St. Edward’s Church Primary
St. Edward’s is a Church of England Voluntary Controlled primary school of average size. The school serves a large urban estate and is part of the Eggbuckland Academic Council. The school was founded in 1846 and moved to its present site in 1971. It is a single storey site comprising of an infant and junior block which are separated by a hall. There is a large playing field, two playgrounds and a quiet area for our pupils. The school is currently working on a major building project, a new library and staffroom, which will provide much needed space.
In May 2003 the school was inspected by OFSTED and was deemed to be in serious weaknesses. The school was re-inspected in November 2003 by H.M.I. and was found to be 1 out of 10 schools re-inspected to be making good progress. By June 2005 the school had another OFSTED inspection and was deemed to be a ‘good’ school which had made ‘very good’ progress since the last inspection. OFSTED inspectors also inspected the Christian element of our school which they regarded as ‘outstanding’. Our OFSTED report can be read at www.ofsted.gov.uk.
There are currently 215 pupils on roll and seven classes. There is a PAN of 34 in KS2 and 30 in KS1. We offer Foundation children a one point of entry which is in September however parents can request their child starts school in January. Currently classes in Y1 and Y6 are full. Our Foundation children come from a range of Nursery provision from the local area and across the city. In Year 6 the majority of our children transfer to Eggbuckland Community College. In 2006 two pupils took and passed the 11+. The socio-economic backgrounds of pupils are broadly average and fewer than 2% come from minority ethnic backgrounds. 5 % are entitled to free school meals and there are currently 18 % of children on the Special Needs register. There is 0.06% absence from school.
The school has 9 teachers and 7 teaching assistants. There is a full time classroom assistant in Foundation. All classes have teacher assistant support for Literacy and Numeracy. We also employ a teaching assistant to support our Special Needs children. Some of our more experienced teaching assistants teach areas of the curriculum. We currently employ two teaching assistants with the Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA) status. We employ a specialist music teacher and modern foreign language teacher. All children from YF to Y6 are taught a foreign language. Children in Y3,4, and 5 are taught an instrument. All children are taught football skills by our specialist football coach and the children in Y5 & Y6 are taught by a specialist teacher for tag rugby and cricket.
As well as being a pilot school for remodelling the workforce we have also been one of the firs schools to deliver the S.A.S. to graduates who wish to embark on a teaching profession. These projects have had a major influence on raising the profile of our school.
The school has an embedded Performancet Management cycle and professional development is strong. We actively encourage international professional development (T.I.P.D.) and have developed a partnership with Jefferson Elementary in Pennsylvania USA. We are also twinned with two South African schools , a school in New Zealand and Wembury Primary school in Plymouth. Five members of our staff have experienced T.I.P.D.
The children’s attainment on entry to school is average but varies from cohort to cohort. Children make good progress in Foundation and in some areas standards are above expectations. The standards in mathematics achieved by pupils at the end of KS1 indicate a rising trend. In KS2 the performance in Maths, English and Science is above the national average for Level 4. The Value Added in 2005 was graded A in the PANDA. In 2006 KS2 the LEA targets were exceeded by the school.
The 2005 OFSTED inspection found 100% of the teaching at St Edward’s to be satisfactory or better, with 86% of lessons good or very good. We have placed a great emphasis on team planning and supporting colleagues in order to share good practice and deliver good quality lessons which are clearly focused and purposeful.
Our school is a community school. The involvement by the church is seen as a real strength of our school. We recently have been able to open a ‘community room’ which allows us to offer drop in facilities by our school nurse, an after school care facility, internet access for parents and adult learning facilites. We are an extended school offering care from 8a.m., at our breakfast club, to 6.00p.m. After school activities are provided by all teaching staff. A variety of after school clubs are offered on a termly basis. External providers make a small charge for Tag Rugby, Football, Guitar, Keyboard and Taekwondo lessons. We are a Healthy Status School and are currently working towards the Basic Skills and Inclusion Kitemarks as well as the award for our Travel Plan. On a yearly basis we are awarded the Foundation Quality Assurance Kitemark for the excellent provision in our foundation year. |