'Responsible, ambitious, caring' - We visited the Walsall primary school where students are taught to be 'the best they can be'

Greenfield Primary School, which has been teaching the young learners of the community for generations, prides itself on putting children and the community first in every aspect of what it does. 

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Their motto perfectly sets out this school's mission, to develop responsible, ambitious and caring members of the community who not only show understanding for each other, but the world around them also. 

Captained by Mrs Madelaine Burkett, students are encouraged to be eager learners not only inside their classrooms, but in the community and world too. 

'Responsible, Ambitious, Caring Learner'

The school's motto includes three small, but important attributes: responsible, ambitious, caring learner.

While this motto may sound fairly straightforward, and something that we all develop as we progress later in life, Greenfield believes these values are the key ingredients to developing a future star who puts the world community first. 

Mrs Burkett said: "At Greenfield Primary School, we want our children to grow up knowing that they can make the world a better place to be. 

"As it says on our school logo, we aim for every child to be a responsible, ambitious, caring learner, who understands how to make good decisions, and behave well, and who strives to be the best they can be and show kindness and understanding to each other and the world around them. 

"It makes us proud to see these attributes displayed by so many of our children on a daily basis."

'Community first'

Through a wide range of community outreach activities, Greenfield's young learners are given a deep understanding of the steps to take to make the world a better place. 

Over Christmas, each class decorates a Christmas Tree based on a fairy tale as part of an in-house festival, then pupils also took part in the Christmas Tree Festival in Lichfield Cathedral, winning an award for their school with their 'proud to be Greenfield' creation.

Mrs Burkett said: "We like to get involved in community events and this year we combined this with our Christmas activities in school. Every class decorated a Christmas Tree based on a fairy tale, then we held our own Christmas Tree Festival in the school hall, where parents and families could come in and view them. 

"Everyone was so impressed with how creative all the children had been and enjoyed coming into school for something a little bit different. We also decorated a tree based on children’s rights, which was displayed in the Aldridge Methodist Church Christmas Tree Festival and received lots of positive comments from visitors to the church. 

"And then, our ‘piece de resistance’ – we took part in the Christmas Tree Festival at Lichfield Cathedral and won the school competition! Our tree, which was based on the theme ‘Proud to be Greenfield’ and decorated with miniature books made byevery child in school, received the most votes from visitors to the Cathedral throughout December."

'Rights Knights'

Even more, students in the school formed the 'Right Knights', a team of eager, community-focused learners who work with staff members to help children and parents understand 'children's rights', and achieve the UNICEF Bronze - Rights Committed' school award. 

The award recognises a school's dedication to promoting the rights of our young learners and to creating a safe and inspiring place to learn, where children are respected. 

Mrs Burkett added: "We are working towards becoming a UNICEF Rights Respected School. In just one term, we achieved the first stage, and are now a 'UNICEF Bronze - Rights Committed' school. 

"This means that our whole school is committed to making sure that all students have access to the rights agreed in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

"We have a group of pupils – our ‘Rights Knights’ – who work with our staff to help our children and parents understand what children’s rights are and why they are so important."

'Our school is brilliant'

Walking around the hallways of the school, it's easy to see why children love learning here.

The school is fun, teachers are approachable, and above all else, it feels safe, with each teacher knowing each student by name.

They were eager to learn about the new people in their school, and they showed a tremendous amount of respect for others, even holding the doors open and helping to clean, grab coats and bags, or just saying 'hello' in the hallway. 

While it may seem like our opinion, students at the school obviously felt the same. 

Talking about their school, Cody, Elijah, Tilly and Josh, all of Year 5, said: "Our school is about people. It's brilliant. We learn exciting things and spend time with our friends. 

"Our teachers care, and they're all amazing and want us to learn the best we can. Our school is special because we learn how to show respect to everyone."