WELCOME TO OLDERFLEET PRIMARY
We are small but mighty!
Our wee school is a gem found in the heart of the harbour area of Larne. We’re not just a school, we’re a family of learners.
Welcome from Mrs Galbraith on behalf of the team
Our school has served the harbour area of Larne since 1884 and many former pupils and staff have maintained their involvement and connection long after their time in Olderfleet has ended. Whether your child is the first generation of your family to be part of our school, or the fourth, they will fully belong in the Olderfleet community and it is our hope and wish that this will have a lasting impact on their lives beyond their time in school.
The striving and challenge involved in real learning can only be nurtured in an environment where children feel safe and connected. This is where our staff team comes in! We love our children and are devoted to creating an atmosphere which enables real learning. An atmosphere which allows every child to thrive. We don’t want any child to leave our school thinking that learning is either effortless or impossible. Instead we want all our children to love the experience of learning, and we want this love of learning to last a lifetime.
Scroll down to find out more about our teaching & learning, our wellbeing and our education system.
Our Teaching and Learning
“Teaching takes place in a classroom but learning takes place in the brain.”
- Dr John Kelly (Whole Brain Learning and Teaching)
Our team of educators aim higher than tidy lessons, neat handwriting and completed tasks because we know that teaching does not automatically lead to learning. Our role is to plan and create opportunities for connections to be made with new and previous learning and to have these stick. This comes through intentionally planning a range of lessons which may involve sitting at a desk, pencil & paper, open ended exploration, being in the forest, at the beach, and the list goes on. Our children grow in their independence throughout their time with us, setting their own goals, tracking their own progress and enjoying the freedom of learning from mistakes.
Our Wellbeing
In Olderfleet wellbeing is not an add on, not something we slot in once a day, week or month. It infuses every interaction, every lesson, every aspect of school. This matters, because every child and adult in our Olderfleet family will have times when they are finding life tricky. It’s important that our children see us supporting each other with compassion as part of our daily routines. We want our school to be a place where no-one has to pretend to be ok when they aren’t.
“Balance is the state where children feel safe, calm, and thus can remain in their social engagement system without being hijacked by alarm. From this state, they can be healthily connected, and open to exploring the material presented by staff - vital for learning!”
- Louise Kilshaw (Restoring Education)
Our Education System
The late Sir Ken Robinson said that what we do in our school and how it is led is the education system for the children who are there. In Olderfleet we take this responsibility (and opportunity) seriously and it drives how we engage with the NI curriculum, Education Authority guidance and Dept of Education circulars. We aim high, and say “Why not?” when we face budget challenges or read new guidance. Rather than eye roll (and there are times in the school year when it’s a bit harder to fight the eye roll) when another circular drops in our inbox, we work together to see what needs to change, why and the best way to go about it for our school.
Education will always have challenges, and we will not stop lobbying for better, but we can still make sure the education system our Olderfleet family experiences is a good one!
