Monteagle Primary School

Monteagle is a happy, purposeful place where children and adults enjoy learning together. We have a clear vision for the school that is based on a broad understanding of what success looks like for our children.At Monteagle we believe that a truly outstanding school is one that enables all children to achieve their best. One where academic attainment is high and the academic progress of individuals is maximised. It is a place where all children acquire the character virtues that lead to success in school and university, in work and life beyond.We are working hard to be a truly outstanding school.

To ensure this success we have developed an exacting curriculum that is skills-based and knowledge-rich; we offer an enriched learning experience that excites the children’s appetite for learning; and we have defined five core character virtues that we particularly value and we pursue through explicit character education.

Furthermore, we take an inclusive approach that maintains a focus on the wellbeing and progress of every child; we provide a safe place for learning through the application of our positive behaviour system; and we achieve better results by establishing a partnership between parents and teachers.

All the adults who work at the school are committed to this clear vision and are driven by our shared understanding of what success for our children looks like and how we achieve that success together.

Our skills-based and knowledge-rich curriculum helps pupils develop a sophisticated understanding of the world in which they live. At its centre is an emphasis on the rapid development of the core skills of English and mathematics, which enable children to access the other subjects of the curriculum.The majority of skills and knowledge within English and maths are taught as discrete units. However, we recognise the importance of making learning meaningful and memorable for children and for this reason we have introduced ‘contexts for learning’ as a vehicle for making connections and linking subjects. Each year-group plans cross-curricular work around a central context or theme on a termly basis. This allows more time for each subject to be studied in depth.

At Monteagle we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and we expect all staff and visitors to share this commitment.We are committed to ensuring that consistent effective safeguarding procedures are in place to support families, children and staff at school. We have robust policies in place for ensuring the wellbeing of our children. These policies underpin our practice and every single member of staff in our school shares the values contained within.

We believe that every aspect of our curriculum should be taught to the highest possible standard. This means highly trained generalist teachers (class teachers) teaching high quality lessons in English, mathematics and across the subjects that make up our contexts for learning.

We recognise that some subjects in the curriculum require a very specific skillset and knowledge base and for this reason we employ specialist teachers to teach Physical Education, French, Art and Music to children from Reception to Year 6. This is a measure of the value we put on these subjects.

At the start of Reception children are assessed using the accredited baseline assessment, Early Excellence. This forms part of the teachers’ everyday practice where they build their knowledge of each child through observations, interactions and every day activities. They use this professional knowledge to make a series of judgements about each child based on a clear set of assessment criteria.

Children continue to be assessed throughout the reception year where staff add information to an assessment profile for each individual. Insights from these profiles are shared at parent consultation meetings and the completed profile is bound and available to be taken home at the end of the year. In addition, each child has a learning journey scrapbook containing photos and pieces of work which are available during the year for parents to look at and are taken home at the end of the year.

We aim to provide regular feedback to children through marking so that they have specific advice about improvements to their work. Children are given time to read and review their work following marking. They are encouraged to respond to marking to show they have understood advice given and to add a comment if possible. Often feedback will be given verbally, directly to the child during the course of their learning. This is the most effective form of feedback. Verbal feedback enables the child to ask clarifying questions, supply further information for the teacher to work with and respond immediately to direction and advice given, demonstrating understanding and affirming learning.

All at Monteagle work consciously and conscientiously to make it a place where children acquire the character virtues that lead to success in school and university, in work and life beyond. Essential to this is our understanding of what constitutes Character Education.Character Education can be defined as the active development of character strengths or virtues in young people. The practice of character education is based on the view that these strengths are not merely given but can be developed through instruction and practice.

Every child’s progress is closely monitored at Monteagle in order that we can provide the best possible opportunities and highest levels of support. When children start nursery, staff informally monitor their development and keep detailed records. This information is shared with families during the year and is transferred to the reception class at the year-end.