I LOVE Nevill Road Junior School

23 Jul 2018

Situated on a leafy side street off Bramhall Lane, Nevill Road Junior School has been helping students achieve their full potential since the 1950s. I Love Bramhall met up with headteacher Judi Cliff to find out the secret to the school’s success.

Judi took on the role of head back in September, drawn to Nevill Road’s liveliness and creativity, which was captured in a Red Nose Day video she’d seen produced by the staff and students. With Judi’s musical background – she played the oboe professionally and continues to sing and play the piano – the school’s focus on nurturing creative arts was something she related to directly, and she felt compelled to go for the role.

Nevill Road School

Living near to the Bramhall area, Judi also values the village’s “positive vibes” and “immense support for local schools”. The community feel of Bramhall is certainly echoed within Nevill Road – their tagline ‘TEAM’, emblazoned on everything from the welcome mat to the school uniform, stands for ‘together everyone achieves more’. With pupils and staff working together to make changes in the school, children are put at the heart of the Nevill Road ethos.

As fate would have it, our chat pauses for a moment while a pupil pops in to be wished a happy birthday and is invited to rummage through the school’s Birthday Box for a prize. The big smile on his face as he walks out emphasises the school’s dedication to maintaining the student-first, caring and happy atmosphere that Judi speaks of so proudly.

Nevill Road School

With everything that Nevill Road Junior School gains from its favourable location at the heart of the Bramhall community, it aims to give back just as much. The school’s charity fundraising efforts – from Christmas jumpers to fancy dress, discos and rock songs – support causes such as Children in Need and local charity Millie’s Trust. Pupils have a blast raising money for good causes (around £900 for Sport Relief alone!) but also develop values that will stay with them for life.

As the school is linked to Nevill Road Infant School, which shares its site, the transition to the Junior School in Year 3 stands pupils in good stead for their move into ‘big’ school, building resilience and independence from an early age. The headteachers of the infants and juniors work together to maintain links between the two schools, building the ‘family feel’ that even Ofsted has picked up on.

Nevill Road School

The holistic approach to learning at Nevill Road means that its focus is not on academia alone but on the development of the whole child, encouraging participation in sports, drama and music. The school’s sporting success is hard to beat – readers may remember the Year 6 girls cricket team being crowned Kwik Cricket champions of Stockport and the Year 5 and 6 boys achieving the title of Stockport Champions in football last month.

Nevill Road School

In addition, the school Boccia team represented Stockport at the recent Greater Manchester School Games, so it’s no surprise that Nevill Road Juniors has been awarded the Sainsbury’s Gold Award for PE. Yet sports isn’t the only area the school excels in; there is a YSBD (You Should Be Dancing) performance club on Mondays led by the YSBD (You Should Be Dancing) Principal and this year’s production of Beauty and the Beast went down a storm, with pupils showing talent and confidence unmatched by many budding performers twice their age.

Nevill Road School

As part of the school’s commitment to maintaining a happy and nurturing environment for every Nevill Road pupil, hard work is currently underway to create a new and improved playground, as well as an outdoor performing stage and outdoor classroom. With the first stage of the project set to be completed for the return to school in September, it’s certainly an exciting time for Nevill Road and its pupils!

Find out more about Nevill Road and what the school could offer your child using the following links: