Lyncrest Primary School and Nursery Lyncrest Avenue Northampton NN5 5PE Telephone (01604) School Prospectus

Transcription

1 Lyncrest Primary School and Nursery Lyncrest Avenue Northampton NN5 5PE Telephone (01604) School Prospectus

2 We are the small, friendly school and nursery that really cares about your child. Dear Parents / Carers, Welcome to Lyncrest Primary School and Nursery. We are a happy and friendly school and we look forward to welcoming your child. We firmly believe that school and family working closely together will give your child the very best educational opportunities. Therefore we hope that parents who choose to send their child to Lyncrest will become involved in the school community and will support their child s learning and enjoy the family ethos. We are the only local school which has a nursery class and then one class in each year group to enable your child to have the very best education in a small traditional school, usually found in a village. Thank you for taking the time to read this prospectus, we are very proud of our children and our school and nursery and would be very happy to give you a personal tour. I look forward to meeting you and your child, Mrs Sally O Neill Head teacher

3 Lyncrest accommodates boys and girls between the ages of 3 and 11 years. We have one class of pupils in each year group. This makes a total of 7 classes, plus the Nursery. Each class, including nursery, has a fully qualified Teacher and is supported by our team of Teaching Assistants. Please note that admission to the Nursery, from 3 years of age, is arranged by school. An application form is available from the school office. School places, from age 4, are allocated by the Admissions Department at The County Council. Pupils attending Nursery do still need to apply for a school place and the local authority are responsible for the process. Nursery has 26 places each morning and 26 places each afternoon. Parents are warmly invited to visit us and to see our Nursery and School so that you can choose the educational environment that will be best for your child.

4 We are committed to providing a warm and caring environment in which Mission Statement all members of our school family can flourish and attain their full potential; academically, socially, physically and spiritually. We believe that every child can shine at Lyncrest. Discipline We have high expectations of behaviour. Indeed our pupils are often complimented on their behaviour by visitors or whilst on educational visits. The behaviour policy clearly defines the rewards and sanctions which are common throughout the school. A copy of the policy is available on request from the school office. Our Year 5 and 6 pupils enjoy being Buddies to the younger children, and this helps us to have a smooth transition and a feeling of family and shared learning.

5 Every Child Matters at Lyncrest We follow the New National Curriculum (September 2014) and enhance this with a wide range of activities to interest and enthuse all pupils. At the beginning of each term we share with parents an outline of the planned teaching and learning. This is also on our website. The curriculum is covered by six engaging topics each year and these are enquiry based and carefully matched to the needs of the pupils. We plan visits and visitors to enhance programmes of study. All children learn French from Year 3 to Year 6. All children have music lessons from a specialist. All pupils are involved in our annual Arts Exhibition. All children have Sports and Dance lessons from specialists. All pupils in Year 5 learn to play a brass instrument as part of their weekly music lessons. Pupils in Year 4 have weekly swimming lessons. Our computer suite is used by all pupils. All classrooms and the computer suite have interactive whiteboards, including the Nursery. There are opportunities for residential visits in Key Stage Two. Parents and their children meet regularly with the class teacher to discuss learning. A Friday Newsletter is available weekly on our website. We have a robust system to raise standards and to closely monitor pupil progress, but we also believe that it is important for pupils to enjoy school, to develop into responsible and caring members of our community. We also teach our six core values through assemblies and in all areas of school life. (Respect, Compassion, Responsibility, Integrity, Justice and Courage) There are opportunities for musical pupils to learn instruments from Year 2. Currently our pupils learn the violin, a range of brass instruments and the guitar. These lessons are taught by peripatetic music teachers from NMPAT. (Northampton Music and Performing Arts Trust) All pupils are treated as individuals and their learning is matched to their needs; this can result in some pupils working with children in other year groups for certain parts of their day.

6 We enjoy and achieve We have a House System and all children are involved. The Houses are: Red Robin, Blue Swallow, Green Woodpecker and Golden Oriel. Lyncrest Primary School is known for achievements in Sport. We enter cluster tournaments and competitions in a wide range of sports and we have a history of success. There are weekly basketball, football, musical theatre, multi skills and rhythmic gymnastics clubs. We have strong links with Northampton Town Football Club and The Saints Rugby Club and pupils benefit from involvement in their Study Centres. We spend some of our Sports Funding on 8am Sports Clubs which are accessible to all, on a rota, free of charge. These are well attended and enable pupils to have extra activity before the school day. There is also a Sports Coach who leads lunchtime activities on the playground. Please see our website for more detail about how we spend our Sports Funding.

7 We promote healthy eating at Lyncrest We have our own Kitchen Pod which is situated near to the Staff Car Park and prepares hot meals for our school. From September 2014, all pupils in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 can have a daily hot meal, free of charge. You will be able to see the menus and book these meals on line through the Nourish website. When you have a password this can easily be done in advance for the whole term or weekly. We can help you with the process. We promote the following: Breakfast club Hot Lunches (cooked on the premises) Cool milk Juice Drinking water readily available Free fruit for FS and KS1 Afterschool Club We are proud to be an Enhanced Healthy School. This award was recently given to us as we showed new achievements since our previous Healthy Schools Award. E.g Our Peace Garden. We are proud to have achieved Northampton in Bloom (Gold) and have been asked to represent Northampton in the East Midlands competition. The Mayor and Mayoress of Northampton visit our Arts Exhibition, April 2014

8 Good Personal Development We encourage all pupils to have a voice at Lyncrest. The school council is made up from children in each class and their views are considered at all times. We involve all pupils in community activities such as delivering harvest parcels and entertaining elderly neighbours and hosting community coffee afternoons. We use our core values programme to support personal development throughout the school. OFSTED praised our pupil s behaviour and personal development, awarding an OUTSTANDING grade. (October, 2012) We are proud to have achieved the Inclusion Quality Mark and recently have been recommended to receive the Flagship Award for Inclusion. Nursery 2014.

9 General Information Times Nursery : 8.50am am or 12.30am-3.30pm School : 8.50am 3.15pm. For busy families we also offer term time childcare before and after school. Breakfast Club begins at 8am and Afterschool Club closes at 5.30pm. School Uniform We take a pride in the smart appearance of our pupils. The school colours are red and grey and we expect school uniform to be worn. This consists of a red cardigan or sweatshirt and a grey skirt or trousers. Polo shirts can be red or white. School shoes in black are preferred. Items with the school badge are available from The School Wear Shop, and the rest is available from many stores in the town. The PE kit consists of red shorts, white polo shirt and training shoes. A navy tracksuit is required for our regular outdoor P.E lessons. Special Educational Needs Pupils with SEN are supported according to our school policy. Parents are kept informed of the programme of work and targets through regular meetings. We have a Teacher and an experienced Higher Level Teaching Assistant with responsibility for Special Needs, including Gifted and Talented pupils, who lead this important area. Safequarding We have three designated teachers responsible for Child Protection and a Child Protection Safeguarding Policy. There may be occasions when we need to contact, make referrals and seek advice from other professional agencies.

10 Collective Worship Daily collective worship is led by staff and visiting speakers. Parents do have the right to withdraw their children from assemblies by writing to the Governing Body. It is not necessary to give a reason for withdrawal. Parents who withdraw their child may be required to supervise their child during the weekly lessons. RE Lessons We provide the teaching of religious education in accordance with the Northamptonshire Agreed Syllabus for RE. All children will have weekly lessons unless parents have requested withdrawal as above. Parents who withdraw their child may be required to supervise their child during the weekly lessons. Sex and Relationships Education Sex education is an educational entitlement for all pupils. We aim to build in a developmentally appropriate way, on children s existing knowledge and experience of their bodies, relationships and the world around them. The school provides structured lessons in Upper Key Stage 2 in partnership with our school nurse. Parents who wish to withdraw their children from these lessons are requested to put this in writing and to be prepared to supervise their child during these sessions. Medicines Our medicine policy is available from the school office. This explains that we can only give medicines which are prescribed for the child and that written paperwork needs to be completed by the parent or carer to ensure we have clear instructions. Asthma inhalers can be kept in school following the necessary paperwork. Absence If your child is poorly please phone the school office so that the register can be marked appropriately. We try to ensure that germs are not spread and expect children with cases of vomiting and diarrhoea to be kept at home for 48hours from the last bout. Regular unexplained absence will be followed up and good attendance is acknowledged and expected. Annual Family Holidays now need to be in the school holidays only. A booklet is available to explain in detail about our Duston Cluster approach to encourage good attendance. From September 1st 2013 we are unable to authorise family holidays and extended leave due to a revision of Government guidelines. For more information please see the DFE website. The local authority could issue a penalty notice if you take your child out of school during termtime. Valuables Children should not bring valuables to school. Parents should be aware that pupils belongings are not covered by school insurance, so parents may wish to include them on the all risks section of their home insurance. Jewellery The wearing of jewellery is not allowed because of the danger of loss, accident or damage. If your child has pierced ears please ensure that only studs are worn at school. Responsibility for the child s safety in this instance lies with the parent and the school cannot be held responsible for any incidents involving the wearing of jewellery.

11 Hair Extreme fashions in clothing or hairstyles, including colouring, are not suitable for school activities. Dogs No dogs are allowed on the school premises. Adult Behaviour We do not tolerate threatening or abusive behaviour on the school premises. Swearing or shouting are unacceptable and we expect that all adults will support the school core values. Complaints Procedure We follow the County council procedure for all complaints. A copy is available on request from the school office. In the first instance speak to the classteacher and then the headteacher regarding any concerns. Media/Website We follow NCC guidelines. Please inform us if you do not wish your child to be photographed for displays or to celebrate achievements in the local newspaper or on our school website. Charging Policy The Staff and Governing Body recognise the valuable contribution that a range of visits and activities can make towards a child s personal and social education. The Governing Body reserves the right to ask for a contribution towards these activities if necessary. We expect parents to support our planned visits when they are part of the curriculum and try to ask for only one financial contribution of around 10 each year. Other trips and sports events etc. are paid by the school. We will try to offer financial support when the child is entitled to free school meals. Our current policy is to pay for half of school clubs/educational visits/music tuition for all pupils who are entitled to Free School Meals. Please do apply for Free School Meals, if you think you are entitled to them, as this results in the school gaining extra funding which can benefit all pupils. The way that we spend this extra money is outlined on our website under Pupil Premium.

12 Family Projects at Lyncrest Miniature Gardens We firmly believe that school and family working closely together will give your child the very best educational opportunities. Therefore we hope that parents who choose to send their child to Lyncrest will become involved in the school community and will support and enjoy the family ethos. We try to encourage all families to take part in our holiday projects. Recent ones include making a miniature garden and Spring Watch. We look forward to welcoming you to Lyncrest Primary School.