A-Z: A

Absence From School

If your son or daughter is unwell, has a medical/dental appointment, or or is otherwise unexpectedly unable to make it into school due to extenuating circumstances, please inform the School as early as possible on or prior to the day of the absence by completing the Absence Form on the Portal. This form will be received by your child’s Teacher and Reception.

Leave Request

If you would like to request leave (e.g., for a funeral, wedding, holiday, etc.), please complete the Leave of Absence Form on the Portal at least a week in advance wherever possible. This form will be sent to the Head of Prep or Pre-Prep for consideration.

Academic: A Rich Curriculum

Our Prep School offers a challenging and creative curriculum to inspire our pupils to become problemsolvers and to take risks from early on in their school careers. All pupils are encouraged to develop teamwork and leadership skills, make friends and have fun.

At Little Wellies we believe in being led by the children’s interests and development and so use a Planning In The Moment approach, underpinned by the Early Years Foundation Stage framework. The idea is to capture the interest of a child or children in the present moment and not just as a pre-planned activity; this allows us to embrace more opportunities for learning.

Activities and Clubs

The School has a variety of co-curricular clubs and activities on offer (starting in Reception) to strengthen life beyond the classroom, both at lunchtime and after school. A new list is emailed to parents each term so that they have the opportunity to sign their children up to activities of their choice via the SOCS Activities System.

Appearance

We encourage all pupils to take pride in their appearance, and we appreciate parental support with the following:

• Children should be smartly dressed at all times, wearing either the skirt/trouser uniform or sports kit

• Children are allowed to wear badges awarded by the School but no other jewellery. Watches (smart watches with a camera function are not allowed) and plain gold or silver stud type earrings may be worn but must be either removed or covered for all sport

• Long hair should be tied back. If worn, hair accessories should be navy blue or black.

Assessment: Attainment and Effort

Attainment Tests

Assessment is an integral part of teaching and learning. Our assessments are rigorous and robust and provide formative, summative and diagnostic feedback. Formative assessment takes place in our daily teaching and informs short-term planning. Summative assessment also takes place during the academic year. Results are analysed carefully and used to track pupils’ progress, inform planning, and allocate pupils to sets in maths. We also track progress both for individuals and cohorts which allows us to ensure that pupils are challenged and supported appropriately. Results from attainment tests are reported back to parents either at Parents’ Consultation Evenings or in written reports.

Effort Grades

Throughout the year, pupils in Years 3-6 are awarded grades for effort in each subject. These range from 5 (outstanding) to 1 (cause for concern) and indicate effort (application, enthusiasm and use of our learning powers; see this section) rather than attainment. The criteria for each grade is found inside pupils’ Prep Planners.