Shirley Community Primary School

We are a friendly, happy and successful school, serving the diverse and vibrant community of Chesterton in Cambridge. Our pupils come from a wide variety of backgrounds and many speak English as an additional language. Children love coming to Shirley - they literally 'run in' to our playground in the mornings, and they are welcomed by a happy and dedicated staff who support and nurture them in a variety of ways. We are a highly inclusive place of learning and are very proud to be the first school in the country to gain the Equalities Award.

We look carefully at the development of the ‘whole child’, and through our curriculum, with a focus on key skills, we aim to give children the best possible start in life. Everyone has huge potential, and we want our pupils to enjoy learning, achieve the highest possible standards and develop their curiosity, adaptability and problem solving skills. Children’s emotional health is also nurtured through our strong focus on Personal, Social and Health Education, as well as via our Daily Mile or meditation sessions, which help children learn to relax and make calm decisions in our busy World.

We focus not only on the academic and personal skills for now and future life, but also on building resilience and developing those all-important transferrable skills such as perseverance, collaboration, questioning and making links. We aim to help all children become powerful learners with curious and independent minds, so they can face any difficulty and uncertainty (now and in the future) calmly, confidently and creatively.