Newton Primary School
Ysgol Gynradd Newton
Slade Road
Newton
Swansea SA3 4UE
Tel: 01792 369826
E-mail:
Website: www.newton.swansea.sch.uk
Governors’ Full Annual Report to Parents: 2013-14
‘Let’s Work Together To Be The Best That We Can Be!’
‘Dewch i Weithio Gyda’n Gilydd i Wneud Ein Gorau Glas!’
CONTENTS / PAGEIntroduction / 3
List of governors and terms of office / 4
Changes to the Prospectus / 5
School Development Plan / 5
The National Curriculum / 6
Use of Welsh Language / 6
Healthy School Council / 6
Additional Needs / 7
Admission arrangements for disabled pupils / 7
Toilet Facilities / 7
Finance / 8
Parent-Teacher Association / 9
Links with Community and Business / 9
Extra-curricular activities / 9
Sporting achievements / 10
National curriculum assessments and comparators / 11
Attendance information / 13
School Term and Holiday Dates: 2014-15 / 14
Annual Report to Parents 2013-14
It gives me great pleasure, once again, to present this annual report to you on behalf of the Governing Body of Newton Primary School after what surely must be the busiest year we have ever had! We have a fabulous, long overdue, addition to our school buildings and have emerged from a good inspection. I am sure you will be pleased to know that the inspection team identified, amongst many other positive things, the quality of governance as a particular strength of the school and that there are strong partnerships with you, our parents.
Please take time to read through the report which you will find on the school website.
This Annual Report contains those matters which we have a statutory duty to report to you as well as information about the life and work of this incredibly busy, inclusive, collaborative and successful school where standards of behaviour are high, pupils make good progress and are polite and courteous. I would like to thank you for the wonderful support you give to our school and emphasise how crucial this is in helping us to ensure a safe and happy environment for your children to achieve their potential and learn to be the best that they can be.
The most important work of the Governing Body is to engage with the Head and her staff in order to further improve standards of achievement by promoting the highest expectations, reviewing progress made and establishing the strategic framework for our school. Our standards are already high, as evidenced by our performance data, but there are always areas for improvement and it is these recommendations from our inspection that form the basis of the ongoing School Development Plan.
2013-14 again saw all manner of events, activities and excursions taking place both in and out of school. Visitors regularly come and enrich the education of our children complementing the taught curriculum. Our hardworking PTA raised in the region of £6,000 during the year and I cannot thank them, and you, enough on behalf of the Governing Body. The funds raised enabled purchases to be made which benefit the children and would not otherwise have been possible given the perennial squeeze on our finances!
May I thank our Headteacher, Miss Rees, and her staff for the incredible work they do each and every day, often giving up their own time, to ensure your children have a bright future ahead of them.
I thank you for your continued support of Newton Primary School.
Diolch yn fawr
Lesley Davies
Chair of Governors
1. List of Governors and Their Terms of Office - 2013/2014
(all terms of office last 4 years)
Category of Governor / Name / Address / Telephone No. / Term end dateLA / Mr David Cottle / 54 Southward Lane, Newton, Swansea SA3 4QD / 368171 / 27.03.17
LA / Cllr Miles Thomas / Langland Bay House, Langland Bay Road, Swansea SA3 4QP / 367241 / 15.12.14
LA / Mr George Butterfield / 4 Southgate Road, Southgate, Swansea SA2 3BT / 233557 / 30.01.16
Parent / Mr Al Marner / 8 Woolacott Mews, Newton, Swansea SA3 4RZ / 367441 / 05.12.13
Parent / Mrs Kate MacKenzie / 30 Highpool Lane, Newton, Swansea SA3 4TA / 417827 / 04.11.16
Parent / Mrs Lucy Moore / 5 Buttercup Court, West Cross, Swansea SA3 5RY / 01792 406770 / 07.11.15
Parent / Mr Mark Sheridan / 52 The Orchard, Newton, Swansea SA3 4UQ / 01792 367553 / 07.11.15
Teacher / Mrs Lynne Jones / c/o Newton Primary School / 369826 / 31.08.14
Non-teacher / Mrs Angelique Hurley / c/o Newton Primary School / 369826 / 24.09.16
Community Governor / Mrs Lesley Davies
(Chair of GB) / 2 Appledore Place, Newton, Swansea SA3 4UY / 361336 / 09.12.13
Community
Governor / Rev Anthony
Gwyther-Jones / 9 Havergal Close, Caswell, Swansea SA3 4RL / 369454 / 31.08.16
Community Governor / Dr Tom Watkins / 4 Caswell Drive, Caswell, Swansea / 369528 / 04.02.16
Additional Community / Cllr. Anthony Colburn / 14 St. Peter’s Road, Newton, SA3 4SB / 362826 / 08.05.16
Headteacher / Miss Helena Rees / c/o Newton Primary School / 369826
Clerk to GB / Mrs Pauline Stallard / c/o Newton Primary School / 369826
There was no Annual General Meeting with Parents and Governors last year. From May 2013 new arrangements regarding the AGM and parents came into effect and you were informed of this last year. Information is to be found on the school website.
2. Changes to the School Prospectus
The school prospectus is updated annually in accordance with any changes in legislation and guidance received from the Welsh Government.
3. School Development Plan (SDP)
Action is taken to implement and review school strategies through the School Development Plan which is updated annually. Developments and new strategies are identified through school Self Evaluation processes, Performance Management, direction from the Welsh Government and Local Authority. The Plan is a working document which identifies targets for the academic year in the three key areas upon which Estyn focus:
· How good are outcomes?
· How good is provision?
· How good are leadership and management?
The Key Strategic priorities for the school in the academic year 2013-2014 were as follows:
· Implement Welsh Government Numeracy and Literacy Framework, adapting planning and assessment accordingly in order to further raise standards in Literacy, Mathematics, ICT and Welsh with a focus upon cross curricular work, problem solving and oracy (Use LA Catch Up), particularly More Able and Talented.
· Further improve quality of teaching through collaborative work.
· Develop use of Swansea Learning Platform and Assessment Manager to aid with analysis of all data by all staff.
Over the last academic year a number of school policies have been reviewed and updated, as follows: Teaching and Learning, Homework, Behaviour, Health and Safety, Fire Safety, Management of Absence, Mathematics, Science, Collective Worship.
4. The National Curriculum
The National Curriculum is the entitlement of all children of compulsory school age, although the 1988 Education Reform Act allows for part or all of the National Curriculum to be modified or disapplied for individual children in exceptional circumstances. The National Curriculum for Key Stage 2 comprises five core subjects and seven foundation subjects.
Core Subjects / Foundation SubjectsEnglish
Mathematics
Science
Welsh
ICT / History
Geography
Design & Technology
Art
Music
PE
PSE (Personal and Social Education)
Although RE is not part of the National Curriculum it is taught as part of the basic curriculum.
The National Curriculum has been planned in stages which are divided as follows:
Foundation Phase: 3-7 years
Key Stage 2: 7-11 years
When children start school in Nursery they are assessed using the Child Development Assessment Profile. This gives us a baseline from which to measure progress. At the end of each year from Reception, children undergo NfER (National Foundation for Educational Research) assessments. These results are reported to parents along with Teachers’ Assessments based on accumulated evidence from the year.
Documents giving details of the National Curriculum requirements and our organisation of the National Curriculum are available for perusal at school.
5. Use of the Welsh Language
The medium of instruction at our school is English. Welsh is taught as a subject throughout the school from Nursery to Year 6 and we encourage the use of incidental Welsh throughout the day, both during lessons, at play and lunch. The development of the Welsh language is taught through a series of increasingly complex patterns from Nursery to Year 6.
6. Healthy School Council
We have embarked upon the Healthy Schools’ programme and have a council made up of pupils from across the school. So far we have successfully attained the first three ‘Leaves’ in recognition of the work we do to promote healthy eating and drinking by our pupils.
7. Additional Needs
We have a policy for special educational needs (SEN) with clearly documented procedures which comply with the SEN Code of Practice for Wales. The procedures are clearly understood and implemented by staff who make use of the support and advice given by the LA’s Access to Learning Team. The school also has a policy for More Able and Talented Pupils who have access to more challenging activities both inside and outside the classroom environment.
Pupils on the SEN register make progress which is at least average and often good.
Financial resources are provided by the Local Authority to fund 1:1 support for children with statements of Special Educational Need. The school also funds time for the SENCo to discharge her responsibilities and purchase support materials for use in and out of the classroom.
Basic Skills Group
A number of pupils identified by the class teacher benefited from detailed provision, support and evaluation to enable them to achieve targets set.
More Able and Talented Pupils
Some pupils were identified as being ‘more able and talented’ in the core subjects of Mathematics English and Science.
Speech and Language Links
Some pupils benefitted from support using these link programmes.
Numeracy Maths Catch-up and Toe by Toe Reading Programmes
These programmes provided support for a small number of pupils during the year.
8. Admission Arrangements for Disabled Pupils
Pupils with disabilities are subject to the normal admission procedures. Wherever possible, adaptations are made to the school site in order to accommodate pupils with physical disabilities.
9. Toilet Facilities
The school has four sets of girls and four sets of boys toilets. The toilets are in a good state of repair and cleaned daily. One set of toilets is situated outside adjacent to the Foundation Phase area. These will be demolished when the new build takes place, which will house new toilets including a disabled facility.
10. Finance
CITY AND COUNTY OF SWANSEA - EDUCATION DEPARTMENTSCHOOL : Newton Primary School / ESTABLISHMENT NO: 46735
END OF YEAR STATEMENT 2013/2014
BUDGET ALLOCATION / £682,256 / TEACHING COSTS / £462,189
PUPIL NO. ADJUSTMENT / -£4,101 / SUPPORT STAFF COSTS / £184,367
CAPITATION / £66,362
ADJUSTED BUDGET ALLOCATION / £678,155 / ENERGY COSTS / £13,766
PREMISES RELATED COSTS / £33,016
RECHARGES / £29,850
GROSS EXPENDITURE / £789,551
OVER / UNDERSPEND 2013 / 2014 / £6,264 / INCOME / £39,785
INVESTMENT APRIL 2013 / £46,258 / FOUNDATION GRANT / £77,875
INVESTMENT APRIL 2014 / £52,522 / NET EXPENDITURE / £671,891
11. Parent-Teacher Association
We are extremely grateful for the help and support given by our P.T.A. Thank you to all who have given of their time and effort to raise much needed funds which have been used to benefit our children.
During this academic year the Association funded approximately £6000 worth of purchases including the following:
· Christmas Crackers
· Christmas Trips
· Chimps and Bears
· Poppies
· Problem Pup (CD)
· Shed for Storage
· Welsh Dictionaries
· Wet Play Clothes
· Signs for Playground
12. Links with Community and Business
Newton School continues to be actively involved in the local and wider community. The children benefit greatly from visits by local clergy, police and fire officers, road safety personnel, doctors, musicians, dancers and storytellers.
We held Christmas and Easter services at St. Peter’s Church and continued to have links with Mumbles Community Council and Mumbles Development Trust.
The caring, sharing ethos of the school is extended through our support of various charities and the school is used by a local French and Spanish Club.
Opportunities are provided for pupils to visit local commercial businesses, e.g. supermarkets, shops and restaurant. School Enterprise Week, in which pupils developed their entrepreneurial skills, took place in June.
We continued to maintain good links with Bishopston Comprehensive and its cluster schools. Regular liaison meetings are held and a programme of visits to the school is provided for Year 6 pupils prior to transition.
13. Extra-curricular activities
There is a range of extra-curricular activity on offer to the pupils. These include sports, arts and languages.
Year 6 visited Treginnis Farm in St David’s Pembrokeshire for a week’s Residential where they became part of a working farm experiencing hands-on practical activities.
The Governors would like to thank all teachers and parents who help with extra- curricular activities for their continued support. It is very much appreciated.
Sport plays an important part in the life of our school with pupils achieving success in a variety of areas. Our continuing success directly links to the high degree of commitment from staff and parents which support the skills taught by the school. This year saw the following achievements:
14. Sporting Achievements
Sport / EventRugby / Swansea representatives at WRSU National 10’s tournament
Rugby / Won Annual Mumbles Cup during Eisteddfod week
Rugby / Semi finals of Swansea Cup and Gower Cup
Rugby / 3 players selected to represent Swansea District and County
Cross Country / Area League, County Championships
Netball / Urdd Competition
Netball / Bishopston League
Tennis / Regional Competition
Tennis / National Final
Swimming / West Glamorgan Swimming Champions
Athletics / Winter league, Summer league, County Championships
Football / New Directions Tournament – Boys and Girls
Football / Regional Tournament – Swansea City – Boys
Football / Swansea Junior School Leagues – Boys and Girls
Football / Swansea Junior School Cup – Boys
Football / Urdd competition Swansea Area winners
15. National Curriculum Assessments and Comparators