A Lovely Place to Learn

Carleton Rode Primary School Church of England Voluntary Aided A lovely place to learn A lovely place to learn The most important work of the school is learning. We believe that every member of the school community is a learner and we aim to nurture life-long learning. We also believe that how we are learning is as important as what we are learning and strive to find ways to make learning enjoyable, engaging and meaningful. We include many opportunities for practical activity, learning outside, learning through investigation and learning through play. We encourage learners to ask questions and to take responsibility for their own learning, learning as much from mistakes as successes. Our school is a relaxed and happy environment where children and staff feel safe and secure and are therefore more willing to take risks and creative leaps. We ensure that every pupil enjoys a broad and balanced range of learning experiences. We teach the full range of National Curriculum subjects through a cross-curricular approach where meaningful connections are sought between individual subjects. An example of this can be seen in Key Stage Two where the theme of ‘India’ provided a relevant and engaging context through which to explore aspects of Geography, History, R.E., P.S.H.E, art and music, as well as English and Maths. We place great emphasis on developing key literacy and numeracy skills, as these are essential for life-long learning. Reading has a high profile within school. Each child is expected to read daily and has an individual reading diary to track their own reading journey. The library is well resourced and provides a wide range of interesting and appealing material for free readers; children who need more support with their reading have access to the new colour-banded books, which offers them freedom of choice and progression of skills but within the structure of a scheme. The whole school takes part in a weekly paired reading session which allows the older children to mentor and encourage the younger children as they develop their love of reading. The teaching of phonics is also vitally important and continues from Early Years to Key Stage Two, where reading and spelling skills are taught explicitly through investigation of word and letter patterns and a kinaesthetic approach. Maths skills are developed through investigation and practical activities, as well as playing games and discussion. Learning has to be made relevant and fun to children in order for them to engage fully and we make the most of every opportunity to get children interested and involved with their own learning. A lovely place to… be inspired Our rich and varied curriculum is further enhanced through the extensive programme of extra-curricular activities we offer. Each half term there is a wide range of clubs on offer at lunchtimes or after school for all age groups, some led by staff members but more increasingly led by outside agencies or people with particular expertise. Some activities are provided free of charge but occasionally we will ask for a contribution towards the cost. This term the activities have included drama, cooking, football, film and athletics. We believe in bringing learning to life through a range of visitors and visits; this year we have welcomed to school the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary for an Early Years and Key Stage One topic on owls, performance poet David Mason to develop poetry writing skills and actor Anthony Pedley (the BFG) to introduce the children to the work of author Roald Dahl. We also take every opportunity to get out and about locally and further afield; visits this year to Strangers’ Hall and The Time and Tide Museum in Great Yarmouth have given the children first- hand experience of toys through the ages and the Victorians, and we are looking forward to a whole-school visit to the Our World Festival in Norwich in the Summer Term, where the children will participate in bhangra dancing and listen to multi- cultural storytellers. Music is an important feature of the school and we offer weekly instrumental tuition in recorders, flute, clarinet, keyboard and tenoroon from visiting teachers. There are regular opportunities for children to perform in school for parents and friends. Our recent involvement with the Norfolk Open Studios project enabled our artists to exhibit their work to a wider audience. The diversity and originality of their work was admired by everyone. This year the children are creating Angels for an exhibition in Carleton Rode Church. They are also entering the Open Gardens event and are busy preparing for this. There really is something for everyone at our school and we are very proud of the level of enrichment we provide. A lovely place to be We are a small yet thriving village primary school nestled in the heart of the rural South Norfolk countryside. For us, small is indeed beautiful and we embrace fully the family feel and flexibility that a small school provides. The school has been part of the local community since 1822; several generations of many local families have attended the school and it is thought of with great affection. The original school building is still going strong and houses both Key Stage Two classrooms, the Library, the offices and staffroom. A new classroom was built in 2005 for Early Years and Key Stage One and the addition of the Log Cabin in 2007 has further improved the teaching space available for our youngest members as well as bringing playgroup children onsite for two mornings a week. The youngest children have their own outside area which is accessible from their classroom all year round. Small schools commonly lack hall space, but we are extremely fortunate to have the ‘mini-gym’, which means that we can undertake indoor P.E. lessons without having to leave the school site. The mini-gym is also used for daily assemblies, packed lunches and after-school activities as well as drama and music performances. We are a Church of England school and have very close links with our village church which is situated opposite the school, as well as the local Baptist chapel. Members of the local churches are regular visitors to school and enrich our children’s learning and lives. Daily collective worship promotes Christian values and our strong Christian ethos ensures that all members of the school community are valued equally and treated with respect. We believe that the school sits at the heart of the local community and we take our role in this very seriously. We take part in village activities regularly and encourage the children to make a positive contribution to it. Recently pupils in Years 5 and 6 have undertaken a traffic survey outside the school and written to local councillors about their road safety concerns. As a small rural primary school we recognise that it is our duty to look beyond the village and educate our children to be global citizens. Modern Foreign Languages are taught across the school and links have been made with schools in the USA, Germany and Italy. A lovely place to… explore ideas We believe in promoting and develo ping skills that can be used in any area of life. Thinking skills are actively taught throughout the school and there are daily opportunities to apply these directly. Creativity is highly valued and children are encouraged to see things differently. We believe that all children are gifted and talented in some way and that it is our task as a school to find out how. Homework is also approached creatively – each child has a Learning Log and one task to complete in their log each week. How they respond to the task is then their choice and will reflect their individual learning style and ability level. Learning Logs support our aim to develop independent and inquiring learners; the children take the lead role in sharing, developing and assessing their knowledge and understanding, not the teachers. Learning Logs encourage parental involvement and are supported by a teacher-led Learning Log Club, where children have access to the full range of resources the school has to offer. We recognise the importance of new technologies in today’s society and ICT is used widely throughout the school from the earliest age. Children are taught ICT skills discretely and are then expected to be able to draw upon these skills and apply them in order to enhance their learning further. We have excellent ICT provision and are always looking at the potential of new technologies to motivate and engage learners. The school’s website allows pupils work and activities to be displayed and shared. All children have home and school access to the Mathletics website where they can work on their own individual maths programme as well as compete against other children from around the world. We try to create real contexts for learning wherever possible and have introduced an enterprise element to school, where children form their own company and develop a product or range of products to sell and raise money for a selected piece of equipment. The Victorian Tea Room created by Lion Class was a roaring success with parents and the wider community. Much valuable learning took place with children planning, costing, baking, serving and calculating profit! They raised £173 towards our playground equipment. A lovely place for… outdoor adventure The school’s setting is idyllic, surrounded by open fields, and the grounds are wrapped around the buildings, making the most of the panoramic views. There is a range of outdoor play equipment situated on the field and we are always looking for ways to improve the outdoor environment and encourage positive playtime experiences.

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