An Overview of Wareside C of E Primary School

The original schoolroom, currently our Foundation Stage Unit, was built by the Church of England in the middle of the nineteenth century.  Over the years additional buildings and rooms have been added to create our current school buildings.  Wareside became a Voluntary Controlled School in 1951, meaning that we are funded by Hertfordshire County Council but that we are linked to St Albans Diocese.  We also have close links with the village church, Holy Trinity, and attend services for Harvest, Christmas and Easter as well as a Leavers' Service in the Summer Term.

Our small school, set in large, beautiful grounds on the outskirts of the village, is well resourced and maintained.  We have recently added an orchard to our school field, to create a wooded area where we can develop Outdoor Education.  Currently, our Friends are fundraising to turn a wasted part of the field into a Science Garden and Wildlife Habitat with a pond.  

We believe the size of our school to be one of our strengths.  The school’s small size means that the staff know the children extremely well and are able to cater for their individual needs.  We also have the time to develop close relationships with parents.

Special Educational Needs

At Wareside we welcome all children, ensuring the lessons and activities we plan are inclusive.  Our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Policy, School Information Report and Accessibility Plan clearly state our intentions when working with pupils with SEND.  Our experienced team has a wide range of knowledge and skills to ensure all pupils reach the best of their ability and are supported according to individual needs. 

Admissions

If you are interested in sending your child to Wareside, please contact the school to arrange a visit.  We welcome the opportunity to take you on a school tour and discuss our ethos and vision with you, so that you can decide if we are the right school for you.  As a voluntary-controlled school, our school admissions (Reception to Year 6) are regulated by Hertfordshire County Council and you will need to contact the local authority to apply for a school place and to find out more about our admission arrangements.

For admission to Nursery, please refer to our Nursery Admission Arrangements and use our application form (links in the orange box to the right/below).

To ensure successful learning, we developed an inspiring curriculum to engage all learners and offer challenging and stimulating lessons. Due to the size our school, our two Key Stage 1 classes are taught together and so we created a 2 year rolling programme to ensure all elements in every subject were covered. Likewise in Key Stage 2, where all four year groups work together, we designed a four year rolling programme. This year we are working on programme D.

Our Creative Curriculum encourages pupil participation and active learning: involving the children in the planning process; including their ideas into the sequence of learning and using their questions as the Key Questions of the lessons. Children choose topics that interest them and become the ‘experts’ and share their knowledge. We enhance our Creative Curriculum with WOW events or WOW days as a ‘hook’ to learning, a way in which to excite and motive. For example, we have had a “mystery beach scene with a VW Campervan’ appearing in our playground as a stimulus for a week of writing. 

Home School Learning is encouraged at Wareside and we continue to strive for engagement and interest through Creative Homework. a focus or a key topic word is sent home and the children choose how to present their work. Pupils and parents/carers work together to: make models, write plant diaries, make maths games, keep a learning log and many other things which are then displayed in the school for all to see in our Open Afternoons. Pupils, Parents and staff enjoy the opportunity to talk about the learning that has happened, share ideas and experiences. 

To help the children develop a sense of personal worth, self-confidence and to become a citizen for the future, our lessons promote the social, moral, spiritual and cultural (SMSC) development of the child and are underpinned by our School Christian Values of Faith, Love, Courage and Patience as well as the British Values: Democracy; Rule of Law; Individual Liberty; Mutual Respect and Tolerance of Different Faiths & Beliefs.

We currently offer extra-curricular activities such as a Dance Club, Football club and Change for Life club.

Primary School’s Sports Funding

Click here for the Department of Education link to the Primary School’s Sports Funding page.

What is the Sports Premium?

The government has been providing funding of £150 million per annum towards new and substantial investment in primary school sport.  The funding is being jointly provided by the Departments for Education, Health and Culture, Media and Sport, and has seen money going directly to primary school headteachers to spend on improving the quality of sport and PE for all their children.  The money can only be spent on sport, PE provision and related resources in schools.

When the scheme started, each school received £8,000 plus an extra £5 per pupil.  In the academic year 2017-18, the Sports Premium has been doubled.  (And this doubled figure has also been confirmed for 2018-19.)  For us at Wareside, this has meant that our premium for 2017-18 is £16,350 and will be broadly the same next year (£16,000 plus £5 per pupil).

Purpose of the funding

Schools will have to spend the sport funding on improving their provision of PE and sport, but they will have the freedom to choose how they do this.
Possible uses of the funding include:

•  Hiring specialist PE teachers or qualified sports coaches to work alongside primary teachers when teaching PE
•  New or additional Change4Life sport clubs
•  Paying for professional development opportunities in PE/sport
•  Providing cover to release primary teachers for professional development in PE/sport
•  Running sport competitions, or increasing participation in the school games
•  Buying quality assured professional development modules or material for PE/sport

At Wareside C of E Primary School we recognise the contribution of PE to the health and well-being of the children.  In addition, it is considered that an innovative and varied PE curriculum and extra-curricular opportunities have a positive influence on the concentration, attitude and academic achievement of all children.

We believe that the money must be used so that all children benefit regardless of their sporting ability.  It is important that we use this money wisely.  We will continue to place a high priority on our PE provision and, as such, have invested in additional staffing/coaching and resources to further enhance the curriculum.

Our Sports Funding allocation will enable us to continue and extend our provision through entering into more competitive sports competitions, improving our assessment opportunities and by training our staff to deliver in-house quality PE sessions.

Physical Literacy: All children benefit and are educated about physical literacy, regardless of their social, cultural and economic background or sporting ability.  The pupils will be educated about physical fitness, promoting healthy and active lifestyles and looking after their mental well-being: at Wareside we care for the whole child.