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Welcome to Mortimer St Mary’s Church of England Junior School. The school is situated in the village of Mortimer close to the town of Reading.
Our school grounds consist of the playground, large field, quiet area, picnic and conservation areas, swimming pool and adventure playground.
We are a Church of England Junior School, taking children from the age of 7 to 11 and we currently have 227 pupils on roll.
Headteacher: Mr Green
Mortimer St Mary’s C of E Junior School
The Street
Mortimer
West Berkshire
Phone:  0118 9332491
Fax: 0118 9331013 |
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WELCOME TO OUR SCHOOL - Find out more about our school. Meet the headteacher and download the school prospectus. View photographs of the school grounds.
SCHOOL OFFICE - Visit the School Office to view the diary, St Mary's news and to download copies of the newsletters and office price list.
CLASSES - Each class has a page on the site. These will be developed in September. Ask the classteacher for information about what will be included.
THE GALLERY - Some examples of children’s work.
GOVERNORS - Find out more about the Governors here at Mortimer St Mary’s.
PTA - Find out more about the Parent Teacher Association here at Mortimer St Mary’s. |
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Dear Parents
Welcome to Mortimer St Mary’s Church of England Junior School. We hope that you, your children and your family will have a very happy time as part of our school. |
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At Mortimer St Mary’s, we believe all our children should acquire a firm grasp of the basic skills of literacy and numeracy, an appetite for learning and confidence in themselves and their abilities.
Education is not, however, concerned only with equipping children with the knowledge and skills necessary for successful adult careers. Our pupils are encouraged to use their leisure time creatively, to have respect for other people, other cultures and other beliefs. We believe in working closely with parents; if you wish to check on your child’s progress or are interested in learning more about our methods, you are very welcome to come and talk with me or see a particular teacher.
We are always pleased to welcome parents into school and welcome your support and ideas.
Yours sincerely
Roger Green
Headteacher
NOTE
The prospectus is available from the downloads section of this site and there is also a link to our most recent Ofsted Report.
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Welcome to the Mortimer St Mary's Gifted and Talented web pages
We recognise the value and importance of identifying and celebrating the achievements and successes of children who demonstrate all-round ability, as well as children who show outstanding artistic and creative talent, physical skills, leadership qualities and the ability to process ideas and information. To this end, the staff and Governors have written a policy for supporting these children which acknowledges our commitment to helping these children achieve their full potential.
What does 'gifted' and talented' mean?
Gifted learners are those who have abilities in one or more subjects in the statutory school curriculum other than art and design, music and PE.
Talented learners are those who have abilities in art and design, music, PE, or performing arts such as dance and drama.
Identifying gifted and talented pupils
Given the socio-economic profile of West Berkshire, the top 20% highest performing pupils in any cohort within the authority may be identified as needing additional support from time to time and the provision of appropriate work to extend and develop their learning. Within this group 5%-10% may be considered as more able (gifted and talented).
Underachievers
Underachievement is a discrepancy between a child's school performance and some index of his or her actual ability e.g. a failure in terms of results and / or quality of work by the middle years may be an indicator. Underachievers can be difficult to identify and so staff are encouraged to note any evidence of ability and to share their ideas with other staff in order that collectively they can explore the pupil's ability.
Special Needs
Some children may be identified as needing extra help during their time at St Mary’s. Once the difficulty is identified and understood, the school implements the Special Educational Needs Policy and after consultation with parents, the child’s name is entered on to the Special Needs Register. This enables staff and resources to be anticipated and planned for and, depending on the level of difficulty, extra funding may be sought in order to meet the needs of the child.
We are fortunate at St Mary’s that we have the services of a Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) for 1 day a week. The SENCO is supported by an assistant who shares her time between administration and working in the classroom. This is unusual in West Berkshire, and reflects the commitment that the Headteacher and staff have to meeting the needs of individual pupils with learning difficulties and/or behavioural problems. It is aimed that both of these posts will continue on a long-term basis
Parents are always encouraged to be involved in the education of such pupils – indeed the school needs the constant support of the parents in order to achieve the goals set out in the child’s Individual Education Plan (IEP).
Usually in the first stage of the register "School Action" the teacher, in conjunction with the SENCO, prepares an IEP for each child, with very specific achievable targets identified, which is reviewed regularly with parents. The achievement of such targets is gained by various methods, ranging from daily input of the teacher to being part of a small group with the SENCO or a Teaching Assistant weekly or more often. The child remains on the SEN Register for as long as is necessary. It is hoped that most children, with additional support for a time, will overcome the difficulty and be able to continue their school career fully integrated in the class.
Where difficulties persist, or are not being met by the school resources, we may draft in outside agencies for assessment of a problem and/or teaching of a specific nature. This may include the Educational Psychologist, Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Special Needs Support Teachers and the Language and Literacy Centre in Theale. For behavioural problems we have the support of the Behaviour Support Team and the Pupil Referral Unit.
A child needing such a degree of assistance would usually be on the register at "School Action Plus" of the Code of Practice, which may involve many professionals and a multi-disciplinary assessment (MPA) of the needs of the child.
There is a "Parent Partnership Service" which gives independent advice, support and information for parents of children with Special Educational Needs. Their helpline number is 01635 519779, their fax number 01635 519048 and their e-mail address is eenglish@westberks.gov.uk. We also have booklets issued by the DfES entitled "Special Educational Needs – A Guide for Parents". Copies are available from the SENCO.
The school follows the 2002 Code of Practice. Further details of our Special Needs Policy and other information can be obtained from the Headteacher or SENCO.
Uniform
Uniform can now be ordered online using the following link:
http://www.michaelhope.co.uk/MSM-906.html
Alternatively you can download an order form from this page, or collect one from outside the school office.
The following extract is taken from the school prospectus:
We do expect all children to wear the recognised school uniform of navy blue sweatshirts, white or navy shirts/polo shirts and grey trousers for the boys and white or navy blouses/polo shirts and grey skirts for the girls. Some girls prefer to wear trousers during the winter – these should be tailored grey trousers, bootleg trousers are not permissible. Sturdy school shoes should be worn. Trainers are not suitable. In the summer blue dresses for the girls are recommended and cardigans may be worn over these.
Pupils are expected to wear the school’s PE uniform consisting of navy blue T-shirt with school logo and navy blue shorts. In winter a tracksuit or warmer clothes may be necessary for games and a strong pair of trainers or football boots for the field. In the swimming pool children will require costumes, caps and a towel. Children go barefoot in the hall, consequently it is essential that if they have a foot infection it is well covered.
Sweatshirts, polo shirts, PE T-shirts and fleeces with the school logo printed on and navy blue PE shorts can all be purchased from our supplier via the school office. Orders forms are available from the school office. Fleeces are for outdoor wear only.
For health and safety reasons children are not allowed to wear any item of jewellery at school. Those with pierced ears should wear plain studs only; we would advise that they do not wear these on days they have PE or games. Pupils with long hair should have it tied back.
Please clearly label all items of school clothing. We recommend that PE kit should be kept in a draw pull bag or kit bag and that this is brought to school at the beginning of each week.
Classes
Copies of the termly class newsletters are available to download from the relevant class page.
If you have any queries please contact your child's class teacher or the school office.
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Click here for Mrs Stone, Mrs Cottingham and Year 6 |
PTA
Welcome to St Mary's PTA, an active team that works hard to raise funds for the school via fun activities for the children and the parents. We raised a fantastic amount of money for the new computer suite that opened in July 2006, contribute to the running of the swimming pool (for details of the Swimming Club click on the link to the left) and also give money to the school this year for the teachers to spend on their classrooms. We have tremendous support from the parents, pupils and teachers and always have a fantastic turn out from the community for the summer fair.
This academic year will see the PTA put on termly school discos for the children. These are popular, well-attended events where the children have great fun dancing. We recently held a family puzzle night that was very enjoyable and raised over £100. The children are always enthusiastic in their support of the school and we suspect that the Copper Weigh In due to take place in March will bring out their competitive streak! The class that collects the heaviest amount of copper coins over a 3 week period wins a "privilege day" it usually involves not wearing school uniform, an extra play on the adventure playground or a swim and eating something sweet (donuts are very popular!). Last year this raised £325.
PTA Meetings are open to all, and we try to ensure that they last for no longer than an hour. Major events such as the summer fair and ball are discussed separately. We would love to have new faces come along and bring their ideas!!
PTA-run events
- School Disco, one per term
- A fantastic Christmas Raffle
- Delicious refreshments for the Christmas & Summer productions
- Family events such as the Puzzle Evening and the Family Fun Day.
- Copper Weigh-in - Start collecting your pennies now!
- Summer Fair including a poster competition
- The Leavers' Barbeque
Fundraising
We are always looking for donations. If you work for a company who regularly gives to charities or fund matches please can you let us know. The school could suggest specific areas where funds are needed if necessary to tailor the donation.
If you wish to speak to someone on the PTA, please do so via the school office, or directly to Ali Richardson (Chair) 933 3256 or Kath Collington (Vice Chair) 933 1959
The latest PTA Newsletter can be found via the PTA Update link on the left of this page.
Clubs
At Mortimer St Mary's we run a range of clubs, both after school and at lunchtime. These change on a termly basis. After school clubs run from 3.30 to 4.30 pm and pupils must be collected from school at 4.30 pm. If your child is interested in joining one of our clubs then he/she should talk to the adult responsible for running that club.
As you will appreciate, it is sometimes necessary to cancel a club if a member of staff has to attend a training course or meeting. Each week a poster is put up outside the school office showing which clubs are running that week. Children are also told in advance if a club cannot be held.
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