Our Mission: To build champion Learners through Extensive Opportunities, Expert Tuition, Purposeful Practise and Personal Effort.

Our Ethos of champion learners: We believe that every child has the ability to excel in almost any area of learning. Excellence isn’t the result of a natural talent, but instead is the result of:  extensive opportunity, expert tuition, purposeful practise and personal effort.

These are the ingredients which make ‘Champion Learners’. Everything we do as a school is done with this vision in mind.

We believe that champions are built not born.

Our values are the attributes that underpin our vision: Champion learners are taught …

Respect – for themselves, their families, their communities.

Pride – in their attitude and work; striving for their best effort.

Bravery – to attempt things which will be hard and challenge them.

Success – to aspire to be the best version of themselves. To believe they can change the world.

Our Aims for all pupils. They are what we want for every child, every day.  

We build champions by ensuring that every child:

1. knows how to stay safe, healthy, happy and make sensible choices;

2. has respect for themselves, the environment and their communities;

3. is a resilient, brave and inquisitive learner;

4. achieves our high expectations;

5. aspires to be their 'best self' and to change the world!

Where does our mission, vision and ethos come from?

Our vision, ethos, values and aims were formulated by all our stakeholders (parents, children, staff and governors) initially in 2011 and are reviewed every four years (most recently in 2019).

In 2011 the idea of ‘Champion Learners’ was inspired by the Uncommon Schools Network in the Bronx, New York. These schools, serving some of the poorest communities in the US, achieve consistently excellent outcomes by codifying great teaching and providing the sort of extra-curricular activities that you’d expect in the most prestigious private school. We linked these ideas with the work of Angela Duckworth on effort in ‘Grit’ and Matthew Syed on ‘The myth of talent’.

The result so far? Blackhorse went from the bottom of the county league tables in 2011 (with only 11 parents wanting reception places in the school) to near the top of the academic league tables with Blackhorse now being the second most oversubscribed school in South Gloucestershire.