Making contact

All our staff are dedicated to giving your child the best possible start to their formal education and communication between parents and carers is a vital part of the process.  Should you have any concerns you are able to  make an appointment to see your child’s teacher by approaching them in the playground at the beginning or end of the day or by calling into or telephoning the main office to arrange an appointment.  

Should you wish to see a senior leader the headteacher and or deputy are often in the playground particularly at the beginning of the day. However, you may prefer to telephone or call into the office to make an appointment. For urgent matters, parents and carers can usually be seen immediately by a senior member of staff.

Pupil Progress

We understand that parents and carers have busy lives and school meeting days are sometime difficult to arrange, however our teachers are very flexible with their time and we do our best to accommodate parents’ needs. Where parents/carers are unable to make it into school, telephone meetings can be arranged.
 

You will be informed of your child’s progress at Parents’ Consultation meetings in the autumn and spring terms.  Invitations to meet with your child's class teacher will be sent and appointments can be booked online for virtual meetings.  Your child will also receive a  full school report at the end of the academic year (July). Your child's Home/School Diary will also contain information about your child's reading. However, you can enquire at any point about your child’s progress. Teachers will be happy to give you updates, especially if you have concerns about your child’s progress.

If you have a concern regarding your child's progress you should speak to your child’s class teacher in the first instance but you may also make an appointment with the school’s Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator. The head teacher or Deputy are also available if you have particular concerns. 

Setting

Setting only occurs when it is a benefit for the pupils learning. In the Foundation Stage (Nursery and Reception) children work alongside each other, although pupils working at a similar level may be drawn together to work on phonics activities, for example, or on a particular maths challenge.

In Key Stage 1(Years 1 and 2), pupils generally work together on tasks but may be grouped for some maths or literacy activities. Guided reading groups are arranged according to pupils’ reading ability.

In Key Stage 2, (Years 3, 4, 5 and 6) pupils are usually taught in ability groups for maths but these are flexible. Pupils may move groups if they find the level of work too demanding or insufficiently challenging.

For some activities pupils are grouped according to their ability in English, but this is not as common practice as it is for maths lessons. Guided reading groups are arranged according to pupils’ reading ability. 

Support

Classroom support is determined according to the needs of the pupils and is flexibly arranged. If a particular class has several children with additional needs then that class will be given more support than anothers. Support may change throughout the year depending on pupils’ progress. Some support staff may work with groups of children from different classes within the phase. All classes receive some support.

At the beginning of each term, parents and carers are sent a Curriculum Letter explaining what the children will be learning that term with a list of learning objectives. Each half term, individual pupil targets are sent home in the children's Home/School Diaries.  Homework is set on a weekly basis and tasks may also include explanations of learning, for example a particular maths strategy may be explained.

In addition, the school regularly hosts Parent Workshops which are designed to help parents support their child's learning. Workshops may focus on explaining different learning methods or teaching approaches.

If you need further guidance, class teachers are happy to meet with parents and carers.     
 

The RE curriculum is designed so that as many people as possible feel able to take part, however parents have the right to withdraw their children from RE lessons,  from assemblies or from Sex Education. If parents do not wish their child to take part, they should contact the head teacher so that other arrangements can be made for the child. 

Homework is set each week to support children’s learning. Homework is consistent across a phase group and allocated on specific days each week. The homework timetable is explained in the Curriculum Letter that goes home each term. Teachers mark and respond to homework each week.  The full policy is available to download in the policies section.