School Brochure

Welcome
This brochure is intended to help you to know more about our school, its organisation and the way we will care for and educate your children. Our genorous sized classrooms and outdoor facilities provide an exciting, stimulating and secure environment in which all children can grow in knowledge, skills and understdanding. The transition from home to school is one of the most important events in a child's life. We believe that partnership and regular communication between home and school is essential for the all round development of the children and we will constantly be working to strengthen this partnership. We are very proud of our school and hope that both you and your children will take pride in being part of it.

Our Aims are to:

create a learning community where all members have high standards and expectations and have equality of opportunity to gain maximum personal achievement,

create a stimulating and challenging environment, where children with enquiring, imaginative and creative minds become independent learners,

create a community which enables children to develop self-awareness and self-esteem, so that they grow as confident, articulate and responsible individuals,

provide a secure, safe and welcoming environment for all in the school community, where the motivation to learn is enhanced by the partnership between home and school,

provide a broad, balanced and exciting curriculum,

foster in each child respect and care for one another and an understanding of other races, religions and ways of life;

help children acquire a broad understanding and appreciation of the natural and made environment.

Organisation
The school is organised into eight classes - from nursery through to year six. This covers the Foundation Stage and Key Stages One and Two. Children of all abilities are catered for in classes of a maximum of thirty. There are arrangements for children with special educational needs to be given additional learning support. Each class has a designated full time class teacher. The teachers and teaching asistants support each other in Key Stage teams to plan, monitor and evaluate the curriculum. They maintain good order and a stimulating environment within which the children will learn.

Admissions
The Governing Body Admissions Committee is responsible for the allocation of places at the Nursery and the School. Please see Admissions Policy for further details.

Transfer
Children from Little Heath transfer to secondary education at the end of Year 6. They move on to a variety of different schools.

Teaching Time
Nursery hours are from 9.00-12.00 daily. 21.5 hours of teaching time in KS1 and 23.75 hours in KS2 are provided each week, in line with guidelines from the DfES. These hours do not include morning playtime, lunchtime, assembly or registration time. KS1 has an additional 10 minute playtime in the afternoon.

The School Day
Nursery: 9.00am - 12.00am

School: Morning session - 8.50am to 12.00am (12.05 for KS2)
Afternoon session - 1.15pm - 3.10pm (3.20 for KS2)

For further details please go to School Day

Children arrive at school from 8.40am. They remain in the fenced playground area outside the school office until the inner gates are opened. They then make their way round to their classroom. Parents collect their children from the same area at the end of the school day.

Inclusion
Children develop at different rates and some have more difficulty than others in coping with certain skills and curriculum areas. We usually provide support within class situations but there will be times when children are withdrawn for specialist support. We also receive support from learning support services such as our attached Educational Psychologist. The school policy for Special Educational Needs is available on request

Equality of Opportunity
We are committed to equality of opportunity. By this we mean that all children should have equal access to the whole curriculum and the general life of the school, with due regard given to issues of race, gender, culture, age, class, language, ability or disability. We value the uniqueness of individuals, the discussion of others' perspectives, the development of understanding and respect for others and the underlying humanity that we all share. We are opposed to all forms of discriminatory, racist or sexist language or behaviour. Any incident of discrimination is openly and quickly investigated. We have clearly identified procedures for dealing with such matters.

Learning Styles
Our curriculum is carefully planned to ensure a variety of approaches to suit all children.
Everybody has their own preferred learning styles and at Little Heath we aim to ensure that every child has the opportunity to learn in a way which they find most productive. We recognise that some children will learn better when the content is visual, whilst others like to be active or engage in listening and dialogue. Our curriculum is carefully planned to ensure a variety of approaches to suit all children. Lessons take the form of whole class teaching, group work and individual work. Children are encouraged to present their work in a variety of ways such as written, pictorial, spoken, and acted out. Problem solving and creative thinking is particularly encouraged.

Assessment, Recording and Reporting (SEN policy)
Teachers are continually assessing children's individual educational needs and achievement across the curriculum. They meet regularly to compare and moderate samples of work from different classes. This enables them to make consistent judgements of children's attainment levels in relation to the National Curriculum and to plan appropriate work for each child. Pupil progress is carefully tracked and monitored. Children are constantly encouraged to do their best, to review their own progress and thier efforts are given recognition. Annual reports are written for parents at the end of the summer term, which give an assessment of the overall development of their child. In the summer term, years 3, 4 and 5 take optional standardised tests in English and maths. Children in years 2 and 6 take end of key stage tests in English, maths and science. End of KS2 tests are reported to parents and published in national League Tables.