AIMS OF THE SCHOOL
1. WE
WANT ALL OUR CHILDREN TO:-
i.
Enjoy and love learning.
ii. Be independent learners, able to make informed decisions and choices.
iii.
Learn tolerance and respect for themselves and others.
2. WE WANT ALL OUR CHILDREN TO HAVE THESE SKILLS:-
i.
To be able to make accurate observations and use facts correctly.
ii.
To be able to ask questions and know how to solve them.
iii.
To be able to work well with others.
iv.
To show persistence and commitment to their learning.
3. WE
BELIEVE THAT SCHOOL SHOULD:-
i.
Have the highest expectations of every child
intellectually,socially, physically and aesthetically.
ii Promote equality of opportunity by fostering a positive awareness of race, gender and background whilst ensuring that these do not prevent any child from achieving her/his full potential.
4. WE
BELIEVE CHILDREN LEARN BEST WHEN:-
ii.
They enjoy their work.
iii
Children are offered a broad, balanced and continuous curriculum.
iv.
Children are praised and emphasis placed on achievement and the
positive.
v.
School and classroom provide a stimulating environment and a
disciplined, hard working atmosphere.
vi.
They are encouraged to become highly involved in their work, at first
hand where possible. Also when
there is provision for children to work in depth and through extended
investigation.
vii. Work
has relevance and meaning.
viii.
Children are encouraged to have responsibility for the development of
their work and to become independent, autonomous
learners.
ix.
Their work is valued and respected by other children and adults.
x.
Children work together and with adults co-operatively and
collaboratively with goodwill, good humour and enthusiasm.
xi.
Parents are involved with their children's learning.
xii.
Children are encouraged to develop self discipline and respect for
others.
xiii.
Children attend school regularly and punctually.
ii.
Have clear aims and commonly agreed expectations of children.
iii.
Plan and prepare intellectually challenging teaching.
iv.
Are well organised and cater for every pupil's needs.
v.
Assess achievements and promote continuity in children's learning by clear record keeping.
6. AREAS
OF LEARNING WITHIN SCHOOL
The
primary curriculum includes the core of learning and experience which are
essential to the development of every child.
These are now defined within the National Curriculum.
ii.
Mathematics
iii
Science and technology
iv.
Information Technology
These
core subjects are not taught in isolation as the skills and concepts
within them are applied across a
broad range of experiences for them to be fully understood.
In turn the use of skills and ideas in the core areas improves
understanding in other subjects.
For
the curriculum to have adequate breadth and balance the following areas are
also included:-
Schemes
of work from the national curriculum have been implemented since September
1989. A revised National
Curriculum will come into effect from September 2000.
More
detailed information on the content of the curriculum is available in
school.
TEACHING AND LEARNING AT DOG KENNEL HILL
We
aim to be an effective school delivering high quality teaching and learning.
We
believe that the key characteristics of an effective school are:-
SPECIAL NEEDS
For
a variety of reasons many children find it difficult to make progress at
sometime in their schooling. We
always consult with the parents whenever we have particular concern about a
child. Additional support is
sought, where relevant, from the school's psychology service and other
agencies.
All
classes contain some children with special educational needs.
Children with special educational needs are as fully integrated into
school as possible.
Children
with special educational needs are welcome at Dog Kennel Hill School.
We follow Southwark’s Admissions criteria for our nursery and main
school.
At
present we do not have special facilities for children with special
educational needs at school. However
there is wheelchair access to the ground floor of our building and we would
endeavour to meet any child’s needs.
SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS POLICY
We aim:-
To
ensure that all children’s needs, (cognitive,
emotional, physical and social) are met.
To
ensure equal access to the whole curriculum and the school community for all
children.
To
provide early identification of special educational needs.
To
provide appropriate guidance, strategies and arrangements for supporting
children with special educational needs.
To
ensure that resources are allocated according to the budget for meeting
special educational needs.
To
involve parents and children fully in all special educational needs
arrangements.
To
ensure continuity and consistency amongst all school staff in supporting
children with special educational needs and provide staff training.
To
provide an identification and record keeping system for children with special
educational needs in order to monitor progress.
To
keep abreast of legislation and developments.
A
full copy of our special educational needs policy is available for any parent.
SEX EDUCATION
Sex
education is taught at school.
Sex
and health education are not separate subjects in the Infant School.
They are integrated into all aspects of the curriculum. Children’s
questions are answered with appropriate candour.
Fifth
year children in the Junior school are given specific sex education in the
summer term as part of a project about the body.
Parents are invited into the school to discuss the whole programme
before it starts.
Parents
may withdraw their child from aspects of Sex Education.
However,
Our Sex Education programme is taught within a topic on “The Body” and falls within National Curriculum Science requirements.
Teachers
do not teach children about their sexuality though children’s appropriate
questions are answered. If
children ask questions which teachers consider to be more adult or teenage in
content, teachers will not answer the question in front of the whole class but
deal with the question individually if appropriate.
POLITICS
We
believe that children should learn about the political processes of society.
They should understand that there are different political points of
view. Partisan political views
are not promoted in the schools.
Religious
education is taught as part of the curriculum to all children except for those
withdrawn at the written request of their parents.
Religious
Education is taught in accordance with the Southwark Agreed Syllabus.
The
Agreed Syllabus is not designed to convert pupils or urge a particular
religion or belief on a child. It
takes account of the teachings and practices of the principal religions
represented in Great Britain. There
is daily collective worship for all children.
Parents
have the right to withdraw their child from attending collective worship.
Through
the curriculum and the ethos of the school we aim to promote the moral,
spiritual and cultural development of all our children.
We believe that children’s lives are enriched by experiences of dance, drama, music, poetry and literature, art and sculpture. They develop self-confidence, enjoyment in participating and the ability to cooperate with others when working in these areas. Success here affects their view of themselves. Through the arts they learn to see themselves as achievers and participators. Children who have positive views about themselves and their achievements usually succeed across the whole curriculum and in all other aspects of life as they develop into adults.
Although,
as a school, we are committed to the importance of the arts, we accept that
not all teachers will have confidence or in-depth expertise in teaching all of
the arts. Primary school teachers
have, after all, to teach 11 subjects in the primary curriculum!
However,
we are fortunate, living in Southwark, to have access to so many top quality
artists, theatres, art galleries, museums as well as a local education
authority committed to the arts.
We
are always keen to take up projects and schemes which allow children to
participate in the arts.
Here
are some of the schemes we have taken part in over the last few years:-
These schemes have been funded from two sources – one, the Institute of Education, London University, the other, Southwark Children’s Foundation, a local charity.
Sineid
Codd
-
making large murals
Louise
Ward
-
photographer working on theme of anti-bullying
Stephen
Stockbridge
-
sculptor
William
Harrison
-
playwright
Michele
Roberts
-
poet and author. This was
funded by the W.H. Smith Poet in
Schools Scheme.
Lorraine
Simeon
-
poet. Funded jointly by
school and Peckham Bookplace.
Music Links
Projects with London Philharmonic Orchestra
a) members of the orchestra gave workshops in school,
and
b) on two occasions children
playing steel pans have played on the stage of the RFH as part of the
LPO, conducted by their conductor.
3
Globe Theatre production of Julius Caesar
Group
of 12 musicians plus two members of staff composed and played the music to
accompany the Globe adult actors’ company’s performance.
This entailed rehearsing with the actors in school and on the Globe
stage over a few weeks.
Drama links
Participating
in National Theatre Xmas production of Pied Piper – for two consecutive
years. This entailed 60 children
performing up to 12 times on the stage of the Olivier Theatre at the National
Theatre. The children were the
rats in the first half of the play and were on stage the whole of the second
half as the children of Hamelin Town. The
rehearsals for this took place both at school and the National Theatre over
several months.
Workshops
with the Young Vic on their Xmas production. Actors and musicians from the company worked in school over
several weeks.
Globe
Theatre productions 1997 and 1998 & 2002
– Julius Caesar, Merchant of Venice and Twelfth Night.
In
the Merchant of Venice 45 children acted part of the trial scene on the stage
of the Globe Theatre. They learnt
and acted Shakespeare’s actual text. We
worked with an actor from the Globe company in the weeks preceeding the
performance.
Globe
Theatre projects are organised by the Globe Education Department and funded by
Southwark Council and Southwark Business Alliance.
Globe music events 1999 & 2000
Workshops with London International Festival of Theatre
Working with local artists
Leonora
Brook - helped
design and paint (with children) mural for school
and weekly sessions teaching art to one class
Stan
Peskett -
artist working with children painting a mural
commemorating William Blake, near Peckham Rye
Carl
Campbell Dance Company
-
workshops
Adzido
Dance Company
-
workshops
Pauline Madden - Djembe drum teaching
Dulwich
Art Gallery schemes
Monica
Wengraf
-
African Art
Danilo
Cozzi
-
Chilean puppeteer and
many more….
SPORTING AIMS AND PROVISION FOR SPORT
All
children are taught P.E. at school.
Infant
children are taught games, gymnastics and dance.
Junior
aged children are taught games, gymnastics and dance every year and at some
point during the Juniors swimming, athletics and outdoor adventurous
activities.
At
present all year 3 children have swimming lessons.
There
are many games played in school eg. football, volleyball, hockey, rounders,
benchball, chess, cricket, netball, touch rugby.
There
is an Infants Sports Day every summer and Junior children have end of year
sports in their phase groups.
We
often use Ruskin Park for these events, where there is a field track.
We
take up the opportunity offered by Surrey
County Cricket Team to coach pupils in cricket skills.
This is a 5 week scheme taught by professional county cricket
coaches.
We
also receive athletics training
and fitness training from staff at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre,
and tag rugby training from Southwark Leisure Department.
Chess
Club takes place every Thursday evening.
We
sometimes play matches against other schools .
Recently two of our pupils got to the quarter finals of the All London
Championships.
BEHAVIOUR
We
think of our school as a community. Any
rules we have are common sense ones to ensure the smooth running of the
community and the people in it.
For
example - we insist that children walk about the building in a specific way. We cannot look after children in our care if they leave the
premises without permission. The
classroom must be quiet and orderly so that learning can take place.
Most important of all we insist that children settle differences
without resorting to violence. Violent
behaviour is totally unacceptable in our school community.
We
have produced a booklet about the school's policy on behaviour.
All parents may have a copy.
ANTI-BULLYING STATEMENT
We
want Dog Kennel Hill School to provide a happy and safe environment in which
children can learn. We have high
expectations of children’s work and behaviour.
We foster respect for self and respect for others. We are strongly committed to equal opportunities for all.
All members of our school, both children and adults, have the right to
achieve their full potential in a safe and happy environment.
We
consider bullying behaviour to be unacceptable and it will never be tolerated
in this school. This would
include any sexist or racist remarks or behaviour.
Bullying behaviour is when any individual feels unhappy and intimidated
by another’s attitude or behaviour and feels unable to do anything about it.
We
have a whole school approach to bullying and consider that everyone connected
with our school, both children and adults, have a shared responsibility and
ownership of values and a collective responsibility to challenge and prevent
bullying.
Bullying,
once identified by staff, children or parents will always be taken seriously
and will be consistently dealt with. We
are concerned for those who bully as well as those who are bullied.
As
with all unacceptable behaviour, incidents of bullying will be recorded. Parents will be informed of serious/persistent incidents and
we will always discuss our concerns with them.
The
records we keep at school about your child's educational progress are open for
you to see. Teachers will share
these records with you during open evenings in school.
If there is anything you feel is not correct in the record, you have
the right to add your own statement to the record.
ASSESSMENT
Teachers
are assessing children all the time in order to plan the work children need to
do and to make sure they understand work already covered.
There is a National system of assessment for children aged 7 to 11.
This assessment consists of teachers' own assessments plus National
tests, and it relates to National Curriculum programmes of study taught in
English, Maths and Science.
The
school's policy on assessment is available in school for you to see.
The
results of the 2001 (May) national assessments of children aged 7 and 11 at
Dog Kennel Hill School can be found on the next 2 pages.