St. John’s Middle School A Church of England Academy
Welcome I would like to sincerely welcome you to St. John’s Church of England Middle School. I hope you find our prospectus informative and helpful and that it gives you an accurate insight into all aspects of the life of our school. St. John’s is an excellent school which offers the children a warm, vibrant, lively, and safe learning environment where they can grow in to confident young people, having developed their full potential during their four years at our school. The school fosters an ethos of personal achievement, responsibility, leadership and mutual respect for all members of our community. We are very proud of our pupils who show a maturity and responsibility above and beyond their years. They are polite, happy, and show a love of learning. Our staff are totally committed to offering the children every opportunity to enable them to develop both academically and socially. The plethora of enrichment and after-school activities and clubs is testament to this commitment. Academically, our school achieves excellent results in terms of both progress and attainment, this was validated by Ofsted in March 2012 when the school received a judgement of outstanding in all categories. The school has first-rate facilities including a gymnasium, two I.C.T. suites, three Art and Technology rooms, a music suite and two science laboratories. These are used as part of everyday curriculum studies but also for the
vast array of extra-curricular activities available for the children. We have a school orchestra, choir, rock band, an abundance of sports clubs and activities such as Yoga Club, Eco Club, I.C.T. Club and Drama Club for those children who are not so keen on sport. We are a church school and are extremely proud of the strong links we have with our local church and the caring Christian environment we endeavour to nurture at St. John’s, we also attained a judgement of ‘outstanding’ for our Church Ofsted in June 2012. We encourage a close partnership with parents, as it is only by working together that we will achieve the best possible outcomes for our children. Since gaining outstanding we have continued to move forward. We achieved Academy status in February 2013 and are now on the journey to becoming a Teaching School, although initially we will be a strategic partner with South Bromsgrove High School in this venture. I continue to be excited and energised by the future of our school and would be delighted if you chose to visit us in the near future. Very best wishes,
Headteacher
Ethos and Mission Statement Our mission statement aims to encapsulate our ethos, all that we are and all that we are trying to be at St. John’s. We spent a great deal of time when writing this statement, we looked at those from other schools, had numerous meetings and a number of working groups, including a working party from our Governing Body. Eventually it was time to ‘bite the bullet’ and put pen to paper. What you see below is written from the heart, it is also written with passion and a desire to fulfil our pledges to all those who are part of our school community. At St. John’s Church of England School our mission is to be a school where every individual in our community is valued and where care and concern for others is key. We will be guided by the Christian values of love, forgiveness, justice, faith, integrity, peace, reconciliation and prayer. We will expect all our pupils to ‘Give of their Best’, achieve their full potential, be good citizens and respect difference in our growing global world.
Our pupils demonstrate these qualities in shed loads. We have House Captains who take responsibility for organising teams for various inter-house competitions throughout the year. School Council Representatives who take a lead role in decisions that impact on school life, our prefects support staff to monitor behaviour in and around school and our Young Leaders work out and about in our local community of schools. These are to name but a few. When Ofsted visited, the confidence and maturity with which our children conducted themselves was noted and one Inspector commented that he felt he had been interviewed and inspected rather than vice-versa!
Academic Attainment and Achievement Academic attainment and achievement at St. John’s was recognised by Ofsted in March 2012 as being outstanding, achievement being the progress the children make from entry to exit during the four years they are at St. John’s. Attainment is the levels they reach at key points of assessment, namely the end of Year 6 and the end of Year 8, although term-on-term and year-on-year attainment are also equally important. When children come to St. John’s we use First School assessment levels and our own assessment tasks to set a baseline level in reading, writing and mathematics. Progress is then measured termly and children are expected to make two sub levels of progress each year – this is a very high expectation but over 90% of our pupils achieve this target. Progress is also measured in the foundation subjects at school level but is not reported on nationally. While we recognise academic achievement is very important we also celebrate achievement in the Arts and on the Sports Field. Our sports teams are very successful both at an inter-school level and at County
and Regional level. There are also a number of inter house competitions which give all pupils the opportunity to participate and have some fun – the house system engenders a real healthy rivalry and teaches children to celebrate success but also to lose gracefully. We have a school orchestra, rock band and choir and during the Summer Term have an inter-house Music and Dance Festival. We showcase the winners of each class to parents at the end of the Summer Term in an Evening Performance – the standard presented by such young performers is always stunning. We also join with the orchestra from South Bromsgrove High School at Christmas for a fantastic workshop which culminates in a magical performance of Christmas music and carols. Our pupils enter public speaking competitions, the district ‘Poetry Slam’, the County annual Voices and Visions event and many other events where they can showcase their talents. Needless to say we are duly proud of them and they never let us down.
Curriculum and Enrichment Here at St. John’s we have opted to keep a traditional curriculum but deliver the individual subject content very creatively. So for example in English in Year 8 you might meet groups of children script writing and filming in various locations around the school as they are in the process of producing their very own ‘Soap Opera’. If you were visiting Year 7 English during the Autumn Term you might be met by a Dragon in a Den with children trying to convince him or her to invest in their product! In Maths there is a significant emphasis on high level investigational and problem solving activities in all year groups once children have grasped the basics and are able to build on these very important skills – learning tables never went out of fashion at St. John’s! We have strong links with schools in France and the majority of our pupils have French penfriends. They get an opportunity to practise their French practically in Year 6 if they chose to go on the school trip to Paris. Walk past the Music room and you will be often welcomed by a cacophony of sound ranging from African drumming, to key board composition or wonderful singing. In all the foundation subjects our children are fortunate to be given a vast array of exciting and thought provoking learning experiences which will endeavour to give them a love of learning and depth of understanding that cannot be learnt from a text book.
Subject Leaders At St. John’s we have a subject leader for every curriculum area. They are obviously passionate about their subjects and they monitor, evaluate, and review the teaching and learning throughout the year to ensure all subjects are delivered to the very highest of standards.
Teaching and Learning Pupils are encouraged to develop both as independent learners and also to work in groups, to lead group activities and to work collaboratively. Teachers support the learning by high level questioning which ensures children are reflective, can give reasoned answers and are able to evaluate their work – and are indeed able to enter into a learning dialogue with their teachers. The use of questioning to promote pupil understanding and communication skills was recognised by Ofsted to be a real strength of the school. Assessment for learning is built into all aspects of the curriculum and while teachers use this to assess the learning and progress of their pupils, the pupils themselves are increasingly able to self-assess and also assess and level the work of their peers. This is very empowering and enables the pupils to understand the level at which they are working and what they need to do to improve.
Extra-curricular Activities All teachers at St. John’s believe it is important to give pupils as many opportunities as possible beyond the classroom. There are a vast array of extra-curricular activities that our students are encouraged to try. These range across the whole spectrum, in addition to the usual main stream sports there are more marginal activities on offer such as Hoola Hoop Club, Yoga Club and Cheer Leading Club. For the non-sporty there are other options, French Club, ICT Club and Drama Club to name but a few. For the musically able Choir, Orchestra and Rock Band Club are a well-established part of life at St. John’s. A residential visit is offered in each year and this gives our pupils the opportunity to test themselves physically, emotionally and socially away from the school environment. “That was the best trip ever!” is a phrase we hear regularly from pupils.
Meeting Individual Needs All children have differing needs and these can range from those who find some aspects of learning difficult to those who are considered to be ‘gifted’. For children who may need additional support to make good progress there is a huge range of interventions, resources and expertise available. How do we identify which children need additional support? Many children come to us from their respective First Schools already identified as having a special need. Before pupils transfer we are made aware through: •
Liaison Meetings
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Our Head of Year 5 visits the school of every pupil to ensure we will understand their needs from the very start.
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The SENCo (Special Education Needs Co-ordinator), member of the SLT (Special Leadership Team) or our HLTA (Higher Level Teaching Assistant) will aim to attend any Annual Review Meetings of Year 4 children known to be transferring to Year 5.
The Pad New to St. John’s is the new fabulous resource base, opened by Sajid Javid M.P. in March 2013. This has state of the art ICT facilities, a comfortable teaching space, a cosy ‘chill out’ area, the SENCo and HLTA’s office and a Parents Meeting Room. Children can go to the ‘The Pad’ for extra one to one or group support, bespoke interventions or to relax in lunchtime club if they don’t feel up to the hustle and bustle of the playground.
Facilities St. John’s School was built in 1903 but step inside and you will without doubt think you are most definitely in the 21st century. This is due to the extensive refurbishment and buildings improvement programme which has been on-going for the last seven years and which continues to be planned and implemented. The ICT infrastructure is second to none for a Middle School, with two fully equipped bespoke ICT rooms and wireless Wi-Fi connection throughout the school supported by two full-time technicians. All classrooms are equipped with interactive whiteboards and the hall boasts fixed stage lighting, an inbuilt music system and a 4 x 3 metre ‘drop down’ screen – excellent for watching any world cup football matches! The specialist teaching areas include an art room, music room, two science laboratories, a food technology room and a design technology room. Add to this a superb additional needs facility with its own extensive outside play area and a fantastic fiction library – ‘The Pod’ as it is known by the pupils and you can begin to visualise the super learning environment available to our children. Step outside and it is immediately apparent that the children have a great deal of outside space to enjoy. Football and rugby pitches in the winter, rounders and an athletics track in the summer and a very large playground with four netball pitches and 5-a-side football areas. In addition to this, artificial grass areas have been laid, which can be used by the children all year round.
On entry On entry all pupils are assessed in English and Maths using various assessment tests and tasks and are CAT tested (Externally marked Cognitive Ability Tests). These sometimes show something that has not been identified previously. We do believe that partnership with parents is vital to a child’s success and we want to hear your views about your child, involve you and your child in decisions about their education and will aim to keep you informed about their progress and what they need to do to make further progress. There is a team of Teaching Assistants who work with the children both within their class lessons, with small groups and occasionally on a one to one basis. Our Teaching assistants are highly skilled and have chosen to specialise in one or more aspects of additional needs, including dyslexia, dyspraxia, speech and language. We also have our own Social Inclusion and Family Support Manager who works closely with our SENCo, CPO (Child Protection Officer), the teaching assistants and a newly designated pastoral support mentor for KS2 pupils experiencing difficulties, specifically on entry and in Key Stage 2.
Moving in... Our children come from a large number of First Schools from both within Bromsgrove and also from the surrounding area, on average we take from between 16 and 22 first and primary schools each year. To ensure the children feel confident and excited about the transition from first to middle school we have rigorous induction programmes. These focus on making the children feel happy and secure about the move and also on knowing the children’s abilities and strengths before they arrive at St. John’s. We recognise it may be more difficult for children from small rural first schools so they have additional opportunities and transition activities in the Summer Term before transfer. There are also further events and visits for children who have additional needs. Invariably the children take to their new school like a ‘duck to water’ and Mum and Dad soon realise all their worries were unfounded! The children then spend their first two years in Upper Key Stage 2 in Years 5 and 6.
On entry the children are put into five form groups with a form teacher who is usually the first point of contact for parents. Their form teacher will try to ensure they have a smooth transfer to Middle School and help them to settle in and feel confident in their new environment. At the end of Year 6 they take their Key Stage 2 Standard Assessment Tests, more commonly known as S.A.Ts. Key Stage 3 At the end of Year 6 they move in to Key Stage 3 and go through Year 7 and 8, this in reality is a two year Key Stage because at South Bromsgrove High School and North Bromsgrove High School the children begin Key Stage 4 in Year 9 , this gives them an additional year for G.C.S.Es. In Key Stage 3 the children change to a far more secondary based curriculum in readiness for transition to High School. They are in the main taught by specialist teachers in the foundation subjects, are expected to do more homework and tend to have little time being taught in their form room.
And moving on... At the end of Year 8 the majority of pupils move onto South Bromsgrove High School with about 10 percent of pupils choosing to go to North Bromsgrove High School. We also have a small number of our children who move in to the private sector and are delighted to say that we are working increasingly in Partnership with Bromsgrove School and a growing number of our pupils have secured bursaries and scholarships to their Upper School which starts in Year 9.
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Digby, Lord Jones of Birmingham, guest of honour at our Prize Giving Evening with the winners of the Tomlinson trophies for 2013.
Watt Close, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire B61 7DH Tel: (01527) 832376 Fax: (01527) 570258 Email: school@st-johns-bromsgrove.worcs.sch.uk www.st-johns-bromsgrove.worcs.sch.uk