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POLICIES
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SCHOOL POLICIES |
CURRICULUM POLICIES |
SCHOOL POLICIES
JUNIORS 8.50 - 12.15 1.15 - 3.15
INFANTS 9.00 - 12.10 1.15 - 3.15
NURSERY 9.00 - 11.30 12.45 - 3.15
Rules are kept to a minimum but are strictly observed.
After consultation with parents, the school adopted a new Dress Code in 1998. There was overwhelming support for a specified range of garments in the school’s colours. A copy of the Dress Code is enclosed in the Welcome Pack together with an order form for sweatshirts bearing the school’s badge.
Lunches are cooked and served on the school premises. Menus are available for inspection in request. Children pay for their meals daily and the current cost is £1.24p. Infants receive a set meal while the juniors have the "choice menu". Both Infants and Juniors have a vegetarian option. If you think your child may be entitled to free school meals, please enquire at the school office.
In order to ensure that children do not lose items of clothing, we ask that all garments are clearly marked or labelled with the child’s name. We will store lost property for a limited period after which it will be disposed of.
When you sign the school’s Admission Form, you give your consent to your child being seen periodically by the school doctor, nurse or dentist. You will always be informed of any Health Interview or medical examination and we hope you will find the time to attend.
School medicals and dental inspections are a valuable and important check on your child’s growth and development. No treatment is given in school but you may be be offered advice or a referral for treatment elsewhere.
A copy of the school’s policy on the administration of medicines is available at the School Office.
A trained and qualified first-aider attends to minor injuries and parents will be informed whenever a child is treated. In the rare event of more serious injury, parents will be contacted at once and treatment at the Accident and Emergency Department of the local hospital arranged.
There is a variety of extra-curricular activities available to children either at lunchtimes or after school. In recent years these have included a range of sports clubs, recorder and guitar groups, a bird club, a tapestry circle and dance and drama clubs. TWIGGIES is a general after-school club for all ages and it is planned to offer a Homework Club in the near future. A small charge is made for most clubs and activities.
The 1988 Education Act prohibits schools from charging for activities during school hours which are part of the planned curriculum. (The exception to this is instrumental music tuition arranged through the County Music Service.)
In order to provide high quality learning experiences for your children, we frequently plan outings, educational visits and other special events, such as visiting experts, music and drama groups, etc. for which there is normally some cost to the school. To enable these events to take place, we will usually ask parents to make a voluntary contribution towards the costs. We would never allow any child to be excluded from an activity on the grounds of her/his inability to pay, but we may need to cancel any event for which we are unable to cover the costs.
The law does allow charges to be made for certain categories of school activity. These include the board and lodging costs for any residential visits. Charges may also be made for the cost of materials and ingredients used by children in making items which are subsequently taken home (cooking, sewing, craft, technology, etc.)
Finally, in the rare event where a child may be found to have deliberately caused damage to school property, the Governors reserve the right to charge parents up to the full cost of the repair or replacement of the item concerned.
It is hoped that parents’ concerns about the school curriculum or any other matters affecting their children’s education can be resolved informally through their contact with the Headteacher and Staff. Should the need arise to follow a formal complaints procedure, the Governors have adopted the Guidelines and Policy established by East Sussex County Council. Details of this are available from the School Office.
Regular daily attendance is expected in every class, including the Nursery Class. Similarly, we encourage punctuality, and children arriving late must report to the School Office where their names are recorded. On the rare occasions when family holidays have to be taken during term time, the Local Authority requires parents to complete a form which may be obtained from the School Office.
Under the Education (Pupils’ Attendance Records) Regulations, 1991), we are obliged to distinguish in our registers between AUTHORISED and UNAUTHORISED absences. A further requirement is that levels of unauthorised absence must be published each year.
It is important to stress that unauthorised absences should not be interpreted as truancy. In almost every case, these arise as a result of parents failing to inform the school of the reasons for a child’s absence.
We would urge parents to contact the school in writing, by phone or in person to provide an explanation for any absence. If possible, this should be done on the first day of the absence, preferably in the morning. A child’s explanation alone is not acceptable. If this is all we receive, we are obliged to record the absence as "unauthorised".
Because of the number of possible absences on any particular day, it is impractical for us to contact the parents of every child who does not arrive, as expected, at school. We may, however, follow up any concerns we may have about individual children’s non-attendance. On occasion, this will involve the services of our Educational Welfare Officer who may visit the homes of pupils where necessary.
Our Behaviour Policy is built upon the principle that individuals should treat one another, at all times, with respect .
This policy is supported continuously by praise and encouragement and by the example of adults within the school. We are in no doubt that an atmosphere in which good behaviour is constantly acknowledged and reinforced will encourage all children to strive for the highest standards of conduct.
Breaches of acceptable behaviour will be dealt with firmly and fairly as they arise. Serious and deliberate acts of disrespect towards adults or towards other children, their property or their work are treated more severely by a clear set of procedures which may lead to exclusion.
An important part of the partnership we enjoy with parents is the sharing of responsibility for children’s behaviour and we will not hesitate to contact parents whenever we require their support in this area,
A copy of the school’s Behaviour Policy is available from the School Office.
Fighting is forbidden in school. It is the mark of a civilised society that conflicts and disputes can be resolved without violence. We have a clear policy which is followed in the event of children being involved in a fight. This begins with each child’s name being put into the Fights Book. A subsequent breach of the rule results in parents being invited to the school. A third fight is automatically dealt with by Exclusion.
There is no school in the land in which bullying does not take place.at some time and in some form. At our school it is never tolerated and never ignored.
For some years, the school has used the well respected "No Blame" approach to deal with cases of.bullying as soon as they are identified. This approach, which is now used in many schools in the UK, focuses on the physical, emotional and psychological well-being of the victim. By shifting the "spotlight" away from the perpetrator - the bully - and encouraging support and empathy for the victim from other children, the incidence of bullying has been much reduced.
More details of the "No-Blame" approach can be found in the school’s Behaviour Policy.
We aim to give each child the opportunity to develop their skills in all areas of the English language to their fullest potential. This will encompass reading for pleasure and information, writing to communicate with a variety of audiences, expressing themselves clearly, effectively and with confidence through spoken language in different situations and listening to others with concentration and understanding.
In Nursery and Reception classes teachers model reading, writing speaking and listening and teach the basic skills required at levels appropriate to each child's needs. Children are introduced to different strategies for reading and phonic approaches to spelling. At this stage English teaching takes place in all areas of the Early Years curriculum.
From Year 1 children are mainly taught these skills through the daily Literacy Hour and a weekly guided reading session for each child. Their learning takes place within the context of a variety of texts including fiction, non-fiction, poetry and drama. Through these they experience a wide range of vocabulary which enhances their comprehension and their use of English. Outside of the Literacy Hour children practise the skills they have learnt in many different ways. This may be through discussions, recording information, using books for research purposes or listening to instructions.
Children's progress is regularly monitored and assessed and there are several strategies in place to support children with difficulties. Parents are encouraged to participate in their children's learning. Children choose a book to take home every day; from Year 2 they also have spellings to learn each week and from Year 3 English homework is set on a weekly basis.
Reading, writing, speaking and listening are fundamental to everything else
a child learns. The school respects the right of every child to be given frequent
opportunities for developing and applying these important skills across the
curriculum - and ultimately for using them to maximum effect in whatever areas
their strengths lie.
Mathematics at Oakwood is taught in line with the National Numeracy Strategy,
following the 3 part lesson, lasting between 45 and 60 minuets depending on
age.
Mental skills will be fostered through interesting and practical activities.
There is a great emphasis given to teachers teaching the whole class together
for a high proportion of the time, which will be lively, interactive and stimulating.
Children's task may be done individually, in pairs or groups and sometimes in
ability/mixed ability groups.
A plenary is used to clarify learning and correct any misconceptions.
Children are encouraged to develop sound skills of mental calculation before
being introduced to written calculation. Calculators are rarely used until the
upper juniors are reached. This will help encourage the idea that children select
the right "tool" for the given calculation.
Children will gain the appropriate experience in the key elements of NNS:
Pupils will be given the opportunity to use maths as a tool to solve problems
and investigate mathematical ideas and concepts. Children are given full support
and encouragement to ensure maths builds confidence and enthusiasm whilst remaining
challenging.
At Oakwood, we know that all children have a natural curiosity and excitement about their world. We are aware that from a very early age children ask questions and enjoy discovering answers. Science is a perfect forum for investigating and developing a great knowledge of our world.
Children will be encouraged to see themselves as scientists. They will begin to appreciate that science is about experimenting exploring and exchanging ideas. They will be helped to develop the skills of questioning and observation. They will be eager and confident to try out their ideas and willing to take risks. As they make discoveries they will come to understand that there may be different answers to a question and many ways to find out the answers.
Science will be taught as a practical subject. The cycle of topics follows the QCA scheme of work and is in line with National Curriculum guidelines. Through these topics knowledge and concepts are revisited to ensure progression is made. As much as possible, children will be involved at the starting point of a topic and what they want to find out will be taken into account.
Teachers at Oakwood will have a good understanding of science so that they
feel confident and supported in the content they cover. They will have an understanding
of common misconceptions and will strive to ensure that children are not left
with misunderstandings. They will be part of the team working to achieve high
standards in science.
The children should be aware of the technology around them and the part it plays in society today. Children need to use ICT to enhance and extend their learning across the whole curriculum. They need to develop their capabilities in the use of ICT so that they can use these skills later in life. Specifically the children should be taught a balance of activities which include the following:
Communicating information; including word processing, computer generated graphics and music.
Handling information; including how to sort, classify, store, retrieve, correct and amend information using databases.
Modelling; including using simple adventure programs, developing spatial awareness in constructing maps, plans, charts and models described by a computer program.
Measurement and control; including an understanding of how everyday objects are controlled by ICT.
Applications and effects; including the development of children's understanding
of the role of ICT in our society and what effect it has on our lives.
Children should have the opportunity to observe and evaluate technology in the world around them. They should be involved in technological activities within a cross-curricular context where the child can develop learning and communication skills.
Through out Key Stage One and Key Stage Two progression of technological skills and equality of opportunity is provided through the QCA Scheme of work. This provides a balanced technology programme visiting each of the following areas:
FOOD
CONSTRUCTION
TEXTILES
GRAPHICS
MEDIA
The year's programme will include experience of working through the design process
as follows:
Specifically each child should be:
The past affects all aspects of our lives as it is responsible for influencing and shaping customs and beliefs held today. Through studying the past and the influence it has had on today, children are able to make sense of the world in which they live.
History should encourage children to develop their methods of understanding and interpreting the past and through learning about Britain, Europe and the world it should develop a child's sense of identity and their awareness and tolerance of other countries and cultures.
It should arouse children's interest in the past and should equip them with skills to evaluate and criticise, thus giving them the confidence to form heir own judgements.
Specifically each child should:
The above will be taught following the QCA Schemes of work. This is because children must use the historical content from the QCA to show that they have attained one or more levels of knowledge, understanding and skills laid down in the Statements of Attainment, in the National Curriculum.
As pupils progress through the QCA Schemes of work they will be able to draw on an increasingly wider range of historical knowledge.
In Key Stage One the Schemes of work will be integrated within topics. In Key
Stage Two the Schemes of work will form the focus for a topic based approach
to teaching history.
Geography explores the relationship between the Earth and its peoples through the study of place, space, and environment. Geographers ask the questions where and what, and how and why?
The main aims for geographical education at Oakwood are:
Programmes of work for geography are largely incorporated within topic work at Key Stage One where emphasis is largely on the child's immediate environment e.g. school, home, Eastbourne and the surrounding area.
There will also be an attempt at this stage to familiarise children with some basic geographical skills such as the use of a compass and elementary map work.
At Key Stage Two Geography is again incorporated into many different topics. However due to the wide diversity of content in the Geography National Curriculum, certain aspects are taught separately, e.g. the study of landforms, meteorology, map reading, bearings and aerial photographs.
Music is a fundamental human activity, which helps to develop the individuals need for self-expression, through physical, emotional and spiritual activities.
Music is like a language, because it communicates through sound, and involves the gradual accumulation of skills. If we consider simple sounds, with a great deal of repetition, which gradually expands to the construction of simple sentences. This entire process takes place without the use of written symbols, which are only introduced when the child uses the language fluently. Similarly, in the young child's musical growth, the successful use of sounds, and the expansion of a musical vocabulary, must be well developed before written symbols are introduced.
The complete musical experience must be enjoyable and rewarding. We should therefore try to build a high success rate into whatever we ask our pupils to do. We are aiming to help each child to succeed musically, which means we must build every child's confidence.
By following the East Sussex Primary Music Project "Music For All" each child will have the opportunity to achieve the following minimum attainment targets:
Key Stage One:
Key Stage Two:
In addition each child will be able to develop the ability to listen to and appraise music from a variety of musical traditions.
Each child will have the opportunity to sing and perform in class and whole school assemblies and celebrations.
Each child will have the opportunity to choose to learn to play the recorder
and the facility is available for learning the violin with a peripatetic music
teacher.
Art has a vital role to play in the development of human intelligence. In our school art enables all children to build on their understanding about themselves and the world around them. They are given the opportunity to organise their creative thoughts, explore their emotions, develop a knowledge and understanding of the work of other artists, and express themselves through visual, tactile and verbal art experiences.
The children are encouraged to
The work the children have planned for them follows the new Q.C.A. guidelines
in Art and Design and is topic based.
We aim to offer the children a wide range of experiences and resources to work
with.
We also have an Art Week every second year which includes visits to local galleries,
artists working in school alongside the children, an in-house exhibition to
celebrate the work of the children over the past two years and the opportunity
to visit artist in their place of work.
Physical Education is about promoting awareness in children of their own capabilities, limitations and potential. It should be an enriching experience for all children and be accessible by any child at their own level.
Physical Education should aid growth in self-worth, self-confidence and promote positive attitudes towards healthy lifestyles.
Through a progressive programme, children at Oakwood School should be given opportunities to:
Philosophy
Religious Education makes a substantial contribution to Children's spiritual,
moral and cultural development. It helps them to make sense of their experiences,
the world in which they live and to make sense of and communicate their inner
world. In R.E., they are able to find pattern, purpose, order and structure,
which provides them with some security for their lives. Even very young children
have basic but complex questions about their place in the world and about living
and dying. Different religions have evolved their own answers to these questions
and children should be given the opportunity to consider these in their own
search for explanations. Children need to reflect on their own experiences in
depth and relate them to the experiences of others. They learn about their own
culture and develop beliefs by comparing them with other cultures and religions,
finding similarities and differences in rituals, dress codes, conventions of
behaviour etc.
Legal Requirements
In accordance with the legal requirements of the E.R.A. 1988, R.E. is provided
as part of the basic curriculum for all children. It will reflect the mainly
Christian aspect of our society while drawing on elements of some other principal
religions, which are found in Britain. There is a daily act of worship of a
broadly Christian nature. Parents have the right to withdraw their children
from the teaching of R.E. and collective worship, teachers also have that right.
Aims
Through our delivery of R.E. we aim to:
Agreed Methodology
The content of the scheme of work for R.E. consists mainly of the Programmes
of Study outlined in the East Sussex Agreed Syllabus. The organisation and planning
of the teaching of R.E. involves a variety of strategies:
Assessment and recording
Although it is difficult to assess many aspects of R.E. as they involve attitudes
and concepts, discussion of key ideas should enable teachers to evaluate and
plan for progression. In itself however, this is not substantial enough to provide
useful records of children's progress. Concept maps in various forms are useful
methods of assessment for this purpose. In some instances children's written
evidence showing factual knowledge is more appropriate. Assessment is not made
of private information which children do not wish to disclose, (including right
or wrong beliefs and views and the degree of commitment to a faith). Teacher's
records should indicate specifically what has been taught, experienced and learnt.
Resources
Each teacher has the appropriate copy of the Programmes of Study and the Statements
of Attainment for Key Stage 1 or 2. They also have a copy of the Assembly Cycle
Programme with more detailed contents issued bi-monthly and a copy of the diary
of Religious Festivals for the current school year.
Resources available in the resources room include:
Education is not only about intellectual ability and achievement.
The importance of developing in children a positive attitude to themselves, to their bodies and to others is seen as fundamental to all their learning. Personal, Social and Health Education is one aspect of a child's development that relies to a great extent on the partnership between parents and school. With this in mind it is important that the values of this policy are reinforced by the support of the child's home environment. Our aims are to enable children to realise their full potential as confident, responsible individuals, showing consideration for others.
The fulfilment of these aims is to be achieved by:
PROMOTING;
DEVELOPING;
TEACHING THEM;
The school's role in the moral, spiritual and cultural development of children extends through every area of the curriculum and into every aspect of school life. It cannot be dealt with entirely within the constraints of Religious Education and collective worship.
Our affect on children's moral development reflects the values and standards, which the school upholds. These values should be supported by their home environment to reinforce their importance and avoid conflict for the children.
The school aims to promote these values:
We need to give children the information and decision making capabilities to make their own moral judgements when faced with issues to which there are no universally agreed answers.
To do this we must develop their understanding of the difference between right and wrong in the moral sense, their sense of principles, the desire to adopt a moral code of behaviour and the ability to apply the principles and their knowledge of society's agreed codes of conduct (both in implicit standards of acceptable behaviour and legal requirements).
Children's spiritual development is not limited to the acquisition of religious beliefs. It is concerned more with the development of their inner self, self-knowledge, relationships with others and consideration of questions about the purpose of life and their ultimate destiny. To encourage these we need to promote:
In children's cultural development they need to consider aspects affecting their own culture. Examining and comparing other cultures will broaden their understanding of their own. Developing a sense of belonging and identifying elements essential to cultures will enable them to define cultural groups. Through the Humanities children should be encouraged to respect other cultures and show some understanding of cultural development.
The school aims to achieve this through:
There will be no attempt to assess children's development in these areas, as it would be almost impossible to do this objectively and without intrusion.
Schools have a legal obligation to deliver the National Curriculum Science Programmes of Study, which include some aspects of sex education. Although it would be possible to deliver the biological facts of sex education in isolation, it would be irresponsible to do this out of the context of personal development, relationships, moral values and attitudes. Within this framework it is also necessary to include the development of skills to enable children to protect themselves from sexual abuse. It is essential to involve parents in any sex education programme and encourage discussion with them to achieve mutual support and secure a balanced understanding for each child appropriate to their level of maturity.
The partnership between parents and school is valued in all aspects of school life at Oakwood School, but assumes probably its greatest importance in areas of PSHE.
The aim of sex education is to develop children's understanding of biological, emotional, social, moral and legal aspects of sex and sexuality at their own level. To achieve these aims we need to cover three main areas:
To ensure that we meet the needs of children and that their learning is related to their level of understanding, in the main our approach must enable them to be actively involved. As discussions necessarily cover sensitive issues it is important that children feel secure enough in the classroom atmosphere to participate without embarrassment. The climate to induce this security should be achieved through allowing the children to become accustomed to discussing personal issues from an early age to develop respect for others' points of view, tolerance, sensitivity towards the feelings of others and confidentiality. One important consideration in achieving the right environment is the establishment of ground rules, in particular the right to pass. The majority of the sex education programme should be organised in mixed groups where discussion is encouraged to promote communication within relationships. However, opportunities should be given for some work in single gender groups to address needs which differ between sexes.
At Oakwood School we believe that every child is special and that their achievements should be celebrated and their difficulties addressed. At some time in their school career 20% of children will have some particular special need.
Currently we have between 35% -40% of our school roll on the SEN register.
It is our aim to ensure that children with special educational needs have those needs addressed promptly, so that they are not denied full access to the curriculum.