Welcome to Birdwell Primary School



Birdwell Primary School

Prospectus 2020/21

Big Ideas

for

Little People

CONTENTS

➢ Introduction and Aims

➢ OFSTED and Pupil Views

➢ General Information

➢ Admission Arrangements

➢ School Hours, Absence from School and Curriculum

➢ Curriculum cont and Computers, PE and Swimming

➢ Sports, Arts, Sex Education, Religious Education and Daily Collective Worship

➢ Special Educational Needs, After School Clubs and beahviour

➢ Supervision at lunchtimes, Organisation of Classes, Appointments to see Teachers, Arrival in school early, Awards presented to the school, Charging Policy.

➢ Children’s Records, Communication, Community and Consultation, Pre-School and Disability, Dress.

➢ Educational Visits, Fund Raising, Governors and Homework, Illness and Accident Procedures.

➢ Information for Parents, Length of the School Week and Meals at School, Medical.

➢ Medicines, Milk Provision, Music and Parents in School, Pupil Premium

➢ Procedure for Complaints and Safety of Children, Welfare, Term Times and School Year

➢ Standards Year 6 / Y2

➢ Standards Foundation Stage and Y1

Welcome to Birdwell Primary School

Introduction

This booklet has been written to introduce you to our school, to describe our aims and objectives, and to inform you about some of our ways of working.

We welcome your visits to school; please contact us to arrange a time. Our overall aim is to help your child feel happy and secure during their time at Birdwell. We can only do this if we work as a partnership with you, the parents.

AIMS OF THE SCHOOL

1. The school is seen as a learning community and strong links are further developed in the wider community.

2. All children fulfil their learning potential and achieve a high level of attainment through providing the opportunity for independence and creativity.

3. The children leave Birdwell School with values of citizenship. They demonstrate care for each other, are well behaved and have a record of their achievement.

4. Together we create a purposeful, enjoyable atmosphere in school.

5. There are high expectations from all parents, children, staff and the community so that children can pursue their ambition.

1. We are here to learn

2. We do our best

3. We are kind and well behaved

4. Together we try hard and enjoy ourselves

5. We expect the best and follow our dreams

We promote a caring ethos and invite prospective parents into school so that they are able to have a feel for the school. Our core values of the school are reflected in our 3 year vision:-

By March 2023

At Birdwell Primary School we ………

Personal (me & my family)

Know children need to come first by valuing their qualities.

Community (my school/My locality)

Create a wonderful environment in which we learn to be part of a bigger community, whilst respecting one another and flourishing.

Global (My World)

Create opportunities where our children are prepared to understand and contribute to the wider

Birdwell School is recognised by Ofsted as a school that

‘Requires Improvement’

Inspectors' View of the School (March 2019)

This is a school that requires further Improvements

Summary of key findings

o The inspectors established that the Foundation Stage curriculum offered an effective provision that enabled children to make good progress from their starting points.

o Make even better use of internal data to track and monitor the progress of children, particularly being more skilled at showing how more vulnerable groups are able to progress/access the curriculum.

o The whole school curriculum was broad and balanced, pupils are given lots of opportunities to study a wide range of subjects, often in exciting, innovative ways.

o Ensure less variability in the quality of teaching and learning across the school.

o They were able to clearly establish how pastoral support is a strength of the school with early contact made to enable children to focus on their learning.

o Improve middle leadership and more professional challenge from Governors, to support the senior leadership team in driving up the standards of the school.

o Ensure expectations are consistently high.

o Build on the already improving phonics picture, by using strategies which incorporate the greater application of phonics into reading and writing.

o The inspectors could see how friendly and polite the children were and had the right positive attitudes to learning and were eager to learn more.

Pupils Views

“We are a sharing school” - Olivia O

“It is fun to learn” - Charlie T

“It is a nice school where we think of other people” - Joel F

“It’s the best school ever” - Daniel G

“We do lots of amazing things” – Aabrita K

“We have lots of friends” – Evie W

“The teachers are awesome and you get to play outside”– William H

General Information

Address Birdwell Primary School,

Sheffield Rd,

Birdwell,

Barnsley,

S70 5XB.

Telephone: 01226 742957

Co-educational Community Primary School

Age Range 5-11 Primary

Head teacher Mr N. Bailey

Deputy Head Mr R. Swallow

Teaching Staff Miss H. Carter – Reception (EYFS)/ (Art) lead

Mrs P. Millington Reading lead / KS1 lead – Year 1

Mrs. K. Barrott (Ks1 Maths lead)/ Mrs S. Rooke (Writing lead) – Y 2

Mr R. Swallow – Year 3– Teacher/ Deputy Head

Mr A. Mathieson – SENDCO & Year 4

Mr. A. Bennett – (Humanities lead) Year 5

Mrs C. Ekins – (Science lead) / (LAC lead) Teacher

Mrs. T. Rees – (maths lead) / (Music Lead) Year 6

Business Manager Mrs. D. Sykes

Parent Support Mrs. K. Atkinson-Swift

Support Staff Mrs. H. Addy – Cover Supervisor

Mrs. S. Atkinson – HLTA

Mr. A Crouch- TA/Sports

Miss. J. O’Neill-HLTA

Miss. L. Housley

Ms. J. Wright

Mrs. A. Buckley

Dinner Supervisors Mrs. S. Black

Mrs. M. Blackburn

Mrs. J. Rowland

Mrs J. Johnson

Mrs S. Mayhew

Mrs N Maxfield

Tuck Shop Mrs. J. Atkinson-Lomas

Chair of Governors Mrs J. Coultas

Vice-chair Mr. J. Bruck

Local Authority Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council

Director of Children’s Services

Address Corporate Mail Room

PO Box 634

Barnsley

S70 9GG

The particulars in this handbook were correct at the time of printing. The Head and the Governors reserve the right to change the curriculum or organisation to meet the changing needs of children and society.

ADMISSION ARRANGEMENTS

The law does not require children to be admitted to school until the beginning of the term following their fifth birthday, but Birdwell School will admit children from the September following their 4th birthday. The school offers a full time place for these children.

Application forms for a school place will be released by school admissions for 2021/22. These should be completed online by going to: (.uk/schooladmissions). The closing date for applications will be January 2021. Paper copies can be obtained from the school office if you do not have electronic access.

We try to make the child's entry to school as happy and trouble free as possible. We invite parents and children into school in the term before they are to be admitted, to see the school and meet their new teacher. Following this visit, children are invited to spend a few mornings in school during the final half term before they start.

In year admissions are dealt with and processed by Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council. They can be contacted on 01226 773689. The school has an agreed standard number of 30 per year group and if applications exceed this number then parents can be refused a place. Parents do have a right to appeal. Further information on admissions can be found on .uk/schooladmissions.

SCHOOL HOURS

Morning Session 8.55am - 12 noon.

Afternoon Session 1.00pm - 3.30pm.

ATTENDNACE /ABSENCE FROM SCHOOL

If your child is absent from school for any reason, please let us know. Please contact the school on the first day of absence. We set targets for attendance and publish our attendance rate including the number of unauthorised absences in the last school year. Under the inspection framework the school is judged on its attendance. 

Our target is 97% for the school year. The percentage attendance for 2018/2019 was 95.8%, of the absences, 1.4% were unauthorised, these were due to children having time off school for holidays and illness. As of May 2020, we are running at 95.6%.

We will not authorise any leave of absence requests unless there are exceptional circumstances. Fixed Penalty Notices will be issued at the Head Teachers discretion.

CURRICULUM

Primary School is a special time in life. Our aim is to provide our pupils with a fun, absorbing, challenging and exciting learning experience; designed by us with the rigour and standards needed to provide breadth and depth in the curriculum.

The way we arrive at our curriculum is something we are very proud of at Birdwell…

The Birdwell curriculum is topic based, as commonly found in schools across the country. What we believe makes our curriculum special is that a large proportion of the content is selected by our pupils each year and the whole school collaborate and work on the same topics at various intervals through-out the year. This has led to rich, cross-curricular outcomes that encompass the whole of our school community. It has provided collaborative links between classes and across Key Stages. It allowed us to illustrate the progression evident across our school, providing models of excellence for younger pupils and opportunity to coach and embed knowledge and skills they have learned for older pupils. We use the following process:

The children in the Reception Class follow the Early Years Foundation Curriculum, which they have followed in a Nursery or Pre School setting. The children are assessed against this curriculum at the end of the Reception year.

Children at ages 7 and 11 will be assessed using the Government’s standard assessment test, (SATS). These are a mixture of teacher assessment and statutory tests. The results of these tests are sent home with the child's annual report. Regular testing takes place in other year groups and this is used to help the school set targets.

PHONICS/READING

In Year 1 the children undertake a statutory phonics assessment during the summer term. Phonics is taught daily and forms the basis of reading development in EYFS and KS1. This approach to teaching reading, is taught daily.

Revise – Overlearn the previous graphemes and words

Teach – Introduce a new grapheme / phoneme words

Practise – Develop GPCs (grapheme phoneme correspondences) to be able to read and spell new words

Apply – Use the new graphemes / words in games and activities to secure knowledge

Assess – Monitor progress within each phase to inform planning.

Children work in small groups using a range of resources to support their learning. We run an active phonics session once a week, for children to apply their learning as a whole class. The phonics groups are fluid and continuously monitored and rotated by experienced teaching assistants and teaching staff, to enhance progression and learning for all. Phonetically decodable reading books, as well as a wide range of fiction and non-fiction books from the school library, are used to support children’s early reading skills. An overview of the sounds taught, structure of a lesson plus activities used within a phonics session, can be viewed on the Phonics Blog. Further information about the curriculum and school policies can be obtained by asking the school staff.

Wherever possible, we use first-hand experience as a starting point for our teaching. We strive to provide learning experiences that are appropriate for your child's level of ability. We plan activities which are adapted to ensure new learning and can improve prior learning. We aim to provide challenge through organising work in a variety of ways, encouraging children to use their initiative and become more responsible for organising their own learning. We aim to give equal opportunities to all children.

We are constantly striving to improve the delivery of the curriculum to ensure that all children have access to the curriculum and we involve children in the planning so that they have ownership. We try to teach subjects through mini topics or link subjects together in a thematic approach to make them relevant in order to motivate learning. Practical activities in all areas of the curriculum help to improve skills, understanding and the development of ideas.

MATHS

At Birdwell, we embrace the Maths Mastery approach to teaching mathematics.  We use the ‘White Rose Maths Scheme’ to develop pupils’ mathematical knowledge, understanding and fluency.  Each sequence and objective is taught using small steps with many opportunities given for Concrete, Pictorial (such as the bar model) and Abstract approaches and variation.  Fluency, reasoning and problem solving are applied to each objective/sequence across a theme. We build on skills and understanding in a progressive way and mathematical connections are made to other themes.  We link our maths to everyday life and integrate it into our topic work.  We encourage children to ask as well as answer mathematical questions and give many opportunities for children to explain their learning (verbally, pictorially or written).  Children are expected to be fluent in all times tables and number bonds/relationships by the end of year 4. Each day children take part in Five Minute Maths.  This aids retention in key mathematical concepts and increases speed of calculations. The questions are pitched at age-related objectives and revise concepts already covered in class.  

WRITING

At Birdwell, we deliver writing in a variety of different ways as part of our daily literacy lessons. Children progress each year, building on the skills learnt from the previous year. Children are initially taught correct letter formation and progress into a cursive handwriting style. We teach our children to write for a range of purposes using a range of stimuli. Much of our writing is cross curricular and is often based on or around Science, History and Geography topics. We also link many lessons to class books. Children access grammar, punctuation and spelling through short lessons every morning and they are given opportunities to apply the skills they have learnt into new writing. Children are encouraged to use their own ideas and also practise writing about their own experiences. In Key Stage 2, children are expected to join most letters and pen licences are issued when children have developed a neat, fluent style of handwriting. Children are taught to be independent writers and to correct and edit their work using polishing pens. Children are expected to learn the common exception words and age-related spellings to support their writing. We expect to see a good standard of writing in all areas of the curriculum, much of which is displayed around school. There are also opportunities for children to take part in writing and poetry competitions.

COMPUTERS

Birdwell Primary School aims to produce learners who are:

• Adept at using a wide range of technology and software to enhance their learning and produce outstanding responses to our curriculum

• Able to communicate and collaborate effectively with others to achieve their goals, find support and publish their work

• Knowledgeable and confident in using technology and the internet safely and securely

• Able to apply their understanding of how computer systems work and computational thinking in real-life solutions to problems

• Prepared for life outside of Birdwell primary school in an increasingly technology based society

The curriculum is outlined from EYFS to Year 6 and organised in to 3 strands; Computer science, Digital Literacy and Information & Communication (as suggested by NAACE).  The map is designed to ensure accumulative skills and knowledge acquisition across a child’s school career and through their year.  The content is based around suggested activities form the ‘Barefoot Computing’ scheme, the National Curriculum computing objectives and my own experience of teaching computing in every year group in school over the past 15 years.  We have not only tried to make the curriculum fit for National Curriculum standards but included what we see as essential (and specific) real-life skills we believe the children should have in the modern classroom environment (such as being able to save work to the school server, create new files on windows explorer or transfer saved work over intranet, between Apple and Microsoft devices for example) in a structured and progressive way.

Vocabulary highlighted in bold can be found in the accompanying “Subject Knowledge” document for teachers and both the Barefoot Computing scheme and our own resource base in school has examples of lesson activities and further subject knowledge for our staff to use, matched to our curriculum layout. 

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Children have a P.E. lesson at least twice a week and they require a suitable P.E. Kit. (T. shirt and shorts). Also, children will need footwear for outdoor games (trainers or pumps). It is a Local Authority ruling that children are not allowed to wear any jewellery while taking part in a P.E. lesson. This means ear rings must be removed.

SWIMMING

Children in Year 4 attend Hoyland Swimming Pool for their swimming lessons. At the end of last year, 76% of children had met the standard required by the National Curriculum and 62% of that was above the standard. We will use the sport funding to bring the 24% of children to the required standard this year (20/21).

SPORT

All children take part in sport as part of their P.E lessons. We offer children after school activities in sports. At the moment, dance, cross-country and multi-skills are offered. Cross-country and multi-skills are delivered by a member of staff; some elements of dance is delivered by a dance specialist.

Initially, we teach basic games skills then build up to small group situations in Football, Netball, Cricket, Rounders, Hockey, Basketball and Boccia. We also offer a range of inter-sports activities and competitions with the local cluster of primary schools, through this we are able to promote team games, sportsmanship and healthy competition. With the use of funding we have been able to establish links with the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield where children are able to access Olympic track and field events and compete with other schools in the region. This gives us the opportunity to access competitive sport abiding the School Games Rules. There is a well-equipped gymnasium, large playing field and an enclosed multipurpose sports area on the schoolyard. The primary school’s Sports Premium contributes towards our well-equipped gymnasium, ensuring we have the best equipment to deliver high quality PE lessons. We receive £17,700 in Sports Premium which is spent on additional equipment, coaches, sporting events, staff training and trophies.

ARTS

We have a strong commitment to the Arts. All children are given the opportunity to develop their artistic skills and we take pride in displaying a high standard of work in school. We positively encourage all children to participate in our school performances and art lessons. We try to stimulate their creative development through first hand experiences such as observation of the local environment, visiting performers and visits to local art galleries and theatres. This recognises all the extra opportunities we give children to develop their artistic skills. We have a strong emphasis on drama as a means of developing skills in Speaking and Listening. Our weekly university sessions enhance this further.

 

MUSIC

Music plays an important part in our life at Birdwell and the children are given many opportunities to listen to and appreciate a range of styles of music, take part in singing, play a range of musical instruments, compose their own pieces of music, and reflect on their performances.  Many children have the opportunity to work alongside talented music teachers from the music hub to develop their skills to play an instrument (brass, woodwind, violins or guitar) and to learn to read notes from a stave.  Targeted year groups have whole class music lessons through the wider opportunities scheme: Year 1 children learn to play the recorder and Year 5 learn to play brass instruments.  Our weekly University sessions provides children, who are particularly interested in music, further opportunities to develop their musical skills.  We also run a school choir and school band. We raise the profile of music by giving the children the opportunity to perform to parents, family and peers throughout the year, and also in the wider community.

UNIVERSITY

Every week children take part in activities to provide unique skills for learning. Within this session, different groups are taking place throughout the school. There are many groups for children to choose. Children get the chance to change groups every half term, which gives them an opportunity to experience and learn something new every half term. Members of the local community support and offer their time and skills to enhance this group. Just a few of the courses Baking, sewing, recorders, librarian, sports to list a but a few these change regularly.

RELATIONSHIP & SEX EDUCATION (PSHE)/RSE

The Sex Education Policy is incorporated into our school Health Policy. The Y5 and Y6 children are taught Sex Education through a school’s T.V. programme and parents will be notified in advance if they wish to withdraw their child from these specific lesson.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

We offer Religious Education as an integral part of the curriculum, following LA guidelines. Children will learn about Christianity and use this as a basis to compare with all the major faiths of the world. Parents do have the right to withdraw their child from RE lessons, but this must be put in writing to the Head teacher.

School assemblies are held twice a week and reflect morals and values that link to Christian principles, they also focus around celebration. Pupils are encouraged to regard people of all faiths, races and cultures with respect, tolerance and understand that while different people may hold different views about what is “right” and “wrong”, all people living in England are subject to its law. We teach children the importance of British Values which are, democracy, rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance of those with different beliefs and faiths.

Our R.E curriculum covers a range of different religions, cultures, values and beliefs and aims to equip our pupils as future citizens with a strong global perspective.

 Should any parent wish to withdraw their children on grounds of conscience from acts of worship or R.E. lessons please contact me so that suitable educational arrangements can be made.

COLLECTIVE WORSHIP

School assemblies have a Christian basis and emphasis is laid on our responsibilities as members of a caring community. Time is given to collectively reflect and share stories that help children to think about moral dilemmas and promoted to discuss and respond to how and why characters have behaved in the way that they have along with links to real life context in school and at home. Parents have the right to withdraw their children from collective acts of worship and this must be put in writing to the Head teacher.

SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS

It is our aim to meet the individual needs of all our pupils. The term 'special needs' equally applies to children experiencing learning difficulties, or to a child of exceptional ability. It is quite normal for children to experience difficulties with certain aspects of learning at some time. In such cases teachers give extra help or the child participates in one of our many support programmes. In most cases the problems are overcome. If a child's difficulties are not resolved, the class teacher will discuss the matter with the Head teacher and the child's parents. If it is felt appropriate, the school will prepare a written analysis of the child's learning needs and any issue, together with a course of action. The child's progress will be monitored and help from the Learning Support Team or Educational Psychologist may be requested. Finally, the school and parents may decide to request the Authority to assess the child with a view to affording him/her a formal statement of educational needs and an Education Health Care plan will be drawn up. If you wish to discuss any SEN matters, please contact the Head teacher or Mr Mathieson who is our SENDCO. Further information about our school offer and the LA offer can be seen on our website.

AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS

At present we run extracurricular clubs in computing, drama, film and dance. These fluctuate throughout the year and can be booked at a small fee through the School Gateway App. We have an arrangement with Chatterbox Nursery who provide after school childcare in Birdwell. Children need to be booked into Chatterbox in advance and they will then be collected from school at home time. During the holidays Chatterbox Nursery offer a holiday club from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Please phone 361222 for further information. The Birdwell Pre School offers a breakfast club from 8a.m at a charge of £5 a session. You need to book a place 48 hours in advance by ringing Jess on 350790 or 07930345457

DISCIPLINE (The Birdwell way)

The responsibility for the care and welfare of a child at school rests with the Head teacher, who relies on the teaching and support staff to deal sympathetically with day to day problems as they arise.

Our first concern is safety and children are expected to behave in a sensible manner. Children are expected to be polite, well-mannered and to act in a thinking, caring way towards each other and adults.

The approach to behaviour is positive. Appropriate behaviour is constantly rewarded with praise. The whole school has developed a set of 'The Birdwell way Rules’, which children in the School council representative groups have helped to write. These are as follows:

1. We love our school, respect our environment and wear our logo with pride.

2. We Believe in ourselves.

3. We take pride in our learning.

4. We are resilient and independent.

5. We take responsibility for our actions.

6. We will tell the truth and value one another – its what’s on the inside that counts.

Sanctions are adopted for unacceptable behaviour e.g. loss of privileges and University time. If a child's behaviour continues to be inappropriate, the Headteacher will contact parents and discuss the matter with them, seeking their support for what we are trying to do in school.

These steps are normally sufficient to achieve an improvement in behaviour, however if success is not achieved it may be necessary to implement further sanctions which ultimately lead to exclusion from school.

SUPERVISION AT DINNERTIME

At lunch time the children are in the charge of the School Meals Supervisors/Teaching Assistants, Mrs. Black, Mrs. Blackburn, Mrs. Johnson, Mrs Rowland, Mrs Mayhew and Mrs Maxfield and Mr. Crouch who leads sporting activities and competitive games with the children during lunch time. These staff are supervised by the Head teacher. Games and sporting activities are organised for the children during the lunch break.

ORGANISATION OF CLASSES

All children are admitted into Reception on a full time basis in September. Through school, progression from one class to another is determined by age. Wherever possible we try to keep age groups together. At present the school caters for seven years of a child's development in 7 classes so there is one class per year group. Our class sizes are around 30.

APPOINTMENTS TO SEE TEACHERS

Parents can usually see teachers at the end of the school day. If you would like a more lengthy discussion, please write or phone for an appointment. Parent Consultations are held in the Autumn and Spring Terms and there is an Open Afternoon in the Summer Term.

ARRIVAL IN SCHOOL

Please note, there is no supervision for children who arrive at school before 8.45am. Although staff are on the premises, this is their preparation time so children are not allowed in the building until 8.45am when the automatic gates will open. If your child is attending the Nursery breakfast club then alternative arrangements are in place.

CHARGING POLICY

No charge is made for any curriculum teaching in school. At times children will be given the opportunity to take part in educational visits for which a voluntary contribution is requested. Please note that if there is insufficient money raised, then we may need to cancel trips. If parents wish their child to have individual or small group tuition from a peripatetic instrument tutor, then a charge is made by the providers. There is a small fee chargeable for After School Clubs run by school. Advance payments need to be made via the School Gateway App. There may be a charge for external bodies providing afterschool clubs within the school. If you require paper copies of any documents these can be obtained upon request from the office at 5p per sheet.

CHILDREN'S RECORDS

We keep various records of a child's development on our files in school. They are designed to help us in our day-to-day work and our assessment and monitoring procedures. Our policy is to record only facts that could be shown to parents. This information is met by the current GDPR regulations and the information is kept secure.

COMMUNICATION

It is important that your child feels that school and home are working together for their education. To achieve this, it is important that there is good liaison. We have a home/school agreement that gives further information of our aims and expectations. Please keep us informed about anything that might affect your child's performance in school, so that we can respond to your child's needs appropriately.

COMMUNITY AND CONSULTATION

We encourage links with the local community. We also work closely with the local community groups. We have a School Council and Parents Group in which the children/parents suggest improvements for the school and we welcome feedback from parents on how we can improve our school.

PRE - SCHOOL

We have a Pre-School held on the school premises rated by Ofsted as Good. This caters for children aged 2 years to school age and works very closely with the school. We offer two year free funded places to those eligible and up to 30 hours free funding for 3/4 year olds. A breakfast club for pre-school and primary school children is available and open from 8am, charges apply. Please apply to Miss J.Corson on - 01226 350790.

DISABILITY

Children with disabilities are treated equally in school, but the nature of the old Victorian split level building could cause problems. We invite any parent to view the school prior to admission, to check the school is suitable for their child and will endeavour to accommodate any reasonable modifications, if required.

DRESS

We have recommended dress for school, which can be provided by VORTEX and is high quality cheap and durable:

Royal Blue Cardigan or Jumper,

Grey Trousers or Skirt,

White/Blue Shirt. Clothing, with a school logo, may be purchased from Vortex via the school office, at reasonable prices. e.g. Sweatshirt with logo £8.50, polo shirt £6.50, T-shirt and shorts £11, cardigan £9.50. Please contact the office for further details. You can also order direct from “Vortex School wear” on; 08001954455. Examples of the clothing are available in the school office.

No jewellery is allowed apart from watches and earrings (small sleepers or studs only).

EDUCATIONAL VISITS

These visits are regarded as an important part of the curriculum. They are often used as a stimulus for classroom topic work. Before taking children out of school permission from parents is obtained and a detailed risk assessment is drawn up. Voluntary contributions towards the cost of the trip are requested. If there is insufficient money raised, then we will cancel the visit. Children may sometimes do very local studies of the surrounding area linked to their local history research topic this shouldn’t require a permission slip as will form part of the initial parent agreement.

RESIDENTIAL PROGRAMME

We have a Residential Programme in Year 5 & Year 6 in which we encourage all older children to experience. Children experience staying away from home in some cases for the first time develop their personal skills in managing new social experiences, eating together, organising beds and making them. They are also encouraged to have new experiences and challenge themselves to have a go at new things pushing themselves beyond what they would normally do within the standard class or school context. All this is done in a safe quality assured environment with professionally trained and accredited external staff supported by teachers in school who develop stronger relationships with the children that helps them with their learning going forward.

ICT/KEEPING SAFE

We aim to deliver the best quality ICT in line with the new National Curriculum requirements. We use a safeguarded encrypted site that can be monitored. We also ensure children are showed how to explore and use the internet as safely as possible and discuss the pitfalls of inappropriate use of social media and the issues that this may bring. We sign post to support websites and have awareness raising days in school. Technology and the way it is used is very rapidly changing and we ask you to support us in this by being vigilant and raising concerns early but also reinforcing the appropriate use of technology and social media with your child at home. This is often the place where children can access less appropriate material. We also ask at all events/performances that if you are filming or photographing your child then please make sure it is only your child and for personal use and that if it is added to any social media sites that it does not contain any other children of family members without first seeking their permission before publishing.

FUND RAISING

Fund raising events are organised by the school and supported with the parents through the Parents Group. The school is open to more parental help and ideas. Please contact the Head teacher if you are interested in helping the school with fund raising. Short meetings are usually held half termly to discuss fun engaging ways to raise money and bring the school community together.

GOVERNORS

The school Governing Body oversees the running of the school and advises the Head about certain aspects of school policy. Our governors are all actively involved in many aspects of school life, and are committed to the development of Birdwell School. We have recently reconstituted the Governing Body and have a total of 12 Governors who are appointed on the skills they can offer the school. Some of these Governors are parents who will be happy to listen to any comments about the school. Those Governors who currently have children in school are, Ms L. Cook, Mr. J. Rayner, Mrs R Evans. Our Chair of Governors is Mrs J. Coultas.

HOMEWORK

The school has a detailed Homework policy, a copy of which can be obtained from the school office. We invite children to take reading books home to enjoy with parents, as we believe that parents and school working together is the most successful way of helping children’s progress. Children will be asked to learn spellings, carry out number activities and select topic based activities set by the class teacher. The homework is sent home each Wednesday and the children are given guidelines on how to complete the work. Please ask for clarification if you are unsure how to help your child. Online learning platforms such as Mathletics will also be used to support learning in certain areas these will come with a personalised password.

ILLNESS AND ACCIDENT PROCEDURES

If your child is taken ill or has an accident at school and needs immediate attention, we do everything we can to let you know. If hospital attention is needed we would call an ambulance or take the child by car, collecting a close relative to accompany us. It is important that you keep us informed at all times of any change of address/phone numbers or a change in the person to contact. If your child bumps his/her head at school a letter is normally sent home. For sickness and diarreah we follow the NHS guidance of 48 hrs away from school from the last episode, this alongside focussed cleaning has reduced the spread of illness throughout the rest of the school and helped to keep this contained.

INFORMATION FOR PARENTS

We try very hard to keep you informed about school activities. This is done in a variety of ways; regular newsletters, Gateway app news-letters, school web site, informal and formal parent's consultations. Parents of all children receive an end of year report on their child's progress. We also use Social media for example Face Book and Blogs on the school website. We are always looking for ways to advance our use of technology but encourage doing this securely and safely both with the children and the parents. We now have reduced paper usage by going paperless for most correspondences through the school gateway App. Please see Miss Atkinson Swift for this. You will need a valid/live email address to receive these.

LENGTH OF THE SCHOOL WEEK

The hours of teaching time in the school are as follows:-

23 hours 45 minutes per week teaching time, excluding registration, assemblies and playtimes for all children.

The recommended minimum teaching time by the government is as follows.

Age Hours per week

5- 7 21

8- 11 23.30 minutes

MEALS AT SCHOOL

The Governors determine the cost of meals based on our School Meals contract. Dinner money should be paid in advance using the School Gateway app. We use Cypad, a system which allows children to choose their meals electronically every morning. This system also allows you to pre-order school meals at home using the Gateway app. The cost of a school meal at present is £2.00 a day. Meals are freshly prepared and cooked on the premises. These are eaten in the hall/dining room with a cafeteria system. Parents are invited to visit school at lunch time (by arrangement) to see and try the quality of food available. A range of meals are offered. There is a choice of a hot meal, sandwiches, or jacket potatoes. Universal Free School meals mean that the school is able to provide a free lunch to all children in Reception, Y1 and Y2. We encourage children to have a school meal as the nutritional content of a school meal is usually better than a packed lunch, but children may bring a packed lunch from home. We try to encourage children to stay hydrated by drinking plenty of liquid, so they may bring a carton/plastic bottle of juice/water. Glass bottles/cans and fizzy drinks are not allowed.

Snacks: Children are allowed to bring fruit for break times and as part of a Government scheme; our younger children are provided with fruit for afternoon playtime. Children are not allowed sweets in school as this goes against healthy eating guidelines. The children run a Healthy Tuck shop during the morning break offering such items as toast and fruit. Please speak to our head Cook Mrs Rae if you wish to discuss matters regarding allergies and any other dietary requirements. All food is as locally sourced as possible and meets all the stringent dietary requirements set out by the Food Standards Agency.

MEDICAL

(During the current Covid - 19 period we are not administering any medications these are to be done by parents to reduce contact and transmission. Again if children show any Covid symptoms they are asked not to bring them to school but to contact NHS and have a test. Any other illnesses like sickness or Diarrhoea we would ask you to follow the 48hrs guidance from NHS England from the last episode to reduce the spread in school) The School Nurse visits school to carry out medical checks at certain times in your child's school-life. Letters are sent out to inform you at the appropriate time. Please keep us informed of any medical problems that may affect your child's capability to learn, in particular any problems with eyes and ears.

MEDICINES

We do not administer medicines in school unless it is part of a medical care plan. We can only administer 4x daily antibiotics prescribed by a doctor. If your child is ill then they should not be at school. If your child is well, but does require medicine then it is the parent’s responsibility to administer this. Please See Mrs D Sykes in the office for further information and assistance regarding this matter.

MILK PROVISION

Milk can be provided at a charge. It does vary each term as it is dependent on the number of days the children are at school. Milk is available to purchase online only (unless in receipt of Scheme of Aid-please contact the school office) from schoolmilkuk.co.uk.

MUSIC

Music plays an important part in our life at Birdwell and the children are given many opportunities to listen to and appreciate a range of styles of music, take part in singing, play a range of musical instruments, compose their own pieces of music, and reflect on their performances.  Many children have the opportunity to work alongside talented music teachers from the music hub to develop their skills to play an instrument (brass, woodwind, violins or guitar) and to learn to read notes from a stave.  Targeted year groups have whole class music lessons through the wider opportunities scheme: Year 1 children learn to play the recorder and Year 5 learn to play brass instruments.  Our weekly University sessions provides children, who are particularly interested in music, further opportunities to develop their musical skills.  We also run a school choir and school band. We raise the profile of music by giving the children the opportunity to perform to parents, family and peers throughout the year, and also in the wider community.

PARENTS IN SCHOOL

Parents can help us in various ways; it is beneficial for children to see the development of this partnership. Some parents like to be involved in classroom activities. e.g. reading, maths, art, craft, baking, playing educational games; others prefer to mount children's work, or make resources. We welcome all offers of help. Please see your child's class teacher for further information. Naturally, all voluntary helpers will be expected to honour the code of confidentiality existing in school and conduct themselves in a manner appropriate to developing the children educationally. We would also ask for the safety of children and staff for you to confidentially complete a DBS check prior to any regular volunteer work and complete this with Mrs D.Sykes in the school office. Prior to this we would during an induction process ask you to make sure that you are not alone with any child for theirs and your own safety.

We also have a Parent’s Group that enables parents to put forward ideas for improving the school as well as arrange fund raising activities. It is open to any parent. To meet new safety regulations have locked down access to school and parents are asked not to come into school only by appointment. Staff will drop off their class at the end of the school day so a quick catch up can be made at the end of each day. We have also introduced learning days when parents can come into class to see how certain areas of the curriculum are delivered see how this is done and then work alongside your own child and celebrate their learning. These dates will be updated on correspondence through the Gateway App.

PUPIL PREMIUM

|Summary information |

|Total PP budget  for 2019 – 2020 |£1320 Per PP Pupil |£300 Per Armed Forces Child |£2300 Per Looked After Child |

|Approximately £50,000 (based on current |x 32 pupils  £42,240 per year |x 5 pupils  £1500 per year |x 3 £6900 per year |

|numbers and premium amounts | | | |

|Birdwell Primary school |Academic Year |2018/19 |Date of most recent PP Review |Oct 19 |

| | |2019/20 | | |

|Total number of pupils |204 |Number of pupils eligible for PP |40 |Date for next internal review of this strategy|Mar |

| | | | | |20 |

| | | | | | | | | |

Birdwell Primary School Pupil premium strategy & self-evaluation

Rationale:

At Birdwell Primary School, we believe that children learn and achieve at their best when they are happy and secure and when their needs are understood.  We understand that children bring a variety of levels of life experience and values to school with them each day but our intent is that the Pupil premium will help us to identify barriers in these experiences and address them.

Our approach to spending the Pupil Premium is focussed in 3 areas:

|Quality First Teaching |Wider Strategies |Targeted Academic Support |

|We aim to provide an inclusive approach to pedagogy|We aim to identify the causes for the attainment gap|Our aim is to target extra support where it is |

|in which all pupils are confident, successful and |between disadvantaged pupils and their peers and |needed most, carefully tracking the progress of |

|ambitious.  |create strong links between home and school to help |children receiving support and assessing the |

| |us address them. |impact of that support. |

|We believe the best way to achieve this is to | | |

|invest in the development of our staff, to provide |If there is a barrier to a child’s happiness, |We aim to tie out of class support as closely as |

|our children with highly skilled, passionate and |security or cultural experience we need to overcome |possible to what the children do in class in order|

|well-trained adults who understand the individual |it for them to succeed.  We invest in the support |to support our inclusive approach. |

|needs of our children (including our more |and encouragement our vulnerable families need. | |

|disadvantaged pupils) and are driven to help them | |We invest in the training and development of all |

|flourish and succeed.  | |the adults who support our pupils. |

PROCEDURE FOR COMPLAINTS

The procedure for complaints regarding the school curriculum and related matters is as follows. The sequence of submission of complaints should be:

a) Informal complaint to the Head teacher - most if not all complaints will be resolved at this level, and this should be the first line of approach.

b) Informal complaint to the Chair of Governors (Mrs J.Coultas)

c) Formal complaint to the Chair of the Governors, for discussion by the Governing Body, if appropriate.

d) Formal complaint to the L.A. Further details of the above policy can be obtained from the school or the L.A.

SAFETY OF CHILDREN

a) Children should wear suitable footwear for outdoor games.

b) Children may wear small sleeper or stud earrings for school but all jewellery must be removed for physical education or swimming.

c) Pedestrians should always enter and leave school by the small gates and never by the large gates used for vehicle access.

d) A fire drill is held once each term to train the children in the appropriate procedures. This is recorded and reported to Governors.

e) Children are not allowed out of school during school hours unless escorted by a responsible adult.

f) Cars should not be brought into the yard unless there are exceptional circumstances.

WELFARE

The school Education Welfare Officer is available to assist with all matters to do with children’s welfare.

She may be asked by the school to visit you if there are attendance or other problems concerning your child in school.

We also have a School Parent Support Worker (Mrs Atkinson-Swift) who monitors attendance and welfare issues.

Mrs Atkinson-Swift will be happy to discuss any problems you have and can support with referrals to other agencies.

We have three safeguarding leads in school, Mr N. Bailey, Mr R. Swallow and Mrs K. Atkinson-Swift. If there are any issues relating to child protection or safeguarding children, please speak to these members of staff directly. The school safeguarding policy is available to download from the school website.

Term times School Year 2020/21

School opens at 8.55am School closes for holiday at 3.30pm

Autumn 1st half term 2. 9. 2020 23. 10. 2020

Autumn 2nd half term 2. 11. 2020 18. 12. 2020

Spring 1st half term 4. 1. 2021 12. 2. 2021

Spring 2nd half term 22.2.2021 26.3 2021

Summer 1st half term 12. 4. 2021 28. 5. 2021

Summer 2nd half term 7. 6. 2021 16. 7. 2021

Bank Holidays;

Friday 25th December -2020

Monday 28th December -2020

Friday 1st January -2021

Friday2nd April -2021

Monday 5th April -2021

Monday 3rd May- 2021

Monday 31st May – 2021

Monday 30th August - 2021

5 Staff Training days (School is closed for the children)

DAY1 -1/9/2020

DAY2 -16/11/2020

DAY3 - 8/3/2021

DAY 4&5 - 19&20/07/2021

Standards

Academic 2018/19

We are required by the government to publish end of Key Stage assessments for the children in Year 6 in Reading, Writing and Maths. In the summer of 2019, 32 children from Y6 children were the 3rd cohort to be assessed on the new curriculum and more challenging assessments. After the children had taken the tests in Reading, Maths and Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling a statistical scaled mark/measure was decided as a national benchmark and all children that reached or exceeded that mark were deemed to have met the expected standard. An even higher pass mark, if achieved, was identified as the writing was teacher assessed, but the criteria for the expected standard was set at a higher level than previous years.

Below is a table with the information for the school.

• Standards at KS2 for Maths were above National, in reading they were below and writing these figures were broadly in line with National.

• Standards in KS1 were below National in reading, writing and maths. This was due to a number of circumstances that have been addressed by the school.

• Y1 phonics – 92% (82%) – Phonics is on an upward trend and has been tackled in 2017-18 through a managed approach that has created earlier focus and greater consistency in delivery. In 2019 a deep dive review of this was carried out and we enhanced the approaches further to be more consistent and uphold the fidelity of the daily programme. Training of all the staff has now embedded a more consistent approach from September and has a clearly timetabled and phased approach. Work is also being carried out with the Private Nursery setting to support early phonics prior to entering formal school.

• EYFS GLD – 67% (71.5%)This is slightly below National. This was assessed externally by the Early Years team in June 2019 who quality assured this as an accurate reflection of the outcomes of this cohort.

• Progress in Maths has been a focus of the school and in KS2 is above National, however this needs further focusing and embedding this year being developed both in KS1 & KS2 to ensure progress from KS1 is maintained to the end of KS2 and that KS1 is inline and above National. Writing, Reading & SpaG will form the focus of the school development priorities for the leadership team and staff, alongside bespoke CPD to enhance this further for next year.

• 81% (78%) Although SpaG has improved massively from last year and is now in line with National. A more embedded and consistent approach to the delivery of first wave, quality teaching in Literacy with a new timetable to focus on this area throughout the school has assisted with this improvement.

(%) figures in brackets are National or LA actual percentages achieved. (na%) is in place until comparative figures are calculated and available.

|KS2 2019 May |Cohort Numbers |Actual (Expected) |

|Reading |69% - (75%) |7% (25%) |

|Writing |59%   -(75%) |7% (25%) |

|Maths |59%   -(76.%) |14% (22%) |

|R,W&M combined. |48%  – (65.0%) |7% (11%) |

Further information can be obtained from the Department for Education website .uk/schools/performance.

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