SHOLDEN CHURCH OF ENGLAND PRIMARY SCHOOL

MISSION STATEMENT

We aim together at Sholden to:

·  Make all children feel loved, safe and happy; with school life being fun every day.

·  Make children aware of the importance of Jesus in their lives. That they will use what they have learned about Jesus and his beliefs throughout their lives in school and at home.

·  Instil a sense of self-belief in all children. To make children feel confident and accepted in the school community through praise and encouragement.

·  Encourage children to aim for high standards and self discipline through example.

·  To create a happy, working environment with

co-operation, perseverance, consideration and forgiveness.


Sholden Church of England Primary School celebrated its Centenary in 1977. It is a day school closely linked with the parish of Deal. Assemblies are held daily. Attendance at Family Service in St. Nicholas Church, Sholden, is encouraged. Pupils participate in at least two of these services a year. Religious Education is an integral part of lessons following the Canterbury Diocesan Syllabus.

The main building consists of teaching and resource areas, library, Headteacher's room and Administrator's office, toilets and cloakroom. Four mobile classrooms complete the accommodation. There is a playground and enclosed field, a small front garden and wildlife garden with pond.

Teaching Staff Subject Responsibilities

Ms J Brown Headteacher / SENCO, Assessment, History, Music

Class 1 Miss D Pye Yr R / Senior Manager Early Years, RE, MFL

Mrs C Hoile Maternity cover teacher

Mrs L Hodkinson Maternity cover teacher

Class 2 Mrs A Widdett Yr 1 and Yr 2 Maths

Class 3 Miss J Wright Yr 3 and Yr 4 Literacy, Art and DT

Class 4 Mrs Z Alldis Yr 5 and Yr 6 SENCO, ICT, Science

KS2 Mr R James PPA release teacher & after school clubs PE

Mrs N Scrivens Intervention teacher

Classroom Assistants

Class 4 Mrs J Wolfenden HLTA and Pastoral Support

Class 3 Mrs D Bennett

1 : 1 Mrs N Dodrill LSA

Class 2 Mrs J Marsh

Class 1 Mrs L Price

1 : 1 Mrs C Hopper LSA

1 : 1 Mrs L Hales LSA

1 : 1 Miss C Knight LSA

Non Teaching Staff

Mrs S Hogg School Administrator

Miss L Lauder Caretaker and Crossing Patrol Person

Mrs G Robertson Midday Supervisor

Mrs Joanne Hearn Midday Supervisor

Mrs J Ogg Midday Supervisor

Ms S Frost Midday Supervisor

Chairman of Governors: Mr J Sullivan New House

Wilton Close

Deal CT14 9AJ

School Times

Morning Session 8.55 - 12.00am

Afternoon Session 1.00 - 3.15pm

Teaching Time

Juniors 23 hrs 20 mins

Infants 22 hrs 05 mins

Admissions

We cater for the rising five to eleven age range in four mixed ability classes. The present roll is 102. The annual Reception Class intake is 15 (i.e. our Standard Number).

Our school has weekly visiting times for prospective new parents and pupils. Parents are invited to contact the school and arrange a viewing time in order to look around the school and find out further information. We are happy to put the child’s name in our ‘registering an interest’ book and send the necessary KCC pack in the December prior to admission the following September.

Should the number of applications exceed the number of places available, preference will be given on the following basis:

1.  Children in Local Authority Care1 who with their carers have an active affiliation2 within the Benefice6 of St Leonard.

2.  Children whose parents have an active affiliation[2] within the Benefice6 of St Leonard.

3.  Children in Local Authority Care,

4.  Children who will have a sibling4 attending the school at the time of entry,

5.  Children whose families attend a church which is part of churches Together in England or the Evangelical Alliance5.

6.  Any other children

If there are still places after children in categories 1 to 6 above have been admitted, nearness to school will be the deciding factor.

A full copy of Sholden’s Admission Policy for September 2012 can be found on our website at www.sholden.kent.sch.uk

Applications are considered by a sub-committee of School Governors. All parents will be advised of the decisions as soon as is practicable in early spring. Any parent whose application for their child is turned down has the right of appeal and should in the first instance communicate in writing with the Chairman of Governors.

Our intake for September 2012 will be for children who will be 5 years old between 1st September 2012 and 31st August 2013. They will attend full time if they are 5 years old between 1st September 2012 and 31st March 2013. However, if they are five between 1st April 2013 and 31st August 2013 they will attend mornings only until 28th September 2012. From Monday 1st October 2012 all children will be full time.

¹Children in Local Authority Care : "A child under the age of 18 years for whom the Local Authority provides accommodation by agreement with the parents, carers and guardians (Section 22 of the Children Act 1989) or who is subject of a Care Order under Part IV of the Act"

2 the School Governors consider ‘active affiliation’ to mean that the parents, carers and guardians are regular worshipping members of The Benefice6 of St Leonard and have attended services at least (once a month) during the 2 years prior to application. Evidence to support this will be sought from minister concerned.

3The distance is measured between the child’s permanent home address and the school, measured in a straight line using Ordnance Survey address point data. Distances are measured from a central point within the child’s home to a similarly defined point within the school as specified by Ordnance Survey. The school uses measurements provided by the Local Authority and further information on how distances are calculated is available in the Admissions Booklets provided by the Local Authority.

A pupil’s home address is considered to be a residential property that is the child’s only or main residence, not an address at which your child might sometimes stay or sleep due to your own domestic or special arrangements. The address must be the pupil’s home address on the day you complete your application form and which is either :-

Owned by the child’s parent, parents or guardian, OR

Leased to or rented by the child’s parent, parents or guardian under a lease or written rental agreement

If you live separately from your partner but share responsibility for your child, and the child lives at two different addresses during the week, we will regard the home address as the one at which the child sleeps for the majority of weekdays.

A block of flats has a single address point reference, so applicants living in the same block will be regarded as living the same distance away from the school. In the unlikely event that two or more children live in the same block and in all other ways have equal eligibility for the last available place at the school, the names will be issued a number and drawn randomly to decide which child should be given the place.

4 Sibling – refers to a brother or sister attending the school when the child starts. In this context brother or sister means children who live as brothers or sisters in the same house, including natural brothers or sisters, adopted siblings, stepbrothers or sisters and foster brother or sisters. The sibling link is maintained as long as the family live at the same address as when the first child applied, or has moved to an address that is less than 2 miles from the school using the distance measured by the method outlined in the distance/nearness of children’s home to school criterion.

5In order to receive priority under this criterion 5 attendance must be at least monthly for a period of not less than 2 years.

6 Benefice - the following group of Churches : Deal St Leonards with St Richard, Mill Hill; St Nicholas, Sholden and St Martin, Gt Mongeham


New Entrants

A visit to the school for these new entrants and their parents is arranged in the term before they start school. After this initial meeting with the Headteacher the new intake attend one afternoon per week for 3 weeks during the second half of the Summer Term to help them settle in.

Prospective Parents’ Visits To The School

Visits to the school are usually conducted on a Tuesday morning. Please ring to make an appointment.

The morning session is 9am to 12pm and the afternoon session is 1pm to 3.15pm. Normally, children should not be at the school before 8.40am as the school cannot take legal responsibility before that time. Children who have not passed their cycling proficiency test should not bring their bicycles to school unless accompanied by an adult.

Lunches are available at the cost of £2.10 per day. The meals are delivered daily from the Hornbeam School kitchen. The school administrator has the necessary forms on which to claim for free meals. Alternatively, packed lunches may be brought and eaten on the premises under supervision. In the interest of health generally, and dental health in particular, children are allowed to eat fruit or nutritional vegetables at playtime, but no sweets.

We request children to wear school uniform which is grey/black trousers/shorts – boys. Grey skirt/pinafore dress, blue and white gingham dress, white socks, grey or black tights, or black/grey trousers and a white polo shirt, with a blue school sweatshirt or cardigan. A school fleece is available to wear as an outdoor jacket – not replacing the school sweatshirt/cardigan. Fashionable shoes are not recommended for growing feet. For P.E. we expect children to change into plimsolls, navy shorts and house coloured school tee-shirt (St David – Yellow; St George – Red; St Patrick – Yellow; St Andrew – Blue). The "School Strip" is provided for those selected for football and netball teams. No jewellery should be worn during school time, other than small stud earrings and plain signet rings. These however must be removed for PE or games. Trainers are preferable for outdoor PE lessons, especially for activities on the field. We ask that long hair is tied back away from the face.

For Art and Craft lessons, an apron or like cover is necessary - an adult shirt cut down and worn back to front, provides an excellent cover. No responsibility will be accepted for unmarked clothing.

Please ensure all clothing is clearly marked.

Valuables in School

It is unwise to allow children to bring valuable or precious belongings to school unless by special arrangement with a teacher. Losses or accidental damage can cause distress when valuable items are involved and the school is not covered for such losses via insurance. Any money which is brought to school should be handed over to the class teacher for safe keeping immediately the school day begins. Any school trip money should be in an envelope clearly marked with your child's name. Dinner money should be clearly named.

Jewellery

The wearing of jewellery is strongly discouraged since items may be lost and far more seriously, the wearing of jewellery can result in injury to the wearer and/or others. On grounds of safety, only small studs should be worn and children may be required to remove all jewellery for P.E. lessons at the discretion of the class teachers. Wristwatches may be worn, but not on swimming days for Juniors.

Healthy Eating

This is strongly encouraged within the school. Parents are asked to send a balanced nutritious packed lunch, including fresh fruit. Sweets, chocolate bars etc are NOT allowed. It is recommended that crisps are limited to once a week. All children in Key Stage One classes receive free fruit each day.


Lost Property

All lost property is put into a basket which is kept in the Year 6 cloakroom. Please check it for any lost items.

The Curriculum

The main curriculum consists of English, Mathematics, Science, Information and Communication Technology, Religious Education, Geography, History, Music, Art, Design Technology, PSHE (personal social and health education) and Physical Education. The Junior Classes also learn French.

AIMS

Within the Christian framework of this school, we hope to develop happy and well-adjusted children who are able to meet the needs and aspirations of their community and who are able to cope with all the new challenges of the ever-changing world.

We aim to bring the children to the fullness of their individual potential; spiritually, physically, mentally and emotionally.

We aim to maintain a good academic record and to provide a high standard of teaching.

SUBJECT STATEMENTS

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND COLLECTIVE WORSHIP

Parents have the right to withdraw their children from Religious Education and Collective Worship in accordance with the provisions of the 1988 Education Act.

RELIGIOUS WORSHIP

The Governors have set the aim of fostering an understanding of the Christian faith and the objectives of helping and encouraging children to participate in and to observe Christian worship daily. Children carry out collective worship every day.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Our policy in this subject is a natural extension of the overall aims and objectives of a church-aided school. That is to say, we aim:-

- to foster an understanding of religion.