Sir Graham Balfour School – Our Vision

Our vision is summed up in our mission statement of

‘Learning, Working and Succeeding Together’.

We believe that the best possible care we can give to our students will enable them to leave school with the very best GCSE and A level grades possible.  The “together” of our mission statement is at the heart of our approach.  We will work together with parents and students in a collaborative and co-operative way as we aim for academic and personal excellence for each and every child in our care.  We aim for our students to communicate clearly with others; to be compassionate and caring; to make responsible choices; to be ambitious; to demonstrate perseverance and resilience in the harder moments; to show pride in the successes they achieve and to be proud of themselves during their time at Sir Graham Balfour School.

We passionately believe that the circumstances of birth or upbringing should not be the key determining factors to success in life and we are relentless in our ambition for all children to achieve as well as possible at Sir Graham Balfour School, regardless of their sexual orientation, socio-economic, ethnic or gender status.

We know that staff and parents will not always be there, at the point where critical decisions need to be made.  This is why we are committed to values-based learning; rules prescribe a set of appropriate/inappropriate behaviours which are specific to given contexts, whereas values provide a set of aspirational guidelines within which children must choose the right behaviour or action for the vast array of contexts they will be faced with in life. 

Our Values

Our aim as a school, working alongside parents and our community, is to help students to become outstanding and effective citizens;  to make responsible, appropriate and healthy choices in all things.  Staff and parents will not always be there, at the point where critical decisions need to be made.  This is why we are committed to values based learning; rules prescribe a set of appropriate/inappropriate behaviours (e.g. don’t run in the corridors) which are specific to given contexts, whereas values provide a set of aspirational guidelines within which children must choose the right behaviour or action for the vast array of contexts they will be faced with in life (e.g. how do I need to move around the school if I am taking responsibility for myself and others?).