ABOUT US

The Priory School is a Christian school committed to ensuring that all pupils thrive and achieve their very best within a happy, secure and stimulating environment.

All teaching and support staff agree that pupil progress is the measure of teaching and learning and that every child has the right to be taught well. We would therefore expect every child in our school to be making at least good progress, whatever his or her starting point.

We also agree that every child matters and that each child gets just one chance at primary schooling. It is our duty, therefore, to provide the very best we can with the teachers and resources available to us. To do any less than this will be to fail our pupils.

Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 (Infants)

Our experience shows that preparedness for school, rather than a child’s actual age, is the most important factor affecting how well our four year-olds settle into school. As soon as they arrive all pupils are assessed in key areas so that we are aware of their abilities and where to begin teaching. Although pupils officially begin learning the National Curriculum in the term when they reach their fifth birthday, we will not hold any child back who is clearly ready to begin learning in a specific area. Children arrive at The Priory School with hugely varying abilities in different areas and we are geared up to coping with such a wide range.

We recognise that Reception is a vital time in any pupil’s development and can set the scene for the rest of his or her school career. Our priority is to aid a smooth transition from home, playgroup, or pre-school to classroom and ensure the child is happy to come to school. Our aim is to discover as much as possible about each individual child, identify strengths and weaknesses and continue with the education they have received before joining us. As part of this process home visits by our Reception teacher are arranged at a mutually convenient time during the summer term prior to children’s entry to school.

Our Class 1 teacher will hold a meeting for parents at the beginning of the new school year to set out the changes children will face as they begin in Key Stage 1. This time needs to delicately handled and good communication is vital if the transition is to be smooth and trouble free.

Key Stage 2 (juniors)

As pupils progress through school care is taken to ensure that their learning is tracked in all areas and that subsequent learning properly builds upon what has gone before. We have in place schemes of work which ensure progression in learning in all curriculum areas. Teachers plan in detail to ensure that each child is learning at a level suited to his or her ability in a particular subject. As children move through the school the work becomes much more subject led with links being made across subjects to enhance the topic.

A number of clubs and activities are run for children during and after school, depending upon the expertise of the staff available at any one time. At the time of writing children are able to participate in: Netball , Football, Recorders, Athletics, Rugby, Swimming, Dance, Country Dancing, Gardening, Philosophy, Chess, Choir, Drama, Orchestra, Science. Some of our older pupils may be asked to represent the school in team games during the year, and classes 5 and 6 normally enter a team in the annual Christchurch Town Sports.