Ladybarn Primary School

Ladybarn Primary is part of Kingsway Community Trust, which also consists of Cringle Brook Primary in Levenshulme and Green End Primary in Burnage, both of which are also Ofsted Graded Outstanding. As part of the Trust, Ladybarn benefits from strong links with these two schools.

As Executive Headteacher across the Trust, and having been Headteacher at Ladybarn since 1998, I am passionate about enabling all children in our local communities to have the very best possible educational opportunities. I have extremely high expectations of all the children, both in terms of their academic achievement and their emotional and social development.

The curriculum we provide at Ladybarn is tailor made to give all children a thirst for learning, a motivated engagement in school and the best chance to attain high academic success. There is a strong emphasis on developing confidence and skills to be excellent communicators in all situations. Our school has a very strong sense of community, with nurture and strong relationships at its core.

Ladybarn is a 2 form entry primary school, situated in the Withington area of Manchester, approximately five miles from the city centre.

Visiting Ladybarn for the first time, you will experience our vibrant multi cultural school where every child takes pride of place. Ensuring that every child succeeds highly during their time at Ladybarn is what drives every member of staff. We are very committed to developing both high academic achievement, strong social skills and a sense of place in the world for every child. Our team of highly skilled teachers deliver motivating lessons which challenge all children to do their best. The curriculum has been created on the basis of capturing children's interest and imagination through all subjects. Our pastoral support programmes are innovative and personalised. Everything you will experience at Ladybarn has been developed with our children in mind.

The school has undergone a highly successful Ofsted Inspection in July 2011 where the school was judged as an outstanding school in all key areas. The school has been designated a National Support School in November 2006 and the headteacher is one of the first 60 headteachers nationally to be awarded as a National Leader of Education.

The school is part of a Multi-Academy Trust with Green End Primary School and Cringle Brook Primary School. Both schools in the Trust are led by the same headteacher and work collaboratively to provide enhanced learning opportunities for children and staff.

There is a very strong commitment to engage parents, particularly in developing their own self esteem and raising aspirations. A full time family worker is in post to co-ordinate work which includes individual parenting sessions, parent and toddler play work, parenting development and adult education courses. The school received the Leading Parent Partnership Award in 2014.

The school also offers a wide range of Out of Hours Learning opportunities are provided for year 1 to 6 which are supported by a variety of specialist staff , including our own professional sports coach. We are strongly committed to developing the children's sporting and creative skills and all after school activities are free of charge to the children. These include music lessons, sports coaching, street dance and creative workshops. The children also enjoy the opportunities to take part on a range of competitive sports and inter school competitions.

Our curriculum is created on the basis of capturing children’s interest and imagination through all subjects. It draws on relevant learning experiences and involves a significant level of first hand experiences for all children. The learning will challenge all children across the breadth of academic areas.

There is a strong emphasis on the basic skills of reading, writing and mathematics. Both the basic skills curriculum and the wider learning opportunities and experiences are individually designed by our staff for our school and our children. This ensures that the children are highly motivated and inspired by a tailor-made curriculum which fully meets their learning needs. A focus on first hand experiences ensures that children are able to move from the concrete to the abstract in their learning, applying skills and learning to different challenges. The children will develop excellent communication skills which will enhance their learning in Literacy and also lead to them becoming confident and articulate 11 year olds, able to speak confidently in a range of formal situations.

All children will be motivated to maximise their sporting skills and the school employs specialists to achieve this. There are weekly competitive opportunities across the Trust and within the locality. In addition, our pastoral support programmes is innovative and personalised. All children are fully nurtured and supported to ensure that they are equipped with the skills to succeed highly in secondary education and beyond.

Ladybarn Primary is an inclusive school, and welcomes all children. We aim to respond effectively to their individual needs and children with special educational needs are given full access to our curriculum. This is achieved by differentiating activities, providing additional support and using specialist equipment where necessary.

We offer support to all pupils according to their needs. At times, pupils may need a programme of additional support to ensure that they develop in all areas of their learning, including social, emotional and physical development. Our Inclusion Manager is our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator (SENDCo) and oversees the learning support offered across the school. Teaching Assistants work with all pupils in class, including supporting programmes for development of gross and fine motor skills, phonic support, listening and social skills as well as supporting English and maths skills.

The SENDCo works closely with families in times of need, as well as a range of outside agencies such as the Educational Psychologist, Speech and Language Therapist, School Nurse and Outreach workers.