Our prospectus Eastgate Academy Actual.indd 1
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Contents 4 6 9 10 14 16 18 20 26 27
Welcome Academy history Ethos and aims Teaching and Learning Community Academy times and dates Uniform Facilities Policies and procedures Local governing body
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Welcome Eastgate Academy opened in April 2014 and is sponsored by the CWA Academy Trust. Our academy is very much part of the local community in King’s Lynn and being part of the CWA Academy Trust builds on this. We have high aspirations for all our pupils and aim to provide a stimulating and challenging environment where children can excel. Every child that comes to us brings something special to our community. We welcome everyone and do our utmost to support both pupils and their families. Our door is always open and we actively encourage families to be involved in academy life. This prospectus will give you a good idea of what our academy is like. You can also find more detailed information on our website eastgateacademy.co.uk Linda Hothersall Principal
CWA Academy Trust is a multi-academy trust founded by the College of West Anglia, an established high quality provider of education with campuses in Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. Our family of academies helps us fulfil our desire to establish a vibrant education system that inspires young people and supports economic development of the region. As a successful education provider we believe we can contribute to all phases of education within our local community, including primary, focussing on raising standards and improving transition and progression for every child. Like all strong families, the CWA Academy Trust family of academies seeks to offer mutual support to one another, develop shared learning and understanding, collaborate to achieve better outcomes, recognise unique qualities and differences, be positive and aspirational, focus on the successes of individuals and develop a culture of healthy competition. David Pomfret Chief Executive CWA Academy Trust
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Academy history Launched in 1911 as St. James, the original school building burnt down and was rebuilt, splitting into St. James Boys and St. James Girls infant schools in the 1960s. In the 1980s the schools merged to form Eastgate Community Primary School, educating up to 270 pupils with a main catchment area of the North Lynn area of King’s Lynn. In April 2014 the school was the second primary education member to join the CWA Academy Trust and was renamed Eastgate Academy. We are proud of our academy and stand by our ethos of “one team, learning and growing together.”
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Ethos and aims
Statement of intent
I would like to be the best that I can be A happy, confident and caring person Who is content to be me I want to love learning And be inspired to learn for life To discover and develop my interests and talents And be ready to use them for the benefit of others I will treat others as I would wish to be treated With kindness and respect For the uniqueness of each person I will care about the environment And my place in the world around me I will know that with rights come responsibilities And I will always be proud to have been at our academy I want to be ready to take on new challenges and opportunities And continue to make a difference Our vision is “Learning Community Driving Excellence”. Through this we want to ensure that Eastgate Academy offers the highest standards of education. We will do this by: • Sustaining and developing an environment where every child matters • Driving up academic standards to exceed national levels • The pupil voice leading change and informing improvement • Promoting inspirational teaching, challenging lessons and independent learners • Facilitating staff development through mentoring and coaching to achieve excellence • Delivering an outstanding curriculum that inspires and engages • Engaging parents and carers to raise aspirations within our local community • Having a sense of pride within our academy community Our aim is to be an outstanding academy changing lives through learning.
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Teaching and learning Our curriculum
Our aim is to provide a personalised education for every pupil, based on individual needs and aspirations, focusing on ability and not age. To do this, we offer a curriculum that: • Is engaging, relevant and challenging • Encourages creativity, problem solving and risk taking • Develops highly confident, independent learners • Focuses on the development of literacy and maths • Encourages students and teachers to be enterprising and explore new technologies • Readily provides for meaningful progression to further study • Is coherent through the key stages and supports transition • Supports personal growth, development and good behaviour • Enables pupils to develop a view of the wider world and take pride in their place in it We want our pupils to be at the centre of their own learning and we actively encourage them to challenge themselves and have the confidence to try new things. All our pupils have their own targets and know what they need to do to achieve them. In marked work, they are given guidance on their next steps so they can move forward. With around 270 pupils aged from 4 to 11 years old, the academy has nine classes, three Infant classes and six junior classes. We have an intake of thirty children into reception each year who stay with their classmates throughout their time at Eastgate Academy. In Year 3 we have approximately 15 pupils from Highgate Infant School join us, so we have around 45 pupils in the year group. In Years 3 and 4 we have one class of Year 3s, one class of Year 4s, and a mixed class of Years 3 and 4. This structure is the same in Years 5 and 6 and enables us to provide additional support to the class with the mixed year group. Our timetable includes key times of day where lessons focus on maths and literacy but also allows for study of topics where all the pupils’ skills are used. All classes have a physical education lesson each week and pupils have the opportunity to try different sports such as fencing and archery.
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Swimming lessons start when pupils reach the junior classes and, where possible, we also offer top up lessons for Year 6 pupils to ensure they are able to swim at least 25 metres before leaving Eastgate. We encourage all pupils in music and have whole academy singing sessions. The academy also regularly resounds to the sound of djembe drums as each of the junior classes gets an opportunity to learn to play them. We try to make the most up-to-date information technology equipment available, which our pupils use in lessons. Digital leaders are pupils who have been appointed to help try new software for use in the academy and who go into classes and work with other pupils. We have introduced a phonics-based system across the academy, which provides accelerated progress in reading and writing. This extends into other areas of the curriculum so that pupils apply these skills in their topic areas. An important part of academy life is the trips which link to topic areas. Our trips have included going on the London Eye, visiting the London Aquarium, Cadbury World, Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse and trips to the beach, the Royal Norfolk Show and Banham Zoo. In Key Stage 2 we offer a week-long residential trip to either Cheddar Gorge, York or Cumbria.
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The academy and home We want parents and carers to be actively involved in the learning journey of our pupils and encourage a two-way dialogue between home and the academy. Teachers are available at the beginning and end of the day for parents to talk to. We hold parents evenings to keep you up-to-date on the progress of your children and run sessions on specific areas of learning so that you can help support children at home. Parents are invited to come in to weekly assemblies where we celebrate our stars of the week and citizen awards, and also to special assemblies where the children show what they have been studying during the term.
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Community
Our local community Being part of the community is very important to us and we have built strong links with local people, businesses and other schools/nurseries. We have good links with local nurseries, infant and high schools to ensure that transition between the different phases of education goes smoothly for all our pupils. Businesses have generously supported us by providing opportunities for pupils to try new things such as tasting Indian food. We have end of term attendance prizes, which are sponsored by two local businesses. We regularly have visitors to the academy such as the local fire crew, police officers and authors who tell us about what they do. We also take part in local activities such as the raising of the flag on Armed Forces Day and Christingle services at the local church. Our pupils have taken part in public speaking competitions in King’s Lynn and our choir has sung in local carol services.
Our academy community We aim to promote a sense of community within the academy so that the pupils will help and support each other. Through restorative practices, they are able to express their thoughts and feelings and take responsibility for resolving problems. Each week our older pupils work with the infants to help them write up their learning journey for the week. The older pupils take on jobs within the academy such as librarians, digital leaders and register monitors. Parents, local people and businesses support us in fundraising activities through the Friends of Eastgate. We hold Christmas fairs and summer fetes, bingo, quiz nights and many other events. The two learning catalysts in our academy work with parents to raise aspirations for their children’s future. There are regular events where parents take part in activities with their children, such as making a bear or art club. We have a bank of parent readers that come into the academy to support the pupils in learning to read – part of this includes the parents doing some training. We believe we are one team, learning and growing together!
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Academy times and dates In order to make sure that Key Stage 2 pupils receive the recommended teaching time and to accommodate all pupils during lunch time, hours for infants (Foundation and Key Stage 1) and juniors (Key Stage 2) are different. The day is structured as follows: Infants Morning session Lunchtime Afternoon session
8.45am - 11.45am 11.45am - 12.30pm 12.30pm - 3.05pm
Juniors - Lower Key Stage 2 (Years 3 and 4) Morning session Lunchtime Afternoon session
8.45am - 12.15pm 12.15pm - 1.00pm 1.00pm - 3.10pm
Juniors - Upper Key Stage 2 (Years 5 and 6) Morning session Lunchtime Afternoon session
8.45 am - 12.30pm 12.30pm - 1.15pm 1.15pm - 3.10pm
Infants have breaks of 15 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes in the afternoon. Juniors have a break each morning of 15 minutes. Term dates can be found at eastgateacademy.co.uk/term-dates
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Uniform At Eastgate Academy our uniform is formal, clearly defined and we expect all pupils to wear it correctly with pride. All pupils should wear the appropriate uniform unless there is a valid medical or cultural reason why they cannot wear a particular item or why they have to wear an additional garment. For more information on our uniform please visit eastgateacademy.co.uk
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Facilities Our academy is located in the centre of King’s Lynn and we have playgrounds and a field on-site. Our reception building was purpose built with a secure outdoor play area. We have incorporated an outdoor play area for our Year 1 class and have developed the infants’ playground with play equipment and garden areas. We have a science garden, which includes a greenhouse, planting beds and even a pond, which has been very popular. Inside we have two halls which are used for assemblies, PE, lunches and many other activities as part of academy life. We have a well-stocked library, which the pupils run under the direction of our school librarian and a resource room for all our reading schemes and story sacks. All the infant classes have access to computers and we have laptops and some learnpads in the junior classes. Each class has an interactive whiteboard to aid learning. Our site manager has also developed a menagerie of animals which started with chickens and now includes finches, budgies, quails and canaries. Next came the guinea pigs and finally the chipmunks. The pupils have seen baby guinea pigs that have only just been born and each week some pupils help to change the water and feed all the animals. Our Year 6 pupils have taken a special interest in looking after the guinea pigs which now proudly sport hi-vis jackets when they are taken for a walk on their leads!
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Activities We feel that an important part of academy life is the opportunity to try out different things. We want to encourage pupils to do this and offer various clubs free of charge. The clubs vary from term to term depending on the season and have included: Archery Art skills Choir Computer club Cookery Drama Football Glee club Guitar Kwik cricket Maths booster Mini sports Netball Reading Stamp collecting Each year we take 45 of the older pupils on a residential trip to different parts of the country, we have been to Cumbria, Salisbury and York. Each time they have had the opportunity to experience history, geography and activities they would not normally have at home. A particular highlight is Cumbria with the fells and waterfalls providing a completely different landscape to Norfolk. Our learning catalysts often organise activities for parents both to work with their children and for parents themselves. These have included literacy skills, supporting children learning to read, budget management, jewellery making, love food hate waste, food taster sessions, build a bear workshop, pottery and story sack workshop.
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Wellbeing The pupils are at the heart of what we do at Eastgate Academy, we want them to be happy, healthy and ready to learn. We are a restorative practices academy which means pupils are encouraged to share their thoughts and feelings so they have a better understanding of how to support each other. This has proved a very powerful means of improving behaviour as they take ownership for resolving conflict but know when to seek support from staff as well. We also have a family support manager whose door is always open to pupils and families. We promote an ethos of caring so that pupils learn to care for each other both in learning and in play. Our older pupils work with the younger ones on a weekly basis to help them write their learning journeys. Our academy council play a big part in the life of the academy and the pupilelected representatives are consulted on a variety of things connected with academy life.
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Policies and procedures For more information on policies and procedures please visit eastgateacademy.co.uk
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Local governing body The purpose of the governing body is to work with the academy on planning, developing policies and keeping the academy under review so that all learners achieve their full potential. For more information about the governing body please visit eastgateacademy.co.uk
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Littleport Terrace King’s Lynn Norfolk PE30 1QA T 01553 773088 F 01553 773370 E office@eastgateacademy.co.uk eastgateacademy.co.uk
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