"Recognising its historic foundation, the school will preserve and develop its religious character in accordance with the principles of the Church of England and in partnership with the Church at parish and diocesan level".

The school aims to serve its community by providing an education of the highest quality within the context of the Christian belief and practice. It encourages an understanding of the meaning and significance of faith, and promotes Christian values through the experience it offers to all its pupils, as a basis for their life-long learning.

ADMISSION POLICY

If you are considering sending your child to our school you should contact the Headteacher who will be pleased to explain the admission arrangements and show you around the school.

In accordance with County Policy, children are normally admitted at the beginning of the school year (September) in which they are going to be 5 years old.

If the school is oversubscribed the following criteria will apply in this order:

1. Sibling(s) currently at Bisley Blue Coat C of E School

2. Geographical proximity to school

3. Place on waiting list

Attendance

Attendance for the 2002/2003 school year was as follows:

Sessions available 26112

Authorised absences 1058 4.0%

Unauthorised absences 240 0.92%

SCHOOL POLICY STATEMENTS

The school has a variety of policy statements relating to the curriculum and other areas of school life. If you wish to see any of these policies they are available in the school office.

CURRICULUM

We provide a broad and balanced curriculum through which the children develop all aspects of their growth (academic, moral, spiritual, aesthetic and physical) in preparation for secondary education and the experiences, opportunities and responsibilities of adult life. This is achieved through the National Curriculum, Religious Education and the wider curriculum and ethos of the school.

We place great value in learning through experience and practical activities. Visits to places of educational interest (Museums, castles etc) are made to bring classroom work alive and links between curriculum areas are made wherever possible. All work is carefully planned and structured and your child's progress is continually monitored and recorded.

The revised National Curriculum 2000 consists of 10 subjects plus RE which all children must study in school: English, Maths and Science (Core subjects), Design/Technology, Information and Communications Technology, History, Geography, Art and Design, Music and Physical Education (Foundation Subjects) and Religious Education.

The core subjects cover the knowledge and skills required throughout all curriculum subjects and in all aspects of adult life.

The National Curriculum is made up of 4 key stages:

Foundation: 4 - 5 Years
Key Stage 1: 5 - 7 Years
Key Stage 2: 7 - 11 Years
Key Stage 3: 11 - 14 Years
Key Stage 4: 14 - 16 Years

At the end of each Key Stage all children undergo standard assessments.

CURRICULUM SUBJECTS

We aim to encourage and extend the ability of each child through a variety of teaching methods. Children may work in groups or as individuals, or they may be taught as a whole class.

Core Subjects

English
Listening and Speaking- we expect children to listen carefully and to carry out instructions given to them. They are encouraged to express their feelings, thoughts and knowledge in small groups and to a larger audience. They are also taught to speak clearly in different styles of speech (reporting, interviewing, giving instructions, acting, persuading, etc.)

Reading - Within our school we recognise the importance of reading as a vital key in the development of the child. We approach reading with a structured and sensitive attitude, employing a variety of strategies.

We expect that when children start school they are able to sit quietly and enjoy looking at books and listening to stories. They may already make visits to the library, have favourite stories, and be able to 'read' pictures, tell a known story and recognise their own name. From these important beginnings we teach children to read through a wide variety of attractive story, poetry and drama books, aiming for fluency at the earliest possible age. Every area of the curriculum requires reading with understanding, so we place great emphasis on teaching children how to use reference books as well as encouraging them to enjoy fiction.

We believe it is important for children to have a thorough working knowledge of the alphabet and letter sounds, so that they can build up new words with confidence.

We ask parents to join with us in helping their child to read by providing daily practice throughout the primary years.

Writing - We introduce children to joined script as early as possible. This method encourages fluency and also helps children to recognise patterns in spelling.

From short sentences to longer pieces of work we encourage children to write expressively and appropriately by paying increasing attention to grammar, vocabulary, punctuation and spelling. By their junior years we expect them to write creative and descriptive stories and poetry, and be able to write for different audiences and reasons in a variety of styles. All of these activities are covered using the National Literacy Strategy Framework.

Mathematics
Mathematics is important in life for analysing, thinking and communicating information and ideas. We aim to promote and develop the competent and confident use of mathematical skills, knowledge and processes. The children are encouraged to enjoy maths and to use and understand it in 'real' situations where it is meaningful and relevant to their lives, now and in the future, in and out of school.

The curriculum includes number, measures, algebra, shape and space, and handling data. Due emphasis is given to numeracy, and the children are expected to develop good mental strategies based on sound knowledge of number facts including 'tables'.

It is vital that children not only understand what they are doing, but can communicate clearly and logically in appropriate forms, e.g. verbally, in writing, symbols, diagrams and graphs. Relevant use is made of technology for learning, recording and applying mathematics. The children are taught to develop skills and strategies in a wide range of mathematical processes and methods, e.g. estimating, problem solving, trial and improvement, identifying relationships and patterns.

This is covered through the National Numeracy Strategy.

Parents have an important part to play in helping their children develop confidence and enjoyment in mathematics.

Science
In science we encourage children to develop enquiring minds and skills in observation. We expect them to think logically, ask questions, and at times work at their own experiments to answer them or test out their thoughts.

The local environment provides a valuable resource for the study of plant and animal life, where children are encouraged to investigate and record their findings in suitable ways. The school has resources to support the study of other areas of science including materials, light, electricity, sound and friction.

We use the Bath Science Scheme to support the teaching of science.

The school has a specialist science teacher Mrs W Butler who teaches for an afternoon each week with the Year 6 children.

Foundation Subjects

Design/Technology
The children in Design/Technology use a wide variety of tools and materials. They learn to design, plan, make and constructively evaluate their work. They are also taught the awareness of health and safety aspects.

History
The children are taught awareness of, and facts about the past. The infants study the immediate past within and beyond living memory, while juniors are taught about Ancient Greece, British History from Roman Times, and a past non-European civilisation.

All children are made aware of different interpretations of events, and their causes and consequences. They record their findings in a variety of written and illustrative and graphic ways.

Geography
The children are taught geographical skills and how to use these in developing their understanding of places; locally, nationally and throughout the world. They learn to use first hand experience and how to research and investigate such themes as rivers, weather, settlement and environmental change.

ICT
ICT is seen as a vital life skill and children are introduced to computers from the time they first enter the school. The school has 12 educational computers and these are used for learning across the curriculum, for communication, handling information, control, and for preparing and presenting work in both text and graphics. We also have Internet connections in all areas of the school as well as faxing and scanning facilities. The children have supervised access to the internet to research projects.

Music
The children are introduced to music through a range of enjoyable experiences. They have opportunities to listen, sing and create music using tuned and un-tuned percussion. During the year the children are given the opportunity to perform in front of a wider audience.

Art
Children are encouraged to express themselves creatively using a variety of tools and media. They are helped to become aware of shape, pattern, colour and design in both two-dimensional and three-dimensional work. The local environment is used to enrich the curriculum including visits to the Church and other local areas of interest. Each year the school participates in 'Celebrating Education', an exhibition organised by the Stroud Pyramid in St. Lawrence's Church.

Physical Education
Children are encouraged to grow in confidence through a variety of physical activities and to develop individual and team skills.
The school has access to the Village Recreation Ground for games and athletics in the Summer Term. Children have the opportunity to develop their gymnastic skills during Autumn Term at a nearby school hall, and through creative movement and dance they develop co-ordination and control. Y1-Y4 go swimming once a week during Spring Term.

PSHE
We have a comprehensive programme for teaching Personal & Social education which incorporates circle time for developing children's understanding of the world in which they live.

CLASS ORGANISATION

At present we have three mixed age classes. There is one infant class, made up of Reception and Year 1 children, a middle class comprising Years 2, 3 & 4 children, and a class of Year 5 and 6 children. Obviously, the organisation may change depending on the overall distribution of the children regarding age.

There are 79 children currently on the school roll:

Class 1 Mrs Dorothy Neale / Mrs Sandra Mason Reception and Year 1 children
Mrs Mayo (LSW)
Class 2 Miss Sam Porter Years 2, 3 and 4 children
Mrs Kath Quarton
Mrs Batten (LSW)
Class 3 Mrs Lucie Mitchell / Mrs Carole Smith Years 5 and 6 children
Mrs Wendy Butler
Mrs Espley (LSW)
Mrs Eileen Smith (LSW) Pupil support in Class 2 and 3

A classroom assistant supports each class each morning.
Within each class the teacher is responsible for the whole curriculum, although there is flexibility for the class teachers to use their own expertise and specialisation within other classes where appropriate.

We all take joint responsibility for the pastoral care of our children; being concerned about the well being of the children at all times. Please contact the school at any time if anything occurs which you are unhappy or concerned about. If you wish to see a teacher or The Headteacher, please make an appointment. This enables the staff to give full attention to any concern.

HEALTH AND SOCIAL EDUCATION

The Governors' policy is that sex education is part of a continuous theme in health education throughout the school. Questions that arise naturally will be answered clearly and truthfully bearing in mind the age of the particular child.

For the older children, the School Nurse talks with the children about sex education. As part of our planned Health Education Programme emphasis is placed on caring relationships and the acknowledgement of other people as individuals. Parents may be present and can also opt not to involve their children if they so wish.

We also provide education with regard to physical and emotional changes that the children are experiencing, or will experience soon, along with other health related issues such as alcohol and drug abuse, smoking etc.

Parents will always be informed in advance of any Health and Social education classes and have the right to withdraw their child from these classes.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

At Bisley Blue Coat C of E School the children are taught the Christian faith as well as exploring some other world faiths. Ideas are often related to the experiences in every day life and may be centred on caring, thoughtfulness for others and honesty. We follow the Gloucestershire County Agreed Syllabus.

Daily acts of worship are an important part of school life and provide a good forum to reinforce the children's Religious Education. We have a Sharing Assembly every Tuesday which parents are invited to attend. At this assembly we reinforce our beliefs and recognise children's achievements both educationally and morally.

We make use of the Village Church for special worship at such times as Harvest Festival, Easter, Christmas and the traditional 'Dressing of the Wells' in May.

Parents have the right to withdraw their children from collective worship or Religious Education lessons. Parents considering this should discuss appropriate arrangements with the Headteacher.

LUNCH TIMES

Cooked lunches are provided by Sodexho Ltd, who provide a daily selection of healthy and varied food. A four-week menu is issued to give an idea of the choices available. Payment for school dinners is made at school, but any cheques are made directly to the Catering Company.

Children who do not choose to have a cooked lunch bring a packed lunch from home. All of the children eat together in the School Hall, supervised by the mid-day staff who encourage good table manners.

Break Times

Mid-morning the children have a supervised break and may eat a snack. All children bring a healthy snack, such as fresh fruit or vegetables. Sweets, crisps and chocolate are not permitted.

Milk is delivered daily. The school uses the Cool Milk Scheme. Parents complete an application form and submit it directly to Cool Milk. Cool Milk liaise with a local diary to supply the milk to schools. Parents are invoiced directly by Cool Milk. Cool Milk provide free milk to the Under 5's.

SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS

We are aware that children have differing abilities and potential and we endeavour to ensure that each child's needs are met. For some, this may mean providing some form of extra remedial help, and for others it may mean providing challenges to stretch their problem solving and other talents. We encourage parents to discuss any anxieties about their child's learning with either the Class or Headteacher.

The school, working with the LEA as necessary, follows guidance for identifying and meeting Special Educational Needs (SEN). The Governing Body has nominated a SEN Co-ordinator from the teaching staff and a Governor to be responsible for ensuring the implementation of the Code of Practice.

SCHOOL UNIFORM

We hope that all children come to school ready for all the various activities of the day. To help parents we have a school uniform of yellow polo shirt and a blue sweatshirt or cardigan, all with the school logo. Navy trousers or joggers can be worn and girls may wear a navy skirt or pinafore.

Summer dresses are often worn in the Summer Term. For PE we have light blue polo shirts and navy shorts. All of these items can be ordered through school and you can obtain an order form from the school office. The deadline for orders is the end of the second week of each half term.

ILLNESS AND ABSENCE

If your child is ill and cannot attend school then please let the school know as soon as possible. This can be done by telephoning the school. On the day your child returns to school you are required to send a note to the teacher explaining the absence.

Should your child become unwell during the school day, it is vital that we have details of where you can be contacted. You will be asked for this information when you first register your child and forms for updating will be sent each September. Should your contact details change during the year then please let us know.

It is our policy that staff do not administer medicine to the children. Should it become necessary for your child to take medication during the day you are requested to attend school to administer it. Please discuss any difficulties, e.g. asthma etc with the Headteacher.

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