Vision & Values

Frank Barnes is a place where all our children Learn, Grow and Flourish to become well-rounded, successful individuals in an increasingly global society.

Bilingualism

Frank Barnes School is a bilingual school where all our children are valued as unique individuals and given opportunities to develop and maximise their academic, social, emotional and physical skills in a language-rich environment. We aim for all our staff and pupils to be bilingual and achieve fluency in both British Sign Language and English and provide high quality education as excellent language models to prepare our pupils to become lifelong, independent learners. We value the importance of both BSL and English equally. We also encourage and support parents to become proficient in BSL to support their children’s education.

 

Pupil Progress

We have high expectations for our children’s attainment, achievement, behaviour and safety through the delivery of a creative curriculum to meet individual needs and ensure holistic progress from EYFS to Key Stage 2. We believe that effective communication in BSL, excellent teaching and learning, positive praise, and celebration of success will enable each child to reach their full potential and become resilient, creative and confident individuals with a positive attitude to learning.

 

A sense of belonging

We place much emphasis on celebrating diversity and a deaf cultural approach in the development of our children’s social skills. We believe that each child has the right to a positive deaf identity, to be proud of being deaf and to be part of the deaf community which gives them a sense of belonging. We also recognise the status, role and contribution of BSL and deaf people in the education of our children through delivery of the National Deaf Studies curriculum.

 

Partnership

We work closely with our partner school, Kings Cross Academy, and the wider community to develop our children’s experience of working and learning collaboratively with other communities through shared curriculum opportunities and joint projects. We also value the support of our stakeholders, including parents, the Governors, Camden Local Authority, multi-agency professionals and other organisations to support our children’s learning and development.

 

Sharing good practice

Ofsted has consistently recognised Frank Barnes School as ‘Outstanding’ and we are a centre of excellence, maintaining strong links with other schools for the deaf locally, nationally and internationally. We believe in sharing and disseminating good practice through joint professional development and relevant training for staff to ensure that outcomes for deaf children are constantly raised.