Essendon Church of England (VC) Primary School Information Pack

Essendon
Church of England (VC)
   Primary School
  Information Pack

Introduction
Essendon School is a successful school, we are small and friendly and very proud of
the happy, caring environment our children learn in. We have an excellent reputation
in the local community and very strong links with St. Mary’s Church in Essendon.

The school currently has approximately 110 pupils on role who come from
Essendon, the surrounding villages of Little Berkhamsted, Woodside, and Wild Hill,
as well as further afield from the towns of Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City, Potters Bar,
Brookmans Park, Welwyn Green and Hertford.

Essendon School is a Voluntary Controlled Church of England School.

Aims and Values
Essendon School is a place where everyone is respected as a member of our
community irrespective of ethnicity or creed. Everyone is part of a team, which
works towards excellence in all that it does.

We aim to:

   •   Provide the best possible all round education with a broad and balanced
       curriculum within a caring Christian community.
   •   Meet the needs of all pupils, so they may realise their full potential.
   •   Create a secure and stimulating environment where pupils can develop
       enquiring minds together with the enthusiasm to learn within and beyond the
       classroom.
   •   Foster the development of a positive self-image, independence and
       responsibility through self-respect, self-confidence and self-discipline.
   •   Enable pupils to become aware of their own feelings and to be sensitive to
       the feelings and the needs of others.
   •   Develop a concern for all living things and for the environment both inside
       and outside the school.
   •   Seek to develop self-motivated and caring young people who will find their
       place in the wider community and have a practical concern for its welfare in
       both a local and wider setting.
   •   Provide a curriculum of breadth and balance for all the children in our care
       regardless of ability, gender, race or creed.
   •   Enable the school to be a joyful part of children’s’ lives with all learning
       having purpose and meaning.

We encourage maximum participation by members of the community in the use of
our facilities and the wider social life of the school.

The School Premises
Essendon School was first established in the 19th century and our current building
was opened in 1948. Essendon School was one of the first schools to be opened
post second world war and was constructed from an experimental design. The
building itself is now of historical interest and it was listed as a Grade II building in
1993.

Internally the school is bright and spacious with four large classrooms and an
additional small open plan teaching area. The classrooms are light and airy with
large windows overlooking the school grounds and the countryside beyond. The
school has a large hall with a generous stage area which is well utilised for school
and outside activities. A wireless network was installed in the school in 2004 and we
have a small open plan computer suite. The school has a large, well-appointed
kitchen and a substantial well-cooked meal is prepared each day in the school by
Hertfordshire Catering.

The school has spacious grounds with views over the surrounding countryside. We
have excellent playing field provision with a five a side football pitch and a netball
court. Teams regularly represent the school at football, cricket, lacrosse, rounders at
netball.

Essendon School shares its site with a Children’s Centre, which was built in 2011
and is operated by Hertfordshire YMCA.

Organisation of the School
The school is organised into four vertically grouped classes:

Pre-nursery/Nursery/Reception          (Foundation Stage)      Pantherswood
Year 1 and Year 2                      (Key Stage 1)           Homewood
Year 3 and Year 4                      (Key Stage 2)           Warrenwood
Year 5 and Year 6                      (Key Stage 2)           Harefield

Our Foundation Stage class, Pantherswood, caters for nursery and reception age
children. Children may enter the pre-nursery in the term following their third
birthday – they attend for five afternoons from 12.15pm with a packed lunch.
Children whose fourth birthdays fall between September and February start five
mornings at the start of the school year. If their fourth birthday is between March
and August then they may start five mornings in the January. Children whose
birthdays fall between September and February start full-time school at the start of
the academic year; those whose birthdays fall between March and August begin
full-time school in January.

Links with the Church
Essendon School is a Church of England (VC) School and has very strong ties with
the local church, St Mary’s Church, Essendon, and with the Diocese of St Albans.
Revd. Pauline Higham is our local vicar and also a governor of the school. Revd.
Pauline is our SEND governor; she also leads an assembly in school each week. We
have an informal service at the end of each term in the church and we regularly use
the church and churchyard as a teaching resource throughout the year.

Ofsted
Ofsted last inspected the school in October 2009.

Here are some of their findings:

   •   Essendon is a good school.
   •   It provides pupils with a good quality education within a warm and very
       caring family style environment.
   •   Pupils arrive with huge smiles.
   •   Children thrive from their arrival in the nursery.
   •   Pupils flourish academically and personally.
   •   Parents value the good quality of care provided.
   •   Pupils love their school and say that learning is fun.
   •   Pupils meet with considerable success in sport.
   •   Understanding of healthy lifestyles is outstanding.
   •   In lessons there is a lively pace and questions challenge pupils’ thinking
       based on high expectations of what pupils can and will achieve.
   •   Staff cherishes all pupils and their families.

Since our last Ofsted inspection Essendon School has been working hard in areas
that both the school and Ofsted identified for improvement. In September 2011,
Essendon we enrolled on Hertfordshire County Council’s Good to Outstanding
program for small schools. This provided us with a wealth of new initiatives, which
are helping us take our school from strength to strength.

What the Children Say

                              “Our school is cool”

“If you come to Essendon you will not get bullied. It is a
friendly school. The dinners are fantastic. People will make
friends straight away. We have 2 sport captains and school
captains. Sport captains have to do stuff for the school like
clearing the sports cupboard out and school captains show
people around the school and are polite to them. We are never
rude to any people. The teachers care for people when you fall
over. Mrs Barden is a kind and caring secretary for the school
and looks after you when you feel poorly or fall over.”

“We have all sorts of lessons including Physical Education and
enjoyable art.”

“We have a well playing netball team and football team we play
different schools in different matches. After school we have
some clubs which are Netball, Football, Textiles, Chess,
Sewing, Construction and Gardening.”

“Our cooks Sharon and Christy cook interesting lunches. On
Fridays and Mondays we have fun lunches such as pizza and
chips with a pudding which is fruit or cake, jelly or ice cream.
We have fruit and salad every day. Sharon makes her own
bread, they are the best school dinners ever.”

“Our school has 3 teams for sports day, Red, Yellow and Blue.”

“Outside we have some apparatus and a balcony for Year 6.”

“Every Friday we have certificates.”

“We have the Reverend Pauline who comes Tuesday in our
assembly to teach us about God and Jesus.”

“We have two school captains and two sports captains.”

“We have a sports cupboard with all of our sports gear in it so
when we do P.E what we need we can find in there. Each class
goes swimming during the year.”

“The teachers are fun in all the classes. It's a small school but
it has lots of facilities we have loads of computers, colourful
classrooms, interesting display boards and we can have school
dinners or packed lunches.”

“Our playground has lots of activities such as football, netball,
basketball, wooden apparatus, quiet area, hoops and the
younger children have their own play area. We have Play
Leaders at lunchtimes who are responsible for all our play
equipment and we have different things to do all the time.”

“We have after school clubs like textiles, chess, playground
games, gardening, construction, football, netball and the
children are very helpful and friendly and because it's a small
school we all are friends. Each morning we have an assembly.
Reverend Pauline is really nice and we see her in church at our
end of term service.”

“We also go swimming and go on school trips.”

“We do a play every Christmas, everyone has a part and it's
really good fun. We have held music evenings in the summer as
well.”

“The Japanese garden at the front of the school looks
marvellous. Some money was given to the school from the
Essendon golf club and the parents created it with our help.”

“The head teacher is a really busy man his name is called Mr.
Woodhouse.”

For more information about our school please visit our website at
www.essendon.herts.sch.uk

We always warmly extend an invitation to visit, please call Mrs. Paula Barden in the
school office on 01707 261209 to arrange.