East Hunsbury Primary School
Prospectus
2021/2022
Penvale Road East Hunsbury Northampton NN4 0QW
Telephone: 01604 677970 e-mail: [email protected] Website: www.easthunsburyprimary.org.uk
Headteacher : Mrs R M Arundel
One School. One Community. Learning and Growing Together.
A welcome from the Head teacher…
We are delighted that you are thinking of choosing us as your child’s school. East Hunsbury Primary (EHPS) is a family-orientated school that is not only inclusive and welcoming for all of our families but we are a school with the highest of standards and expectations. We put children at the heart of everything we do and every decision we make because we know just how much a child - your child - can achieve and understand that it is our job to ensure that they do.
At EHPS, we are committed to inclusion, excellence and enjoyment and believe all children can learn through laugher and by being exposed to an exciting, diverse range of opportunities.
Our curriculum, organisation, decision marking and ethos are all founded on our 6 core beliefs which are:
INCLUSION - Our school should be an inclusive community where pupils are offered opportunities to grow together, learn together, laugh together and celebrate together. Through accepting, understanding and attending to differences and diversity, all pupils should feel welcome, enabled, appropriately challenged and supported. COMMUNITY - Our school should be a stimulating and welcoming community in which all children and adults feel valued, able to contribute and where relationships are based on mutual respect. ACTIVE LEARNERS - Children should be active participants in the learning process and be provided with experiences that maximise their involvement, autonomy and independence. LOVE OF LEARNING - We should equip our children with the skills they need to be happy and successful in life, nurturing in them a true and lifelong love of learning. WHOLE CHILD DEVELOPMENT - We are responsible for the development of the whole child. We recognise differing needs and endeavour to meet these needs, maximising the opportunities for children to explore their physical, social, emotional and intellectual potential. EMBRACE DIVERSTY - We should be a community that respects and celebrates diversity.
Why choose us? Well your child already matters to us. Their happiness, their friends, their education and their future, matters. We would be honoured for your family to join ours and for us to be a part of your child’s educational adventure and walk this part of their life journey with you.
This prospectus is designed to give you a flavour into life at East Hunsbury Primary school but please book a tour (if you haven’t already) and come and see us in person or visit our website www.easthunsburyprimary.org.uk or Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/EastHunsburyPrimarySchool/ , where you can find even more information.
Finally, we operate an open-door policy, so if you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will be more than happy to answer them.
With the warmest regards,
Mrs Rita Arundel
Who are we? We are a family orientated, community-driven, two-form entry Primary school, with an amazing 47-place Specialist Unit, that is nestled within the heart of East Hunsbury.
Since 2017, East Hunsbury Primary School has been part of NPAT, which stands for Northampton Primary Academy Trust. NPAT has 12 schools in total as part of their MAT (Multi Academy Trust) and has responsibility for over 3500 children across Northamptonshire.
NPAT is driven by a vision of innovation, high aspiration and achievement and a commitment to sports and the arts. Their motto is: Achieving Extraordinary Things, which is something, as a school, we believe wholeheartedly in. Being a part of NPAT is very exciting as it opens up a world of opportunity and collaboration for our children and staff. We regularly take part in sporting and arts events as well as having expert training with the sole aim of improving children’s learning experiences.
East Hunsbury is a school that values outdoor learning, has an ambitious knowledge-rich curriculum and understands the importance of the arts and sports.
We know that when children are happy, learning becomes easier that is why children’s social, emotional and mental health is very important to us. Consequently, we have a highly effective wellbeing and nurture team made up of expert professionals including a Family Support Worker, Behaviour Support Lead, Special Educational Needs Coordinator and members of the Senior Leadership Team. We are here to help the whole family.
Did you know:
East Hunsbury Primary School is involved in many international projects such as: o Teaching Emotional Literacy – Spain, Croatia, Romania and Italy. o Special Needs Education – Iceland. o Teaching Science Outside the Classroom – Spain, Croatia, Sweden and the University of Northampton. We have an outdoor science classroom We teach Forest Schools, have our own wildlife centre and a trim trail. We have been awarded prestigious awards such as: o Inclusion Quality Mark Flagship Award o Eco Award o Healthy Schools Award o Gold Artsmark Award o International School Award
Every year, we take part in the National Gallery Take One Picture competition. Every year, we work with the Royal Shakespeare company to put on a school production. We regularly have visits from artists, authors and members of the community to enrich our learning experiences. All children get the opportunity to learn an instrument as part of our Northamptonshire’s First Access to Music Project. We offer a range of instrumental lessons from violin through to keyboard. We have music, PE and dance specialists that come in every week to work with our children. Our educational outcomes are very high!
Our School Day In our mainstream classes, gates open at 08:30am and lessons start at 9.00am. Teachers set morning work and settling activities for the children as they arrive. Classes finish between 3:20pm and 3:30pm.
Children in our Specialist Unit currently start between 8.35am and 8.55am and finish between 3.20pm and 3.40pm (depending on age).
We will always make sure you know the start and end times for your child before they start with us.
What if I need before and after school child-care? We know that having high-quality before and after school care is very important to many of our families. As such, we are aligned with an outstanding wrap-around care provider, Kids Club, and more information about this service can be found here: https://www.easthunsburyprimary.org.uk/index.php/for- parents/ehps-kids-club
We also have a few childminders who collect and drop off at East Hunsbury, please ask the office if you need any further information about this.
What happens at lunch? All children have an hour’s lunch break. Children in the reception and Key Stage 1 are entitled to free school meals (which means that they can have a hot dinner if you choose that for them free of charge) and children in Key Stage 2 can choose to pay for a hot dinner if they would like. All children can bring a healthy packed lunch if you wish.
We have our own kitchen at East Hunsbury and lunches are currently prepared and cooked by Dolce Schools Catering. We are a nut free school.
Lunchtimes are supported by our amazing Playleaders, who are children who help organise activities. Peacemakers, whose aim is to avoid, resolve and negotiate friendship difficulties in the playground and also Rhino and Pacesetter Sports Coaches who organise lots of sporting fun!
What is the behaviour like at EHPS? Children at EHPS behave well and we expect our children to always be: ready, respectful and safe. When you visit we hope that you will see them walking smartly around school and upholding impeccable manners. We also have 3 Golden Rules which have been created with our pupils and are linked to our school logo:
My school - We take care of our school and our things. Keep our cloakroom tidy & Safe Look after our classroom and our equipment Use all school areas sensibly My friends - We are kind, considerate and listen to each other. Take turns and listen to each other Use kind hands, feet and words Walk sensibly & hold doors open for other people My future - We try our best in everything we do. Ask for help when you find something difficult Listen to all adults in school and follow instructions
Believe that YOU CAN DO IT – and KEEP TRYING!
Teachers at EHPS are firm, friendly and fair and make sure that behaviour never stops anyone from learning.
Our curriculum We are proud to have a knowledge-rich, skill developing, exciting curriculum. It is a curriculum for all and we intend our children to be secondary ready when the time comes.
For reading, we use Sounds-Write to teach our phonics and Talk for Reading to teach children to comprehend. For writing, we use an approach called Talk for Writing and in handwriting we use kinetic letters. Maths is taught following the Maths Mastery approach Our wider curriculum (History, Art, Science, Geography and RE) has been written by a team of highly skilled practitioners across NPAT. For PE we use REAL PE which is a scheme based on children learning fundamental movement patterns which they can transfer to a range of sports. In PSHCE we use a fantastic scheme called Jigsaw but we also complement this with our very own SMILE curriculum which was developed by our teachers who took part in an international project based in Bologna. SMILE teaches children all about Emotional Literacy. In Key Stage 2 children will learn French.
We believe your child deserves the best – that is why for some of our subjects such as: Music, PE and Dance, we employ specialists to teach it. We also have teachers at EHPS who are specialists themselves. Please visit the curriculum page on our school website for more information: https://www.easthunsburyprimary.org.uk/index.php/for-parents/our-curriculum
We are a school who puts reading at the heart of everything we do. Reading, for us, is a skill that opens the doors to a world of possibilities and makes the impossible possible. It is very important that we help your children not only learn to read but read to learn. This year we have invested heavily in our library to ensure we have a range of the highest quality literature and every child gets the opportunity to find the right book for them. We also have a Reading Newsletter - check it out here: https://www.easthunsburyprimary.org.uk/index.php/diary-news/newsletters
Every day we have story time and you will hear many a song and poem being performed too!
Uniform We want our children at East Hunsbury to look and feel smart so uniform is important to us. We have a main school uniform and a PE kit. We have lots of options to make sure that it is affordable for all of our families. For more information about our uniform please visit our school website:
https://www.easthunsburyprimary.org.uk/index.php/for-parents/school-uniform
Do you offer any clubs? Yes! We know that learning does not stop at the end of the day. We offer lots of clubs from Spanish, Dance and Football to Basketball, Choir and Gardening! There is something for everyone.
We also love taking part in tournaments and special events like Northamptonshire Sporting competitions, Disability Sport, the Big Sing, Young Voices and the Royal & Derngate Performing Arts Festival.
Children with SEND We are committed to ensuring all children at EHPS achieve and this includes any child who may have additional needs. Having a Specialist Unit makes us an expert in this field. We have a SENCo who is dedicated to ensuring the needs of every child is met and she works closely with medical professionals such as Occupational Therapists, Educational Phycologists, Speech and Language practitioners and Physiotherapists. Every child is perfectly unique and our curriculums will always be tailored to meet their needs ensuring that, first and foremost, every child receives quality first teaching. Here are just some of the things that we offer at East Hunsbury Primary School for children with SEND:
Yoga Forest Schools Music therapy Time with our Behaviour Support Lead, to support aspects of social and emotional development through a variety of different means, including; talking, sharing stories and specific intervention groups.
Family and Pastoral Support In order to provide support to the School Community, we have a Family Support Worker (FSW), who is available to support Parents with any aspect of parenting, and support children with their additional needs. Our FSW has a wealth of expertise, but is also on hand to signpost parents to other services and agencies.
Our Specialist Unit East Hunsbury Primary Specialist Unit is a 47 place Unit Provision (UP) for pupils with severe learning difficulties where opportunities for structured inclusion within the mainstream exist to meet individual needs.
The Unit Provision provides education for pupils with learning difficulties of a significant to severe nature. All pupils will have additional needs that may be associated with, for example, Downs syndrome, Visual Impairment, Hearing Impairment or Global Delay.
The Specialist Unit Provision (UP) offers pupils the following:
Access to daily structured teaching following a modified curriculum based on a small step approach Small class groups with at least two key practitioners experienced in working with pupils with significant to severe learning difficulties Emphasis on total communication skills encompassing speech, signing, symbols and the written word Access to mainstream peer group models for play and social development A consistent, structured environment with secure, explicit boundaries, with opportunities to broaden experience and practice learning in a negotiated mainstream setting Consultation and advice from a range of specialist services. The UP has six classroom bases used flexibly and currently staffed by six teachers and six members of support staff. Classes generally have between seven and nine pupils and are generally organised by chronological age; pupils may spend more than one year in a class.
The pupils in the Specialist Unit have access to, and experience of, a broad and balanced curriculum, designed to meet their educational needs. Inclusion takes place in a number of ways across the school, and consideration is given to the needs and rights of all pupils. A careful balance is constantly sought in order to meet the emotional, social and educational needs of pupils in the most appropriate and meaningful way.
NPAT Specialist Provisions all share these common drivers that underpin all teaching and learning for children in our Specialist Unit:
Communication: To be confident communicators in their own form of communication Success: To be happy and confident individuals who access and learn from an enriched curriculum that meets their needs Independence: To be as independent as possible and develop self-help skills for learning and life. Inclusion: To experience opportunities that develop a strong sense of belonging whilst embracing diversity and individuality.
All UP admissions will be determined by the Local Authority in accordance with the ‘SEN and Disability Code of Practice’, July 2014; all pupils have EHC plans in place.
Home school partnership – Keeping you informed Together we are better! It is vital that as a school we do everything to ensure a close home-school partnership. We strive to keep you informed with your child’s progress through our multiple lines of communication. We want to be a window into your child’s life at school. At EHPS, we will always talk to you if we need to discuss anything and we hope that you will always talk to us if you have any concerns or questions.
Home Learning To embed the learning at home, each child at East Hunsbury Primary School is allocated an Office 365 Account, which allows us to set tasks and activities on platforms such as My Maths, Times Tables Rock Stars, Numbots, SPAG.com, Maths.co.uk, MathsWatch and Spelling Shed.
Our Community We are proud to serve our East Hunsbury community and enjoy attending events such as taking our school choir to East Hunsbury Library at Christmas, as well as working with East Hunsbury Parish Council on events such as Poppy Making and celebrating the anniversary of the NHS. We believe that we learn better together and welcome collaboration and partnership from our local and wider community.
This prospectus is just a glimpse into the amazing world of East Hunsbury Primary School – there is so much more to show you and tell you and we look forward to having the opportunity to do so.
One School. One Community. Learning and Growing Together.
Finally, don’t forget to check out our virtual tour and welcome video !
www.easthunsburyprimary.org.uk