Dear Parents and Carers,
At Aylward Academy, we believe every young person has the potential to lead a long, happy and successful life that leaves a positive legacy. Our vision for all Aylward alumni is clear: “This community inspires a love of learning and enables alumni to lead long, happy and successful lives that leave a positive legacy.” Our mission is simple but ambitious: to provide an excellent education to every child, in every classroom, every day.
We are proud of our intentional culture—the Aylward Way—which is underpinned by our core values: Excellence, Integrity, Kindness, and Self-Control. These values are not just ideals; they are taught, modelled and celebrated every day through our Student Culture, morning meetings, assemblies and our Character Curriculum. We believe that children must be explicitly taught how to behave and succeed—and we take this responsibility seriously.
Our curriculum is built on three integrated pillars:
A knowledge-rich Academic Curriculum, grounded in cognitive science, which carefully sequences knowledge to help students move from novices to experts;
A Character Curriculum that promotes personal development through daily tutor sessions, assemblies, PSHCE and RSE—ensuring students develop spiritually, morally, socially and culturally;
The Aylward Entitlement, a spiralled enrichment offer centred on the Aspire 5, designed to build cultural and social capital for all students.
We hold the highest expectations—of ourselves and our students—because we believe every child has the right to succeed. Guided by our values of Excellence, Integrity, Kindness, and Self-Control, we work as one team to create a culture of equity, ambition and belonging. These values are not just taught—they are lived. What we permit, we promote—and by modelling the right behaviours, we build the habits that help students realise our vision.
Joe Lawlor
Principal, Aylward Academy
