On behalf of all the children and staff, may I take this opportunity to warmly welcome you to our school. We hope that this prospectus will give you a good idea of what our friendly school is like. However, if you would like to know anything further, please just call and ask, view our website or even better, make an appointment and come and visit us. We are all proud of our school and our 'Thoughtful, Respectful and Hard Working' children. Please though, don't just take our word for it - come and see for yourself. We'd be delighted to show you around!
Mr Wardle (Headteacher)
Aims and Ethos.
At Sandford Hill Primary, our vision is to develop positive relationships and nurture thoughtful, respectful, aspirational, resilient and co-operative pupils who:
- Think and care about others within the school community and beyond
- Value that is everyone is different
- Aim to be the best that they can be
- Work hard and are willing to learn by trying and making mistakes, in order to succeed
- Work collaboratively and with consideration for others
We will achieve this by creating a safe, happy school which has the personal development of children at its heart and provides a wealth of learning opportunities to inspire the interests and talents of all. At the end of their time at Sandford Hill Primary, our children will take with them the skills to:
- Make safe and healthy choices
- Communicate confidently
- Prepare them for a digital world
- Become independent learners, with a secure knowledge of the basics, who have a desire to further improve
- Take pride in their personal achievement and pride in their school and their community.
Admissions
Sandford Hill Primary School caters for the needs of children aged 3 - 11 and has a capacity of 480 pupils. Stoke on Trent City Council is the admissions authority and we currently have a standard admission number of 60 pupils per year group. If you would like to apply for a place in our Nursery or Reception classes, you should do so at www.stoke.gov.uk, alternatively, click on the link below:
Admissions for an In - Year Transfer, should be made directly to our main office.
"I like this school because if you're struggling, there's always a member of staff there to help you." Chloe Y1
Early Years Foundation Stage
Our very youngest children are located in a purpose built Early Years Unit, which caters for pupils aged 3 - 5 years. We operate an 'open door' policy and ask that you come into the classroom each morning and afternoon, to settle and collect your child. Our Early Years unit has ready access to our extensive outdoor play facilities. We recognise that outdoor provision is an essential part of our children's day as it allows them to develop greater control of their bodies by running, jumping, climbing and exploring. We offer the children the opportunity for free flow use of outdoors for most of the day and we access the curriculum both indoors and outdoors.
Parents of children who are just starting their Early Years education are offered home visits, as this provides practitioners with the opportunity to meet with you in your own home. This has been very popular with parents; the majority of whom have requested visits.
Key Stage 1
Key Stage 1 caters for pupils up to the age of 7+ and is located on the ground floor of our main building.
Key Stage 2
Key Stage 2 caters for children up to the age of 11+ and is mostly based on the first floor of our main building. Classes are of mixed ability although the children may also be grouped according to their specific needs. When the children leave us at the end of Year Six, they feed into a number of local High Schools; all of which we have excellent links to.
Teaching and Learning
We aim to put the children at the centre of everything which we do.. As a school, we place great emphasis on developing the skills of resourcefulness, resilience and co-operation with others. As a school we believe in inclusion and children identified as having Special Educational Needs are located in each mainstream class. These pupils may receive additional help and provision from specialist support staff; under the direction of our Inclusion Leader.
We all recognise that the pastoral care of the children at Sandford Hill is the responsibility of everyone. We meet the emotional needs of all our children through positive relationships, our vision and values and the golden thread of ‘Thoughtfulness, Respect and Hard Work’ which weaves through everything that we do.In addition to this, our pastoral team deliver interventions to children where there is a need for a more individualised nurture provision. Our Home hub is an area in school where the needs of individual children are met through the delivery of an emotional literacy curriculum.
Teachers follow the National Curriculum and we focus on developing reading, writing and maths skills. English and maths are taught during morning lessons, during which the children may be grouped to best suit their abilities. Work is carefully tailored to match the needs of the learners. The children also benefit from specialist music, dance, modern foreign language and swimming tuition.
All classes are equipped with interactive whiteboards and we also have extensive banks of laptops and iPads, which the children access regularly to support their learning. Classes from Year 3 - year 6 have 1:1 iPad devices to support he children's learning across the curriculum. Every week, each class teacher spends half a day outside of their teaching duties to concentrate on lesson planning and evaluating the pupil's learning. At these times, year groups come together for assemblies and for song practice, led by members of the school's senior leadership team
We also enjoy strong links with the local community and parish church. We pride ourself on our caring approach towards the children and as such, there is regular contact with parents and carers to ensure that the welfare of all children is maintained. Information evenings for parents are held regularly throughout the year and parents are also invited into school to join us for 'special days'. As a healthy school, all pupils are encouraged to eat healthy options and to take part in many different sports.
Throughout the school, we have two classes per year group. Classes are well resourced and we also have our own library areas across the school, which all of the children access regularly. The children in our Early Years setting, are also taken to Longton Library. The children also make use of Accelerated Reader to help develkop a love of reading whilst supporting their reading comprehension skills.
The school has its own kitchen and produces fresh meals each day. Menus are shared on our website and special diets are catered for. We are also very fortunate to have a purpose built and fully functioning Technology Room, which the children regularly access to help them learn about and prepare healthy meals. We also have extensive grounds and three playground areas, which have a purpose built trim trails and slides for the children to enjoy. As well as these, we also have a Science garden, pond area and butterfly garden; designed in memory of a former pupil.
As a school we strive to bring the curriculum alive by regularly taking the children on educational visits throughout the year to places such as The National Memorial Arboretum, West Midlands Safari Park, Jodrell Bank and to local museums. Our Year Six children are also taken on a week long residential visit to Stanley Head Outdoor Education Centre. Parents are able to share in the children's experiences as we regularly blog and tweet about them.
Before school each morning, our Home / School Link Worker runs our Breakfast Club and as well as this, we also offer a before / after school club, which is located in a purpose built classroom.
Academic Achievement
The children of Sandford Hill consistently achieve results which are better than both the local and national average.
At Sandford Hill we recognise the value and importance of early years schooling. The governors of the school have therefore decide to fund full time Nursery provision. When the children start in our Early Years Foundation Stage Unit, parent discussions are held so that practitioners can gather information as part of a baseline assessment. Home visits are also arranged, for parents who would like them, prior to the children starting school in September.
Assessment
At the beginning of Reception, the teachers administer a statutory baseline assessment. This helps to inform class teachers of children's abilities and ihelops to identify the next steps needed in their learning journey.
Children in Year 1 are assessed on their phonic knowledge through the Phonics Screening assessment which takes place in June. This assessment helps further identify any children who may need extra help. These children are then given additional support to help improve their reading skills.
In Year 4, the children complete an online Multiplication Tables Test. The purpose of this is to determine whether the children can recall their times-tables fluently. The children in Year 6 take Statutory Assements (SATs) in English grammar, spelling and punctuation, reading and mathematics. Information evenings are held with parents to discuss how we can all work together to support the children and structured revision packs are also provided.
Extra Curricular
We have excellent facilities and these are used extensively by all of our staff to provide extra-curricular activities for the children. We aim for the children to not only participate for enjoyment, but for those with obvious high ability, to ultimately represent the school, town or even the city in the vents which they pursue. Some of the extra-curricular clubs that we offer include: Gymnastics, Cricket, Football, Netball, Art, Environment, Dance, Choir, Orchestra, Diversity, Scooters, Cross Country, Rugby, Homework, Fitzy Fox Fitness, Recorders, Tri-Golf ,Golf, Lego, Gymnastics Glee Club, Gardening, iPad. Bikeabilty and Scooterbility training also takes place with the support of Local Authority approved adult helpers.
As well as our extensive extra-curricular activities, children in Year 6 are also taken on a week long residential visit to Stanley Head Outdoor Education Centre. Throughout the year we hold fund-raising, social and educational events and we also regularly host adult learning workshops, led by our Home / School Link Worker
