Weston Park brochure

Welcome to Weston Park Primary School

The Governors

Aims of Weston Park Primary School

Admissions

The School Day

How can I help my child settle in?

Weston Park staff

The Curriculum

Parents' Handbook

Welcome to Weston Park Primary School

Dear Parents and Carers

In this brochure we have tried to give you an idea of what Weston Park School is like. If you have any questions, please let us know and we will try to answer them.

Weston Park Primary School is a one-form entry community primary school in the London Borough of Haringey. It is laid out on one floor with disabled access throughout. There is a nursery class within the building. There are separate playgrounds for the Nursery, Infants and Juniors. There is also an environmental area with a pond to which children are allowed supervised access only.

* We aim to provide a safe and caring environment where children will feel secure and happy.

* We will offer stimulating and challenging learning opportunities and the encouragement and good teaching to enable children to make the most of them.

* The curriculum will be broad and balanced and, from Year 1 onwards, will follow the requirements of the National Curriculum. Much of the curriculum will be taught through topics which will change, usually, each half term.

* We will help children to behave well, and to work and play together co-operatively.

* We want to work with parents to develop a lively and supportive school community.

We hope that your child has a happy and rewarding time with us.

Andrew Wickham - Headteacher
Marianne Rebak - Deputy Headteacher
Mary Smeeth - Chair of Governors Back to top

The Governors

The Governing Body is responsible for the overall management of the school. It meets at least twice a term.

There are four Parent Governors who are elected by all parents for a four-year term. They can be contacted through the School Office.

Agendas and minutes of Governors' meetings are displayed on the board at the 'crossroads' in the corridor. Back to top

Aims of Weston Park Primary School

Our vision is to create a school where we:

* Provide high quality and enjoyable teaching and learning opportunities

* Provide a broad curriculum, in particular ensuring opportunities for creativity

* Provide a safe and nurturing environment in which to learn and grow

* Help children become active participants in the life of the school and in their own learning

* Develop children's independence and respect for themselves, others and the environment

* Provide for equality of opportunity and celebrate the cultural diversity of our school and local community

* Promote children's play as a means for developing learning, social skills and imagination

* Welcome parents and involve them in the school and the education of their children Back to top

Admissions

1. Nursery

The Nursery has 52 part-time places - 26 in the morning and 26 in the afternoon. We have no full-time places.

The Nursery admits, in September, children who are already three and will become four between 1st September and 31st August.

Applications are dealt with by the school according to criteria laid down by the local authority.

Morning and afternoon places are then allocated in such a way as to try to get an even age distribution and as good a balance of boys and girls as possible. We do our best to keep friends together, but don't guarantee to be able to do so.

Morning places are popular, and we are unable to satisfy all requests for morning places. If there is a pressing reason why you need to have a morning (or, indeed, an afternoon) place, please inform us, in writing, as soon as possible.

A place in the Nursery does not guarantee a place in the Reception Class.


2. Reception Class

The Reception Class has 30 places.
The Reception Class admits, in September, children who are already four and will become five between 1st September and 31st August.

Admissions are administered by the London Borough of Haringey using laid down criteria.

These are, in brief:

1. Children with special educational or social needs as determined by the Director of Education.
2. Brothers and sisters of children already in the school.
3. Other children according to the straight-line distance from their homes to the school.
Fuller details are available from the school.

If you are considering applying for a place for your child at Weston Park, please contact the school to arrange a time to come and visit.

Applications for a place in the Reception Class have to be made by November the previous year.

3. Admission to other classes

Parents who want a place at Weston Park for their children in other year groups can put their names on the waiting list by filling in a form available from the office.

When a vacancy occurs, the head will look at all the children on the waiting list for that class and offer a place according to the criteria laid down by Haringey. These are essentially the same as for Reception admissions. Length of time on the waiting list does not, in itself, give a higher priority.

Children new to the area and not in a Haringey school will be given priority over children living in the area wishing to transfer from another school. Back to top

The School Day

Morning Nursery 9.05 - 11.35
Afternoon Nursery 1.00 - 3.30

Infants 9.00 - 12.10
(Years R, 1 & 2) 1.30 - 3.30

Juniors 9.00 - 12.10
(Years 3,4,5 & 6) 1.10 - 3.30 Back to top

How can I help my child settle in?

Nursery
Admissions to the Nursery are staggered, with a group of children starting each week from the middle of September. We allocate start dates in such a way as to try and keep a gender balance in each group with, in general, the youngest children starting first.

Prior to starting you will be invited to meet the teacher to talk about your child. For Nursery children this will be a home visit so that your child can meet the teacher in familiar surroundings.

When your child starts, please stay with him/her until he/she is settled. This could take a number of days.


Reception Class
Admissions to the Reception Class are also staggered, with children starting each week in September. Our aim is to admit children into the class in a gentle and orderly way with as little stress as possible. We allocate start dates in such a way as to try to:

Keep children who knew each other in our Nursery together.
Keep friendship groups together.
Keep a gender balance in each group starting.
Children who are new to Weston Park start first. When we know the children, because they have been to our Nursery, we try to admit those less confident earlier, so that they come into a class with fewer children in it.

Reception places are part-time only for the first week or so. Children then stay for dinner and go home at 1.30 for a week. Experience has shown that staying for dinner is a big step for some children. Children can then attend full-time unless parents and staff think that a child would benefit from a longer period of part-time attendance - for instance if a child is particularly young or lacking in confidence.

Prior to starting you will be invited to meet the teacher to talk about your child.

If your child is in the Reception Class and hasn't been to a Nursery, then he/she may need a settling-in period with you around. Children in the Reception Class who have already been to a Nursery are likely to settle in very quickly. Back to top

Weston Park staff

 

Back to top

The Curriculum

The Curriculum in the Nursery and the Reception Class (The Foundation Stage) is based on the national Foundation Stage Guidelines: Personal and Social Development, Language and Literacy, Maths, Knowledge and Understanding of the World, Physical Development and Creative Development. In the Reception Class the teaching of English and Maths is based on the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies. Within a structured environment children are given a high degree of choice between different activities, some of which will be teacher or adult led, and will be encouraged to develop their independence.

The curriculum that the school follows from Year 1 onwards is based on the requirements of the National Curriculum. The National Curriculum consists of:

Core Subjects:
English
Maths
Science
Information Technology

Foundation Subjects:
Geography
History
Music
Art
Design and Technology
Physical Education

It is our aim to extend Weston Park's curriculum beyond the National Curriculum, especially in creative areas - Music and Art. We have a specialist music teacher who teaches class music lessons. We regard play as being an important part of developing children's imagination and social skills. Children in all year groups are given the opportunity for structured play as part of their learning.

We also teach Religious Education according to the locally determined syllabus which covers a broad introduction to all the main world religions.

Children are taught as a whole class, in groups or individually. This will depend on the subject matter, the age of the children and their individual needs.

English and Maths are taught according to the requirements of the National Literacy and Numeric Strategies. Science, Design and Technology, History, Geography and Art are taught through topics which change each half term. Music and P.E. are taught separately. I.T. is integrated into other curriculum areas as much as possible.

We welcome parents helping in class, whether on a regular basis or just a one-off occasion. Please talk to your child's teacher if you would like to help so that work can be planned for you. If you have any particular skills (art, sewing, D.I.Y., cooking - anything at all) please mention it. We have many mothers helping - we would love to see more fathers!

We may ask for a voluntary contribution of £1 a half term to cover the costs of ingredients for cooking.

All school schemes of work and policies are placed in the main entrance and can be read at any time. Policies are produced according to the priorities identified each year in the School Improvement Plan. Staff, Governors and others are involved in drafting new policies.

Reading
Our primary aim is to develop confident, independent readers who have an enthusiasm for literature.

We teach a range of skills to enable children to make sense of print in a variety of contexts: in books, in the environment and in their own writing.

Children will read and be read to as a class, in small groups and individually, with different skills being addressed as appropriate.

Children will be reading a wide range of books including books by well-known authors as well as books from reading schemes.

The teaching of phonics is integrated into all the reading work the children do.

We follow the National Framework for Literacy.


Musical Instrument Tuition
We would like to encourage all children to learn to play a musical instrument.

Tuition on a range of instruments can be provided by Haringey's Music Service for children in Year 2 and above. It takes place in school during school time. This tuition has to be paid for by parents, but is free to those on Income Support.

More details are available from the Office.

Religious Education
The school teaches R.E. according to the local Agreed Syllabus.
Parents have the right to withdraw their children from R.E. and also from Collective Worship.

Parents wishing to do this should contact the Headteacher.

Sex Education
We teach Sex Education to all children according to the scheme of work approved by the Governors. Parents have a right to withdraw their children from Sex Education and should contact the Headteacher if they wish to do so.


Special Educational Needs
Some children may have a variety of special educational needs during their time at school, which could be intellectual, physical, social or emotional. Our aim is to work in partnership with you to support your child. The school will follow the Borough's guidance on Special Needs. Parents of all children on the Special Needs Register will receive a copy of a booklet giving more information.

It may be appropriate at some stage to consult outside agencies - for example our Educational Psychologist, or Speech Therapist. This would always be done in consultation with you. Back to top

Parents' Handbook

All parents/carers of children new to Weston Park will receive a copy of the Parents' Handbook. This is a loose-leaf file containing information about all areas of school life. It is updated each year and parents will receive new pages to replace out-of-date ones.

How can I help my child at home?

?h Please show an interest in what your child has done and offer encouragement and praise.

?h Find time to play with your child.

?h Listen to and talk to your child and answer any questions.

?h Share the books that your child brings home to help develop reading skills and a love of books.

If you teach your child the alphabet, please teach them letter sounds (e.g. 'a' as in cat) and to write in small letters (not A) except for an initial capital letter for names.


Homework
We have a Homework Policy which sets out our expectations of the sorts of things children should be doing at home to support the work they do in school.

Homework should not get in the way of other out-of-school activities that children are doing.

How can I find out about my child's work?

We will tell you which topics your child's class will be working on by sending home topic webs each half term.

We will also send out information, each term, about the work on reading that is planned for your child. We will suggest ways in which you can help your child's reading at home.

If you want information about your child's work, or have any concerns, please don't hesitate to speak to your child's teacher. She or he will nearly always be available for a quick chat after school. If you want a longer time to talk, then please make an appointment.

Most issues can be dealt with by the class teachers. If you wish to have an appointment to speak to the Headteacher, Andrew Wickham, you can arrange it with Josie in the Office.


Parents' Evenings

There will be regular opportunities to discuss your child's progress with her/his teacher.

We hold Parents' Evenings twice a year (in November and April) with timed appointments. The Nursery will be closed on these days so that appointments for Nursery parents can also be offered during the day.

Additionally, early in the year we will hold group meetings for all the parents of children in each class with the class teachers. This will give parents the opportunity to meet the teachers and to hear about plans for the year. Reception parents will be told how we teach reading.

Each summer you will receive a written report covering the range of work done by your child.

Please tell your child's teacher if there are any changes in your child's life - e.g. a new baby, a bereavement or family difficulties. They can affect your child's work and behaviour. If we know about them, we can respond appropriately. Back to top

 

Back to top