Prospectus Information

Salehurst is a Church of England Primary School for children aged 4+ to 11+.

 

The building, in the village of Robertsbridge next to Salehurst, was opened in 1988 and is light, spacious and welcoming. It includes seven classrooms, library, hall, ICT suite, activity areas and entrance area. The extensive grounds include a sports field, pond, play area and willow shelter. We have close links with our parish church, St. Mary’s, Salehurst, https://www.stmarysalehurst.com where we hold various school services throughout the year.

 

 

Contents

 

• Aims
• Attendance
• Care and Discipline
• Charity
• Children’s Act
• Christian Character
• Community and Church Links
• Global Links
• Educational Visits
• Homework
• Inclusion
• Links with local schools
• Lunches
• Music
• Racial Equality
• Sport

 

Aims of the School

 

At Salehurst CE Primary School we strive to promote excellence and enjoyment in learning, enabling all children to explore their potential, extend their abilities and ‘Soar to Success.’

 

Our Aims are:

 

• To create a friendly, happy school by providing a secure, caring and supportive background with consistent standards of behaviour based on Christian values.
• To assist children to achieve a high standard of attainment in the basic literacy and numeracy skills in accordance with the national literacy and numeracy strategies’ expectations.
• To teach children to use the computer and other aspects of information technology, including safe and responsible Internet use.
• To teach skills in art, design and music.
• To encourage scientific curiosity and imaginative thinking.
• To develop a knowledge and understanding of the humanities such as history, geography and religious education.
• To encourage the enjoyment of games, drama and other recreational skills.
• To encourage children to understand and care for the environment.
• To develop personal moral values through the teachings of the Christian faith and an understanding and respect of others’ beliefs and culture.
• To provide opportunities for each child to develop their life skills so they can face the challenges they may meet in the future with confidence.

 

Attendance

 

Illness - Parents need to contact the school before 9.30am if their child is absent through illness (a message can be left on the answer phone before school hours). If your child is ill, it is your responsibility to notify the school as early as possible on the first and every other day of absence. It is also the parents’ responsibility to ensure that pupils arrive at school on time and are collected punctually at the end of the school day.

Holidays - Families should take their holidays during school holiday times, so as not to disrupt the child’s learning. Term-time holidays will not be authorised, except for exceptional circumstances. A holiday form must be used for any term-time holiday requests.

Other Absences - If a child needs to miss school for any other reason, parents must apply to the Head Teacher in writing, giving full reasons and relevant dates.

Educational Welfare - School attendance is monitored on a regular basis by the County Educational Welfare Officer.

 

Attitudes and Values

 

At Salehurst School we nurture positive attitudes such as self-confidence, self-discipline, caring for others, generosity and friendliness.

 

We promote these attitudes by:

 

• Celebrating pupils’ achievements and praising them regularly
• Nurturing a ‘love of learning’
• Setting a good example of behaviour
• Giving pupils appropriate responsibility
• Giving clear rules which are understood and positively reinforced
• Providing a tidy, well organised environment
• Taking pride in our school
• Encouraging a team spirit and caring for one another

 

Amongst the Christian values we promote at Salehurst are: Friendship, Trust, Thankfulness, Humility, Peace, Compassion, Hope, Service, Forgiveness, Endurance, Justice, Wisdom and Creativity.

 

Care and Discipline

 

We believe strongly in good and considerate behaviour by all pupils. A happy and safe environment is essential if children are to enjoy their learning and make good progress.

 

All children are asked to sign up to the school rules at the beginning of each year. There is an emphasis on rewarding good behaviour and children can earn individual and whole class rewards, including stickers and team points. Our sanctions take the form of loss of privilege and we contact the parents immediately if a child’s behaviour gives cause for concern. The school’s Behaviour Policy can be found on our website.

 

We also have a strong Anti-Bullying Policy and our staff team is dedicated to our zero-tolerance approach to this unacceptable form of behaviour. Children are regularly reminded what to do if they feel bullied and any incident is followed up and dealt with.

 

Charity

 

The school and the children pride themselves on their fundraising efforts. Each year we raise money for various charities including Children in Need, Red Nose Day, Barnardo’s, Christmas Charity Shoeboxes, Save the Children, St Michael’s Hospice, The Poppy Appeal and others.

 

Children’s Act

 

The school has a duty to comply with The Children’s Act when concerns are raised and is bound by law to follow statutory procedures when dealing with any issues. This includes contacting Social Services and following their guidance according to individual cases of concern. All staff are checked and cleared by the Criminal Records Bureau.

 

Christian Character

 

The school aims to 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 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.

 

Community and Church Links

 

Salehurst School Association, the school’s PTA, raise funds by holding various exciting events such as Quiz Night, Christmas Fun Evening, Easter Tea, Summer Fete, Disco, etc. Radiator Arts have run workshops at school where local artists come in and work with the children on art projects. A number of volunteer readers come in to help the children with their reading; these are mainly parents and grandparents but also some residents of the village who enjoy helping out in school. The Harvest Festival and Christmas Carol Service, Easter Service and Leavers’ Service are all held at St Mary’s Church. Our school is heavily involved in the R2S3 cluster of local schools where good practice is shared and opportunities for children to get together for a range of curriculum workshops are organised. We invest in an ICT learning platform (please see http://salehurst.esussex.dbprimary.com/service/util/login?path=/esussex/primary/salehurst where the children can work/communicate from their home computers through the school portal. They and their families can tap into advice and resources through this platform. We are also fortunate enough to have our local secondary school close by that offers adult learning and is a venue for local voluntary groups such as scouts, etc. We encourage these services to aid better community access for our children and their families.

 

Global Links

 

The school works closely with a link school in Malawi, Africa, called Katitima School. The headteacher and teachers from Salehurst have visited the school on three occasions and their link coordinator has spent a week with us here. The children share experiences, write to pen-pals and work hard to raise funds. So far we have shipped out two containers of school equipment to Katitima. We raised enough money to build a teacher house which enabled Katitima School to employ a much-needed new teacher. Funds are constantly being raised in various ways, such as sponsored swimming, sponsored marathon, cake sales, sales of music CDs, proceeds from Netball Club, etc.

 

Educational Visits

 

We offer a range of educational visits to local places of interest, to enhance the quality of children’s learning experiences. Houses of Parliament, 2012 Paralympics, Hever Castle, Bedgebury Pinetum, Lullingstone Villa, Preston Manor, Battle Abbey, Hever Castle and The Rare Breeds Centre are just a few of the places we have visited. Every other year in the summer term, years 5 and 6 attend a residential week of outdoor activities. Everyone is encouraged to set their own goals, whether that involves climbing a few rungs on a ladder or launching themselves on a zip wire. The main aims are to build self-esteem and to value others in your team.

 

Homework

 

We believe that homework is an important part of learning and encourages independence. The amount of homework increases as a child progresses through the school. In Key Stage 1, homework includes reading, flash cards, memorising number facts and occasional research projects. Children in Key Stage 2 bring home spelling and maths as well as research projects. Additional time should also be spent on reading and parents can help by taking an interest in the book, explaining the meaning of unfamiliar words and discussing storyline and characters.

Our aims with homework are to:

• reinforce work done in the classroom
• encourage independence
• enhance the partnership between home and school
• prepare children for secondary school

 

Inclusion

 

We value all the pupils in our school equally and believe that each child is entitled to experience success by having their needs met and supported. Different levels of support are given to different pupils, depending on their degree of need and there are regular reviews led by our Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO). The child is also involved in the review process and parents are informed of the pupil’s targets for achievement and progress made, at least once a term. The school’s Special Needs Policy is available on request from the school office.

 

Links with Local Schools

 

We have close links with the schools to which our children transfer, particularly with Robertsbridge Community College. There are liaison meetings between curriculum co-ordinators, meetings with Special Needs co-ordinators, familiarisation visits for teachers and pupils and shared curriculum initiatives. Close links are also fostered with the other local primary schools that make up our cluster group. We visit the Darvell Community and school to experience their unique culture. We also have close links with the local playgroup.

 

Lunches

 

Pupils can bring a packed lunch or purchase a cooked meal prepared on the school premises. A menu leaflet is available from the school and offers a varied nutritional two course lunch with a vegetarian option. Pupils wishing to enjoy a cooked meal should bring the correct money each day or parents can pay online using ‘Parent Pay’ (an instruction leaflet is available from the school office). In line with our healthy eating policy all pupils should bring a named water bottle to school and we encourage fruit or raw vegetables to be eaten daily (all KS1 pupils are provided with this free of charge under the government scheme).

 

Music

 

Music also plays an important part in the life of our school. We are very lucky to have several musical members of staff and every child is encouraged to participate in a wide variety of musical experiences. These are often linked to productions, which play a major part in our school year and children are involved in all aspects from acting, singing, instrument making and playing. Musical tuition is available through the East Sussex County Music Service and other independent music tutors. We currently offer lessons for violin, piano, clarinet, guitar, double bass, recorder, cello and trumpet.

 

Racial Equality

 

Salehurst School is committed to The Race Relations Act and:

• Promotes racial equality.
• Promotes good race relations.
• Eliminates unlawful racial discrimination.

 

Sport

 

At Salehurst, sport plays a very important part in the daily experiences of our children’s learning. The school’s curriculum enables every child to participate in both team and individual sporting activities. We offer a wide selection of extra-curricular sporting clubs and children are encouraged to play in our school teams. Each child is encouraged to achieve their best and great emphasis is placed on personal achievement, the enjoyment of participation and the fostering of good sportsmanlike attitudes.

 

Walk to School

 

We strongly recommend that pupils walk to school whenever possible. This gives the opportunity for physical exercise and alleviates traffic congestion around the school. Details of our walking bus are available from the school office.