King's Oak Prospectus

www.kingsoak.kingston.sch.uk

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WELCOME

‘King’s Oak Primary is a welcoming, vibrant and inclusive school and children come to school each day excited, enthusiastic and ready to learn. Our students are valued as individuals and supported to develop a positive mind-set so they become resilient, proactive, independent learners who are well-prepared for the next part of their educational journey. Our staff, governors, parents and pupils work together to create an exciting, supportive learning environment in which we provide learning opportunities that capture children’s interests, increase their knowledge, raise their aspirations and prepare them for the challenges of life in the 21st Century.

‘We have expanded to three forms of entry, from Reception upwards. Our highly recommended specialist resourced provision for children with Autism is at the heart of our school and we benefit from close links with Norbiton Children’s Centre which is situated in our grounds. We have modern, bright and spacious classrooms, a new performance hall and specialist sports pitches set in well maintained, expansive grounds.

Our flourishing Two Year Old, Nursery and Early Years provision support our youngest pupils to develop their social skills, general knowledge, spoken language, phonics, reading, writing and number skills so they are well prepared for the next stage of their education. Staff and parents, through their close partnership, work together to provide children with well planned, challenging, interesting learning opportunities that are enriched by learning in the outdoor area, trips, visits and encouraging pupils to follow their own interests to learn about the world around them.

School life at King’s Oak is about much more than academic progress and achievement alone. We offer an extensive array of extracurricular activities including our popular Breakfast and After School Club and a variety of other clubs, from Spanish, Cooking, Teddy Tennis and Football to Robotics and Coding. In this way, we hope to support our wider school community and fire pupils’ enthusiasm so their interests and experiences are further enhanced.

We are committed to building strong and positive relationships with parents and carers as we believe that, by working together, we can provide the very best education for our children. Parents and carers are welcome to join our Events Team which organises several fun and fundraising events each year for our whole school community.

Our prospectus will give you an insight into our school, but cannot wholly convey the happy atmosphere and enthusiasm for learning that is evident throughout – for that, we warmly invite you to visit!

If you would like to visit us, please contact our school office via admin@kop.rbksch.org or on 020 8942 5154.

If you have any further questions, please do contact our school office; we would be delighted to help you. We look forward to meeting you!

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VISION & VALUES We are proud of the vibrant, caring and welcoming environment in which children love to learn, staff love to teach and where the support of our families and wider community is integral to success!

Learning is a life-long process and with that conviction we know that King’s Oak is a learning community. We believe that through learning together we meet the very high expectations that we have, of ourselves and of each and every one of our pupils.

We highly value our cultural, social and religious diversity and believe that, through promoting understanding and appreciation, we create an atmosphere of shared identity, ownership and belonging, underpinned by strong moral values, trust and respect.

We aim to ensure that every member of our community feels welcomed into our school, that you, as parents and carers, feel fully involved and that your child is excited and enthusiastic about coming to our school each day to learn.

We believe that partnership working is fundamental to each and every child’s success. We aim to support and inspire our pupils and you, as parents and carers, to be ambitious for their futures and appreciate the importance of learning to secure fulfilment in life. We seek to engage parents and carers in all aspects of our school’s provision, building strong home-school relationships and mutual trust, through encouraging and supporting participation in school activities such as parents’ evenings, workshops and events. King’s Oak Primary is your school, too!

Excellent learning and teaching is embedded in all we do. It is our core business and extends beyond the school day to a variety of extra-curricular activities. We aim to provide a rich and exciting curriculum together with maximum, high quality opportunities for our pupils so that all children make excellent academic and personal progress, fulfil their potential, build

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upon their strengths and are well equipped and motivated to embrace new, fresh challenges.

Inclusion is central to our ethos and we welcome all children into our school. We ensure that all pupils have equal opportunities to be successful through offering personalised provision, meeting each individual need and nurturing each talent and skill.

We believe in educating the ‘whole child’, promoting positive relationships and emotional wellbeing. Alongside academic achievement we also ensure that all of our pupils learn the skills and build the confidence, self assurance and motivation to be able to develop as independent, resourceful learners who will collaborate with others to go on learning, throughout their education and life. We place high importance on PSCHE (Personal, Social, Citizenship and Health Education) so that each child builds on the emotional, social and personal skills needed to maximise learning opportunities and to become rounded and skilled citizens.

We are renowned for being a ‘community school’ and welcome the skills and contributions of children, parents, carers, staff, governors and our wider community which are shared for the benefit of all. We believe that, through working in partnership with our pupils, their families and our wider community, we are learning together, achieving together and giving our pupils the best possible foundations for their future success.

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LEARNING Learning in Pre-School (2 year olds)

Learning in Nursery (3-4 year olds)

Being in Pre-School is fun! Our two year olds have the opportunity to become involved in a wide range of firsthand, practical experiences, enabling them to develop their knowledge, skills and understanding.

Our Nursery provides a welcoming, safe and exciting environment in which children are eager to learn! Carefully planned routines ensure there is a familiar pattern to children’s daily experiences and, as a result, children feel secure and settle quickly, benefitting from the learning activities on offer from their first session.

We encourage parents and carers to engage in their children’s learning as much as possible and enjoy close partnership work with our families.

Sometimes children lead the learning and choose what they want to do. At other times, they learn alongside an adult and take part in activities which help them to develop concentration and particular skills such as singing or cooking.

Children’s wellbeing is at the heart of our practice and all learning opportunities follow children’s interests. We closely observe each child’s involvement in the activities on offer which helps us to assess and plan for the next steps in their learning.

We offer a rich range of play-based activities and real life experiences through which children learn about themselves, their friends and the world in which we all live. Through these opportunities, children also acquire excellent communication skills and enjoy exploring and investigating alongside others, developing into motivated, confident and skilled learners.

Learning in Reception (4 to 5 year olds) Our Reception provision offers an inspirational learning environment in which children develop as confident and skilled learners. Our Leadership and teaching teams have brought a wealth of experience and masses of enthusiasm to our Foundation Stage, planning even more creative and exciting opportunities so that children are always motivated to learn and love joining in with (and leading!) activities!

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Learning in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 (Year 1 to Year 6) Our curriculum includes and extends beyond the subjects of the National Curriculum to provide a rich and balanced learning experience.

We want our children to be the best they can be, to develop and grow within an ethos that motivates them while providing a safe and secure base from which to be challenged, whether it is in art, music, science, maths, PE, ICT, English or humanities.

Children learn best when they are inspired and excited, so we make learning practical, creative and cross curricular, forming meaningful links across and between subjects. First hand experience brings learning to life and provides lasting impact and we offer a programme of local trips and visits as well as excursions further afield for older children.

We encourage our children to be actively involved in every aspect of school life and we encourage them to share their views, ideas, aspirations and concerns with us.

We place a huge emphasis on positive relationships and emotional well-being and the strong caring and nurturing values embedded in our teaching and learning underpin the ethos of our school. Through this, we ensure that our children grow in confidence, self-assurance and motivation in order to develop as independent, resourceful learners with a sense of self-worth, who will continue learning throughout their life.

If you would like to visit, please do contact us – we would love to show you around!

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OPPORTUNITIES AND CURRICULUM ENRICHMENT School Council Our School Council has two members from every class, from years 1 to 6, which ensures that all children are represented and have an opportunity to air their views. The council meets regularly to discuss ideas or issues put forward by their classes and these often contribute to our School Improvement Plan. The council feeds back any findings and decisions to the rest of our school. School Council members are elected by their class each year.

Charity Support We encourage our children to take part in fundraising for charity, which helps to develop their citizenship and financial skills. Although we fundraise for many charities, our main school charity is The CHASE Shooting Star Hospice, which we have supported since 1996. Our children enjoy discussing new ideas to raise money!

Music tuition There is a charge for individual or small-group music tuition (although parents/carers may be able to apply for a bursary) as this is an extra curricular activity and not part of the National Curriculum. These individual or small-group lessons are taught by peripatetic music teachers. We give parents/carers information about additional music tuition at the start of each academic year.

Educational visits At King’s Oak we believe that learning from first hand experience is very powerful and provides lasting impact. We support children’s learning through educational visits, which are planned to link into topic work at school. We ask for voluntary contributions for these trips and workshops approximately three weeks before the activity takes place. Parents/carers for whom this would cause financial difficulty are invited to come and see us, as financial support may be available.

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Residential trip Pupils in Year 6 are given the opportunity to join an ‘outdoor pursuits’ residential trip.

Our residential trip is extremely popular and gives children the opportunity to challenge themselves and be successful in a range of outdoor pursuit activities. This promotes team building skills and raises self-confidence and self-esteem. Our aim is that all children have the opportunity to join this trip and financial support may be available for those who need it.

Visiting experts We invite many experts into our school to work with our children, including novelists, dramatists, artists, musicians, foreign language experts and representatives from local services. Experts inspire our children to learn through sharing their passion for their subject area, which can raise our children’s aspirations for their future careers.

Clubs We offer a variety of school clubs, in consultation with children and parents, and actively encourage children to try new activities, in addition to building on the skills they have already developed at previous clubs.

We gather feedback from children on their experiences at clubs so that we can continue to offer relevant and exciting opportunities.

The clubs we run will vary from term to term. Clubs are run by staff at our school or by qualified and DBS checked outside providers (in line with our Safer Recruitment Policy) who may charge for these activities. Places at our clubs are offered as fairly as possible and we ensure that all children have the opportunity to attend clubs if they wish.

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BREAKFAST AND AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS Breakfast Club We run a Breakfast Club which opens at 7.45 a.m. and provides breakfast and a variety of activities before school. Our breakfast menu varies and usually includes toast, cereals, milk and a fruit drink.

After School Club Our After School Club is run by our school from 3.10 p.m. – 5.45 p.m. each day.

The club includes free choice of play, outside play and a snack.

Children are able to play with construction games, imaginative play materials (shop set/dolls’ house/dressing up clothes/farm set/train set etc.). There are also arts and craft activities to enjoy e.g. making models/painting/potato prints/ making cards.

We have a wide range of resources for outside play including scooters, bats, balls, skipping ropes and hoops.

Do children have a snack?

All children sit at a table together for a snack. A fruit bowl is available and we also offer a choice of: toast, crumpets, rice cakes and crackers served with a range of spreads e.g. jam, marmite. The snack is provided at 5.00 pm.

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School Meals School meals at King’s Oak are provided by ISS. You can find out more at www.feedinghungryminds.co.uk/edu/kings-oak-primary-school

Free School Meals All children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are entitled to a free hot meal each day, as part of the Universal Free School Meals scheme.

Older children whose parents/carers meet certain criteria may also be eligible for a daily free school meal. These are funded by the government and can save families up to £500 per year.

Children who receive free school meals follow the same routines at lunchtime as those who do not; all children take their tray to the serving hatch and ISS staff serve the meal that has been ordered.

Parents/carers of children from Reception to Year 6 who receive certain benefits may be eligible to register with Kingston Council.

When you are registered: • Your child can have a free school lunch or still bring a packed lunch if s/he prefers • We may be able to offer a place at our After School Club for a reduced price per evening (subject to places) • Help may be available for instrument tuition • The school residential trips may cost half the price • Our school receives extra money to invest in your child’s education.

Please come and see us, if you would like more information.

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OUR ADDRESS Dickerage Lane New Malden Surrey KT3 3RZ

020 8942 5154 admin@kop.rbksch.org www.kingsoak.kingston.sch.uk facebook.com/kingsoakprimaryschool @kingsoakprimaryschool