Orleans Primary School

Orleans Primary School is a two form entry community school located in the St Margarets area of Twickenham. In September 2012 we opened as a Primary school, prior to this we were a three form entry infant school. Over the last few years Orleans has undergone a substantial building programme to facilitate our expansion and we now have fantastic facilities which enable us to provide outstanding education for all our children.At Orleans we provide a warm, stimulating, welcoming environment which gives a secure foundation for all children to become happy, confident, caring individuals who achieve personal success and develop a lifelong love of learning.

We are a community primary school offering education to children aged between 3 and 11 years old. Our school is committed to inclusion and to serving the needs of the children in the local community. Richmond Local Authority set our admissions criteria. We admit 30 children to each of our two Reception classes. If your child attends our Nursery you will need to reapply for a Reception place. There is no automatic right of admission from Nursery to Reception. Reception places will be offered strictly according to the Local Authority admissions criteria. If your child has been refused a place at one of your preferred primary or secondary schools, you may appeal the decision of the admissions authority. Your reasons for appealing will then be considered by an independent panel. Once your application has been received, it will be processed and you will be contacted about the next steps, including details of how your appeal will be conducted.

At Orleans Primary School we aim to provide a happy, stimulating and secure community for every child. This, in conjunction with a rich and challenging learning experience, will ensure that all children reach their full potential, both emotionally and physically, and are completely prepared to take their place in our diverse world.Everyone who works in our school is valued as an individual and staff work as a team, sharing expertise, knowledge and skills. Orleans strongly values the partnership between home, school and community.

Your child’s safety is of paramount importance to our school and we have clear and consistent policies and procedures in place to ensure that your child is safe. We meet all of the statutory requirements and regularly monitor our safeguarding provision.

We have a lead member of staff responsible for Child Protection and Safeguarding (Jane Evans, Headteacher) who meets regularly with the Lead Governor for Safeguarding (Alex Axiom, Chair of Governors), to monitor the impact of what we have in place; also ensuring we adhere to all legislation.

At Orleans Primary School, we take e-safety extremely seriously. We believe that it is the right of all children to feel safe and secure when using technology. We work with staff, pupils and parents/carers to value the use of new technologies in enhancing learning, encourage responsible use of ICT and follow agreed policies to minimise potential e-safety risk.

We discuss, monitor and review our e-safety policy on a regular basis, linking it with other relevant policies such as Safeguarding, Behaviour and Anti-Bullying policies. We support staff in the use of ICT as an essential tool for enhancing learning and the embedding of e-safety across the whole school curriculum.We see parental involvement as a vital factor in our school, please speak to the class teacher if you wish to come in and help. All parent helpers require a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check if they are going to consistently help in the school. Communication with parents is very important and there are noticeboards outside each classroom displaying up to date information about school and class activities. Each week our weekly newsletter is sent by email outlining forthcoming events and celebrating our school achievements.

Orleans Primary School is fully committed to meeting the needs of all the children who live in our local area. We are proud to be an inclusive school that is fully prepared to offer the highest quality provision for all. This includes those children who have a Statement of Special Educational Needs or an Educational Health Care Plan. Nationally, on average, 1.3% of pupils in primary schools have a Statement of Special Educational Needs or an Educational Health Care Plan. In our school there are currently 11 pupils in the main school (including nursery) with a statement or EHC plan. This represents 2.4% of our pupils’ population – which is above the national average. We feel that it is beneficial to everyone that these children are placed in our school and children grow up understanding that they are not all the same and learning to respect difference and diversity.

At Orleans, part of our vision is to ’Celebrate and nurture the children’s diversity, provide equality of opportunities and ensure they are aware of their rights and responsibilities.Throughout the year the children have opportunities to talk about their own beliefs and faiths and take part in different celebrations. The emphasis of these lessons is to share experiences and knowledge and foster an environment that encourages a mutual respect for different cultures and faiths.