PURLEY
CHURCH OF ENGLAND
(VC)
INFANT SCHOOL
SCHOOL
BROCHURE
2010-2011
Welcome
I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you and your child to Purley CE Infant School. Starting a new school is an exciting and important step. We want this to be positive for you and your child.
Together with the staff and governors I hope that this booklet explains a little of how Purley CE Infant School aims to educate the
Children in its care. We strive to ensure the children here are happy and secure. We want them to enjoy learning, have fun, make friends, gain new interests and develop caring attitudes and enquiring minds in a safe environment.
Your interest and involvement in your child's progress and in the life
of the school is positively encouraged as parent partners. Between us,
we can ensure that your child’s time here is enjoyable and that they receive the best possible all-round preparation for the future.
I look forward to meeting you and welcoming you to Purley CE Infant School.
Catherine Nisbet
Headteacher
Purley Church of England (VC) Infant School
Mission Statement
Purley Church of England Infant School aims to meet the needs of all children as individuals, within a caring and happy community, which places Christian values at its heart and to lay foundations for children to develop skills and responsibilities for later life.
Aims
The governors aim:
v for the school to be a happy, caring and secure community
v a broad, rich and well structured creative and challenging curriculum
v to ensure pupils are all equally valued and are given opportunities to access the curriculum at their own level, in order to achieve their full potential
v to allow each child to develop as an individual and have high self expectations
v to promote personal, social, emotional, spiritual and cultural development and to develop self-discipline, tolerance and co-operation
v to encourage an understanding of the meaning and significance of faith and promote Christian values through the experience offered to all pupils
v to educate our children to take their place in a multi-cultural society
v to assess and record targets and attainment of each pupil and share information with parents and child
v to satisfy the requirements of Education Acts relating to The National Curriculum, Religious Education and Collective Worship.
v to place particular emphasis on creative and challenging learning both indoors and outdoors.
Purley Church of England
(Voluntary Controlled) Infant School
Purley Village
Purley on Thames
Reading
Berkshire
RG8 8AF
Telephone 0118 984 2384
Fax 0118 984 1315
E mail
Headteacher Mrs Catherine Nisbet
Chair of Governors Mrs Win Wallace
Teaching staff Mrs Valerie Lyn-Jones
Mrs Joanna Carr
Mrs Miriam Fullbrook
Miss Rebecca Barden (First Aid)
Nursery nurse Mrs Anita King (First Aid)
Headteacher’s/School Secretary Mrs Claire Ham (First Aid)
Finance Officer Mrs Jacqui Axson
Clerk to the Governing Body Mrs Claire Ham
Teaching Assistants Mrs Ann Thomas
Mrs Judie Pickering (First Aid)
Mrs Sarah Smith (First Aid)
Mrs Bridget Graham
Purley C.E. Infant School
School Governors
There are twelve governors for this school at the time of writing. They have legal duties, powers and responsibilities. Governors are appointed to make decisions about how the school is run, approve the budget, appoint the Headteacher and decide on school policies. Each year the governors report to parents.
LIST OF GOVERNORS NOMINATING BODY OFFICE EXPIRES
Mrs Winifred Wallace LEA (West Berkshire) 25.10.14
(Chair)
Mrs Sarah La Nauze Foundation (Diocesan) 31.08.12
(Vice Chair)
Mrs Catherine Nisbet Headteacher/Staff Governor
(Headteacher)
Mrs Jo Carr Staff Governor 20.09.14
Mrs Judie Pickering Staff Governor 20.09.14
Miss Sybil Pryor Foundation (Diocesan) 30.08.13
Rev David Archer Community 06.12.14
Mrs Valerie Jones Community 28.02.11
Mr Philip Allen Elected Parent 17.09.14
Mrs Emma Morel Elected Parent 01.10.14
Mr Sumit Mitra Elected Parent 17.09.14
Mrs Charlotte Julien Elected Parent 01.10.14
Mr Bill Ayling Associate Member 06.12.14
Buildings and Grounds
Purley School was built in 1873 as a Church of England School. It was taken over by Berkshire Education Authority in 1958 and is now a Church of England (Voluntary Controlled) School. Pupils have been attending Purley School for over one hundred and thirty years.
In January 2006 we moved into the newly built parts of the school. We now have a beautiful new hall, pupil toilets, office accommodation and a staffroom.
The grounds of the school are very pleasant, consisting of grassed areas, paved paths, flower beds and a pond with a lovely view towards the River Thames. They provide a stimulating environment in which the children can learn. The school has received awards for its environmental work.
Pupils are actively involved in a range of activities such as planting seeds in the Spring; growing vegetables in the Summer; harvesting our home grown produce; observing the life cycle of frogs; taking part in mini-beast hunts and lots more! At Purley School we consider that the grounds provide us with an extra classroom.
During the late Spring and Summer Terms we encourage the children to help with the garden and allotment. Parents and grandparents sometimes help to run a gardening club. If you have a spare moment please contact the teachers.
Admission to Purley School
In choosing a school for the start of your child’s education it is important to find out as much as possible about the school you are considering. At Purley School we encourage you to arrange a visit to view the school, meet the teachers and see the pupils working. If you wish to see the school at work please telephone 0118 9842384 for an appointment. Starting in an Infant school for the first time is an important step for your child. By law all children
must start full time education no later than the beginning of the term following their 5th birthday. This is called Statutory School Age. The qualifying dates that are used to decide on the school terms for admission are 1 September, 1 January and 1 April.
Starting School Early- year R
Purley School admits pupils to school before they are 5 as “Rising 5’s”. We are admitting pupils into the reception Year in September, in line with West Berkshire School Admissions Policy
We believe that children benefit from starting with their peers at the beginning of the academic year and our Foundation Stage classroom is specifically designed to offer learning experiences appropriate to these young children’s needs.
Our current planned admission figure is 17
The planned accommodation level is 60
These normal admission points are referred to as “The standard” normal admission points. Some Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools may make arrangements to offer places earlier than those offered by the LEA centrally. Please talk to the school who will inform you of any such arrangements.
The LEA will notify you of the outcome of your application by letter. Once you receive your offer of a place you will be given an acceptance slip for return within two weeks to advise the school that you want the place. Spare places can then be allocated to children on the waiting list.
Designated area and home addresses.
A designated area is a distinct geographical area that is served by a school. It is the child’s normal permanent home address where he or she lives with his or her parents or a legal guardian that is used to decide in which designated area the child lives.
This school serves the area north of the Oxford Road within the Parish of Purley. However parents are able to apply to any school for admission consideration. You have a right to express a preference.
Oversubscription Criteria for Voluntary Controlled Schools
A. Looked after children
B. Children whose permanent home address is in the school’s designated catchment area.
Criteria C to E apply to children whose permanent home address is not within the preferred school’s catchment area.
C. Children who have a brother or sister (or a stepbrother or sister or a foster sibling) living in the same family unit who will continue to attend the school during the next academic year.
D. Children who are choosing the school for denominational or non-denominational reasons.
E. All other applicants.
If there is a tie breaker situation within any of the above categories, priority will be given to children who live nearest to the school. This is measured by a straight line between home and school.
School Organisation
School Hours Morning Session 9.00 a.m. to 12 noon
Afternoon Session 1.00 p.m. to 3.00 p.m.
School starts at 9.00 a.m. The doors are opened at 8.50am when pupils are able to walk into school and start morning challenge time (08.50-9.20 a.m). Parents are welcome to bring their children into school for the first couple of weeks when starting Reception. So, once your child has settled into school and become more independent we encourage you to say your “good-byes” in the playground. Let your children take themselves into the classrooms with their friends and show you how well they can organise themselves ready for the start of lessons.
If for any reason your child is late please take your child to the school office where a member of the office staff will enter your child in the register and arrange school meals.
If your child is absent from school please let the school know before 9.15a.m.
Morning Break
Morning Break is 15 Minutes plus a five- minute break for a fruit snack, milk or water.
All pupils are provided with a mid morning snack of a piece of fruit. Pupils are encouraged to drink water during the day and should bring in an additional drink from their packed lunch to have access to throughout the day. Children under the age of 5, may have milk. After their 5th birthday, parents may choose to buy milk through the ‘Cool Milk’ scheme.
Lunch
Lunch break is from 12.00 – 1.00 p.m.
School lunches are sent in containers from Pangbourne Primary School and are eaten in the school hall, under supervision.
A menu sheet is on our school website and on the Dolce website. Children come into school, and if having school dinners, are able to select a dinner choice (under the guidance of staff who read out and discuss the menus) on the interactive whiteboard. These are then sent electronically to the kitchen at Pangbourne Primary School. Payment for dinners may either be sent in a labelled envelope on the day or a direct debit set up, where payment will be collected monthly in arrears.
If for any reason someone needs to order a meal on a daily basis then they will have the choice of what is brought into school that day. The company who provide the school meals spends a lot of time working on the menus and ensuring the balance is right. They meet the Government’s Nutritional Standard and also The Caroline Walker Trust guidelines on school meals i.e. the calorific content of the menu over a week.
As part of getting the balance right a mixture of fresh, frozen and tinned fruit and vegetables is used.
At present, the meal provider is offering a week’s free trial to new children.
Other aspects of creating a Healthy School
The medical profession has been telling us for many years that children do not drink enough during the school day-and that the resulting dehydration contributes to a number of short and long-term health problems. At Purley School we provide a water cooler for children to refill their water bottles to enable them to drink water throughout the day. Pupils are also provided with a healthy snack consisting of a piece of fruit every morning. Leaflets for ordering milk are available from the school office. If you wish your child to have milk please complete the form. Milk is free for pupils under five years of age.
School Lunch boxes.
Learning about healthy eating is part of the whole school curriculum. It is part of Science; it is discussed through the Personal, Social and Health curriculum and Food Technology.
Packed lunches can be very healthy and nutritious. They can also be little more than a dose of sugar, fat and salt. It is a school aim to encourage pupils to bring in healthy options that reflect the healthy messages being promoted by the school. We do not have rules which ban chocolate and crisps. Instead we encourage our pupils to learn about balanced eating habits. The only restriction we ask is no fizzy drinks or sweets. We aim to reinforce pupils awareness of the importance of a “Healthy lunch box” with suggestions such as the inclusion of a piece of fruit in the lunch box or only having a small amount of chocolate and trying not to have crisps every day.
On warm sunny days the children enjoy a picnic in the grounds.
Free School Meals
All enquiries concerning free school meals should be directed to the office who will inform you of the correct procedure for application.
Length of the school day
At Purley the time children spend in school each week is 25 hours. Actual teaching time, which does not include registration, breaks or the daily act of collective worship is 21 hours 35 minutes.
The D.F.E.S. recommended time for infants is 21 hours.
Attendance
If you need to take your child out of school during the school day you must come to the school office to collect your child. Medical appointments should be made out of school hours where possible. Requests to take children out of school for appointments should be done in writing. Please make sure that your child is aware that he/she must never leave the school during the day.
If your child is absent from school, please let us have a short note stating the reason when he/she returns. Every recorded absence has to be clearly identified in the register as either ‘authorised’ or ‘unauthorised’. All authorised absences are recorded with an explanatory symbol e.g. (M) = Medical, such as hospital visit.
Leave of Absence
Please try not to take your children out of school during term time.
Education is once in a lifetime opportunity. The DCSF stipulates that holidays should not be taken in term time and that Headteachers consider the following points when deciding whether to authorise the holiday request.