The Blackdown Education Partnership’s aim is to provide exceptional education for its pupils and to work closely with its families to identify needs as early as possible. By engaging families at an early stage in their child’s school life we can focus on the child’s educational and developmental requirements quickly to ensure the best educational journey for the individual. We are committed to the locality, to building the best provision possible for every child through from Nursery to secondary, in both academic and social, emotional and health education.  

At Isambard Kingdom Brunel Primary School (IKB) we believe that every child has the right to a high quality education, to see themselves as successful, to participate in enrichment and learning and to be full citizens locally, national and globally.

IKB has at its core a commitment that:  

• Every Child Achieves
• Every Child Belongs
• Every Child Participates in learning, enrichment and the community 

Every Child Achieves

Through school, children begin to develop attitudes and beliefs about themselves both as learners and as people. By the age of 7, children already have a deep sense of themselves as learners and as part of a community. By 7, many children who are disadvantaged have already fallen behind their peers and we will not allow that. We want every single child in our care to thrive, be successful, have strong moral purpose and sense of belonging and identity.  

We are serious about ensuring that no child will be disadvantaged by their background. We are committed to a deep progression from Nursery through Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), the Key stages 1-4 and beyond into their adult life. The Bright Sparks Nursery provision and IKB EYFS forms the bedrock of our children’s outstanding education and personal development, especially for disadvantaged children who will begin at Bright Sparks aged 2. Children leave Bright Sparks with the beginning of a sense of themselves as both individuals and a sense of responsibility for their community which they then take with them as they continue their learning journey through school.

In order to ensure every child achieves, we have strong and robust systems in place to monitor, track and intervene so that no child falls behind. Most importantly the teaching and learning is focused on building knowledge and securing knowledge, whilst placing value on cultural capital (the essential knowledge and skills that children need to be educated citizens) and reading.

Every Child Belongs 

At IKB we are committed to every child feeling that they belong, that they are important and that they contribute in their own unique way as well as collectively, building a positive, enthusiastic and supportive community that is based on mutual respect and support.

The pastoral system is the key driver in this. Houses provide a strong family-orientated support for children and families and are a key feature of IKB. The Houses reflect the innovation and inventiveness of Brunel, and are named after great scientists, mathematicians, environmentalists, inventors and olympians to reinforce the positive growth mindset that will characterise learning in the school.  

IKB Houses: 

1. Thunberg (Greta) – a teenage activist from Sweden who has become the face of the youth climate movement. 
2. Johnson (Katherine) - a mathematician from America whose calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of the first spaceflights and moon landings. 
3. Hawking (Stephen) - a theoretical physicist, cosmologist and author from England who was known for his work on black holes relativity. 
4. Simmonds (Ellie) – a British, gold medal winning and world record setting, Paralympian swimmer who is also involved in the Scout movement and sporting charities.

Every Child Participates  

IKB believes strongly in community and the contribution that young people make is essential to the wellbeing of their local, national and global community. IKB centres itself firmly in the heart of the local community and supports the community by ensuring children have a clear sense of what makes a good citizen and a good neighbour as well as understanding the responsibilities and the privilege of living in the UK. Pupils have a strong sense of themselves in a local, national and global context so they have a clear sense of the responsibility they have to others, in the present and in the future. 

To further strengthen the core values which run through the school, IKB has a set of attributes with aspiration embedded within them which are shared and demonstrated by all children, staff and the wider school community. 

Our IKB attributes include:  

• We are POSITIVE in our relationships with others and values that we share.
• We are ENGAGED in our learning, our wider school activities and our community.
• We are RESPONSIBLE for the way we conduct ourselves in school and amongst the community 
• We are RESPECTFUL to everyone we meet and to the property and resources that we share 
• We are RESILIENT when things might not go the way we want and come back stronger 
• We rise to CHALLENGES to learn more about ourselves and to strive for further achievement 

By demonstrating these core attributes, IKB has created a shared identity which enables all stakeholders to strengthen their sense of achievement, belonging and participation, both within themselves and collaboratively.