| |
Click on our smiley face to start! |
|
Buxton Infant School
a smiling start
Hardwick Square, Buxton, Derbyshire SK17 6QB Telephone/Fax: Buxton 22499
 smile@buxton-inf.derbyshire.sch.uk
|
At Buxton Infant School we want everyone to be happy to come to school. We expect children and staff to work hard, feel confident and valued and be extremely purposeful so that together we can achieve the best for everyone.
The welfare and education of the children are at the heart of everything we do here.
Aims
We aim to provide a happy and stimulating environment in which young children can learn to work and play together, being conscious of each others needs, yet able to develop their own natural abilities. We hope that children will become more independent and will achieve their full potential.
It is our firm belief that children learn by experience or 'doing' and therefore we aim to provide activities and experiences that will stimulate the children's imagination, extend their use of language and help them towards understanding new concepts.
At all times we aim to consider the elements of learning. They are knowledge, concepts, skills and attitudes. We appreciate fully that there will be a high instance of cross-curricular activity and that a sensitive approach to the curriculum will allow for differences in ability and interest of individual pupils.
Within the school we are aware of and support a positive approach equally towards girls and boys. In the organisation and ethos of the school we recognise we must reflect equal opportunities.
We are also aware that our children should have an understanding of the multi-cultural nature of our society.
It is our aim to achieve a breadth and balance of curriculum and the following areas of learning and experience are to be considered; aesthetic and creative, human and social, linguistic and literary, mathematical, physical, scientific, spiritual and moral, technological.
Study of these areas should establish a breadth of curriculum. We hope to achieve balance by giving each area the appropriate attention in relation to the other.
Photos
This is the Millenium Window which was designed by children in school to show well known land marks in Buxton. From the top clockwise you can see Solomon's Temple, the Opera House, Corbar crosses, St John's Church, Buxton Infant School and the viaduct.
Our Garden
Where We Are
The Discovery Room
The Rainbow Room
Our Playground
Achievements
News
All Change!
We are all very sorry to see Mrs Hollis leave us to be nearer to her own children, but wish her lots of luck in the future and thank her for being such a good headteacher for the last 5 years.
At the same time, Mrs Ramczyk is hoping to retire this July after 24 years at Buxton Infant School, 22 of them as Deputy Head. We are arranging a tea party for Mrs Ramczyk after school on the penultimate day of school, and hoping to invite lots of the people who have worked here in the past. Because Mrs Ramczyk is hoping to retire at the same time as Mrs Hollis leaves, the Governors have asked Miss Bradbury to become acting head until the new head is appointed the Governors have every confidence in Miss Bradbury (or Mrs Bennett as she will be by then!) and she has the full support of her colleagues here at school and in the Local Authority.
We would also like to welcome the new head at Buxton Junior School, Mrs Cecilia Minter. She has already visited the school to have a look round and made a very favourable impression on everyone.
We Wanted to Know What You Think!
Thanks to all of you who contributed their thoughts about the school at our parent consultations before Easter. You can look at some of the results in more detail here.
Playground Scheme
We are continuing our playground scheme in order to make the playground more available to the local community.We currently have 20 family key holders using the playground and its equipment after school closes at night and at the weekends, for all sorts of family activities. Many children have learnt to ride their bikes in the school playground, others just come and play on the equipment or use the garden.
We hope eventually to make the pond area available as well and a group of staff and parents are also looking at ways to improve our facilities. Key holders are parents or carers of children under 11 years of age living close to the school. They pay a fee of £ 10 a year plus a £5 refundable key deposit. Key holders can use the playground between 6 and 9pm weekdays and 9am to 9pm weekends. If you would like to take part in the scheme, pop into the office and see Mr Locke. To find out more click here.
Family Resource Worker!
If you have any queries you can contact Emma Steeples directly on 07870 746 915, or ring or pop into the school to arrange a meeting either within the school, at your home, or in a mutually appropriate place and if she can't help you; She will be sure to find someone who can.
PTFA
The school has a committed PTA which raises a considerable amount of money for the school. All parents/carers are automatically members when their child starts school. They meet during school hours and are always pleased to welcome new members. The current chair of the PTA is Simon Catlin and he can be contacted on 73653.
The PTA take responsibility for ordering and selling items of school uniform and will be present at the induction meeting so that you can order well in advance of your child starting school.
*Red fleece with the school logo
*Red or green sweatshirt or sweat cardigan with the school logo
*Polo shirt with or without the school logo
Grey or black trousers, skirt or dress with grey shorts or summer school dress for warmer weather
*these items are available from the PTA
Also available from the PTA are PE T-shirts and bags, legionnaires caps and school bags all with the school logo.
Children wearing school sweatshirts
Curriculum
Over the last year we have been working on the concept of a more 3-dimensional and thematic curriculum. The best way we can define this is to consider
1st Dimension - skills - i.e. numeracy, literacy, ICT
2nd Dimension - knowledge and understanding i.e. big ideas that shape the world
3rd Dimension -attitudes and attributes - those personal traits that enable us to use our education to live our lives i.e. determined, adaptable, confident
Over the past year, school leaders, teachers and other education professionals have been working with QCA to make the national aims of the curriculum more accessible and usable. They have agreed that the curriculum should enable all young people to become:
· Successful learners, who enjoy learning, make progress and achieve.
· Confident individuals who are able to live safe, healthy and fulfilling lives.
· Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society.
These aims relate closely to the five outcomes identified in Every Child Matters and have been a driving force for curriculum review. In partnership with schools, QCA has begun to identify the learning outcomes, in terms of knowledge and understanding, skills, attitudes and attributes, that might sit beneath each of these three overall aims. Click here to find out more.
In response to this new approach, our initial project involved the whole school and looked at the area of the theatre. As a starting point, every child in the class visited Buxton Opera House for a tour that explained the function of the building as well as its history. The theme was then extended throughout the curriculum to incorporate workshops in a variety of related areas, drama, singing and dance. The whole school then revisited the Opera House to see a performance of The Gruffalo's Child. All of this work fed into a performance by each year group to parents. The children drew on their experiences to set up the hall as a theatre, they produced programmes, they numbered the seats and they even sold ice cream in the interval!
We are currently working on a new project to explore our town and look at how it has changed. We are looking at those changes from many perspectives, the human and built environment, history, geography etc. We have already visited the park and looked at the habitats within it and the animals that can be found there. We have used that information to make a large scale map of the park. Different groups of children are focusing on creating/building a structure/model that could be enjoyed by a particular animal; these will then be taken down to the park and photographed in situ.
The broad areas for this curriculum approach over the next two years have already been agreed and cover a variety of subjects including Cities, Fabrics and Movement.
Every Child Matters
Every Child Matters: Change for Children is a new approach to the well-being of children and young people from birth to age 19.The Government's aim is for every child, whatever their background or their circumstances, to have the support they need to:
Be Healthy
Take regular exercise and engage in regular physical recreational activities.
Know about and make healthy lifestyle choices.
Understand risks (sexual health, substance abuse and smoking) in a way appropriate to their age.
Eat and drink healthily at school
Be aware of how to make healthy choices when not at school
Be Safe
Display concern for others and refrain from intimidating and anti-social behaviour.
Feel safe from bullying and discrimination.
Be confident in reporting incidents and getting support.
Understand key risks and how to minimise them.
Act responsibly in risky situations.
Be safe at school and know how to stay safe outside school.
Enjoy and Achieve
Enjoy coming to school and learning.
Be supported by parents/carers as partners in learning.
Receive teaching which is always good or better and a relevant, exciting and creative curriculum.
Make good progress and achieve at least predicated outcomes at end of Foundation Stage and KS1.
Develop as active, motivated and independent learners.
Have high levels of attendance and cope well with planned changes.
Be able to take part in extended school opportunities.
Make a Positive Contribution
Develop positive relationships with others and choose not to bully or discriminate.
Engage in law abiding and positive behaviour in and out of school.
Express their views at school and participate in decision-making with confidence that their voices will be heard.
Know that each individual has the potential to make a positive contribution and make a difference to others.
Develop self-confidence and successfully deal with significant life changes and challenges.
Have the knowledge and understanding to become informed citizens.
Economic Wellbeing Develop their basic skills in literacy, numeracy and ICT.
Develop their self-confidence and team-working skills.
Develop problem-solving skills.
Develop an enterprising attitude, able to take the initiative and think about risks and opportunities. | 