CONTENTS

   Introduction and School Character

              The behaviour code

School history

   School Admissions

   School Performance

Results

School Curriculum

The School Development Plan

Ofsted

   School Management

School Organization

Homework

Discipline

Reports

Attendance

Bullying

Uniform

School Communication

Health

If things go wrong

Governors

Special Educational Needs (SEN) Policy

School Documentation

School Food

   School Initiatives

Events and Visits

Sport

Moral and Spiritual Development

Arts Education

FONNS ( Friends of North Nibley School)

Appendix 1: Admissions Policy

Appendix 2: PANDA Attainment Summary

Appendix 3: Example: Summary of work to be covered in coming term

Introduction and School Character

The School aims, through the breadth and diversity of its subjects and activities:

·         to promote the highest academic standards in all aspects of the curriculum by ensuring that all pupils develop their potential;

·         to encourage learning by providing a welcoming, friendly and supportive environment in which Christian values are central to the ethos of the school and its teaching;

·         to encourage the children to question, challenge, use their own initiative and develop lively and enquiring minds;

·         to show concern and care, through a strong sense of Christian values, for all members of the school community;

·         to nurture links between school, home, parish and the local community;

·         to use the financial resources at our disposal to provide good accommodation and surroundings and the highest possible levels of staff and equipment.

The behaviour code

I will do my best to:

·         respect myself and all others;

·         act with kindness and consideration;

·         behave in a sensible and responsible way at all times.

I do my best by:

·         listening carefully;

·         thinking of others when working or moving around the school;

·         taking responsibility for my own belongings and those of others;

·         respecting the point of view of others.

School history

North Nibley School traces its foundation back to 1763 when the Revd. William Purnell, the retired High Master of Manchester Grammar School and a landowner in North Nibley, left in his will the sum of £300 for the education of boys in the village.  A second benefactor, John Jortin, built a house in North Nibley to provide these boys with a school and left a bequest in 1843 of £2,000 to enable a more permanent home to be found.  In 1851, the Trustees of the Purnell/Jortin Trust established the school in the house adjacent to St. Martin’s Church which had previously been used as the village Workhouse.  In 1875 part of the present school was built to provide education for girls and the boys joined them on 4^th September, 1905.

School Admissions

If you are considering North Nibley Church of England School we would be pleased to invite you to visit the school. Ring Ms Lesley Todhunter the school secretary who will organise this for you – 01453 542600.

The school has 105 pupils, with an Indicated Admission Number (IAN) of 15. The pupils are organised into 4 classes.

The school has an admissions policy (see Appendix 1) which gives preference to local children but we can often take additional children. Historically, a number of children from outside the traditional catchment area have been successfully accommodated. All admissions requests will be considered by the Governors.

Admissions are now handled centrally by Gloucestershire County Council admissions team, and parents should approach them at Shire Hall (01452 425000) for a form if their child is to be admitted to the Reception Year. We like to have a record of those pupils considering coming to us, so we also ask parents to fill in one of our own admissions forms, but the legally binding form is the one that is obtained from Shire Hall and administered by them. At any other stage during a pupil’s school career, we can handle the entire admission process locally, as long as we have less than the IAN in a year group.

Children are admitted to school in the Autumn term following their 4^th birthday.  To help the new reception children settle at school visits are made to North Nibley Playgroup and the Nursery school at Nibley House by the Class 1 teacher. These visits are followed up with invitations for all children interested to spend time at school during the Summer term to see their new classroom, meet the teacher and work with the Infant children. An evening meeting is organised for parents of reception aged children to meet the staff, representatives from the Governing Body and the Friends of North Nibley School (FONNS, see page 15).

To help keep in touch during the Summer term, school newsletters are sent to parents of the new reception children. There is also an opportunity to order school uniforms before the Summer holidays.

All the reception children start the Autumn term on a part-time basis, either morning or afternoons.  Full-time admission is agreed between parents and the teacher at the Parents’ Evenings held early in the first term.

School Performance

Results

A huge amount of data is collected for the purpose of monitoring progress and performance in school, ranging from the assessments of each child in each subject right up to the notorious League Tables. Each year a summary of our results in English, Maths and Science is given in the Department for Children Schools and Families RAISEonline report. There is also information available in the School Profile that can be accessed on-line.

We have included pages from the latest RAISE in Appendix 2 of this Prospectus. These pages summarise our children’s results at Key Stages 1 and 2 over the last 3 years, both for attainment and for the progression they have made. In reading this report it should be noted that in any  small school , with cohorts of 15 or less, each pupil represents about 6% in any statistical analysis.

In judging the performance of the school it is important to analyse the overall attainment or ”point scores” at Key Stage 1 and 2 , but also to consider the “value” added to each child’s attainment as they move from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 2.

The RAISE Report contains much more information. A copy is available in school if you would like to look at it, and the Headteacher will be pleased to discuss any questions you have about the school’s academic record.

School Curriculum

Reception

The curriculum for our reception children is based on the very sensible and well researched assumption that young children learn best when they learn practically.

Children must be ‘doing’ rather than just being talked at, discovering and investigating rather than just being told how things work. When we find something out for ourselves it is much easier to remember. Children are introduced to a carefully structured daily routine designed to provide opportunities to acquire skills and knowledge. The Fast Phonics scheme is used daily to introduce children to the phonic building blocks for reading. Interactive whiteboard programmes encourage early reading to be fun, and children are introduced to books to share very early in their school career. Reading scheme books are used to develop reading skills in group and individual sessions. Numeracy is developed in an active way during daily sessions and the outdoor classroom area is used extensively to promote physical development and creative and play opportunities

Six areas of learning, known as the Early Learning Goals cover physical, intellectual, emotional and social development. Progress is monitored individually allowing children to grow and develop at their own pace and children are required to be assessed according to “The Foundation Stage Profile”. Any substantive difficulties are also picked up quickly. In addition to the Foundation Stage Profile we undertake a computer screening called PIPs that helps us to assess the learning that children have experienced before they come to school.

Key Stage 1 and 2

All children, starting at age 5, begin to work on a common National Curriculum which is divided into four Key Stages:

                                                Key Stage 1:   5 - 7 years

                                                Key Stage 2:   7 - 11 years

                                                Key Stage 3:  11 - 14 years

                                                Key Stage 4:  14 - 16 years

The subjects are:

English, Mathematics, Science, ICT, Technology, History, Geography, Music, PE, Art and Religious Education.  A Foreign Language is added at Key Stage 2  and 4.

Currently the Key Stage 2 children at North Nibley School have an opportunity to experience French.

At the end of each Key Stage the children undertake Standard Assessment Tests (SATs) which test what they have learnt.

During Key Stage 1 and 2 the national curriculum subjects are studied by all children.  The curriculum has been designed to ensure that work is not repeated unnecessarily but that everything is covered at the required depth.  Priority is given to reading, writing, speaking and listening, mathematical understanding, ICT  and science. 

The curriculum is generally taught through topics to Infant children and through subjects to Junior children. For example in their topic on “Beside the Sea,“ Key Stage 1 pupils will cover aspects of history, geography, literacy, maths, design and technology, art, science and music. In Key Stage 2 there will be a more direct teaching of subject specific topics. For example, in Geography the topics include the Weather, Rivers and Coastlines. In History, the Tudors, the Greeks and Invaders and Settlers are three examples of the topics that are taught over a two year cycle. In order to make learning fun, the skills learned in literacy and numeracy will be applied in other subjects.

There will be occasions when children are taught together as a whole class, in small groups (which may be ability based) or individually.  Each term parents receive a summary of the work to be covered by their child’s class.  An example is attached in Appendix 3.

Classes contain either two or three year groups depending upon the number of children in each year.  Children in every year group are of mixed ability which means that the staff devote considerable time to planning activities at the appropriate level for the children in their class.  We remain confident in our ability to plan accordingly for all children and view the high standards achieved throughout the school as justification for our belief.

The School Development Plan

The school and Governors prepare a comprehensive School Development Plan annually to ensure that performance and facilities are continually enhanced.

Any observations from Ofsted are actioned and highlighted as part of this process. A number of initiatives are currently underway. If you would like to examine the current school plan please ask.

Ofsted

Our most recent Ofsted inspection was held on 13^th September 2005. In this new style inspection we were graded overall as being satisfactory.

Pupils are achieving high levels at the end of Key Stage 2 and results have improved again at Key Stage 1. The provision for the Foundation Stage is now judged to be fully appropriate.

Good features of the school noted in the latest Ofsted report include the standards attained by the pupils, their behaviour and their enjoyment of their education. Our strengths were seen as being the moral, social and spiritual development of the children, and the teachers’ care, guidance and support of the pupils was found to be good. We had previously identified the need to improve systems of target-setting with the children, and Ofsted agreed that this should be a focus for improvement. We have already made substantial strides in this area, involving the pupils in their own evaluation of their progress and learning and providing much more specific information on attainment and effort in our parent interview sessions that are held termly.  We are working with the children to make them more aware of the approach to learning that suits them best. Ofsted endorsed our own assessments of the position and confirmed that our plans for continued improvement are correct. They agreed that we have the right staff in place, capable of carrying out our planned improvements.

School Management

School Organization

At present, our 105 children are organised into four classes.  The organisation of the classes may vary from year to year due to the differing numbers of children in each year group.

The school is grouped for the academic year 2007/2008 in the following way:

 School Hours

Office:                                              Key Stage 1 (Infants)               Key Stage 2 (Juniors)

Monday:        9.00 - 12.30/1.00 - 4.00      

Tuesday:       9.00 - 12.30/1.00 - 4.00                   8.55 - 11.55                            8.55 - 12.00

Wednesday:  9.00 - 12.30/1.00 - 4.30                    1.00 - 3.15                              1.00 - 3.15

Thursday:      9.00 - 12.30/1.00 - 4.00

Friday:           9.00 - 12.30/1.00 - 4.00

Other Staff

                                                          Name                                      Role

                                                       Alison  Dixon                         Specialist P.E  Teacher

                                                      Debbie Nicholas                     Music teacher

                                                      Jackie Hopkins                       Learning Support Worker

                                                      Katie Woolf                            Learning Support Worker

                                                      Alice Lewis                             Learning Support Worker

                                                      Sylvia Hyam                           Learning Support Worker

                                                      Deborah Dommett                  Learning Support Worker

                                                      Beverley Browning                  Learning Support Worker

                                                      Lesley Todhunter                    Secretary

                                                      Helen Niddrie                         Finance Officer

                                                      Theresa Purnell                      Pupil Supervisor

                                                      Helen Morgan                         Pupil Supervisor

                                                      Anne Marsh                           Pupil Supervisor

                                                      Cathy Chinner                        Pupil Supervisor

                                                      Mary Isgar                              Cleaner  

  

                                                      Mary Young                           Cleaner-in-Charge

  

                                                      Naomi Sergeant                     Violin Teacher  

Homework

Children will bring work home from school. This gives you an opportunity to see your child’s work and play an active part in assisting your child to learn. One of the main ways you can help your child is in showing an interest in what they are doing, and in sharing their reading books and talking about their experiences in school. We have special parent information booklets about reading and numeracy - please ask the secretary if you would like a copy.

The Infants will be bringing books home to read to you. Please try to set aside at least 10-15 minutes each week when there is unlikely to be any interruption so that you can both enjoy reading the book together.  The older infant children will be given a short list of spellings to learn each week.  They will benefit if you willingly help them by making it fun and enjoyable.

In addition to weekly spellings and tables, Junior children have a homework task set each week for completion at the weekend. The homework is undertaken voluntarily and there is no punishment for non-completion. The set task usually relates to work currently being undertaken by the class and should take no longer than an hour.  We encourage children to do their homework at the beginning of the weekend rather than leave it, which can result in unnecessary worry.

Juniors are also encouraged to read daily, and have a ‘book report’ book in which to note the pages read and write a brief summary of the books they have completed.

A holiday project will also be set which supports the curriculum.

If your child has been absent for any particular reason and needs to catch up, additional work may be set. This would be discussed with you and any arrangements necessary would be agreed.

If you want to discuss any aspect of our current Homework Policy you should contact your child’s class teacher.

Discipline

North Nibley School enjoys very high standards of behaviour. Children are generally well disciplined, attentive, respectful and courteous. We do have ground rules, and if these are not adhered to by the pupils, parents will be involved so that together we can make every effort to resolve the issues. A copy of our discipline policy is available on request.

Reports

A brief written school report is issued for every child during each term as a record of his/her progress during that academic year.  There is an opportunity for parents to discuss it with the class teacher if they wish.  There are Parents’ Evenings during the Autumn and Spring Terms but appointments can be made at any time to see either the class teacher or the Headteacher.  Also, we will contact you if we want to discuss anything.  We don’t just rely on Parents’ Evenings.

Records are kept for every child at the school. These include examples of children’s work, results of standardised tests, results of National Curriculum tests and they may include some details of family background with reports from Medical/Educational specialists should the need arise.  These records are updated regularly and may only be seen by members of staff, parents of the particular child and the Headteacher of a prospective school.  If you, as parents, do not agree with what is written please talk to the Headteacher and, if still not satisfied, write to the Governors asking for the records to be amended.

Children’s records are kept at school until their education is complete.

Attendance

School opens at 8.40 a.m. and children should arrive ready to enter school at 8:55 am so that the register can be taken at 9.00 a.m.  It is to your child’s advantage to be punctual for school but we recognise that people do sometimes encounter difficulties that make them late.  We prefer children to attend school whatever the time rather than not at all.

We do need to know the reason why a child is absent as we are legally required to publish attendance information. Please telephone or send a message or note.  In the unlikely event of the school not being informed we will contact the parents to request this information.

If you intend to take your child/ren out of school for any reason other than illness please request a ‘Leave of Absence’ Form which is available from the school secretary.  The school is able to authorise up to two weeks absence in any one school year, i.e. ten school days, and if further absence is intended we will have to record this as unauthorised absence in our Department for Education forms. All of the regulations are covered in the school’s attendance policy.

Bullying

The school takes all instances of bullying very seriously and has a zero tolerance policy. Staff on duty monitor playground behaviour, but should you feel cause for concern please talk to the class teacher immediately. If you would like to read the school’s  anti-bullying policy, please ask the school secretary.

Uniform

Children at North Nibley School are invited to wear the school uniform which is green/grey.  We believe that by wearing uniform the children develop a sense of pride in, and identify with, their school. All children may purchase a book satchel and they are given a school water bottle.

Sweatshirts, cardigans, fleeces, and summer dresses can be ordered through the school.  Please see the secretary for further details.

Winter Uniform: Shirt/blouse: white or grey.   Shorts/trousers/skirts: grey.  Tie (optional).

Summer Uniform: As for winter, except girls may wear patterned/ checked green/white dress. Shoes/sandals should always be in a sensible style. (Not trainers)

PE: All children will need a change of clothing which should be kept at school in a suitably named bag. Dark blue shorts / white round-necked T-shirt / green/navy blue  tracksuit for colder weather. As the school is now able to use the field for sport, parents should send suitable footwear for outside wear in games sessions. PE shoes need to be worn (trainers for outside use and football boots for junior aged pupils.) A change of socks is also needed.

Children need to tie back their hair, and to remove ear-rings.

Swimming: Costume/ towel and swimming hat if your child has long hair which is likely to get in the eyes. (Dursley Pool requires girls to wear one-piece costumes for lessons.) No goggles or ear-rings are permitted for school swimming lessons.

Art/Craft: Overall/ old shirt.

All clothes and personal belongings should be clearly marked with the child’s name.  A lost property box is kept at school and any of the staff will be happy to show parents where it is located.

Valuables/Jewellery: Money, watches or other valuables should be deposited with the class teacher.  We do not like children wearing jewellery in school in case it gets lost or damaged. School staff cannot accept responsibility for this. We believe the safest place for jewellery and personal possessions is at home. If ear-rings are worn they should be of the stud or sleeper variety.

School Communication

The school has a regular Newsletter which children will bring home. This updates parents on all key issues, news, school trips and term dates. Notices are sent home in the child’s book satchel.

Health

The School Nurse visits regularly and co-ordinates hearing and eye sight checks and carries out screening of the Reception aged children. If class teachers become concerned about the health and welfare of your child they will contact you as soon as possible.

Children are susceptible to many common infections, and we do ask you to provide emergency contact numbers, so that if your child becomes unwell whilst at school, we can contact you or someone you have nominated. Occasionally it is necessary for children to continue a course of medicine following an illness.  On such occasions parents will need to make their own arrangements as the staff are not qualified to administer medicines.   

An exception would be if a child has a long-standing condition which requires medication e.g. asthma or diabetes, in which case parents are asked to discuss this with the Head Teacher.

Children sometimes come into contact with and develop all sorts of childhood illnesses.  Some of these are serious, while others are not. In the case of childhood infectious diseases, please consult your doctor and return your child to school only after the appropriate period of time.

If things go wrong

Most complaints are the result of misunderstandings or poor communication.

We work hard at developing and maintaining good relationships between home and school.  We believe that if the relationship is positive then complaints will be :

-  made politely

-  received sympathetically

-  dealt with speedily to the satisfaction of all.

We expect all our children, staff and parents to listen carefully and respectfully to each other.

Minor complaints are dealt with by the class teacher.  Complaints of a serious nature must be brought to the attention of the Head Teacher or the Governors.  When you make an appointment to see either the class teacher or the Head Teacher, please explain what it is about.  Preliminary work can then take place before the meeting, and everybody will be better prepared and informed.  Should the agreed action be ineffective, the school has a complaints procedure which is available on request from the school office.

Governors

Governors are like a Board of Directors as they make decisions about how the school is run.  They meet as a full Governing Body twice a term, with additional meetings for sub-committees.

Governors are appointed to help:

-  decide what is taught

-  set standards of behaviour

-  interview and appoint members of staff

-  decide how the school budget is spent.

School Governors have legal duties, powers and responsibilities.  They can only act together and not individually.  Our Governing Body has 14 governors, comprising:

-          the Head Teacher

-          another teacher

-     8 Foundation Governors (at least two of whom are parents of children at the school) appointed by the Diocese of Gloucester on the recommendation of the Parochial Church Council of St. Martin’s Church

-     3 elected Parent Governors

-     a representative from the Local Authority.

The Parent Governors:

-  have a child at North Nibley School at the time of election

-  are elected by parents of children at the school

-  serve for four years.

Parent Governors bring the views of parents to the Governing Body, but they speak and act as individuals.  They should not be thought of as delegates of the parents, as they do not vote for all parents in general.  They all have equal status in the work of the Governing Body and have equal voting rights.

The Governors are responsible for preparing the School Profile, which is entered on the Government web site. An annual meeting is held to discuss the School Development Plan and also to give parents an opportunity to discuss future plans. The Governors also play an active role in the life of the school, participating fully in open days, classroom visits and assistance in many areas. The approved minutes of the Governors’ meetings are held in the school office for anyone to read.

The names of the Governors for 2007/8 are given in the table below:

Special Educational Needs (SEN) Policy/ Disability Discrimination Act (DDA)

The Governors are very keen to make the school as inclusive as possible. This applies to the physical environment as well as to our attitudes and facilities for learners. The Governors have an action plan to ensure that the school complies with the DDA.

The school also has an SEN policy available on request and our admission policy ensures that we do not discriminate against pupils who may have special needs. North Nibley has demonstrated good results with children with learning difficulties and has provided good physical access to the reception class.

For children with any disability or special educational needs, please discuss your child with Mrs Freeman, the Head Teacher at the earliest opportunity.

School Documentation

If you would like to find out even more about our plans and organisation of the school, we encourage you to read some of the available leaflets and brochures:

-       The Local Authority’s statement of curriculum aims

-       Governors’ Policies, including:

English, Mathematics, Science, Technology, Information Communication Technology, History, Geography, Music, Art, RE, Marking, Assessment and Record Keeping, Admissions, Attendance, PE, Health and Safety, Charging, Library, Behaviour, Anti- Bullying, SEN, Food, Road Safety, Equal Opportunities, Race Equality, Complaints.

Some of these documents are sent to you, whilst others are kept in the school office, where you are welcome to see them. Please ask the school secretary who will be happy to provide them for you.  We are able to provide the documents in Braille, large-format or in different languages with a period of notice.

School Food

 All of our children currently stay to lunch. School meals are available at a cost of £1.75 per day. They are delivered to the school and served at lunch time to the children. Sodexho is our supplier. Vegetarian options are available. Forms for free school meals are available from the school secretary.

Children bringing packed lunches to school should use a clearly named lunch box. Water is available but you may wish to pack a lunch time drink in an unbreakable container. Our lunch time supervisors are Mrs Morgan, Mrs Purnell, Mrs Marsh and  Mrs Chinner.

Mid morning milk is optional and available at a charge from the Cool Milk scheme. The school office has order forms.

Healthy snacks are allowed at morning break. Infants have fruit supplied daily, and on Fridays the juniors are expected to bring fruit for our ‘Fruity Fridays’.

Arrangements can be made to accommodate allergies. Please discuss this with the Head Teacher before your child starts school.

School Initiatives

Events and Visits

The table below shows some of the events and activities in which the children have participated over the last year:

Sport

The school is privileged to have a dedicated Sports teacher in Mrs Dixon and a beautiful adjacent sports field which must boast one of the best views in the county! There are a number of after school sports clubs. These have included football, rugby, netball and hockey, and special events for all throughout the year. During the week children have PE and Gym twice a week as curriculum subjects. Classes 2 & 3 also have the opportunity for swimming lessons on a rotational basis.

In the winter pupils  play hockey, rugby, football and Hi5 Netball and in the summer athletics, tennis, rounders and orienteering. Pupils are encouraged to represent the school in friendly tournaments with neighbouring schools, in football, rugby, netball, cricket and district sports. Last year the school had a vibrant cross country team who achieved third place in the small schools cross country category.

Moral and Spiritual Development

As a Church of England school, we foster a positive caring ethos where all children feel safe, secure and valued. Christian values pervade the school’s relationships across all age groups. There are good links with the parish church and effective religious education affirms our distinctive ethos as an aided school.

Our parish minister is Rev’d Peter Marsh. Both he and other church representatives visit regularly to work with each class.

Children are encouraged to think of others and are actively involved in supporting charities at various times throughout the year. Last year these included Inoculations for Africa, the Christmas Shoe Box appeal and a large event to support a water related charity. We also took part in Unicef’s day for Change.

The children also explore other religions and, via practical projects, appreciate different cultures and traditions.

Arts Education

The school was awarded the Gold Artsmark in 2003 in recognition of its vibrant work in the Arts. In addition to curriculum activities we have held workshops in stained glass, pottery, book illustration and have taken part in a number of art exhibitions locally. Music is an area of the school which has been actively developed. A wide range of children have in-school violin and recorder lessons. There is also choir at lunchtimes and recorder and handbell clubs after school.  The school actively participates in concerts, church events and other village musical occasions.

FONNS (Friends of North Nibley School)

There is a very active fundraising committee Chaired by Mrs Penfold, which organises a range of events and fund raising activities throughout the year. These include Pub Nights, Quiz Nights, and Ladies Pampering Evenings, as well as Cinema Evenings for the pupils.

Funds from these activities are used against a ‘wish list’ prepared by the Head Teacher in consultation with all staff.

APPENDIX 2: RAISE online extracts

Page 1  shows  the “ Contextual value added” scores for  the past 3 years. This shows that we have consistently been above the national mean for the progress made by pupils as they move from Key Stage 1( age 7 )  to Key Stage 2 ( age 11) . Any score above 100 is very positive. Nationally the values will range between 96 and 102 .The other measure to note is the percentile rank. For example in 2007 only 20 % of schools had a better Contextual Value Added score than North Nibley when the CVA for “All subjects” was considered.

Page 2 shows the attainment for pupils at the end of Key Stage 1( Age 7)  for 2003-2007 and the measures compare directly the average “point scores” the pupils have attained with the national averages for each year.

Page 3 shows the attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 ( age 11)  for 2003-2007 and the measures compare directly the average “point scores” the pupils have attained with the national averages for each year.

With all of these reports there is a wealth of information contained even within the summary sheets presented as part of this prospectus. If you require any further details about the academic profile of the school, you are very welcome to discuss this w