Tooting Primary School

Tooting Primary School opened in September 2013 to cater for children and families in the local community. We are passionate about delivering the best possible outcomes for our children. Our motto is “inspiring excellence” and we strive to fulfil that each and every day.Since opening, the school has grown from strength to strength and in June 2015 we received an Outstanding Ofsted judgement across all areas of the school. Our team of dedicated, creative and incredibly hardworking staff ensure that learning experiences are full of challenge, purpose, exploration, warmth and kindness.

The Resource Base at Tooting Primary School is a welcome addition. The Base is integrated into the main school building. The provision will cater for 20 children from Reception to Year 6 across two classrooms and a sensory room. In addition pupils have access to ‘The Lodge’, which is on the main school grounds. Here the pupils are able to have their own garden and additional space for group and individual sessions.

We provide:

• Calm and positive class environments.
• Access to a broad and balanced curriculum with high quality learning activities and experiences.
• A personalised curriculum to suit the learning style and specific needs of each child.
• Specialist teaching strategies will be used to support communication and independence skills such as PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) and TEACCH (Treatment and Education of related Communication Handicapped).
• Opportunities to integrate into the mainstream classes with support.
• A commitment to work with parents and carers.

The ASD Base will follow the same curriculum topics as the mainstream classes. Our aim is for all children to integrate into the mainstream classes with support. This will be dependent on their individual needs and appropriate preparation will be given to support all children. Children will also have the opportunity to complete planned activities within their ASD class. These opportunities will be carefully planned by both the ASD and mainstream teacher.

In addition to these topics, the ASD Base will plan and deliver a social skills curriculum which will have a strong emphasis on PSHE provision. These sessions will focus on family life, themselves, independence skills, their community, friendships and safety. Trained staff will also deliver sessions following set therapy packages, such as speech and language work.

Classes have the opportunity to arrange visits into the local community. These are local trips to places that some children find difficult to visit. These trips can often have many benefits particularly related to PSHE, for example they promote the development of independence and life skills. A visit could be to the local library to collect books related to the class topic or to a supermarket to buy snack time items. The park would also be another option where the children would have the opportunity to develop their turn taking skills with peers and local children as well as being able to consider personal safety. Visits to the park would also support physical development and early communication skills.

At our school we aim to give every child an education that they will not forget. Through careful planning, building good relationships and ensuring that the highest expectations are in place, we believe that all of our children can achieve to the highest level. As well as developing a robust, creative curriculum that will give children the opportunity to learn key skills in all academic areas, we also want our children to develop a growth mindset and 'can-do' attitude towards life and learning. Our pastoral care will focus on building self-esteem through the use of consistent positive language and adults modelling appropriate behaviour. Our school will work in close partnership with parents/carers to ensure that children develop social and emotional skills that are required to get the most out of life. For children to succeed at school it is essential that good home/school links are in place. We will always endeavour to communicate to parents/carers effectively and hope that this will always be a two way channel.

Pupils will leave our school as confident learners who:

• Can read and write well and have good mathematical skills.
• Have happy and harmonious relationships with friends from a wide variety of backgrounds.
• Have developed a sense of responsibility and an understanding of right and wrong.
• Have a love of learning, inspired by a variety of experiences both in and out of the classroom.

We will achieve this through:

• A belief that every child can succeed.
• A supportive atmosphere where all children are safe and valued and where healthy lifestyles are actively promoted.
• A calm and ordered environment where pupils learn to respect each other, follow routines and behave well so that they can learn.
• Close co-operation with parents and families.

Our curriculum is based on a Topic approach to learning.This means that each term, teachers plan their learning activities around a central theme to make learning more interesting and fun (please see individual year group pages for a list of topics). We follow National Curriculum guidelines (2014) to ensure that the children receive a broad and balanced curriculum. Where learning cannot be planned into the topic, they will be taught discreetly, e.g. certain strands of maths, RE, music, science. Our normal school day includes literacy and maths teaching on a morning, including phonics in Key Stage 1. This is followed by subjects such as science, PE, music and topic which include history,geography, art and DT, in the afternoon.