Pros Oct 06 booklet.indd - Drighlington Primary School
Pros Oct 06 booklet.indd - Drighlington Primary School
Pros Oct 06 booklet.indd - Drighlington Primary School
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Farsley Farfield <strong>Primary</strong> <strong>School</strong><br />
<strong>Pros</strong>pectus<br />
20<strong>06</strong>-7<br />
Cote Lane Farsley<br />
Leeds LS28 5ED<br />
0113 214 6083/4<br />
www.farsleyfarfield.leeds.sch.uk
Welcome from the Head teacher...<br />
I am very proud of this school.<br />
Farsley Farfield <strong>Primary</strong> <strong>School</strong> has a huge amount to<br />
offer your child; unique qualities that will combine to<br />
offer an exciting, rich and varied education.<br />
Key reasons for choosing this school:<br />
A highly skilled, committed and caring staff;<br />
Happy, well-mannered and motivated children;<br />
Outstanding school grounds, developed in a manner<br />
that promotes sport, care for the environment and creative<br />
imagination;<br />
Good academic standards;<br />
A firm commitment to the arts;<br />
Cutting edge ITT throughout the school;<br />
Effective home-school links with a very active PTA.<br />
The school has been recognised by many bodies for awards such as<br />
Healthy <strong>School</strong>s Standard Level 3, English and Maths Quality Mark;<br />
Investors in Pupils; Stephen Lawrence Education Award and Activemark<br />
Gold for high standards and quality provision in Physical Education.<br />
We are now working towards further recognition in the fields of the arts,<br />
inclusion and I.T.<br />
I hope that this prospectus gives you a feel for the school, but there is no<br />
substitute for coming to the school and seeing for yourself. Please contact<br />
us, and I will be delighted to show you round and discuss your child’s<br />
future.<br />
Peter Harris Head teacher September 20<strong>06</strong>
Foundation Stage...<br />
Our Foundation Stage is a fabulous place for any child to start<br />
their education. Consisting of Nursery and Reception classes,<br />
the Foundation Stage has a very<br />
creative and play-based curriculum.<br />
Areas of provision are carefully<br />
planned to provide your child with a<br />
broad range of experiences; some of<br />
these teacher directed, many of these<br />
self directed.<br />
We have a 26 place Nursery with<br />
children attending either the morning<br />
session, 9.00 a.m.-11.30 a.m. or the afternoon session, 12.45 p.m. - 3.15 p.m.<br />
You can arrange with our on-site private nursery ‘Little People’ for your<br />
child to be taken to Nursery (or any other year group) and be collected as<br />
necessary. See section on Extended <strong>School</strong>s<br />
In 2005-6, the nursery was oversubscribed<br />
and the school adopted the<br />
same admission criteria as Education<br />
Leeds uses for older children, i.e. siblings<br />
and proximity (children with acute<br />
special needs and those referred to us<br />
directly through social services have<br />
priority beyond this).<br />
The Reception, classes build upon the curriculum as established in the<br />
Nursery, and gradually introduce more structured ‘lessons’ as the year<br />
progresses. By the end of this year, your child should have achieved a<br />
wealth of ‘Early Learning Goals’, and be well prepared for the increasingly<br />
demanding curriculum of Key Stage 1.<br />
The Foundation Stage has a separate enclosed playground that has its own<br />
Adventure Trail. Fresh air and the stimulation of senses and the enquiring<br />
mind are cornerstones of our vision for early years education.
Key Stage 1...<br />
Children in Years 1 and 2 (age 5-7) are based in the North<br />
building with the Foundation Stage, and they benefit from<br />
large, airy classrooms and an imaginative and practical<br />
curriculum.<br />
Each classroom has support staff and an Interactive<br />
Whiteboard. KS1 pupils make use of the school’s<br />
large computer suite located in the South building, as<br />
well as their own smaller ICT suite.<br />
Academic standards at the end of KS1 are very<br />
good and often exceed national, Leeds and ‘Pudsey’<br />
averages.<br />
Key Stage 2...<br />
The South<br />
building accommodates<br />
the ‘Junior’ children (age<br />
7-11). The curriculum<br />
becomes a little more<br />
formal, but retains the<br />
flair and imagination<br />
necessary for ‘Excellence<br />
and Enjoyment’. In some<br />
year groups, there may<br />
be some setting of literacy<br />
and/or numeracy lessons.<br />
The South building has its own dedicated Studio for creative arts and a very<br />
large ICT suite.<br />
Academic standards at the end of KS2 are strong and usually exceed<br />
national, Leeds and ‘Pudsey’ averages. In 20<strong>06</strong>, our ‘value added’ places us<br />
in the top 25% of school nationally for progress.
Ofsted...<br />
In March 2003 we had a very successful Ofsted. We are very<br />
proud of this report and the summary is available free upon<br />
request. Alternatively, the full report can be viewed on-line at www.ofsted.<br />
gov.uk or from a link in the parent section of our web site.<br />
“Farsley Farfield is a popular and successful school that provides a<br />
good quality of education. Pupils make good progress in the friendly<br />
and caring environment, and reach high standards by the end of Year<br />
6. Good leadership and management, good teaching and a very rich<br />
curriculum help pupils to achieve well, especially in their personal<br />
and social development.”<br />
OFSTED March 2003<br />
Admission to school...<br />
<strong>Pros</strong>pective parents are encouraged to telephone for an<br />
appointment to meet the Head teacher and view the school.<br />
Children must, by law, start school full time at the beginning of the term<br />
after their fifth birthday. We admit all children into our Reception class at<br />
the beginning of the school year in September.<br />
After your child has started<br />
Nursery, you should receive a<br />
<strong>School</strong> Preference Form from<br />
Leeds Education Authority.<br />
This must be completed and<br />
returned by the given date in<br />
the autumn term. Places for<br />
school are centrally allocated<br />
by the Education Authority;<br />
therefore having a Nursery<br />
place does not guarantee a<br />
place in school. If you live<br />
outside the Leeds area you<br />
will not automatically receive a form and must apply directly to Pupil<br />
Admissions. Please ask if you need help to do this.
<strong>School</strong> Grounds...<br />
The school’s grounds are magnificent,<br />
and a literal breath of fresh air in these<br />
days of concrete and congestion. The PTA<br />
have played a major role in developing our green<br />
space, helping to resource a total of three adventure<br />
playgrounds, a huge number of trees, a sensory trail,<br />
a ‘spiral mound’ and artificial cricket wicket. Most<br />
spectacularly, the school has a unique Apple Sculpture<br />
where children can relax and chat.<br />
Whenever possible, children get onto the<br />
grass at playtime, thus promoting a healthy,<br />
active lifestyle.<br />
Some children may, occasionally, come home<br />
a little muddy!<br />
Conservation...<br />
Positive attitudes to conservation and the natural environment<br />
are highly valued in the school.<br />
We have a<br />
fenced conservation area<br />
with two ponds and a<br />
range of habitats. Our<br />
resident groundsperson,<br />
Mrs Kirby, works hard<br />
to maintain the fields<br />
and woodland areas in an<br />
organic manner.<br />
Future plans include a large poly tunnel and allotment space on the top<br />
field to promote horticultural skills amongst our children.
There’s more to life...<br />
Extra Curricular Activities<br />
We are able to offer a wide range of extra-curricular activities,<br />
many of which make use of our magnificent grounds. Most of these clubs<br />
are staffed by our own teachers and support staff, but we also supplement<br />
the provision by employing some specialist coaches. Activities vary<br />
according to the time of year, but have recently included:<br />
Boys’ and girls’ football Y2-6<br />
Netball<br />
Rounders<br />
Athletics/Cross Country<br />
ICT<br />
Tennis<br />
Cycling<br />
Dance<br />
Art (subscription)<br />
Cricket<br />
Crafts<br />
Gymnastics<br />
Most clubs are freely provided, but we are<br />
increasingly approached by outside providers<br />
of extra-curricular activities that we may<br />
choose to host e.g. the popular Art Club and a<br />
new Drama Academy.<br />
Please remember that after school clubs<br />
are generally run voluntarily by teachers<br />
in their own time.<br />
Music Tuition<br />
We are very keen for our children to excel in the arts. As well as<br />
investing in our new Studio room with built in recording facilities and<br />
providing specialist singing and music lessons across the school, we have<br />
a partnership with Roundhay Music<br />
to provide high quality, small group<br />
instrument tuition for half hour lessons<br />
every week. Children are taught to read<br />
music and get the chance to perform<br />
and take grade exams. This provision is<br />
currently subsidised by school and costs<br />
£2.50 per week.
A Sporting Life...<br />
Farsley Farfield is a very strong sporting school. We aim to<br />
provide a broad and balanced curriculum for all children both<br />
through P.E lessons during school time and our wide variety<br />
of sporting activities out of school hours. We aim to provide<br />
two hours of good-quality PE for each child each week. We have achieved<br />
the prestigious Activemark Gold award.<br />
We take all Year 4 children for the whole academic year to lovely, historic<br />
Bramley Baths. We aim for all children to be able to swim at least 25m<br />
unaided. A child that is unable to swim to that standard at the end of Year<br />
4 may be given the opportunity for additional lessons in Year 5.<br />
Our school grounds are second-to-none locally, and in the summer we have<br />
two artificial cricket wickets and nets to further promote that sport. We<br />
are very proud that our cricket team were West Yorkshire champions in<br />
20<strong>06</strong>!<br />
We have excellent links with Priesthorpe Specialist Sports College, and<br />
benefit from specialist teaching and other sports coaches that they provide<br />
or broker.<br />
We have a lot of sporting talent on the staff including a teacher that has<br />
swum for Great Britain, a prominent local cyclist and a semi-professional<br />
footballer. As well as football and cricket, we regularly take part in<br />
competitions in netball, tag rugby, rounders, swimming, cycling, athletics<br />
and cross country.
Smart kids...<br />
We encourage all children from<br />
Reception upwards to wear school<br />
uniform. The children may wear:<br />
a burgundy or grey sweat top,<br />
jumper or cardigan;<br />
white polo shirt, blouse or shirt;<br />
grey trousers, jogging<br />
bottoms, skirt or pinafore;<br />
burgundy check summer dress.<br />
Some children choose to wear the<br />
school tie.<br />
Uniform is available from ‘The Skool<br />
Shop’ on Farsley Town Street.<br />
All children from Year 3 upwards are required to wear indoor shoes for<br />
hygiene and to help keep our school clean. Younger pupils may bring a<br />
change of footwear if they wish.<br />
P.E. kit is a white t-shirt and black leggings or shorts. For outdoor P.E. all<br />
children will need warm suitable clothing and footwear depending on the<br />
time of year and activity.<br />
All items of clothing should be clearly named.
Special Attention...<br />
Every child is special, and every child is welcomed to our<br />
school. We aim to meet any child’s special needs wherever<br />
possible, and we have some resources such as a large care suite<br />
and platform lift in the North Building in order to help us to include as<br />
many children as practicable.<br />
We have an SEN team, led by Mrs. Williams, that works to identify<br />
children for whom established educational provision and intervention<br />
programmes are insufficient to secure appropriate progress. Where school<br />
action is required, we devise individual education plans and provide<br />
extra resources as required. If a child’s special needs are very significant,<br />
it may be possible to access further resources from Education Leeds.<br />
Regular contact is made with appropriate support services to help us with<br />
diagnostic assessments and educational programmes of work.<br />
We have Learning Support Assistants (L.S.As) throughout the school<br />
who work with individuals and small groups of children. Many staff in the<br />
Foundation Stage are trained in MAKATON sign language.<br />
Some children are identified as having special educational needs because<br />
they are more able. Where this is the case, class teachers will differentiate<br />
accordingly, and the school will provide some additional educational<br />
opportunities. Last year, our ‘Gifted and Talented’ Year 6 mathematicians<br />
had separate lessons from a high school teacher and a dedicated LSA and<br />
they achieve outstandingly high standards.<br />
Partnership with Parents...<br />
We encourage parents to help in school both in and out of the<br />
classroom in a variety of ways. Any help, whether it is single<br />
gesture or a regular occurrence, is extremely valued by the staff<br />
as there is always something to do in our busy school!<br />
Any teacher will be glad to meet with parents throughout the year although<br />
an appointment may sometimes be necessary for mutual convenience.<br />
There are two formal consltation evenings, usually in the autumn and<br />
spring terms, and an end of year report in July.
An Extended <strong>School</strong>...<br />
<strong>School</strong>s increasingly have an obligation to extend their opening<br />
hours and make childcare available.<br />
Farsley Farfield already has a privately run before-school, after-school and<br />
holiday care facility on our premises that is run by Little People private<br />
day nursery. Parents may book their children in, subject to places being<br />
available, for any number of sessions on a regular or one off basis. The<br />
facility is open 7.30 a.m. – 6.00 p.m. every weekday and every day during<br />
school holidays except Bank Holidays. The children have access to a wide<br />
range of indoor activities, can use the school’s super outdoor facilities and<br />
have special trips arranged. Children can be taken directly to and collected<br />
from school by members of Fun Club staff.<br />
Little People also have a separate building for private nursery care for<br />
children 3 months to 4 years. Children who attend our school Nursery<br />
may be taken to and from a morning or afternoon session by Little People.<br />
Telephone 2563951 or 2566495 (0-4 facility) for further details.<br />
This wrap-around service works very well and integrates seamlessly with<br />
our main school provision. Children may combine attendance at ‘Fun Club’<br />
with an extra-curricular club run by the school; where this is the case it is<br />
very important to inform the ‘Fun Club’ staff.<br />
Mrs. Topp, the North building secretary, also has details of other local<br />
child-minders.<br />
“Little People Nursery, at Farsley Farfield, provides good<br />
quality care...The setting is warm and welcoming for children<br />
and parents...Children have many opportunities to explore and<br />
investigate their environment both indoors and outdoors. Out of<br />
school children enjoy a wide range of activities suitable for their<br />
age, which helps them to relax after a day at school...Partnership<br />
with parents is very good.” OFSTED 2004
Leaders in Learning with ICT...<br />
Whilst Farsley Farfield is a traditional school in many of its<br />
values, it is very much ‘cutting edge’ in terms of some of its<br />
teaching styles.<br />
We have Interactive Whiteboard technology in every teaching space in the<br />
school from Reception classes onwards. Our school intranet and super-fast<br />
STAR network connection to the internet combine to make the the latest<br />
multimedia resources available to all our teachers and learners. We digitise<br />
all educational TV programmes, and these are available in complete or<br />
extract form in every classroom.<br />
We have recently opened<br />
a large new ICT suite with<br />
30 computers. We also have<br />
smaller ICT clusters in the<br />
North dining room and South<br />
foyer. Children in Year 6 are<br />
taught by a specialist ICT<br />
teachers as they work on<br />
spreadsheets, databases and multimedia presentations including animation.<br />
Children in the Juniors have an additional one hour ‘Computer-aided<br />
learning’ session each week to promote personalised, more independent<br />
learning.<br />
Farfield Online...<br />
We have a very active school web site that can be accessed at<br />
www.farsleyfarfield.leeds.sch.uk<br />
Our aim is have all the school’s important information easily accessible,<br />
e.g. newsletters, term dates and holiday request forms. We also use the web<br />
site as a link with parents through photo galleries, videos and audio files. If<br />
your child goes on a trip or is involved in a special activity, you can share<br />
this experience with them by watching it online together!