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great horwood church of england combined school where children learn and grow together

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welcome this prospectus is intended to serve as an introduction to the wide variety of activities which together form the education available at great horwood we are proud of the opportunities and facilities that we offer our pupils in this thriving and well ordered school we hope that by reading this prospectus you will gain an insight into the life and work of the school the governors parents/carers and a dedicated teaching staff work together for the benefit of our children this booklet however cannot tell you everything about the school and it is only by seeing the school in action for yourself that you will fully appreciate our purposeful caring learning environment yours sincerely norman ellison chairman of the governors paul adams headteacher

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about great horwood overlooking beautiful buckinghamshire countryside great horwood is a well resourced rural primary school with pupils ranging in age from 3 to 11 years the substantial school grounds give pupils an excellent range of activities to partake in with large play and sports areas a wide range of exciting play equipment and a nature area all classrooms are equipped with extensive learning resources and pupils make regular use of the well-stocked library music room and large school hall with its gymnastics equipment great horwood school has a commitment to high achievement and raising standards we expect children to demonstrate a caring attitude to each other and their environment and we value the special contribution of each child so that children will learn to accept and value the views of others a strength of the school is the close co-operation and commitment that exists between members of the school community.

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our mission great horwood church of england combined school in partnership with the church and community is committed to providing a safe caring and challenging learning environment in which all individuals are able to realise their full potential and grow in confidence learning to value themselves and others in preparation for their future where children learn and grow together 2

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aims for children to recognise the value of achieving high standards in themselves and others to develop in the school a caring community where each child is happy can develop self confidence and obtain satisfaction and personal fulfilment at each stage of development to develop the child s concern for the welfare of others respect for religious and moral values and tolerance of all races religions and ways of life to encourage children to appreciate the virtues of working together to foster habits of responsibility and self-discipline and to promote initiative endeavour and the exercise of individual judgement to enable pupils to develop lively enquiring minds imagination and the ability to question and argue rationally to enable each child to acquire knowledge skills and attitudes relevant to their future lives in a fast-changing world to equip each child with the foundations of learning how to learn to enable each child to develop fluency in the use of the english language to become numerate and be able to apply mathematical concepts in their daily lives to develop physical skills and techniques in the creative and expressive arts to appreciate past and present human achievements and aspirations to develop skills in the use of modern technology to recognise and encourage talents of all kinds and all degrees and to endeavour to stretch the intellectual and creative capacity of individual children to encourage harmonious relationships between the home and school with the common interest of the good of the child 3

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church of england school great horwood is a church of england school and as such has strong links with the parish church of st james in the village christian values underpin all that we do each child is an individual with his or her own strengths rights responsibilities and interests in recognising these we aim to ensure that our children strive to do their best in the pursuit of excellence the school celebrates harvest christmas and easter in the church and the local community are welcome to join the us at these celebrations members of the church are also invited to take assemblies in school at regular intervals and the church tower is lit to celebrate various events in the life of the school the church runs a summer holiday activities week at the school for local children to attend and holds its annual fete in the school grounds every child is an individual with his or her own strengths and responsibilities 4

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visits and admissions we welcome visits from prospective parents and pupils please contact the school office to arrange a convenient time to meet with the headteacher who will gladly give you a tour of the school answering any questions the school has a well resourced 15 place nursery other pupils transfer to the school at age key stage 2 from neighbouring villages the children remain in the school until year 6 and then the vast majority transfer either to the local grammar school or upper school contact school end great horwood bucks mk17 org telephone 01296 712622 email office@greathorwood.bucks.sch.uk website www.greathorwood.bucks.sch.uk 5

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safeguarding and safety the health safety and well-being of every child are our paramount concern we listen to our pupils and take seriously what they tell us we also want to work in partnership with you to help your child to achieve their full potential and make a positive contribution on rare occasions our concern about a child may mean that we have to consult other agencies even before we contact you the procedures which we follow have been laid down by buckinghamshire area child protection committee and the school has adopted a child protection policy in line with this for the safety of all our child protection policy can be found on the school website to ensure that the school site is secure and safe visitors to the school are asked to report to the secretary and sign in the visitors book identification badges will be given to visitors and helpers in the classroom if you have to take your child out of school during the school day please see the secretary and make a note in the visitors book the gates at the end of the drive will be closed during the day this entrance is for vehicular access only the pedestrian entrance is via the small gate in front of the old school building this side gate is locked between 9 00 a.m and 3 00 p.m we ask that parents/carers do not drive their cars into school end at the beginning or end of the school day instead they should park on the green and walk through the churchyard to meet their children or park in the swan car park cars should not be driven into the school while the school is in session as it is important that we keep our emergency vehicular access clear 6

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behaviour staff have very high expectations for the behaviour of children with `golden rules forming a central part of the behaviour policy the golden rules are displayed in every classroom children s endeavours are rewarded in many ways including entry into the `golden book and many other celebrations of achievement school anti bullying statement bullying means that one child is using his or her power over another to make them feel bad bullying is not a single argument or fight with someone it isn t saying something bad to someone once when you are angry bullying goes on deliberately again and again we do not tolerate bullying in our school the behaviour policy can be found on the school website golden rules form a central part of our behaviour policy 7

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curriculum at great horwood school we aim to provide all children with a broad balanced and creative curriculum this includes not only the formal requirements for the national curriculum but also the range of extra curricular activities that the school organises in order to enrich the experiences of the children we aim to teach children how to grow into positive responsible people who can work and co-operate with others while developing knowledge and skills so that they can achieve their true potential our school curriculum is underpinned by the values we hold dear at our school extra curricular clubs residential visits and trips are highly valued and an important part of our curriculum 8

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personalised curriculum special educational needs we believe that each pupil has individual and unique needs however some children require more support than others a child with special needs may have greater difficulty in learning or may have a disability that makes it hard for them to access facilities within the school these children are identified and work is planned for them according to their needs if necessary additional support may also be provided to ensure that all children reach their full potential gifted and talented children the needs of children who are gifted and talented are usually met within the differentiated curriculum however where necessary the curriculum may be modified to meet the specific requirements of children who require additional challenges to ensure that they reach their full potential looked after children children become looked after either if they have been taken into care by the local authority or have been accommodated by the local authority a voluntary arrangement most looked after children live with foster parents but a smaller number may be in residential care living with a relative or even be placed at home with their birth parents we are committed to providing a quality education for our children based on equality of access opportunity and outcomes we fully subscribe to the 5 outcomes of every child matters and whatever a pupil s background or circumstance believe that pupils should have the necessary support to take as full a part as possible in all school activities 9

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english we believe it is essential to nurture a love of reading and writing in our pupils children in foundation begin this process by taking home books to share with their parents as children become more proficient in their reading skills they will be encouraged to make individual choices of reading material using class reading areas and the school library writing skills are taught creatively with a systematic approach to spelling phonics and handwriting aiming to ensure children express themselves appropriately read accurately with understanding and enjoyment develop thinking skills to help them on the path to becoming reflective independent learners develop understanding that writing is both essential to thinking investigating organising and learning and enjoyable in its own right 10

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mathematics the national primary strategy for maths forms the basis for the teaching in our school a structured maths lesson takes place in each class every day including the development of mental calculation and recording skills to support our teaching we use the abacus scheme and spotlight maths all children are encouraged to reach their potential by working both in groups and individually practical work discussion mathematical games and investigations are all used to support children s development in mathematics homework is used to reinforce children s learning the school recognises the application of maths throughout the curriculum including information technology individual children work on rm maths to support their learning and rm snapshot is used to assist with assessment aiming to ensure children are equipped with strategies to understand mathematics in everyday life can understand and solve problems logically have the opportunity to explore and discuss mathematical problems understand mathematical vocabulary develop skills of measurement and understanding of the concepts of time and money have mental strategies and skills to perform calculations 11

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science science enables children to find out about the world in which they live it involves the development of children s knowledge and understanding of their environment and themselves during foundation and key stage 1 children make observations explore and ask questions about living things materials and phenomena they share their ideas and communicate using drawings charts and tables in key stage 2 children learn about a wider range of living things materials and phenomena they explain things using their knowledge and understanding of scientific ideas at great horwood we have a large conservation area and pond this is used as an outdoor classroom where the children can study the local wildlife first hand we have strong links with the royal latin school as part of their specialist science status aiming to ensure children develop knowledge and understanding of the world they live in develop scientific concepts knowledge skills and attitudes can plan organise and research using a wide variety of materials and equipment are aware of the contribution science makes to everyday life develop a responsible attitude towards safety and respect for living organisms and the environment 12

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religious education as a church of england school great horwood aims to develop and encourage an ethos of christian care and consideration the school follows the buckinghamshire agreed syllabus the pupils are encouraged to explore the meaning purpose and value of life from a fair minded point of view this in turn helps to encourage tolerance and empathy amongst the pupils we believe that religious education should be an exciting subject so we employ a variety of teaching methods including art music dance and drama the use of stillness and periods of quiet reflection exploring artefacts pictures and photographs visiting local places of worship and talking with members of faith communities we also use story video and food to support our learning the school has a daily act of collective worship through combined school assemblies and class assemblies assemblies are a time for reflection storytelling and celebrating achievement they are often shared by visiting speakers who talk to the children on a variety of topics parents are invited to join us for several assemblies in school the school has close links with our local church st james our harvest christmas and easter services are held there to which parents and friends are invited priests from st james regularly share in our assemblies parents have the right to withdraw their child from religious education and assemblies should any parent wish to do this they should contact the headteacher to discuss alternative arrangements 13

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