Welcome Letter from Headteacher 3

HERIOT

PRIMARY SCHOOL

HANDBOOK

2017-2018

CONTENTS

Welcome letter from Headteacher 3

Context of the school 4

School Visions, Values and Aims 4-5

School Improvement 5

Policies 5

The Curriculum 5-7

Assessment and Reporting 7-8

Parental Involvement 8

Supporting Pupils 9

Complaints procedures 10

Celebrating Success 10

Transition 11

Liaison 11

GIRFEC 12

Practical Information 13-15

·  School hours

·  After School Clubs

·  Absences

·  Family Holidays

·  Lunches

·  Uniform

·  Resilient Schools

Staff 16

Heriot Primary School

Heriot

Midlothian

EH38 5YE

Heriot Telephone: 01875 835 223

Fountainhall Telephone: 01578 760 247

E-mail:

Dear Parents

Welcome to Heriot Primary School. I hope that your child will enjoy his/her time with us. In the seven years that your child will be with us, we hope that he/she will realise his/her full potential to become a successful learner, confident individual, effective contributor and responsible citizen in line with the purposes from Curriculum for Excellence.

Our small numbers provide us with the opportunity to deliver a wide and varied Curriculum within a ‘family’ setting. With the support of our Parent Council, we try to provide our children with a great variety of different experiences to enhance the curriculum. We are in a unique position here with extensive grounds and we utilise this to the best for our pupils. We value all contributions from our pupils and celebrate success.

We pride ourselves in developing excellent relationships with both pupils and parents and view parents as key partners in our children’s education. An integral part of the community, we endeavour to extend your child's horizons beyond this, to the more immediate and wider communities including developing Global Citizenship.

Heriot Primary has a partner school, Fountainhall Primary, and I am the Headteacher of both these schools. Good inter-school relationships have been built up with Fountainhall, as well as Stow and Clovenfords Primary Schools. Opportunities are found for the children to mix for a variety of occasions - sports, visits, outings and various activities to enhance the curriculum.

I hope that you will find the following information useful. Whilst information provided is considered to be correct at the time of printing, it is possible that there may be some inaccuracy by the time the document reaches the parents. Should you need to contact me for any reason, please do not hesitate to telephone me at either school.

Yours sincerely

Susan Anderson

Headteacher

The Context

The school is a small rural school catering for pupils of both sexes from Primary 1 to Primary 7. It is a non-denominational school with a present roll of 35.

The P1-4 pupils have access to two classrooms, one of which has a sink and wet area. PE, Drama and Music are taught in our gym hall which also contains our After School Club facilities and a catering kitchen. The middle section of the school houses the reception area, Headteacher’s office, staffroom and a reference library. A portacabin, which houses P5-7, is situated at the edge of the walled garden. The playground is a mixed area of tarmac and grass with a wood and chain assault course.

A mixture of individual, group and class teaching is used throughout the school, catering for the needs of all children. The two classes are P1-4 & P5-7. The school is very well resourced with a variety of books, materials, technological and practical equipment for all areas of the curriculum. There are 8 computers in P1-4 and 5 in P5-7. Computers are used regularly to enhance learning across the curriculum. Each classroom is fitted with an interactive whiteboard.

As a school we promote positive behaviour, good relationships and work to mo0tive our pupils with praise, support and challenge. We ensure we use the Respectful Relationship policy found on the SBC website www.scotborders.gov.uk/antibullying

We welcome any new members to our school community and new parents and pupils are encouraged to call the school, make an appointment to come in and visit and to discuss enrolling with us.

School vision, values and aims

Our Vision

At Heriot School we want staff and pupils to have high expectations of learning in order for everyone to realise their full potential. As a school community, we will ensure best use and appreciation of our unique outdoor learning environment. A sense of pride in ourselves and our school will be promoted through celebration. We will foster an inclusive and nurturing environment through encouraging kindness, equality, fairness and respect. Challenges, resilience and growth mind set in all stakeholders will be encouraged and supported and a belief in lifelong learning will be instilled. We will celebrate differences and similarities to ensure that everyone is valued and that our community continues to thrive. We aim to achieve this through fostering positive relationships with parents and the wider community.

Our Values

·  rights respecting

·  considerate

·  responsible

·  confident

·  ambitious

·  positive mindset

·  supportive

Our Aims

·  to create a challenging, stimulating, motivating and fun environment

·  to develop skills for life, learning and work

·  to provide opportunities for teacher’s to work collegiately to ensure positive outcomes for all

·  to create a safe environment and exciting, creative learning experiences

·  to promote curiosity, positivity and a good work ethic

·  to develop children’s independence as well as their collaborative skills

·  to have high expectations of themselves and others

·  to develop skills allowing our children to move positively through their learning journey

Last session we worked with the pupils, parents and staff to create our Vision, Values and Aims. These will be reviewed on a 3 year basis.

School Improvement

To enable the school to plan and carry out authority and in-school development, we have drawn up a School Improvement Plan. This plan has been approved by Scottish Borders Council and was drawn up after auditing parents and all staff - both teaching and non-teaching, and is available for any interested parent. A summary is sent out to parents at the beginning of the session. A copy of the full document can be found in the school office.

The School’s Improvement Report (previously known as the Standards and Quality Report) detailing the school’s work and progress from the previous year can also be found in the office. This report is also shared with parents at the Parent Council meeting.

School Policies

A list of the school and local authority policies can be found on the school website http://www.heriot.scotborders.sch.uk/ and Scottish Borders Council website (www.scotborders.gov.uk) as well as through the school office.

Curriculum

At Heriot, the purpose of the curriculum is to enable our children to develop the attributes, knowledge and skills they will need for learning, life and work. The curriculum is all the experiences that are planned for children to support the development of these skills. Curriculum for Excellence sets out a coherent, flexible and enriched curriculum; it includes the totality of experiences which are planned for children and young people through their education in order for them to become successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors. Experiences are grouped into the contexts for learning: Curriculum areas and subjects; Interdisciplinary learning; Ethos and life of the school and Opportunities for personal achievement.

Experiences and Outcomes

The title 'experiences and outcomes' recognises the importance of the quality and nature of the learning experience in developing attributes and capabilities and in achieving active engagement, motivation and depth of learning. An outcome represents what is to be achieved.

The experiences and outcomes are used both to assess progress and to plan the next steps in learning. Experiences and outcomes are defined from Early to Fourth level followed by the Senior Phase.

Early Level / ELCC to Primary 1 (or later for some)
First Level / Primary 2 to Primary 4 (but earlier or later for
some)
Second Level / Primary 5 – Primary 7 (but earlier or later for
some)
Third and Fourth Level / 1st Year to 3rd Year (but earlier for some)
Senior Phase / 4th Year to 6th Year or college

Experiences and outcomes are identified for the following curricular areas:

·  expressive arts

·  languages and literacy

·  health and well being

·  mathematics and numeracy

·  religious and moral education

·  sciences

·  social studies

·  technologies

Throughout their education ALL children are entitled to a broad general education (BGE) based around a coherent curriculum. Parents who wish to exercise their right to withdraw their child from religious instruction and/or religious observance should contact the Headteacher to arrange a meeting to discuss alternative arrangements for your child.

Parents/carers will be informed about any sensitive aspects of learning (relationships, sexual health, parenthood and drug awareness) through relevant correspondence.

At Heriot, some of the main features of Curriculum for Excellence which you will see within the school are:

·  Interdisciplinary learning (a theme which ties in two or more curricular areas)

·  Cross curricular themes (covering all of the above areas e.g. Romans, World War 2)

·  Storyline (a child led topic which addresses thematic learning)

·  Active Learning (encouraging our children to be actively engaged in their learning)

·  An emphasis on Health and Well Being

·  Enterprising approaches to learning

·  Collaborative learning (working effectively with others)

·  Peer and self assessment

·  A greater emphasis on personalisation and choice (whereby children are able to direct their own learning)

·  Cross stage working (children from different classes working together)

·  Outdoor learning

·  Rights Respecting Schools

More information about all aspects of Curriculum for Excellence can be found at www.educationscotland.gov.uk and www.educationscotland.gov.uk/parentzone/index.asp

Information on Skills Development can be found at www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk

Each yearly session is split into 4 terms. These are August-November, November-February, February-April and April-June.

Outdoor Learning

We are keen to use our outdoor area as a learning environment. Children can be found doing a range of learning activities outside, including:

·  measuring the playground and contents

·  developing skills in creativity, problem solving and collaboration through Loose Parts Play

·  gardening

·  hunting for hidden objects, words, shapes

·  timing and surveying

·  closely observing nature

·  using their creativity in music, art and drama

·  using their senses and imagination to enhance their literacy development

·  experiencing the wellbeing that being outdoors brings

·  science

·  PE

Assessment and Reporting

All teachers are committed to ongoing formative assessment methods, which allow them to plan, adapt and extend the learning experiences for each child. Learning intentions and success criteria are shared and discussed with children, and feedback is given to identify next steps. Throughout the year teaching staff are constantly monitoring and tracking the progress of all pupils. This tracking and monitoring is used to assist in the setting of next steps.

There are a number of opportunities throughout the year for you to share in your child’s learning. A Term Starter detailing what your child will be learning will be sent out at the start of each term; September, November, February and April. A full written report will be issued in June. There are 2 separate parents’ evenings (November and March) with individual appointments to discuss your child’s progress and to see your child’s work. At the start of each academic year, a ‘meet the teacher’ session allows parents/carers to have a look around the school and the classroom where their child will be. It is also an opportunity for teachers to discuss their expectations and share what the children will be learning. The open afternoon in June allows you to see how your child has progressed over the year. Parents are invited to assemblies throughout the year so children can share their learning on particular themes. Homework is designed to support children’s learning in school and will give parents the opportunity to discuss their child’s learning with them. Class teachers are always happy to meet with parents individually at any point in the year.

More information with regards to assessment and reporting can be found on the Education Scotland website: www.educationscotland.org.uk

Parental Involvement

Parents are partners in their child’s education and are encouraged to be involved in school life. This could be through volunteering to support in the classes, accompanying on trips, sharing expertise, running after school clubs, supporting children with their homework and attending a variety of school events. Regular Newsletters will be sent home, keeping parents abreast of school events and dates. There are 2 parents’ evenings per year to discuss your child progress as well as a formal school report in June. As well as these set reporting formats we welcome parents calling or meeting to discuss any issues or concerns. We will also contact parents if we have concerns to allow us all to work together for the benefit of the children.

Parent Council

All parents of children at school are automatically members of our Parent Council. School staff and community members also have places on the Council.

The Parent Council meets 4 times a year and work hard to raise funds to support the school by organising events. They also have an active role in the decision making process and are regularly consulted upon regarding recommendations, changes and improvements.

Main office bearers:

Chair: Mrs Sam Wallace

Secretary: Mrs Julia Campbell

Treasurer: Mrs Seonaid Boyd

Supporting Pupils

At any point in their lives children or young people may need extra help with their education. This may be for any reason and at any time. This is often referred to as additional support for learning or having additional support needs.

Some examples of why a child/young person may require extra help with their education are: