Rothwell Victoria Infant School Profile 2005

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Rothwell Victoria Infant School Profile 2005
Maypole Dancing at the Summer Fayre
A Christmas Carol Workshop
The School garden
Using the Interactive whiteboard in Reception
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Rothwell Victoria Infants Age range3 - 7
Number of pupils 304 Head-teacher Mrs.
Christine Chittock Chair of Governors
Canon George Burgon
Contact us Telephone number 01536 710363 Fax
01536 418495 School addressSchool Lane,
Rothwell, Kettering, Northamptonshire NN14
6HZ Email head_at_rothwell-inf.northants-ecl.gov.uk
Website
www.rothwellvicinf.ik.org
School Profile 2005

• How do we teach our pupils? We provide a rich
  learning environment with a broad and balanced
  and suitably challenging curriculum that supports
  our work to educate the whole child. We offer
  the children the opportunity to experience a
  variety of teaching and learning styles according
  to their needs which we continually review.
  Through careful planning the children experience
  continuity and progression in their learning of
  skills and concepts.  Staff plan and teach
  together within year groups maintaining links
  throughout the school.  The school environment is
  organised to ensure that the children have ready
  access to a variety of high quality resources
  including interactive whiteboards which are
  well used throughout the infant school. From the
  start in the Nursery the children are taught to
  access and use resources independently and this
  approach is continued throughout the infant
  school. Our teaching and learning aims are that
  every child should have the
• Ability to enjoy learning for it's own sake
• Ability and willingness to work co-operatively
  and with self-discipline
• Motivation to persevere at a task
• Sensitivity and respect for others' needs and
  beliefs
• Ability to communicate effectively to a variety
  of audiences
• Opportunity to make informed choices.
• In February 2005 OfSTED said The quality of
  teaching and learning is strong. Staff manage
  pupils very well, give them high levels of
  encouragement and expect a great deal from them.
  Teaching Assistants provide good support,
  especially for pupils with special educational
  needs. Pupils achievements are good in both
  the Foundation Stage and Years 1 and 2.

• What is special about our school?
• Our school has a purpose built Nursery for 78
  children and 9 classes in the Infant school with
  3 classes per year group.
• We believe
• Rothwell Victoria Infant School provides a happy,
  attractive, secure and caring environment.
• It is important that children staff (teaching
  and non-teaching), parents, governors and
  associated agencies work supportively together.
• In valuing the contribution each individual makes
  to the school.
• Parents, professional colleagues and other
  members of the local community are always welcome
  to share in the life of the school.
• At Rothwell Victoria Infants we have high
  expectations of ourselves and of our pupils. We
  aspire for all our children to become confident,
  secure, self motivated, caring and independent
  members of the school and the local community. We
  aim to work in partnership with parents/ main
  carers to encourage our pupils to develop a
  healthy life style, to discover new interests and
  to develop a keenness and joy for learning. Our
  aim is that every child in the school should
  achieve personal success.
• In the 2005 Office for Standards in Education
  (OfSTED) report the Inspectors said Pupils work
  very hard and show a great deal of interest in
  lessons because they are given every
  encouragement by staff. The school expects pupils
  to behave very well and makes this very clear to
  pupils as a result, they are very sensible and
  behaviour in the school is very good.
  Relationships between pupils are very strong and
  pupils trust the adults with whom they work
  implicitly.

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What do pupils learn about? The school has
policies and schemes of work for all main
curriculum areas and these are reviewed
frequently to concur with the best of both
National and Local Authority thinking. The
school follows a thematic approach to work and is
beginning to include Linked Learning modules.
Educational visits are considered to be a
valuable part of each childs education and every
child will participate in at least one
educational visit within a year. Special visitors
are invited into school to offer their expertise
and to act as a stimulus for the children. OfSTED
2005 said The quality of education is good. The
quality of teaching and learning is strong. Other
aspects such as the good curriculum with its good
links between subjects, the good quality of care
and strong links with parents, strongly
contribute to the pupils opportunities and
progress. The outdoor curriculum is an
important part of school life and the children
enjoy investigating nature and taking care of
plants and providing the right environment for
wild life. Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) is incorporated into every facet
of school life but the children are also taught
how to find out, communicate, record and organise
without modern technology. There is a strong
emphasis placed on conservation and caring for
the environment. In the OfSTED report of 2005
the Inspectors said Pupils achieve well in
English. Standards in speaking and listening are
typical for the pupils ages. Pupils are
confident in answering questions and give clear
answers. Standards in reading are above
average. Pupils of all abilities, including
special educational needs are very positive about
reading and develop skills well. Standards in
writing are above average. Pupils of all
abilities use secure basic sentence structure
with accurate punctuation. In mathematics,
pupils including those with special educational
needs, achieve well. More able pupils manage
computation confidently and describe their
methods in ways that are above that expected for
their age. Their knowledge and understanding of
the properties of shapes is also good.
Attendance for 2003, 2004 and 2005.
How do we care for our pupils? Since September
2005 the school has been part of the
governments free fruit and vegetable scheme and
every child has at least one fruit or vegetable
every day. Following a questionnaire sent to
parents the Nursery and Reception also offer a
variety of snacks and drinks every day for a
voluntary contribution of 1 per week. Every
child in the school has access to a drink of
water throughout the day. Sun Awareness is taught
in assemblies and in classrooms, caps are sold by
the school and the childrens time outside is
monitored and adjusted when the sun index is
high. Clubs include French once a week for
infant children, Tag Rugby and Football once a
week for Year 2 children and Gymnastics once a
week for Year 1 children. OfSTED 2005 said The
school provides pupils with a good programme for
personal development and they respond well. The
school gives good guidance on how pupils should
respect one another and their social development
is very good. Pupils enjoy using their
initiative and relish being given
responsibilities for various jobs around the
school. Assemblies make a major contribution to
pupils moral and spiritual development.

How do we work with parents and the
community? Newsletters are sent on a regular
basis to parents and are available on the
schools website. We have an active and friendly
Parent Friends Association who help to organise
social events and fund raising. Each term there
are a variety of events including discos for the
children and each year there are successful Xmas
and summer fayres. The Nursery has Open Days
every term to which parents and grandparents are
welcome to participate in activities with their
children. Once a week parents can come into the
Infant school and choose a book with their child.
We actively encourage volunteer helpers
throughout the school, many of whom are parents
and others are members of the local community.
The school takes part in fund raising for local
and national charities and school displays are
put up in the Heritage Centre and the Church. The
school enters a decorated tree in the Christmas
Tree Festival at Holy Trinity Church and this
year won Favourite tree. Our Year 2 children
attend events at Rothwell Junior School and in
turn Year 3 children attend some of our events
such as the Christmas Concert.
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• Ofsteds view of our school
• OfSTEDs overall evaluation of the school in
  February 2005 was thus This is a good school
  where pupils achieve well and standards are above
  average. The schools good care and support for
  pupils personal development mean that they leave
  for the juniors as mature, well adjusted pupils.
  The quality of teaching and learning is good, and
  as a result, pupils are very keen and eager
  learners. However there is too little teaching
  which is very good. The school is well led by the
  head teacher overall leadership and management
  are satisfactory. The school offers good value
  for money.
• The Inspection grades were as follows
• The Overall Effectiveness of the School 3
• How inclusive the school is 3
• How the schools effectiveness has changed since
  the last inspection 3
• Value for money provided by the school 3
• Overall standards achieved 3
• Pupils achievement 3
• Pupils attitudes, values, and other personal
  qualities 3
• Attendance 4
• Attitude 2
• Behaviour, including the extent of exclusions 2
• Pupils, spiritual moral, social and cultural
  development 3
• The quality of education provided by the school 3
• The quality of teaching 3
• How well pupils learn 3
• The quality of assessment 4
• How well the curriculum meets the pupils needs 3

What we have done in response since the OfSTED
Inspection In the summer term 2005 the school
prepared a Post Ofsted Action Plan which was
agreed by the governing body. This addressed the
following areas identified by OfSTED The most
important things the school should do to improve
are Improve the quality of teaching further to
ensure that there is a greater proportion of very
good teaching alongside improving planning and
assessment, especially to meet the needs of more
able pupils. Improve further the work of
co-ordinators and strengthen co-ordination of the
Foundation Stage. Improve strategic planning
further and develop senior staffs and governors
roles in this process. In response to this staff
and governors have attended sessions on improving
the quality of planning, teaching and assessment,
initially concentrating on Science. Joint
training days were shared with the Junior school
on assessment and Linked Learning Modules.
The school has reviewed assessment procedures and
tracks the pupils performance in all areas,
particularly concentrating on the core subjects
of English, Maths and Science where their
progress is tracked on grids. These are then
examined and action is taken to support
particular children including those who are
gifted and talented. In the spring term 2006 the
school is providing Booster sessions for Year 2
to improve standards in writing and
Maths. Co-ordinators have all prepared Action
plans for areas of responsibility setting out
priorities for the next 3 years and these have
been discussed and agreed by staff and governors.
In the spring term and thereafter Co-ordinators
will monitor and evaluate their subjects,
starting with Science. The Senior Leadership
Team (SLT) have become more involved in the
strategic leadership and management of the
school. In particular one of the team has
attended leadership and financial sessions and
has been involved with financial decisions with
the head teacher. The SLT were actively involved
in preparing the Post OfSTED Action Plan.
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• More Information
• Behaviour
• Our philosophy is one of positive reinforcement
  of good or better behaviour.
• At Rothwell Victoria Infants the children are
  taught and are expected to
• Be polite, kind, caring, respectful and
  considerate to children and adults.
• Play and work appropriately together, sharing,
  taking turns and co-operating where necessary.
• Discuss and accept the need for class and school
  rules.
• Think for themselves and show development in
  their ability to resolve simple problems and
  conflicts appropriately.
• Walk around the school buildings in a quiet calm
  way all the time.
• Take care of equipment and all resources.
• Bullying
• We encourage the children to tell their teacher
  if they feel they are being bullied.
• It is unacceptable for a child to be hurt
  verbally or physically.
• The Head teacher keeps a record of any bullying
  incidents in a book in her Office.
• We inform parents of any known incidents of
  bullying.
• In the OfSTED report of February 2005 the
  Inspectors stated Teachers constantly stress
  the importance of good manners, and behaving
  sensibly quickly becomes a natural way of life
  for pupils. During lessons teachers consistently
  have high expectations of behaviour so that
  pupils know exactly what they should and should
  not do. Pupils from all ethnic groups get on very
  well and there are no racial incidents.
• Sun Awareness
• The children are encouraged to bring sun hats
  (available for purchase from the school office)
  and sun cream in extremely hot weather. Sun cream
  is applied by the children under the supervision
  of teachers, teaching assistants or dinner
  supervisors.
• The children are taught about sun awareness in
  their classes and assemblies.

What are our plans for the future? Security To
discuss and agree the best security measures for
the school. Nursery To reopen the Nursery
following the building work which has been
necessary since the fire in the Nursery play area
on September 12th 2005. Childrens Centre As
part of Northamptonshires phase 2 development it
is proposed that the school should become a
Childrens Centre. Northamptonshire has embarked
on a period of consultation to discuss the
proposed Childrens Centres across the county.
This is part of a government initiative to
improve services for children under five years
and their families. To establish a Schools
Council. To appoint a Foundation Stage
Co-ordinator. To refurbish the Reception
classrooms with blinds and storage and
redecorate. To refurbish the room off the hall
as a Family room with a kitchen. To refurbish the
room off the Year 1 classes as a working area and
storage for staff . To continue with the action
points on the Post OfSTED Action Plan.
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