Poplar Primary School

We want to make the best possible academic progress as well as being safe, happy and enjoying friendships with other children. Poplar has long been highly regarded in the local area and it remains a popular school.
Prospective parents often say that they are visiting because of recommendations from friends and neighbours.

All Admissions at Poplar are managed centrally at Merton Council and follow the Merton community Schools Admission arrangements.If your child is due to start full time school, is changing school and/or is transferring to high school you will need to complete an application form which you can obtain from your local borough.

As part of our rewards system, we use house points. On arrival at Poplar, children are put into houses: Lions, Tigers, Jaguars and Leopards. We keep children from the same families in the same house. House points can be awarded by all staff for good work, good behaviour, kindness, being polite, showing good manners etc. Each week the points are added up and the winning team is announced in assembly and also put in the Friday Flyer.At the end of each term, the team who has won for the most weeks is awarded the House Cup.Poplar’s School Council was first set up in 2006. Our School Council represents the voice of the children. Each year voting takes place in every classroom in Key Stage 1 and 2, for the children who have campaigned to be elected to the School Council. The council meet regularly to discuss a wide variety of school issues.

If your child wishes to attend one or more of these clubs please complete and return the club enrolment form (separate sheet) to your child’s class together with any payment required. Please note that charges for the clubs vary. Dancebites, Target Sports and Le Club Francais may have already sent out their own letters regarding the clubs they run, however further copies can be obtained from the school office. You will see that certain clubs are called “drop in” – we do not require an enrolment form to be completed for these clubs as your child can attend as and when they wish.

We are fortunate to have a thriving Governing Body who take an active role in the life of the school.The governing body is a corporate and legal body with a general responsibility for the conduct of the school with a view to supporting Poplar school’s aims and vision providing a broad and balanced curriculum in a safe and stimulating environment. The governing body is made up of Staff Governors, Parent Governors, Local Authority Governors and Co-opted Governors. The full governing body meets six times a year.

At Poplar inclusion means that all pupils receive the provision they need in order to access the very best, high quality education, whatever their age, gender, ethnicity, impairment, attainment and background.Our commitment to inclusion can be seen in the school policies, in teaching and learning and in the School Development Plan, where all learners are considered and provided for within the school community as part of everyday good practice.Our goals are many but fundamentally we aim to work in a positive partnership with parents to ensure the best outcomes for all children.

We always welcome parents into our school and many of you are able to support by helping in the classrooms. Teachers always value the extra help that can be provided by parents such as helping in the library, reading to children and helping with sewing or cooking activities. If you are interested in helping on a regular basis please do speak to the class teacher. We are very appreciative of this extra support in class but will need to carry out some security checks, including a Criminal Record Bureau check before you start. A range of informative meetings are held throughout the year. If these are held during the day crèches are organised where possible. The meeting convenor and a Friends of Poplar representative liaise to arrange the crèche. We aim to have a balance of daytime and evening meetings so that working parents can have a chance of attending some of these meetings. We aim to have a general meeting for all Reception parents to explain the Foundation Stage Curriculum in the autumn term. We also hold other June 2015 curriculum evenings or afternoons during the year on a variety of curriculum topics.

The programmes of study for mathematics are set out year-by-year for key stages 1 and 2. Schools are, however, only required to teach the relevant programme of study by the end of the key stage. Within each key stage, schools therefore have the flexibility to introduce content earlier or later than set out in the programme of study. In addition, schools can introduce key stage content during an earlier key stage, if appropriate. All schools are also required to set out their school curriculum for mathematics on a year-by-year basis and make this information available online.