Shaping Stars of Today for Tomorrow
WELCOME I feel an enormous sense of privilege in having the opportunity to lead Starbank School. Starbank is a hugely exciting place to be. It is a school that is committed to achieving the highest quality learning experience for all of our students where there is the drive to achieving the best possible outcomes for all. An environment where our students are taught to think by teachers who inspire them, where individuals are valued and helped to achieve their personal best. Crucial to our success is the unlocking of personal as well as academic potential to grow character and a core set of values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviours. Our standards are high and our expectations clear; as such we pride ourselves on making a difference to the lives of our young people. The aim for every student at Starbank is to have the highest regard for learning and an unwavering belief that by challenging themselves, they can be the best that they can be. Our vision ‘Shaping Stars of Today for Tomorrow’ encourages high expectations where every student can reach their potential, strive for success and embrace limitless opportunities. Satnam Dosanjh Executive Headteacher
www.starbankschool.co.uk
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Starbank 0121 464 2638 | Hob Moor 0121 464 8412 | Bierton 0121 464 0751
OUR VISION At Starbank, we aim to open new horizons and share possibilities to enable each young person to create their individual life journey. This is made possible by the entire school community living by our set core values; Integrity, Resilience, Aspiration, Innovation and Respect.
OUR MISSION Starbank is a happy and friendly school. We aim to provide an excellent education for our students, focused on learning and raising achievement in an environment where fairness, justice and equality are embedded throughout the school community. At Starbank we work hard to build trusting relationships with all students and families to ensure their engagement and enjoyment in every aspect of school life. We believe that the environment we offer plays a crucial part in developing all our students into happy, healthy, safe and motivated learners.
www.starbankschool.co.uk
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A DEDICATION TO LEARNING At Starbank our aim is to develop our students into well-rounded, happy and conďŹ dent individuals, each well-equipped with the necessary skills and mental exibility to adapt positively to a range of challenges within the school and the wider community. This is achieved by providing learning opportunities that allow them to: problem solve, develop interpersonal skills and become versatile and resilient, key life skills that will ensure success. The combination of academic rigour and a rich range of activities broadens horizons and opens doors. Throughout their school journey we have pastoral systems in place to cater for emotional and social well-being; as a result, our students enjoy coming to school.
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Starbank 0121 464 2638 | Hob Moor 0121 464 8412 | Bierton 0121 464 0751
BRITISH VALUES AND SMSC
SPIRITUAL, MORAL, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENTENT Starbank’s strong school ethos nurtures a regard for people of all faiths, races and cultures, where all are shown respect and appreciation. Collective worship, our school values and a broad and balanced curriculum promote students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, actively promoting fundamental British values. Students are taught to distinguish right from wrong and to accept responsibility for their behaviour. Experiences inside and outside the classroom and adults role modelling effective community links, teach students to contribute positively to the lives of the local community and wider society. Through our School Council, Arts Council and School Parliament, students gain an understanding of how citizens can influence decision-making through a democratic process and to respect the civil and criminal law in England. Starbank is committed to celebrating diversity, teaching our students about the freedom to choose and hold different faiths and beliefs, and identifying and combatting potential discrimination.
www.starbankschool.co.uk
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Starbank 0121 464 2638 | Hob Moor 0121 464 8412 | Bierton 0121 464 0751
EYFS CURRICULUM In the Foundation Stage at Starbank School, students learn through a play based approach. Teachers plan learning which meets the individual interests and needs of our students. ‘Themes’ are not pre-planned. Classes and groups of students follow and develop their own interests and projects allowing involvement and engagement at a deeper level. Learning takes place both indoors and outdoors where students are encouraged to access both learning environments on a daily basis. Activities include:
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Adult led - focused, planned learning
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Adult initiated - open ended tasks that promote student discussion
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Child initiated - students take the lead for their own learning.
The place of ‘Learning through Play’ is valued at Starbank School and the students are given uninterrupted lengths of time throughout the day to play and follow their own ideas and fascinations. During play, students learn to collaborate, share, develop their problem solving skills and develop their social, personal and emotional skills.
“Each site is an outstanding primary school in its own right. However, the three are separate parts of one, exceptional, school.” Ofsted 2018
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LEARNING THROUGH PLAY At Starbank School we promote students to become active learners - in the Foundation Stage we therefore develop students sustained shared thinking. In planning and guiding children’s activities we reflect on the different ways that students learn. The characteristics of effective teaching and learning are:
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Playing and exploring – students investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’
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Active learning – students concentrate and persevere if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements
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Creating and thinking critically – students develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things. All staff reflect daily on the learning that has taken place by the students and this is documented in the EYFS Reflection books. Through student observations, staff plan their next steps in learning. Students learning is documented through notes and photographs.
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Starbank 0121 464 2638 | Hob Moor 0121 464 8412 | Bierton 0121 464 0751
PRIMARY CURRICULUM ENGLISH High-quality and rich texts underpin our English curriculum and are at the heart of nurturing a love for reading in our students which helps us to create purposeful writers. Through language and literature, we value and celebrate diversity and encourage students to develop knowledge of themselves and the world in which they live. The curriculum design nurtures students who read easily, fluently and with enjoyment and depth of understanding. Students also progress into effective, not formulaic writers as they learn about how writers use language and words to impact on the reader, using them as models for their own writing.
MATHS Through our inspiring Maths curriculum we aim to develop our students as mathematicians who are fluent in their understanding of number and are able to independently apply skills to solve rich and varied problems. Maths lessons are active and ‘hands-on’, with students across school working with concrete apparatus and images to represent mathematical structures and develop a solid understanding of concepts. Mathematical talk is encouraged and students learn to explain their thinking and reason mathematically to a high degree.
www.starbankschool.co.uk
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Starbank 0121 464 2638 | Hob Moor 0121 464 8412 | Bierton 0121 464 0751
THE ARTS AT STARBANK At Starbank we believe in innovation and allowing our staff and students opportunities to add their own creative flair to projects and curriculum planning. Our student Art Councillors have become important voices to help us evaluate, plan and shape our art offer. Trained Arts Award staff lead students through various Arts Awards allowing them to appreciate and admire works of art. Starbank has formed many creative partnerships, allowing students to experience working with some talented practitioners or with a large established company. Opportunities with a ‘wow’ factor such as performing on a stage at a prestigious theatre, creating our own opera with the Welsh National Opera, a flash mob dance linked to Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty, photography and architectural projects and many more, are just a few of the opportunities our students have enjoyed. Our Arts offer is further enhanced by Rocket Radio and iStar TV providing opportunities for our students to present, edit or produce a radio or television show which is aired live. Our extensive music programme encourages students to learn to play an instrument in Year 4, 5 and 6, sing to their hearts content in singing lessons, master and record musical pieces in our studios and become a thespian by performing in our theatre space. In striving to improve provision we are the proud recipients of Artsmark Silver status.
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“Pupils are well prepared for the transition to the secondary phase by the end of Year 6. Staff know pupils very well by this point. This means that no time is wasted at the beginning of Year 7.� Ofsted 2018 14
Starbank 0121 464 2638 | Hob Moor 0121 464 8412 | Bierton 0121 464 0751
PRIMARY ENRICHMENT LEARNING OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
At Starbank, we believe that every young child should experience the world beyond the classroom as an essential part of learning and personal development. We want to enrich students’ lives and open their eyes and minds to new experiences, to help them gain new skills, develop talents and seek out new interests and hobbies. We do this by providing a diverse range of activities, trips and guest speakers. Field trips, residential visits to outdoor adventure centres, theatre workshops and visits to heritage sites, museums, galleries, places of worship, farms and live music events are established parts of the extra-curricular life of the school. Students participate in a variety of sporting events, cultural and arts festivals and are involved in local volunteering projects. Each year, we regularly and successfully organise a range of charitable, fund raising events, generously supported by our students and their families.
A SMOOTH TRANSITION FROM PRIMARY TO SECONDARY
Being an all-through school for children aged from 3-16, we understand better than most how worrying the move from primary school to secondary school can be for parents and students. A good transition starts early. For our primary students the transition process often begins as early as Year 5, with students attending taster days within the secondary setting. In Year 6, students are often taught subjects like PE, computing and languages by secondary teachers and are provided opportunities to benefit from using specialist facilities. As a result, our primary students begin Year 7 with an established group of friends, and are familiar with the environment and many of the teachers. We also have dedicated senior leaders and teachers who work across both the primary and secondary elements. Staff therefore have an understanding of students’ previous achievements, so will build lessons and programmes of study designed to inspire, challenge and motivate. Transition at Starbank is subsequently worry free, happy and enjoyable for all of our students.
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KS3 CURRICULUM Building from the firm foundation of knowledge and learning developed through our primary provision, the function and purpose of our KS3 curriculum is to provide opportunities for students to explore discrete subject areas in greater depth and sophistication than they will have previously experienced. Delivered exclusively by subject specialists, our KS3 provision grants opportunity to both flourish and grow as a learner by overcoming greater challenges, but also to experiment with a broad range of academic fields, for students to reflect on what they enjoy, what challenges them and what they wish to pursue into GCSE. Further enrichment experiences are provided through the extra-curricular offer of each department, granting space for students to explore areas of study outside the pressures of a formally examined curriculum.
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Starbank 0121 464 2638 | Hob Moor 0121 464 8412 | Bierton 0121 464 0751
KS4 CURRICULUM Commencing in Year 9, to allow a greater depth of study over time, our KS4 provision sets greater challenges through the delivery of GCSE and BTEC courses over three years, rather than the more typical two. The additional year encourages a more mature outlook from our students and provides opportunity for expert teachers to enrich subject content and foster a passion for the subject, as well as preparing for the formal public examinations at the end of Year 11. All students are initially entered in the EBACC qualification through compulsory subjects (Maths, English, Science, MFL and either Geography or History) and through a choice of two further GSCE options from a wide range of choices. Supported through academic and pastoral mentoring systems and additional ‘more curricular’ tutoring, our KS4 students engage in an extensive programme of Post-16 preparation to ensure that when their Starbank journey draws to an end, they are fully equipped to succeed at whatever the next stage in their life may bring.
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ENRICHMENT
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATHS (STEM) Our enriching STEM curriculum and extensive, state of the art facilities allow us to stimulate our students’ interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics by demonstrating how the modern world of innovation and discovery relies on the combined application of all four subjects. This has been driven by the need to ensure that young people gain the skills and aspirations essential for building the UK’s economy and to help them participate in a society in which science and technology are increasingly important. Through an engaging and creative curriculum, Starbank thrives on fostering our students’ curiosity and inquiring minds about the wonders of the outside world.
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Starbank 0121 464 2638 | Hob Moor 0121 464 8412 | Bierton 0121 464 0751
WIDE HORIZONS Universities, colleges and employers are interested in ‘rounded’ students with the initiative and personal skills to face the modern world. With this in mind, we encourage our students to value the importance of creatively expressing themselves in a range of situations and settings. From performance to sports, to photography and university challenges we pride ourselves on the wealth of enrichment experiences that we offer. We have formed an established link with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Old Rep Theatre where a number of our secondary students have become established thespians in their own right, having been part of our annual collaboration with the Shakespeare Schools Festival, producing and performing a Shakespeare play. We believe education is broader than the walls of a classroom and explore every opportunity for learning in different settings. What better way to develop a love of language and culture than to embrace it through a residential trip to Spain? Such experiences grant students an understanding and appreciation of learning through real-life immersion - a direct application of learning outside of the traditional setting. Our enrichment opportunities are available to every students. All subjects contribute to helping our students instil a true sense of ‘wide horizons’.
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SPORTING SUCCESS We provide an engaging and stimulating secondary physical education programme that not only promotes a healthy lifestyle but also teaches our students core values of team-work, collaboration and co-operation.
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Starbank 0121 464 2638 | Hob Moor 0121 464 8412 | Bierton 0121 464 0751
CAREERS DEVELOPMENT ACHIEVING POST-16 SUCCESS
Starbank has a dedicated team and carefully tailored systems to ensure all of our students receive the right advice and guidance to make informed future choices at Post-16 and beyond. From Year 7 onwards all students engage in lessons on themes of economic and personal finance as part of our Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education. GCSE option choices, made in Year 8, are completed through 1:1 interviews with school leaders, to ensure that students’ selection of courses will empower and enable them to access their Post-16 options of choice and that all selected qualifications are relevant to their intended career path. All students further participate in work experience during Year 9, to get a flavour of life outside of school in a genuine working environment; a wonderful motivator for future GCSE focus. This process includes 1:1 interviews with external business leaders and the preparation of a CV as part of their ‘application’, maintaining positive working links with local employers as part of our Gatsby Benchmark provision. In Year 10 all students research Post-16 colleges and write an individual Future Choice plan, identifying their target destinations and what is required of them for entry. This includes enrichment visits to colleges and universities to contextualise option locations and create a sense of purpose to their efforts.
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FAMILY AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT We believe that the engagement of parents, families and community members in the education of our students creates a positive bond between the home and the school and therefore is an important component for student success. Our Family and Community Engagement team have high energy levels and are innovative in their approach to engagement. As a result they received the Good Citizen Award in 2016 and the Chief Constable Award in 2017 from the West Midlands Police for Outstanding Community Engagement. A range of advice clinics, awareness workshops, learning opportunities, competitions, events, visits and new experiences are organised for our families throughout the year.
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Starbank 0121 464 2638 | Hob Moor 0121 464 8412 | Bierton 0121 464 0751
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Shaping Stars of Today for Tomorrow Starbank Road B10 9LR 0121 464 2638
Hob Moor Road B10 9BT 0121 464 8412
Bierton Road B25 8PY 0121 464 0751