Personal Development is extremely important to us at Barkston & Syston CE Primary School. We offer a variety of experiences to help the children and staff at our school to develop.

KYRA is a group of schools in Lincolnshire who work together to achieve the very best for all children. We are part of KYRA Kids Council and here are our representatives. The council are looking forward to working with other KYRA schools to organise events.

We celebrate the achievements of children outside of school too.

Children are encouraged to carry out their own home learning projects linked to our curriculum. Children have the freedom to decide what they make and we encourage them to demonstrate their creativity. Some children decide to pursue other talents and interests and learn something completely new - recently, a Year 6 pupil has started to learn Chinese!

All children have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument. Expert tuition is provided through Lincolnshire Music Service and we currently have children learning the piano, guitar and trumpet!

We want our children to develop essential life skills. We work closely with Roots to Food to develop cooking skills with children across the whole school. Children even get to take a copy of the recipe home so they can use their new-found skills to prepare meals in their home.

We regularly take part in events within our community. Most recently, we have held a Remembrance service at the memorial and have contributed to the village's Christmas display on The Green. 

We are proud to have been recognised for our work on diversity, equality and inclusion. As part of the challenge, all of the children from EYFS - Y6 completed tasks and activities over the course of one year to recognise and celebrate individuality. The responses from the children were phenomenal and demonstrated our school values of love, responsibility, respect and kindness.

We want our children to be leaders! We have developed opportunities for children at school to lead and develop different areas. We have worked alongside Lincolnshire County Council to train some of our older children to be Junior Online Safety Officers (JOSO.) This important role will help all children and adults to learn ways to keep safe in the online world. We have also worked with Inspire + to train some of the children as Playground Leaders. Playground Leaders facilitate active playtimes with children from EYFS to Year 6.

This is our Oasis - it is a place of calm, of peace and of tranquility. Children may use this room for some time out or some space if needed. We are really fortunate to have a specially trained member of staff in Drawing and Talking therapy who works in this room with children from across the school.

House events

We have four houses at our school - Red, Yellow, Green and Blue. We hold regular house competitions where children can earn additional gem points for their team. Being part of a house creates a sense of belonging and it is great to feel part of a team.

The Big Question

Each Monday, we are asked a Big Question as part of our Collective Worship. We then think and discuss it throughout the week and share our ideas back on a Friday with the whole school. Sometimes the teachers suggest the questions, sometimes the children do but they are always REALLY interesting!

Residential visits

This year, our residential visit will see us taking part in exciting team-building challenges at PGL Caythorpe. Residential visits develop many skills including resilience, independence and responsibility. They are also great fun!

Keeping ourselves safe in a variety of situations is so important! Upper Key Stage 2 children have the opportunity to take part in Bikeability to learn how to stay safe whilst cycling.

Supporting others is important to staff and children at our school. Each year, we raise money for specific causes that are important to us, including the Grantham Foodbank, Children in Need and the Royal British Legion. Older children in school often carry out the fundraising using their own initiative and by choosing what is important to them.