Welcome

Our school:

St Francis de Sales school has been a three-form entry federated infant and junior school (a federation means that the infant and junior schools used to be separate schools – but now the two schools are united under one headteacher). However. over recent years pupil numbers have been going down across London and we have reduced our pupil intake from three classes in each year group to two classes in each year group. We serve a community of nearly 500 pupils from nursery to year 6.
At St Francis every child is encouraged to discover and nurture their God-given ability through a stimulating curriculum. Our aim is to engage and inspire our pupils by going beyond the restrictions of the national curriculum – producing youngsters who can take up their place in secondary education and the world of work with the knowledge and confidence they need to be successful.

For more information about what we teach and how we teach it, refer to our curriculum statement here.

As a Catholic school, our overall goal is to fulfil the Church’s mission in education by ensuring we provide the highest level of academic achievement in a moral and spiritual framework. So, at St Francis, we aim to have a school where;

• Parents can trust that their children are being academically challenged in a caring environment

• Children are enthusiastic and independent learners motivated by the rich and varied curriculum  
• Each individual is developed to take their place as active and productive member of the Catholic community and within the wider world

Our mission: 

To accomplish these aims, we strive to follow the guidance of St Francis himself, who said;

 “Be who you are and be that well.”

 This motivates everyone at the school to be the best that we can be and this is reflected in our mission statement;

 “At St Francis de Sales every child will achieve their own personal excellence by making outstanding progress in their academic, social and spiritual development. This will enable them to excel at secondary school and then attend a further educational institution should they choose.”

Our values:

Underpinning everything we do are our values – the core principles which drive our behaviours at all times. It is our strong belief that pupils who are aspirational, respectful, resilient, engaged, team-players will be successful in anything they choose to do.

Not only will you see our values prominently displayed throughout our school (there are some examples below), but you will notice how the values shine through in the behaviour of our pupils. In fact the behaviour in our school has been judged by Ofsted to be outstanding for the last decade.

We also ensure our pupils understand wider ‘British values’ – these are democracy, the rule of law, liberty, mutual respect and tolerance. These British values link very closely to our school values and they are promoted through all elements of the school curriculum, systems and processes.

Our values also support in our school’s statutory Prevent Duty. This is the duty the government has given all schools to ensure that we challenge any extreme view or ideology.

For more information on our values and how we promote them, please refer to our ‘Promoting British Values Policy here and on our Prevent Duty here.

Our Successes:

As an infant and junior school federation, we still have two inspections. The Infant School was judged to be 'good' with outstanding leadership and behaviour by Ofsted most recently in May 2024 (see here) and the junior school was judged to be ‘good’ with outstanding leadership and behaviour by Ofsted in May 2021 (see here).

Particularly pleasing comments from past inspections have included;

“Under the inspirational leadership of the headteacher, this school is going from strength to strength. He has embedded a culture of high aspiration for all within a caring faith ethos.”

“Leadership is outstanding. The executive headteacher, head of school and deputy headteacher are highly ambitious for all pupils. They have created a culture of ‘no excuses’ and high expectations, and these are part and parcel of everyday school life. “

"Behaviour is outstanding. Pupils look after each other and unkindness is not tolerated. Pupils’ are extremely respectful, polite and courteous. They feel safe and are very well cared for. Leaders provide excellent opportunities for pupils’ personal development. Pupils display exceptionally strong attitudes to learning."

"Pupils’ welfare is at the heart of the school’s work."

"Pupils believe that they can achieve great things if they work hard and apply themselves well to their work. One pupil said, ‘Children from Tottenham don’t often go to university but we will."

"The atmosphere of aspiration which pervades the school is as strong among the staff team as it is among pupils. As a result, teaching has improved and teachers are keen to develop their skills even further." 

The school is also Inspected by the Catholic School Inspectorate, with the last inspection in October 2024 judging the Catholic life of the school to be outstanding and stating;

'There is a joyful, inclusive and welcoming ethos at St Francis De Sales which is celebrated by the whole school community as they strive to follow the school motto ‘Be who you are and be that well.'

'The school’s work with the local parish is exemplary and the impact on outcomes for the pupils is evident in lessons, in worship and in Catholic life and mission.'

'Pastoral care for pupils is outstanding.'