“My subject teachers help me because they encourage me to do well.” YEAR 9 STUDENT
“Students make good progress.” OFSTED 2012
Joining Year 7 We hope to get to know you before you start at Willowfield so you can begin to learn as soon as you get here. You may already have met some of the teachers at your primary school or been to Willowfield for a special event. Perhaps you have worked with some of our students or attended our open evening?
Before you start you will come into school with your parent or carer to talk to our students and staff and have a good look round. Then you will come here for a ‘taster day’ to meet the other Year 7 students and experience what lessons are like at Willowfield.
“Willowfield is an extraordinary school!” YEAR 8 STUDENT
Our Aims At Willowfield we believe that all students have the potential to succeed. We aim to give all students the opportunity to develop their talents fully and acquire the skills and aptitudes necessary to succeed in the adult world. These include: • High personal aspirations. • A lifelong love of learning. • The confidence to make choices and take control of their own lives. • The basic skills of literacy, numeracy and new technology. • The ability to make social and moral decisions.
Our vision is of a school that: • Provides a happy, well ordered, safe and stimulating environment for students and staff. • Has a culture and environment that enables our young people to achieve the highest academic standards and realise their full potential. • Is relentlessly focused on developing good and outstanding teaching and demands high standards of work and behaviour from students and staff. • Provides students and staff with a wide range of opportunities for personal development and celebrates achievement in all its forms. • Provides young people with the skills, values and determination to become responsible and active citizens. • Welcomes and values the contribution of all individuals, groups and cultures represented in our community. • Ensures everyone in the school upholds the principles of equal opportunities. • Creates a partnership with parents which enables them to support their child in developing a lifelong love of learning. • Is ambitious and reflective, embracing change in response to new and unforeseen challenges.
Learning At Willowfield we aim to ensure students are treated as individuals in terms of their learning, care, guidance and support. We know our students and their families well! Every student has individual targets and their progress towards meeting these is carefully monitored. Specialist subject teachers plan work carefully so as to meet individual students’ needs. They are also expert at giving students advice about how to improve their work. We also have a specialist support team who make sure individual needs are met including a Lead Practitioner for High Attaining Students, Ethnic Minority Achievement Coordinator, Learning Mentor, Inclusion Manager and Special Educational Needs Coordinator.
Our work with disadvantaged pupils has been recognised nationally. In 2015 Willowfield received a ‘Pupil Premium Award’ from the DfE for the improvements made in attainment and progress by our disadvantaged students. Every form group has two tutors and students usually have the same tutors throughout their time here. The tutors are responsible for making sure their students feel safe, happy and supported and they achieve as much as they can in all aspects of school life. Each year group is the responsibility of an Achievement Leader whose role is to make sure each year group can and does succeed and that the children are encouraged and rewarded to do so.
“We are like a family.” YEAR 8 STUDENT
“At Willowfield the teachers here really encourage you to do your best.” YEAR 8 STUDENT
“Every one of my achievements has been celebrated by Willowfield making me more eager to reach the highest levels.” YEAR 11 STUDENT
Curriculum We offer a broad and balanced curriculum that meets National Curriculum requirements and is planned with the interests and needs of our students in mind. We keep the subjects we offer and the content of lessons under review to ensure that they both challenge and engage our students.
In Key Stage 4 all students study English, Maths, Science, PSHE and Citizenship, PE and RE. As we are a Humanities College all students also study either History or Geography in key stage 4 (some choose both!) and in addition they make up to 3 other choices from a range of GCSE courses. These include: • A modern foreign language (French or Spanish) • Performing Arts (Music or Drama) • Visual Arts (Art and Design or Textiles)
• Technology (Electronics or Resistant Materials) • Cooking and Nutrition • Health and Social Care • Computing • Sports and Leisure Our Humanities specialism also means that we place a particular emphasis on the development of literacy skills and the English language across all subjects. We believe this helps students to succeed in education, as a human being and as an active citizen.
“Willowfield is a place full of opportunities.” YEAR 8 STUDENT
Behaviour for Learning Students are expected to respect their own and other students’ rights to learn and to take responsibility for their own behaviour and we support them in this. We reward good behaviour that supports learning. Students are expected to attend school regularly and on time, to complete their own work and help others to do the same. They are expected to be good citizens at school and in the local community.
Rewards include stamps, certificates, prizes and trips while each term ends with a special ’Celebration of Achievement’ assembly where each year group gets together to celebrate the success of their peers. Where the behaviour of groups or individuals gets in the way of learning or makes others feel unhappy or unsafe, there are consequences. Rules are made very clear and sanctions include detentions, community service, isolation and sometimes exclusion. We involve parents in working with us to improve the situation.
“Students, parents and carers are rightly confident that the college is a safe environment.” OFSTED 2012
“It really helps me when teachers give me more challenging work as it stretches me academically.” YEAR 8 STUDENT
“This is a good school. Most striking is the culture of mutual respect and support amongst its exceptionally diverse community.” OFSTED 2012
Student Voice Willowfield exists for its students so what they think is important to us. We have an active Student Leadership Council made up of representatives elected by each tutor group. The SLC has a pivotal role in helping how to decide the school can be improved even further. Input from the SLC helps decide school improvement priorities and representatives are involved in helping us to select staff for senior posts. In recent years changes to our school uniform policy and our mobile phone policy have been brought about by work done by the SLC.
In Year 11 students can put something back into the school community by becoming a prefect. Following a rigorous selection process those lucky enough to be selected help the staff with duties, playground supervision and by supporting form tutors. Prefects also represent the school at our public events. Students have many other opportunities to take on responsibilities: for example as reading mentors, sports captains, citizenship ambassadors, school journalists, librarians or bank managers.
“Thanks for a great parent’s evening last night, it was so useful to talk to the teachers and I was really impressed by them.” YEAR 7 PARENT
Additional Opportunities We offer a range of activities after school and at lunchtimes including sports, arts and extra help with learning. Opportunities to engage in activities related to Citizenship are many and varied, while our Artsmark award reflects the range and quality of the opportunities offered in art, drama and music.
A wide range of sports provide competition for tutor groups in our inter -form events and we compete with other schools in sports such as netball, football, cricket, rounders and athletics. There are lots of opportunities to catch up with work or get extra help. The library and computer rooms are available to students at break and lunchtime and there is a homework club every day after school.
Many subjects offer drop-in surgeries and booster sessions particularly in the run up to key exams. Many curriculum led visits take place each year These include field trips, theatres, galleries and museums with an annual French residential visit too.
“Safeguarding procedures are thorough and staff are well trained.” OFSTED 2012
Beyond Willowfield We have the Investor in Careers Award in recognition of the way students are prepared for the future. Through our link with the East London Business Alliance our students get the opportunity to visit and work with adults from a number of large businesses including banks, law firms and media companies.
“Willowfield will support you through hard times.” YEAR 8 STUDENT
All students do two weeks work experience in Year 10 and our careers advisers provide individual advice and guidance. We also encourage our students to think about further and higher education and provide opportunities to visit colleges and universities. Most Willowfield students continue in full time education or training after leaving us, with the vast majority going on to full time courses at colleges and sixth forms across north London.
Partnership with Parents Parents need information in order to support their children. We send home a progress report or full report once a term, invite parents to individual advice and guidance meetings with their child and hold an annual meeting with parents and subject teachers.
We inform parents when their child is doing well or where there are concerns about their progress and we hope that parents will keep us well informed too. A good way of doing this is through the student diaries which parents are asked to sign every week.
We also offer special parents events in the evenings on specific topics such as internet safety, literacy and supporting student learning.
Every year we invite parents to complete a comprehensive questionnaire about their experience of the school. This is completed in the spring term so the outcomes can inform our planning for the following year.
One way we ask for parents’ support is in ensuring students attend school punctually every day. We make same day contact with parents when students are absent without explanation.
“I have had endless support from my parents and teachers.” YEAR 11 STUDENT
“The staff at Willowfield help me by encouraging me to do my best and to put all my work and effort into any subject.” YEAR 9 STUDENT
Our Staff Students need good teachers and teachers need good staff to support them. The development of our staff is very important to us. Willowfield is a member of two local teaching school alliances and a specialist partner in Initial Teacher Education of the Institute of Education/University College London.
This means we train new teachers and new support staff and provide many development opportunities for more experienced colleagues from our own school and our partner schools. Our success with this work has been recognised externally. We are currently accredited with the Professional Development Quality Mark Gold Award and the Investors in People Silver mark.
“Teaching is good.” OFSTED 2012
“My subject teachers help me by giving me feedback written and verbal about what I could do different to make further progress.” YEAR 11 STUDENT