Partnerships
St Francis CE Primary School values strong community partnerships and works closely with local organisations, businesses, and individuals to enrich the lives of our pupils. These partnerships help bring learning to life by offering meaningful, real-world experiences that extend far beyond the classroom.
Through workshops, visits, and collaborative projects, our pupils benefit from expert knowledge, practical skills, and inspiring role models from within their local community. These educational experiences support the curriculum, develop confidence and curiosity, and help children understand their role within the wider world. By working together with our community partners, we ensure our pupils enjoy memorable learning opportunities that support both their academic development and personal growth.
Magdalen College School
Every Tuesday afternoon, St Francis CE Primary School welcomes lower sixth pupils from Magdalen College School (MCS) into our Year 6 classroom to support children in both literacy and numeracy. This compliments and furthers the support and learning already offered by their teachers. They are encouraged to become more motivated as they develop increased confidence to be able to express themselves. In return, the pupils from MCS gain experience of working in the wider community, working independently, taking their own initiative and taking responsibility for developing young people's learning and skills.
Additionally, MCS have offered bespoke packages around music, gardening, drama and science. This has involved children from St Francis visiting MCS for enrichment activities such as investigative science activities in their labs but also experts leading activities on site at St Francis.
Magdalen College
Through our twinning programme with Magdalen College, children at St Francis School have enjoyed a wide range of enriching experiences both inside and outside the classroom. Pre- and postgraduate students volunteer at the school, reading weekly with children during term time.
Music Oxford – Build a Town
Pupils took part in a creative music project delivered by Music Oxford, where they collaborated to design and build a town through sound and performance. The project imagines a city where there are no adults and children are in charge. The original piece by German composer Paul Hindemith permiered in Berlin in 1930 and was perofrmed in 1931 by pupils in the Holwell Music Room in Oxford. Children at St Francis said they would like to have "clean air" and "see the sunrise in their perfect city.
Around 50 pupils took part in the final performance at St Edward's School which involved music, speech, dance and movement. The final performance gave the children a real sense of achievement and the project as a whole helped them grow in confidence whilst having fun!
Science Workshops & Experiences
In conjunction with Trinity College, the children attended live and interactive science workshops led by experts in the field and STEM professionals. These included lectures on artificial intelligence (AI), hands-on experiments focused on dam building, and explorations of alternative power sources.
Magdalen College Visits
Children from across Key Stage 2 visited Magdalen College throughout the year, gaining first-hand experience of life at an Oxford University college. They enjoyed guided tours and participated in a range of activities designed to explore the college’s history and support their current learning topics.
Further links have been established with the Social Foundations Lab, enabling pupils at St Francis to take part in cutting-edge educational psychology research. As the partnership between St Francis School and Oxford colleges continues to grow, we look forward to many more opportunities to enrich and inspire the children’s learning.
