Thamesview is a thriving school community where mutual respect, hard work and achievement are the core values.
We believe passionately that every child, regardless of social background or previous experiences, deserves the chance to succeed in education and that is why we expect high standards of effort and behaviour from all our students. Being happy at school and having opportunities to develop varied aspirations is also important to us.
We believe that our students should enjoy their schooling and benefit from a curriculum offer of academic and vocational instruction as well as being able to take advantage of opportunities to develop creative and independent skills.
Our curriculum aims to motivate, inspire, excite and engage all students so that they can be successful in their learning. We take pride in our ability to meet the individual needs of every student, providing them with flexibility and choice, within an inclusive environment. Our ambitious curriculum provides all students with the knowledge and cultural capital they need to secure their future employability. We are proud to have ‘ambitions for all’ of our students.
Across Key Stage 3, Key Stage 4, and Key Stage 5, our subject offerings support students in becoming open-minded, knowledgeable, and confident. Every element of our curriculum is designed to raise aspirations and empower students to believe, achieve, and succeed.
Our curriculum goes beyond academic success. It promotes spiritual, moral, and social growth, encouraging students to develop confidence, self-esteem, and the skills needed to thrive in life beyond school. We aim to nurture well-rounded individuals who are prepared for the challenges and opportunities of the future.
Central to our approach is the Thamesview Trio – a set of core attributes built around respect, resilience, and ambition. These values underpin both our character education and academic learning, helping students grow into independent, thoughtful, and capable individuals.
Through a strong focus on core knowledge and cognitive development, our curriculum encourages deep thinking, clear communication, and a love of learning. We also place importance on student wellbeing, supporting their mental and physical health, and helping them consider their life goals.
We provide a safe and nurturing environment in which students feel valued, supported, and empowered to succeed.
Our curriculum is designed to stretch the more able and to support those who need interventions or specific help. Our enrichment activities ensure that students have a varied range of events and clubs to attend during the school day, after school and during holidays. These offers together with our dedicated staff and purposeful curriculum enable students to get the most out of their school life and to enjoy school. We pride ourselves on the outstanding care, guidance and support we provide for students and make sure that every child has the most appropriate and best quality educational opportunities throughout their school lives.
Our recent successes in improving our examination results have been due to the hard work of staff, governors, students and parents/carers. We expect every student to achieve their absolute best in their examinations and to involve themselves in the rich school life that we provide. Every child is encouraged from the start of their school life at Thamesview to aim high and to believe that any future aspiration is possible.
Students have many opportunities for their voices to be heard, including bi-termly surveys and a freely available Head and Deputy Student ready to listen. Our Student Leadership Committees (Events, Wellbeing, Equality & Diversity and Eco) meet regularly to action feedback and staff facilitators have a direct line to our Assistant Head responsible for Personal Development. Students also participate in further questionnaires when appropriate.
Our Head Student election process allows all students to take part in a polling day experience following a campaign week. This gives them an insight into life once of voting age. The importance of Laws whether they be those that govern the class, the school or the country are consistently reinforced throughout regular school days. The Rule of Law is also addressed in our curriculum including PSHE and Business lessons. Our sequenced Assembly programme and visits from authorities such as the Police and Fire Service help reinforce this message.
Within school students are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. We educate and provide boundaries for young people to make sound choices through our Character and Wellbeing Form Time provision. Students are also encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms through History, Ethics and PSHE lessons.
Our policies ensure tolerance of a variety of different faiths and beliefs. This is achieved through enhancing students’ understanding of their place in a culturally diverse society and by giving them opportunities to experience such diversity. This is delivered through our main curriculum in PSHE and Ethics lessons as well as Assemblies, the Character and Wellbeing: Them and Us sessions and Reading for Character in our Form Time provision.
Our Behaviour Policy, Code of Conduct and other policies revolve around our Core Values including Respect. During weekly Form Time Character and Wellbeing sessions as well as Reading for Character projects, students take part in discussions and activities designed to foster Mutual Respect for all. Our assemblies and clubs provision as well Performing Arts and PSHE lessons explicitly deal with interpersonal skills. School wide, the expectation of Respect for all is driven by both the staff and student body.
At Thamesview School, student support is a cornerstone of the community, ensuring every young person feels safe, valued, and empowered to thrive. From the moment students arrive, they are guided by their Form Tutors, who provide daily pastoral care and academic oversight. Heads of Year offer an additional layer of support, monitoring progress and wellbeing across each year group, while our dedicated Welfare Managers works closely with students facing personal challenges, ensuring they receive timely and compassionate assistance.
The school also benefits from an on-site counsellor, a Student Support Worker, and a Young Carers Group, all of whom provide tailored support to meet the diverse needs of our student body. We also engage with local Universities to support students on site through wellbeing and welfare groups, on site student social workers and support through the school nursing team.
Beyond the school gates, we work in close partnership with external agencies to ensure students have access to specialist help when needed. This includes referrals to services such as CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services), Early Help, the Elliott Holmes Memorial Fund, which offers mental health support and resources. We also work in partnership with charities such as Charlie’s Promise, Kent Police and Social Services to ensure our students understand how the keep themselves safe in the local community and where to access support if they need to.
Together, these internal and external services create a robust network of care, ensuring that every student has the opportunity to succeed both academically and personally.
Our Character and Wellbeing sessions are opportunities to help our young people to explore and express their character and build the skills they need of respect, resilience, and ambition. These sessions are important in promoting key values as part of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
‘Flourish Friday’ trips contribute to personal growth, helping students discover new interests and build positive memories whilst being encouraged to step out of their comfort zones and develop self-reliance. These experiences play a crucial role in the holistic development of students, making learning more engaging and memorable as they experience different cultures, broadening their perspectives and understanding of the world.
The ‘Fifty Ways to Flourish’ initiative helps our students to try things out, to get a taste of the world around them, to see and do things that they wouldn’t normally do, or go to places they wouldn’t normally go. Giving them the opportunity to try new things and develop new skills can be hugely beneficial and can help them to grow in confidence.
Clubs provide the opportunity for students to develop essential life skills and find ‘Further Ways to Flourish’. Our clubs are designed to cover a wide range of talents and interests as well as supporting our curriculum. These include Sports, Performing Arts, Craft, Games and more.
Thamesview aims to ensure each young person has high aspirations through our outstanding ‘Flourishing Futures’ careers programme which supports readiness for the next phase of education, training or employment through careers information education, advice and guidance.