Folkestone Primary School

We welcome you and your child to Folkestone Primary Academy Children come to our school to be happy and successful. They will leave us as confident, self-assured, positive young people who love to learn, to contribute and to achieve.

We offer you a dedicated staff who are committed to developing the knowledge, skills, attitudes and understanding which will enable your child to enjoy learning, achieve success and to feel contented and fulfilled. We ensure that our children learn about, and have confidence in, themselves as learners.

As an inclusive, caring school where every child matters, we recognise that all children have talents and abilities to enjoy, and a part of our role is to help them discover and develop these. We encourage a strong community spirit, where we show consideration for each other, understand differences, and uphold kind, well-mannered behaviour.

In being the Primary School in an All Age Academy we will retain the overview of a child’s learning journey from pre-school to post sixth form, building the All Age cohesion which will bring about the best educational and personal development opportunities for all of our children and the community in which they live, and fulfilling our high expectations. At the end of Year 6 our children have the right to transfer into the Senior School if this is your parental preference, although, of course, other options will remain available.

This prospectus is an introduction to our school. We warmly invite you to visit us as we start to build the partnership which will nourish and nurture your child.

Together we will equip our children to lead their lives happily and successfully in their lifetimes.

Learning and achievement The learning community of Folkestone Primary Academy has a shared vision that every child deserves to be successful. We challenge and develop our children to become curious, autonomous learners who are inspired and stimulated through a rich and varied curriculum, appropriate to individual needs. Through Building Learning Power to develop children’s learning skills and setting high expectations and exacting standards, we prepare our children to flourish and gain confidence and self belief, to develop as life long learners.

Folkestone Primary Academy is inclusive and is fully committed to meeting the needs of all children and enabling learners to achieve their full potential.

First steps The Foundation Stage is a unique step in your child’s life-long learning journey. We have established our own foundation induction programme.

Our programme comprises optional home visits to engage with families and embrace the rich learning experiences children will bring to school, and exciting, nurturing classroom visits. In school we encourage and cultivate children’s curiosity to learn through enriched, engaging play opportunities.

We promote and develop independence and lay pathways for future learning. Our Foundation Stage Team works closely with each child to develop their learning, social and life skills.

Key stage 1 At Key Stage 1 our children are inspired to make links in their previous learning, to apply their knowledge, understanding, skills and experiences and to grow as learners. The transition from Foundation Stage is carefully co-ordinated to promote success as children are introduced to the National Curriculum. As we work with learners to establish the irresistibility of new learning, we set challenging but attainable targets and celebrate the children’s many successes.

Key stage 2 At Key Stage 2 children take greater ownership of their learning. Learners work closely with our teaching teams to create personalised learning paths and to set and agree their own targets and next steps. We develop children’s confidence and resilience through problem solving and other active, participative learning activities. Together we prepare our learners to achieve and enjoy success in their future learning.

Our learning community Our community is at the heart of learning in our school. Our curriculum structure promotes and develops our learners as confident, effective, successful and respectful contributors to our school community and to wider society. Our comprehensive PSHCE policy and programme, alongside the Academy’s exacting standards, permeate learning for the whole-child at all stages in our school.

We listen to our learners and to their parents. We actively seek and respond to the views and opinions of the families we serve. Community interests are effectively represented in our decision-making through our School (Pupil) Council, our Parent, Teacher and Friends Association and our Consultation Group of Folkestone Primary Academy.

We strive to develop and enhance the community within our school as we forge links and partnerships and promote the school within our community. We warmly invite our families, neighbours and friends into school wherever possible and appropriate.

Values, purpose and ethos We want our school to have an atmosphere of purpose and to be alive with learning. It is a place where the confidence and the self-esteem of our children have high status, where children are excited by learning and develop understanding of themselves as learners. We are a caring community, intending your child to be happy and successful in our school.

Folkestone Primary Academy Park Farm Road Folkestone CT19 5DH Tel: 01303 255012 Fax: 01303 226354 E-mail: primaryadmin@folkestoneacademy.com www.folkestoneacademy.com