At Norton, culture is planned for, developed, and sustained through practices that bring the community together, promote shared understandings, and encourage all community members to become crew, not passengers.
Crew provides opportunities for children to build a close relationship with a trusted adult (crew leader) at the school, as well as a consistent and ongoing small-scale peer community. Crew leaders support student progress and nurtures the children to become the best versions of themselves.
At the start of every day all primary students spend 30 minutes in ‘Crew’ and check in at the end of the day to review HoWLs for 15 minutes. This is adapted to suit the needs of Early Year students. Crew is central to the positive culture at XP and places relationships – supporting students socially, emotionally, and academically at the heart of everything we do.
Our first week back is always used to either introduce or reaffirm the importance of crew. This period of time is used by crew, and phase leaders to build, continue to build or rebuild, positive relationships with their crew through shared experiences and challenges. Through shared rituals, protocols and practices, strong bonds are created, or re-established, that are the foundation of our culture.
We believe that if we get Crew right, we get everything right!
Our Crew Curriculum has been carefully crafted to provide Crew Leaders with a framework that enables them to engage students in rich and broad experiences:
- Mindful Monday – an opportunity for students to be reflective as well as active. To share their weekend experiences during the crew check-in and then conduct activities which either focus on giving back to the community through service learning (Crew Stewardship) or personal mindfulness.
- Tranquil Tuesday – a time used each week to support the development of lifelong readers through literature circles and structured discussions on a text or the opportunity for students to independently read.
- Wise Wednesday – time for students to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding they will need to manage their lives, now and in the future, and to keep them healthy, safe and prepare them for life and work in modern Britain.
- Thoughtful Thursday (Academic Crew) – time for students to reflect on their academic progress and character growth.
- Flexible Friday – allows time to tend to and further develop crew.
RSHE, PSHE and Citizenship is woven into our Crew Curriculum.