The Children are the lifeblood of the school, everything we do is focused on ensuring their educational journey with us is fun and exciting to inspire them to enjoy learning about the wonderful world around us.

Each year group elects two representatives onto the School Parliament, whose remit is to present the views of the pupils in the running of the school. The children meet with Mr Gater on a regular basis and discuss issues that have been raised by the pupils and ideas about how to solve them. They are involved in decisions that have an impact on the school, from events and trips, school dinners, activities and wider interaction within the community and are pivotal to ensuring the wider school is a friendly and caring environment for all the children and staff alike.

When  children arrive at Saint Sebastian’s, we understand that it can be very daunting and some children may be anxious or apprehensive — especially our youngest pupils. At Saint Sebastian’s, we proudly run a buddy system where pupils in Year 6 undertake a mentoring role for Receptions pupils. This system proves to be extremely popular amongst the pupils, with the older children excited to take on younger pupils before they even enter Year 6 and for the reception children to have an older child guiding and supporting them. We are committed to providing a caring, supportive environment for our pupils to learn in, and the personal well-being of all of our pupils is at the heart of everything that we do.

Children are regularly reminded of the code of conduct and rules of the school. At the start of each school year classroom charters are drawn up and agreed by the children in each class.

Children can gain points for their Family groups for good behaviour, manners, thinking of others etc and each week each class teacher presents a cup to a member of their class. This could be for good work or good behaviour. Year 6 also have an ethos cup, presented weekly to a Year 6 child who best supports the school ethos. Annually, we also present cups for outstanding achievement in sports, the arts and mathematics as well as ethos.

Good behaviour and high standards of discipline are achieved by verbal encouragement. Withdrawal of privileges may be used as a sanction.

If a child has a problem at school, a meeting between parent, teacher and Headteacher is arranged so that all concerned can work together to help the child. The school’s behaviour and anti-bullying policies are available in the office and can also be viewed on our website by parents of children at the school. The school uses, amongst other sanctions, a yellow and red card system — further details can be found in our behaviour policy here.

The Governors and staff of Saint Sebastian's Primary School are fully committed to safeguarding all the children who belong to the school community. The school recognises its legal and moral duty to promote the well-being of children, and protect them from harm, and respond to child abuse. 

We believe that every child, regardless of age, has, at all times and in all situations, a right to feel safe and protected from any situation or practice that results in a child being physically or psychologically damaged. We are fully committed to ensuring that the safety and security of the children in our care is maintained.

Saint Sebastian’s Primary School recognises that every member of its staff has a key role in prevention of harm, and the early identification, intervention and support for pupils at risk of significant harm. The School endeavours to provide an environment where children are valued and know that their concerns will be taken seriously. We aim to provide a welcoming and inclusive environment where everyone feels happy, safe and secure. We promote an atmosphere of truth and honesty in which everyone feels valued and shows respect for each other and their surroundings. As a team, we are committed to high expectations and continuous improvement. We adopt a child centred approach to high quality teaching and learning, inspiring everyone to achieve their full potential

This duty extends to taking all reasonable steps to prevent children from suffering any form of maltreatment. All members of staff have a duty of care to all the children in the school. All members of staff are alert to the signs of abuse and must report any concerns if they have reasonable suspicion that a child may be suffering or likely to suffer harm.