There has been a Swaythling School on this site since 1897.

The school motto (since at least the 1930s) is ‘Be Thoughtful’.

We believe that this is the perfect motto for our school, since there are two definitions of thoughtful; and our school ethos produces young people who excel in both:

• Be thoughtful as in ‘ being good at thinking’; our curriculum focuses very strongly on learning to think creatively and flexibly, and the children have many opportunities to develop problem solving strategies in a wide range of curriculum areas.
• Secondly, one can ‘be thoughtful’ as in ‘be considerate of others’. We are a small, vibrant community where people from all backgrounds and walks of life learn together, and the school has a proud reputation locally for the calm, purposeful learning environment that this quality enables us to foster. 

Today the school is a very popular choice for local families who value the genuine community spirit of the school, our determination to educate the whole child, the high aspirations we have for the children academically, and our growing reputation for providing a culturally rich educational experience.