Miers Court Primary School | Prospectus

Miers Court Primary School | Prospectus

Miers Court Primary School Prospectus

BRIGHT, SHINING AIMING HIGH

01

Welcome to Miers Court Primary School

Dear Parents/Carers,

I hope that you will find this prospectus useful and informative. Should you require any further information or clarification regarding our school, please do not hesitate to contact us. All the contact details for the school can be found at the end of this prospectus. We look forward to welcoming you and your children to our community, and sincerely hope that it will be a rewarding experience for all concerned.

Welcome to Miers Court Primary School – A Well-Respected Part of the Wider Community. Our school team would like to extend a warm and friendly welcome to all of our new families. We offer a well-resourced and well-supported school for your child, filled with dedicated staff and exciting opportunities. We pride ourselves on offering our children many opportunities in many varied events and occasions. Our children welcome these opportunities and represent our school with pride. At Miers Court Primary School, we aim to provide a caring and stimulating learning environment for your child, where they can learn with enjoyment and confidence. We want our children to develop to become life-long learners, excited by, and equipped for, the challenges of tomorrow. Through partnership with parents, school staff and the broader community, we are confident that we can help your child to achieve all that they aspire to. We hope that you will work with us in achieving these aims.

Mrs S Chapman, Head of School

02

View our Virtual Open Event video

Please note: the information on these pages is for normal times. Whilst we remain in the coronavirus pandemic, we are following all guidance. This includes no non-essential school visits. Our Ethos and Values At Miers Court Primary School, we believe in promoting a lifelong love of learning for everyone. We believe that creating inspirational experiences will foster independence and build self-belief allowing learners to constantly grow. This will provide our children with the foundations to make a valuable contribution to their community and prepare them for their future in the wider world. Our vision is a commitment to create an inclusive, safe and stimulating environment where we work and learn together. We help one another to overcome challenges with confidence and resilience, having respect for ourselves and each other. We celebrate hard work and effort and our successes are shared because we know that together we can achieve more. We have a comprehensive personal, social, health and citizenship education in place. This is to promote the personal development of children and the establishment of positive attitudes during the primary years. We aim for this to run throughout our curriculum and to be evident in all aspects of school life. We are regularly monitored and updated by the authority and are audited by The Howard Academy Trust to ensure best practice. All staff undergo annual safeguarding training to ensure that they are kept up-to-date with the latest guidance. If you would like to know more about our procedures or policy, please come and speak to us or view the policies on our website.

03

Take a Virtual Tour around our school

There is a shared commitment and determination by leaders at all levels, including staff and governors, to provide the best learning and experiences for pupils. “ ” Ofsted, 2015 Note: this is our most recent Ofsted result

04

Our

Curriculum

At Miers Court Primary School our curriculum is creative, imaginative and designed to take account of children’s differing needs and styles through enquiry based learning. It ensures opportunities for children to develop their academic, moral, spiritual, physical, healthy, creative, artistic and social skills. Children are helped to become confident, enthusiastic learners engaging in exciting, collaborative and independent activities. They develop a responsibility for making decisions that stimulate their curiosity to explore and enjoy acquiring new skills and knowledge. Children of all abilities are helped to achieve their best in all aspects of the curriculum. We are proud that our curriculum is constantly developing to ensure all children make good or better progress, drawing on the latest and best practice and ensuring that our staff have the expertise to deliver a curriculum tailored to our children’s needs. Important To Us? We follow a creative and cross-curricular approach to learning, ensuring that key vocabulary is explicitly taught and that we highlight the key skills and knowledge that we are teaching. But, threaded throughout our curriculum are aspects which are led by the pupils’ interests gathered via our pupil voice conferences, and our pupil leadership team which is made up of school councillors, house and vice captains, and others. Our focus weeks are of particular importance to the children, and our Global Learning Project is driven by what the children are interested in as well as developing those skills that we all need as global citizens. Amongst the themes that we have already followed have been raising awareness of fair trade, improving recycling and reducing plastic waste. What Is Our school councillors and house teams have led whole school assemblies, and are responsible for identifying themes for certificates, as well as collecting ideas for charities that we will support as a school. They have also led on the ‘Medway Cleaner Air Project’ which we took part in. This ‘global citizen’ awareness also informs the transition work that we complete each year, as we examine children’s rights, diversity and acceptance.

05

Outside

The Classroom

We are lucky to have amazing grounds, and we work hard tomake the most of these, fromdeveloping our trim trail with the help of our fantastic PTFA, to setting up a base camp which supports learning through outside activities as children take part in our ‘Wild About Miers Court’ sessions. We are committed to the Medway Mini Youth Games and have been proud to win many events, including the ‘Night of Champion’ events; we are equally proud to have been awarded Fair Play awards. Many of our staff run and organise a range of extra-curricular events throughout the year, and we are grateful to them for the time that they give up to do this. Our Gold Sports Mark is evidence of our commitment to both curriculum and extra-curricular sports. We work hard to include trips that add interest to our topics, but also to make the most of our local environment. We are proud of the contributions to our local food bank as part of our annual Harvest celebration, and are pleased to welcome visitors to our school. All of this enriches our pupils’ experiences. We were extremely proud to be awarded a Gold Arts Mark, and to celebrate our entries in the Turner Contemporary art competition for schools, having been both winners and runners up in various categories. But art isn’t the only area we are committed to; music and singing are equally important as demonstrated by our regular attendance at the Young Voices concert at the O2, as well as the Rochester Cathedral Carol Concert, alongside our participation in a variety of music festivals. 06

Care

and Support

Miers Court is an inclusive school and we aim to offer all children a curriculum that is accessible and enriching. We strive to identify children with additional needs early and then the teacher will work with the Learning Support Assistants and SEND team to develop support or intervention programmes. This support may be offered in class or in small withdrawal groups. These are recorded on a Provision Map and regularly reviewed and updated. Parents are kept informed and encouraged to contribute at each stage. Most children can be supported by our school staff; however some children may need additional support from specialist providers, for example speech therapy. A full copy of the school’s policy can be viewed from the office. The policy has been drawn up in accordance with the new SEND Code of Practice. It is designed to cater for any children who encounter difficulty with mainstream education. Gifted and Talented children are identified by their class teacher through assessment procedures and will have their curriculum adapted where appropriate. The health, safety and well-being of every child are our paramount concern. Pupil voice is very important to us; we listen to our children and take seriously what they tell us. Our aim is that children will enjoy their time as children at this school and therefore make the best progress possible. We work in partnership with you to ensure your child achieves their full potential and makes a positive contribution to our school. The safeguarding procedures that we follow have been laid down by Medway Council and the school has adopted a Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy in line with this for the safety of all.

07

Hear what our children have to say about Miers Court

Our son attended Mierscourt for 7 years, being diagnosed with ASD in his 2nd year. The school was immediately, and continued to be, supportive and empathetic to his and our needs. We are grateful for all the work the school did for him over the years. “ ” Parent, 2020 08

School

Uniform

We believe that a school uniform gives children a feeling of belonging, encouraging co-operation, common goals and team spirit. Most items are available from any local department store. However, the sweatshirts and T-shirts which have the school logo are available online from School Trends. The uniform is as follows:

• Red sweatshirt/fleece/cardigan (red and white checked summer dresses) • White shirt or polo shirt • Grey trousers/skirt • Dress/shorts in summer months • Sensible school shoes (not trainers)

C

Y

Y

PE and Games Kit:

• White T-shirt • Plain shorts • Training shoes • Spare socks • Spare hair bands for children with long hair, who should ensure it is tied back • In colder weather for outdoor PE, a tracksuit or sweatshirt and joggers should be worn.

09

Starting

School In EYFS we have worked hard to create a welcoming, stimulating, exciting learning environment, both indoors and out, where children feel safe, happy and ready to learn. The adults in the setting observe, engage and model through interactions with the children, moving them on in their learning at every opportunity. Our curriculum and learning activities are developed by following the children’s interests. We strive to provide the children with learning experiences which inspire their curiosity, challenge their thinking, and fill them with awe and wonder. We are a two-form entry school and the children in both classes free flow across the year group throughout the day; enabling the children to make lots of friends and develop positive relationships with all of the staff who work in the setting.

Our transition arrangements are thorough, and include: • Welcoming children into school for stay and play sessions • Carrying out home visits • Inviting new parents in for a meeting All in the final term of the year before they are due to start school in September.

Young children learn best through play, so we set up engaging play-based activities for the children to explore during discovery time. We also move the children’s learning on through carpet sessions and group work. If your child struggles with their learning at any point, we will speak with you and discuss ways we can support them further, both in school and at home, to enable them to achieve the best possible outcomes. We use Tapestry, an online learning journal, to keep parents and carers updated on their child’s progress. This enables us to share learning moments with you via email or an app on your smart phone. You can also share experiences from home with us.

We believe that, through good quality interactions, challenging and engaging activities, a well-planned, interest led curriculum, and encouragement and teamwork, children at Miers Court leave EYFS as confident, independent learners ready for the next stage of their education.

10

Pupil

Voice Pupil voice is important to us; we want our pupils to tell us what is important to us, as well as shaping the activities that we do. Our school council have had a significant say in the charities we support, as well as the focus of our Global Learning Project. Our house teams have run a number of family competitions, which usually involve upcycling, and these projects have added to our school environment as can be seen from the ‘mirrors and frames’ around the school reflecting what Miers Court means to our families, as well as the outdoor bookcases that mean that children can enjoy a book during play and lunch times. Our house teams and mottos also reflect their influence. When we asked the children for their input as to our motto, they confirmed that ‘Shining Bright, Aiming High’ encapsulated what we are striving to achieve. Our house teams: Peake House, Smith House, Rowling House, and Kerr House, are all named after people who have demonstrated those qualities that are important to the children e.g. Peake House is named after Tim Peake whose ambition enabled him to achieve great things, Rowling House is named after J. K. Rowling, not for her writing, but for her perseverance.

11

Community

Links

Our most important community links are those that we develop between our school, our pupils and their parents. We consider ourselves to be fortunate that we have many parents who volunteer to help with many activities in school. Parents are involved in the work of the school community in various ways. Many parents assist in practical ways in the classroom, especially with swimming, and accompany the teacher on class visits. Valued help has been given by parents in many ways, and parents interested in undertaking voluntary activities are invited to discuss the matter with the Head of School. Parents are asked to read and sign our Home School Agreement when their child starts school. Miers Court is lucky to have a very active PTFA team or “CHOMPS” which meets regularly and organises fundraising and social events. The Christmas Bazaar and Summer Fayre have fantastic annual attendance, from children and parents both past and present, and are supported by popular discos and film nights for the children throughout the year. Every parent is automatically a member of the Association and has the chance to vote and be nominated for the committee at the AGM each year. If you wish to know your representatives, a current list is held in the school office. We also have close links within our local community. We are committed to supporting our local food bank through the collection we make during our Harvest celebrations, and are pleased to welcome the vicar from our local church who delivers assemblies for us. Our school council identify the charities that they would like the school to support, and there are so many occasions throughout the year when we feel an enormous sense of pride about our community.

12

Admissions and

Extra Information

If you would like your child to join Miers Court Primary, we follow the Medway Admissions Policy. Applications for a place are made through Medway Council, and it is their responsibility to allocate all school places. We are able to take 60 children per year group. In the event of over subscription, the admissions criteria will be applied according to Local Authority requirements: 1. Children in public care/looked after children and previously looked after children 2. Siblings (a brother or sister attending the named schools at the time of application and who will still be attending in September) 3. Medical, health and special access reasons

4. Children of crown servants 5. Children of teaching staff 6. Nearness of children’s home and ease of access to the school

In common with other primary schools, your child can be admitted to our school at the beginning of the school year in which they will be 5 years of age. However, we recognise that each child is an individual and will work with you in order to ensure the smoothest beginning possible. Legally, a child reaches compulsory school age and must be in school by the term following their 5th birthday. Admissions during the school year, into any year group, are also made through application to Medway Council.

13

We are a part of The Howard Academy Trust - a larger community of schools with a shared moral purpose; to make a positive difference to the lives of the young people in our community.

As a Trust, we currently comprise of Medway secondary and primary schools. We have future growth plans extending into North Kent and have been selected by the DfE and Kent County Council to open a new secondary presumption free school in Margate in September 2023. Learning and growth are at the heart of THAT ethos. We recognise and value the unique talents and expertise within our community and aim to create a culture of dignity, respect and ambition, where all can thrive. This is achieved through: Excellent teaching and learning that promotes inclusivity; Regular opportunities for collaborative CPD to ensure best practice across academies; A proactive network for joint working across academies, for staff at various career stages; The highest standards of behaviour and conduct achieved through clear expectations and positive relationships; The unique character of each academy is valued and contributes to the THAT whole Trust ethos; Shared whole trust values of dignity, respect and ambition; High aspirations for all involved with the Trust and a solutions led approach; Each academy is a hub for its local community and families; Facing outwards and working in collaboration with other organisations and stakeholders; A centralised team that allows academies leaders to focus on their core purpose of education.

We are enormously proud of our schools and of the leaders, governors, teachers and support staff who every day ensure our pupils enjoy and make good progress in their learning.

The Howard School

Miers Court Primary School

Deanwood Primary School

Thames View Primary School

Temple Mill Primary School

Waterfront UTC

14

Find out more about our Trust at: www.thatrust.org.uk

Contact

Contact Us

Address: Miers Court Primary School, Silverspot Close, Rainham, Gillingham, Kent, ME8 8JR

Office Email: [email protected]

School Phone Number: 01634 388943