can participate.

Don't forget to visit our Calendar section, for a comprehensive lisiting of all of the important forthcoming term dates - make sure you have your diaries handy. I look forward to seeing you in school!

Best Wishes

Mr Adam Greaves

(Head teacher)

Head Teacher's Vision

I have very much enjoyed my first term as Headteacher of Cradley CE Primary School and have felt extremely privileged to be given the chance to lead and manage such a delightful school.  I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you my vision for the coming year.

The children asked me at interview if I was good enough for Cradley; what a difficult question.  My answer to them was that I felt ready.  I have the skills to equip me for the job - and with those skills and help from others around me, I will do my best.

I want our school to continue to be a place where children are valued for who they are and where their contributions are listened to.  It must continue to be a place where children feel safe, have fun and enjoy learning.  We must have high expectations for all children, so that they can achieve their potential and develop into well-rounded individuals.  I want our school to be a place where relationships are valued and developed; and the sense of family extends into school, into the community and globally.

I am extremely grateful to be part of a community that values children's happiness and wellbeing and sees the potential in each and every child.  These values form part of my philosophy of education and I believe that we should celebrate the fact that people say such wonderful things about our school.

I continually strive for excellence in my own abilities.  I don't always get there and make mistakes along the way, but I am prepared to take risks, have a go, learn from my mistakes and I want the children to feel the same.

Our school is a good school and, in partnership with children, parents, staff and governors,  I hope to make it even better.  Our last Ofsted report in 2006 stated that "this is a good and improving school".  It set us the targets of ensuring that all more able children have sufficient challenges to enable them to reach higher standards, particularly in Years 1 and 2 and to ensure that teachers' marking provides good guidance to the pupils about how to improve their work.

We are looking forward to a visit from Ofsted at some point in this academic year and we will be ensuring that we are able to meet the challenges and opportunities that such an event brings.

Over the course of the Summer term 2011, we reviewed our assessment structures and will now be moving towards a clearer intervention-based provision for identified groups of children.   The staff and I have also reviewed our phonics teaching within Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1.  From September, we will be implementing a structured phonics-based approach to teaching reading and writing, which we are sure will have a positive impact on the children's learning. 

As a staff, we are very aware of parents' and carers' wishes to support their children's learning, and we have reflected upon the structure of Parent's Evenings.  We have decided to hold a Target Setting Evening in October this year.  This will allow us to share with you the children's targets for the coming year and each child will have individual targets that they will be working on during the term.  It will provide our new Reception parents with a chance to talk through experiences after a month at school.  There will be a further Parent's Evening during the Spring term.

We have also looked at the quality of our curriculum and will be moving this year towards a more ‘creative curriculum'.  This is a cross-linked curriculum that is based around a central topic.  We will also be studying and utilising the learning opportunities offered by the London 2012 Olympics.  A real, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the children.

We will keep you up to date on the impact of these changes.

We want all children to be good and effective learners.  Children learn best when they have good teachers, purposeful learning opportunities and when they are happy and confident.  My sights will be set high.  I want to continue to improve standards, but more importantly, I want to continue to improve achievement for all children to make good or better progress.  Above all,  I want children to enjoy their learning.

We are lucky to have such a hard-working and dedicated staff.  I believe that we are equipped with the professional skills to enable us to make accurate assessments of children.  With quality teaching, and opportunities which encourage thinking skills, independence and communication skills, standards will rise further.

The number of children in school is 101, which is good, but with a falling population of young children in and around the Malvern Hills area, numbers are important to us.  I want parents to choose to send their children to Cradley.  Most people who visit the school decide to send their children here.  It is a special place, but we must not be complacent - we need to send the message out into the community.  We will continue to work with Magic Moments Nursery to ensure that we are the first choice school for children both within and outside our catchment area.  Magic Moments have had their initial Ofsted inspection and achieved a ‘good' judgement.  This is an excellent start to their time at Cradley School and we look forward to developing an even closer partnership over the coming months and years.

The staff and I are excited by the opportunities and challenges of the coming year.  We look forward to working in partnership with you.

Adam Greaves,Headteacher