Dear Children and Families,
I am delighted to welcome you to Academy 360’s Primary Brochure, where I hope you will find some useful information about our wonderful school. I am over the moon to be writing to you as the Principal of our school and am looking forward to getting to know our new starters!
I am certain that you’ll be pleased to know that, here at Academy 360, we have high expectations for all of our children, from EYFS all the way through to the end of Year 11. Our goal is to work closely with our families in transforming the lives of all of our children, helping them to overcome barriers. This is because we firmly believe that all young people can achieve their full potential with the help of their families and their school. This is our commitment to you all, and we will do all we can to help our children to become independent, resilient and caring citizens who are ready for adult life!
Welcome to your new and exciting journey!
Mr Amos (Principal)
Dear children and families,
Welcome to our school! On behalf of all the children, parents and staff at Academy 360 we would like to welcome you and your child to our primary phase.
We aim for all our children to have a happy and enjoyable start to their education. In order to build successful foundations for learning we wish to involve you, as parents.
This brochure has been designed to provide you with all the information you need to know about Academy 360 Primary phase and our expectations. We are happy to answer any further questions that you may have and provide you with insight into what your child will be learning.
We hope this is the start of a long, happy and successful partnership to learning in our wonderful school and thrilled you have selected Academy 360 as your school of choice. We have so much to offer!
Kind regards,
Mrs West (Head of School Primary)
At Academy 360 we have high expectations of all of our students, from EYFS to KS4, every day. Our goal is to transform lives; supporting our students to overcome barriers, because we firmly believe that all young people can achieve their full potential.
All of our staff aim to inspire students to learn and grow, with a ‘can do’ culture throughout the school.
All members of our school are expected to behave with dignity, courtesy and respect. We take pride in ensuring that our young people grow as independent and resilient citizens who are well-equipped with the skills they will need going forward in life and work.
Within our Primary phase, our wonderfully talented and resilient children are the great strength of our phase and deserve the very best. We offer a broad, balanced and aspirational curriculum, which nurtures the social and emotional needs of our pupils. We teach our children to be ready, respectful and safe in school, online and in the wider community. Our staff foster children’s interests, personalities and individual needs to support them in becoming well-rounded citizens and equipping them with the necessary skill-set for the next phase in their education.
All children are expected to wear full school uniform, every day.
This consists of:
Academy 360 purple jumper/cardigan
Dark grey trousers/skirt
White polo shirt/school shirt
Dark tights/white socks for girls and dark socks for boys
Black leather-look school shoes (no trainers, canvas shoes)
Purple check school dress in warmer weather
Warm coat for playing outside
Wellies for playtime and outdoor learning
Tie to be provided by school (Year 6 only)
PE Kit to be worn on designated PE day:
Black shorts
White or black T shirt with logo (free with voucher from Total Sport, Hendon)
Black sandshoes or trainers
Hairstyles and jewellery must follow school policy:
Long hair must be tied back
Extreme hairstyles are not permitted (please no designs, shaven heads or dyed hair)
No earrings in school. A watch may be worn.
Lunch at Academy 360 is a social occasion. Our seasonal menus are changed twice a year. We use fresh ingredients, providing a varied choice of healthy homemade dishes. Daily choices include two main dishes, a vegetarian choice, with lighter options available daily, such as baked potatoes and sandwiches. A fresh free salad bar is available daily to encourage healthy choices. All our dishes are allergen tested.
Parents can pay for school meals using our Parent Pay online service on our school website. Please ensure that you regularly top up your account to keep this in credit. Should your account go into arrears, our business team are available to support you in reducing your arrears and bringing your account into credit.
Applications for free school meals can be made via the Together for Children website. A guide on how to apply online for free school meals can be downloaded on our school website or obtained from our school office.
Please see our school website for details of what food options are available each day.
It is important for your child’s progress that they attend school every day.
The school gate is open from 8.35am until 8:45am each morning and if you are late, you will need to bring your child into the school via the Main Reception.
If your child is ill and cannot attend school, it is important that you ring the primary attendance team (Tel: 0191 3006506) and follow the options to report a primary child absence as soon as possible to let us know.
Academy 360 have a Welfare Team who are there to support families and monitor welfare, attendance and punctuality. It is important that all children attend school regularly and are punctual. The team make regular phone calls and home visits to those children who are frequently late or absent from school. They liaise closely with Local Authority attendance officers to monitor and report poor school attendance.
Please see below our primary staff team for the academic year 2024. Please note that this is subject to change and was correct at the time of publication.
Primary Senior Leadership Team
Mr D Amos- Principal
Mrs H. West - Head of School, Primary
Miss L. Haggerton -Assistant Principal
Primary Leadership Team
Miss S. Fowdy - Phonics & Early
Reading Lead
Mrs L. Osman - English Lead
Mrs Owens- Maths Lead
Miss L Rackstraw - Enrichment &
Learning Beyond the Classroom
Mrs J Harrison- Curriculum Development
Lunchtime Supervisors
Ms P. Downes
Miss Jenkins
Mrs S. Beck
Mrs J. Reed
Support Staff
Mrs C. Burn (HLTA)
Ms G. Smith (HLTA)
Mrs A. Rackstraw (HLTA)
Mrs C. James (TA, PT)
Mrs D Hassan (TA, )
Miss L Colling (HLTA)
Miss S. Marchbank (TA)
Miss L. Spencer (HLTA)
Primary Welfare Team
Ms R. Steckles - Primary Welfare, DSL and Attendance
Sports Coach
Mr M. Whellans
At Academy 360, we value the importance of recognising and celebrating the success of our amazing children. This, in turn, embodies our approach to behaviour management. When our pupils demonstrate effort and achievement in all aspects of school life, they are rewarded in many ways. Some of these acknowledgments and celebrations include:
Featuring in our weekly Primary Celebration Assembly, with a certificate.
Receiving our weekly School Virtue Award.
Being recognised by Mrs West in our weekly assembly,receiving a postcard.
Being recognised by Mr Amos in our weekly Principal’s Award..
Receiving House Points, as part of our whole academy reward system. The winning house gets a special treat across both primary and secondary every term!
Class visual targets, with a class treat once achieved. This helps us work as a team for success!
Attendance rewards.
A special badge, points or teacher message home via Class Charts
Children who are supported at home generally make faster and better progress than those who aren’t. At Academy 360, we expect that you will support your child’s learning by:
Practising key skills every night for 10 minutes until your child can apply them confidently. This might be letter sounds, key words, spellings, times tables etc. Your child’s class teacher will guide you towards what must be practised in relation to their age and stage of learning. Sharing your child’s reading book every night (hearing them read when they become confident with words and sentences) or encouraging reading practice for our older children. Parents and carers must complete their child’s reading diary. Children in upper KS2 can do this themselves, although parents should monitor this. Home reading bags will be provided by school at the start of each child’s Academy 360 journey. Returning books and work to class on time.
Throughout the year we have Shared Learning Sessions, where parents are invited into school to work alongside their children. These are often a great deal of fun and take place in each and every primary year group.
Educational visits form an essential and valued part of children’s experiences and education at Academy 360.
As part of your child’s induction, we ask that you complete permission forms so that children can utilise the local area to support their work (e.g. a visit to the shops).
Whenever possible, we will inform you ahead of time of our plans to visit somewhere off-site.
When a more formal visit is planned, you will be asked to complete a permission form in order for your child to be allowed to attend.
We take lots of photographs of the children working and learning which we use around the classroom and in school. We will always ask permission if a photograph is to be used elsewhere such as our website, social media or, for example, the Sunderland Echo.
Academy 360 follows the guidance set out by the Sunderland Safeguarding Children Board. Staff are trained in all safeguarding procedures and we have dedicated Designated Safeguarding Leads across the academy. Many of our staff are qualified first-aiders, with a high percentage being paediatric first-aid trained. Many of our staff have food hygiene and safety certificates.
The first point of contact for a parent with a concern about their child would be the child’s class teacher or key worker. If the teacher is in lessons, the school office team can pass on a message and the member of staff will contact you as soon as possible. This may be a member of the Primary Welfare Team.
Our school office is open from 8.00am until 4.30pm every day and can advise on most of the day-to-day events in school, such as after school clubs, lunches etc. The main school office is contactable on 0191 3006506.
The Primary Welfare team are available from 8am to 4pm every day. Miss Steckles is our Primary Welfare Manager. She is contactable by email- ruth.steckles@academy360.co.uk
If you feel as though you need to speak to a member of the senior leadership team, please let the school office know.
