Our Mission

Newcastle-under-Lyme School aims to develop responsible, well-informed, confident and caring individuals by providing a journey of opportunity on which all pupils are motivated to achieve their very best through a challenging all-round education. We aim to provide all our pupils with the best start in life.

Our Ethos

We do not have a single ethos “statement”. We have a set of shared and agreed school characteristics, which are what define the school’s ethos:

- The happiness of our pupils.

- We are a “Family School” – we have family connections which stretch back over generations.

- We know our pupils.

- Our pupils achieve and we value their achievement.

- We are not an exam factory – we believe in providing and we do provide a rich variety of out of class or extra curricular activity.

- We contribute to the wider community and are a local school.

- Our ethos is grounded, down-to-earth, unpretentious.

- Our bursary programme enables us to maintain a wide social mix of pupils in the Senior School.

- Our staff are highly dedicated and give a great deal of “out of hours” support and care.

- We have high expectations and a climate of hard work. Hard work is valued by pupils.

Our Aims

- To enable pupils to achieve their full academic and personal potential.

- To equip pupils with the skills and values ( see below ) to take their place as responsible citizens in society.

- To give pupils a broad, well rounded education that presents them with a wide variety of both curricular and extra curricular opportunities.

- To give pupils the skills to assume responsibility.

- To help pupils to identify the most appropriate course for the next stages of their lives.

- To provide access for pupils from all social and economic backgrounds.

- To develop the whole person who lives life to the full and shows courtesy, care and consideration to others.

- To help pupils to become articulate and confident.

- To develop pupils with well developed senses of self motivation, self discipline, personal integrity and moral responsibility.

- To instil in pupils a positive work ethic.

- To provide pupils with a wide range of leadership opportunities.

Our Values

In terms of specific values, attributes or qualities that we want our pupils to gain from their experience in the school, those that we regard as the most significant are as follows:

- Happiness

- Achievement

- Confidence

- A love of learning

- Respect

- Responsibility

- Discipline

- Integrity

- Honesty

- Service

Our Vision

Our Vision underpins all aspects of our School Development Plan, as we strive:

- To be a school in which every child and every parent feels supported, valued and appreciated.

- To be a school which provides a continuous educational experience for pupils between the ages of 3 and 18, at whatever stage they join.

- To be a school which consistently demonstrates excellence in the way it prepares its pupils for the next stage of their educational journey.

- To be a school which provides a rich and varied extra-curricular programme to excite the interest and imagination of each of its pupils.

- To be a school which provides substantial opportunities for independent learning.

- To be a school which recruits, retains and fosters inspiring and well-motivated teachers.

- To be a school which effectively manages and uses modern technology to maximise learning.

- To be a school which provides clean, comfortable, safe and well-resourced facilities for all its pupils.

- To be a school which belongs to and contributes towards the spirit and reputation of the local community.

- To be a school which is well-known, well-regarded, thriving, oversubscribed and able to invest in its future with commercial confidence.