Wollaston School Prospectus 2016

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Welcome to Wollaston School Teenage years are arguably some of the most exciting, yet challenging times of our lives. During their school lives, young people develop intellectually and emotionally and begin to explore new ideas and interests, as well as their own beliefs and values about the world that we live in.

Our vision at Wollaston School is to support and enhance the physical, intellectual and emotional development of all of our students. In reality, this means providing them with the literacy, numeracy and practical skills to access a rich curriculum which offers them a diverse range of academic and practical subjects in which they can develop their talents and skills and discover new interests. We are committed to offering our students wide curriculum choice and stretching and challenging their capacity to think for themselves, developing their independent research skills.

In this way, we believe we will maximise academic outcomes for our students which will provide them with a wide range of opportunities and life choices in the future. We believe strongly in embracing new technologies and providing our students with clear careers guidance which will help prepare them for their chosen careers, realising their hopes and futures in a rapidly changing and globalising world.

Wollaston School is known above all else for its caring approach to individuals. We recognise that our students are all individuals and we work hard to identify and support their individual needs.

We work hard at relationships and this commitment from staff is met in return with an exceptional response from the young people in our school. The atmosphere in the school is warm, friendly, secure, and purposeful. We recognise that parents and children want a school that offers a secure, friendly atmosphere where relationships between students are good, where teachers set out to get to know students as individuals, and care about their individual welfare. We are clear that for learning to take place we must eliminate any potential causes of anxiety such as bullying, poor relationships between staff and students, or a neglected learning environment.

Finally, we recognise the importance of working in partnership with parents, the wider community and the world of work. We value the education and future prospects of all students equally and actively pursue policies and practices that provide equal opportunities for all.

Joe Cowell, Headteacher

However, school should be also be about enjoyment and celebration of success and at Wollaston we are committed to making learning fun and providing a wide range of enrichment activities beyond the classroom. We listen to our students’ views about how to improve things and believe strongly in the power of student voice as a tool for improving our school.

It was Aristotle who said that educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all. At Wollaston, we support the view that schools are about academic success, but equally about the personal development of young people and we are strong advocates of the qualities of mutual respect and inclusivity in the school environment. We are committed to developing strong moral values amongst our students and place a high value on equality, tolerance, honesty and kindness. In addition to National Curriculum lessons and examination courses, we devote form tutor time, assemblies and whole school events to developing empathy towards people from different cultures and those who live less fortunate lives than ourselves. We commit considerable time to fund raising for a range of charities, co-ordinated through our student council.

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Information about Admissions 6

Information About Admissions

Ethos and Values

Arrangements of visits to the School

Wollaston School aims for all its students to achieve their full potential intellectually, physically, spiritually, morally, socially and culturally. To achieve this, we strive to create an atmosphere and school ethos that is caring and well-ordered in order that all students can focus on achieving their best. We seek to give students of all abilities a passion for lifelong learning. We value all students equally and actively pursue policies and practices that provide equal opportunities for all.

Finally, we recognise the importance of working in partnership with parents, the wider community and the world of work.

Visitors are always welcome. If you wish to see the school in action, we ask that you make an appointment by ringing the school office in advance so that we can arrange to show you around.

There are also designated Open Days and an Open Evening for parents wishing to view the school. Full details can be found in the back of this booklet and on our website www.wollaston-school.info.

The Admission Policy of the Local Authority The school is not responsible for its own admissions and all applications / appeals are made through the Local Authority.

Our aim is for everyone at Wollaston School to:

The Pupil Admission Number (PAN) for the school is 240 students.

As a secondary school serving both urban and rural areas, places will be allocated to pupils who have a statement of Special Educational Needs (SEN) that names the school as appropriate provision. When there are more applications for places than there are places available, priority will be given in the following order:

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Feel safe and secure in an attractive, stimulating learning environment.

1. Children in public care (looked after children) or previously in public care.

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Be inspired, challenged and motivated.

2. Pupils who live in the designated villages ie. Bozeat, Brafield-on-the-Green, Castle Ashby, Chadstone, Cogenhoe, Denton, Easton Maudit, Great Houghton, Grendon, Irchester, Little Houghton, Strixton, Wollaston, Yardley Hastings, Whiston.

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Develop independence, confidence and skills to enable them to make the most of their abilities.

3. Pupils who will have an older brother or sister continuing at Wollaston School at the time of admission of the younger child.

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Develop the ability to make informed decisions that will enhance their future quality of life.

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Support and value each other and celebrate each other’s success.

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Develop a sense of justice, fairness and responsibility towards others and recognise the importance of democracy and freedom in our society.

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Celebrate all cultures in the school and the local and wider community and raise awareness of the part they play in the community.

4. Pupils attending Wollaston School’s designated contributory Primary Schools, i.e. Bozeat, Cogenhoe, Denton, Grendon, Irchester, Little Houghton, Wollaston, Yardley Hastings and continuing in attendance until the formal offer of places is made.

5. Pupils who live in Wellingborough and the designated surrounding villages and contributory parishes for Wellingborough: Earls Barton, Ecton, Finedon Sidings (Furnace Lane), Great Doddington, Great Harrowden, Hardwick, Little Harrowden, Little Irchester, Mears Ashby, Orlingbury, Wilby.

6. Other Pupils Distance tiebreaker If the admission number is exceeded within criterion (ii), priority will be given to those who live furthest from the nearest alternative school. If the admission number is exceeded within any other criterion, priority will be given to those who live closest to the school. Distances are measured on a straight line basis using the NCC’s GIS.

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Student health and well being Student Induction

Anti-Bullying Charter

All students who wish to join us in September are invited to visit the school in the summer term for two induction days. We ask parents to give us as much information as we need to help students to settle smoothly and speedily into their new school. Each student is allocated to a tutor group and a form tutor; this is linked into our House System where the tutor groups are allocated a House.

Students compete in competitions for their House and collect House points. It is the role of form tutors to monitor carefully the general academic and personal development of students in their care. We have developed a programme of work in personal, social and health education, which will help students to improve their all-round academic performance and teach students more about themselves and others.

We are determined to reduce bullying to zero. Bullying in all its forms is totally unacceptable and staff and governors at Wollaston will do all in their power to eliminate it from this school. We would be naive, however, to think that bullying never takes place and so we have procedures which help us to remain alert to problems and act quickly when appropriate.

We believe that all young people have the right to attend Wollaston School each day without fear of being bullied. We aim to create a calm, secure and caring atmosphere in which all students may optimise their education. Complaints connected with bullying are always treated seriously, no matter what the circumstances and we always try to deal promptly, sensitively and efficiently with incidents when they do occur.

Pastoral Care

A Summary of the School’s Inclusion Policy

A Head of Year and a Student Manager is dedicated to each year group to assist form tutors. The Head of Year has responsibility for the overall academic progress and social development of each child in that year. He / she co-ordinates the work of form tutors and is an important source of information and point of contact for parents.

The school recognises that many students will have some degree of special educational needs for part or all of their time at Wollaston School. The school aims to address these needs in order to ensure that all students are able to achieve academically and socially.

The Head of Year will encourage high standards of behaviour and dress and will maintain a clear record of students’ academic and personal progress as students move up through the school. All records maintained on students by the school or Education Authority shall be open to the individuals concerned and to their parents or guardians.

Students’ individual special educational needs are identified in a number of ways: primary school liaison, screening and diagnostic testing, parental communication, subject staff diagnosis and dialogue with students themselves.

The Special Educational Needs Faculty works closely with parents, students and all school staff to address the needs of individual pupils. The Special Needs Coordinator [SENCO] is supported by an able team of dedicated learning support assistants who support students in the classroom or on an individual or small group basis.

Student illness or accident If a student feels unwell, they will be directed to the medical room and assessed by a First Aid trained member of staff. Parents will be contacted and in the rare event of serious ill-health an ambulance will be called.

Medicines Medicines, prescribed by a doctor, can only be administered during school hours by prior arrangement with the school, and only if no alternative arrangement can be made. Staff are expressly forbidden to administer non-prescribed medicines.

We have several qualified first-aiders who are able to respond to low-level medical problems and we have a fully staffed medical room.

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School Routines 10

Term Dates

Assemblies

Term dates vary from year to year and can be located on the Northamptonshire County Council Website.

Regular assemblies are held in school. In our view, assemblies do not contain material that is likely to offend particular religious beliefs. However, parents have the right to withdraw their children from assembly. Our assembly programme covers a wide range of social and moral themes and is designed to help students develop into responsible adults.

The School Day Assembly / Tutorial

08.55 - 09.10am

Period 1

09.10 - 10.00am

Period 2

10.00 - 10.50am

Break

10.50 - 11.10am

Period 3

11.10 - 12.00pm

Period 4

12.00 - 12.50pm

Lunch

12.50 - 13.20pm

Period 5

13.20 - 14.10pm

Period 6

14.10 - 15.00pm

Rewards We believe strongly in celebrating student success and that it is important to recognise and reward achievements of all kinds. We know that students respond positively to praise and are very motivated by it.

The achievements of individuals are recognised in a number of different ways.

Individual subject staff communicate with parents using a variety of formats such as email, telephone calls and postcards. Staff also record positive events using our internal system and these can be used in discussion with students during tutor time or subject lessons.

Formal certificates are awarded throughout the year by Heads of Year and the Headteacher. The school also holds a termly rewards assembly where recognition of success is shared with the year group.

Transport All students in Years 7 to 11 from “linked� villages in the catchment area of the school (except Wollaston and Strixton) are issued with a bus pass for free travel to and from school.

Lessons are taught as a mixture of single and double lessons, according to subject. Subjects such as maths and English are taught in sessions of 50 minutes; practical subjects such as science and performing arts are taught in blocks of an hour and 40 minutes in order to develop skills and deepen learning.

Other students, e.g. from Rushden and some Wellingborough areas, have to make appropriate travel arrangements and are not assisted ďŹ nancially by the Local Authority.

School Meals

All Post-16 students (Years 12, 13 and beyond) currently have to pay for transport at a charge determined annually by the Local Authority.

Hot meals and snacks are provided before school at break times and lunch by Cucina, our professional catering service. Parents can pay for meals using Parent Pay, our on-line finance service or call in to main reception to load credit using an electronic credit / debit card machine. Students can also load cash to their meals accounts using a re-valve machine located in school.

All matters relating to school transport are handled directly by the Schools Transport Section of Northamptonshire County Council.

House System The House system is an important part of the ethos of the school. We expect that all students will make a contribution to activities that support a positive community within the school.

The achievements of each house are monitored and published and displayed regularly. Form tutors receive regular details of house points received by their own tutees and this helps us to build a strong team ethos amongst students and recognise and celebrate their successes.

The format of the House system is currently under review.

Brunel

Austen

Churchill 11

Nightingale

Drake

The School Curriculum The academic work of the school is the responsibility of Heads of Faculty, each of whom is responsible to the Headteacher for a particular curriculum area.

The school follows the National Curriculum in accordance with the requirements of the Department for Education.

Key Stage 3 Curriculum

Assessment

(Years 7-9)

Upon arrival at school in Year 7, we assess students’ abilities using data passed on by our primary feeder schools. We also use Cognitive Ability Tests. These give an indication of students’ academic strengths and weaknesses through verbal, quantitative and non-verbal tests. During the school year, students’ progress in all years is assessed and reported home to parents regularly using internal assessments and in later years, public examination outcomes at GCSE and A level are the main measures of student progress.

The Key Stage 3 curriculum aims to build on the work of our primary schools whilst meeting statutory requirements and introducing new curriculum opportunities. It is a broad and balanced experience, including mathematics, English, science, humanities (history, ethics & philosophy, geography, citizenship), design technology (food technology, product design and textiles), art, information technology, modern languages (French, German), PE, and performing arts (music, drama & dance). All students study personal development and social issues in tutor time, attend assemblies and enjoy a wide range of extra-curricular activities.

Sixth Form (Years 12 and 13)

Key Stage 4 Curriculum

Wollaston Sixth Form is a supportive and inspiring place to study for students following both A-level and vocational courses. Our thriving Sixth Form offers a warm welcome to students who are ready to work hard to achieve their dreams and the majority of our students stay on to study in the Sixth Form. It is our aim that all of our Sixth Form students leave school with skills that make them marketable in the rapidly globalising world of work or higher education and about 75% of our Year 13 students progress each year to study at university.

An experienced mentor guides each student in their studies and is there to reach out a helping hand. Skilled specialist teachers share their enthusiasm and subject knowledge with students, inspiring them to do their best. We provide opportunities for all students to take part in a range of enrichment opportunities and play an active part in the success of the vibrant Wollaston Sixth Form community. The Sixth Form team also provides specialist careers advice and guidance for all students.

(Years 10-11) In Year 10, students begin GCSE courses and study a curriculum that reflects their particular academic or vocational strengths and interests. Almost all students will complete GCSEs in 9 subjects, including mathematics, English language and English literature, core and additional science or triple science subjects (biology, chemistry, physics). In addition, students will be given several option choices to develop their academic interests and strengths. A small number of students take on vocational courses related directly to the world of work, such as motor vehicle maintenance.

Most courses will lead to examination qualifications in the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), but there are also opportunities to follow BTEC and other vocational options.

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Ethics & Philosophy and Religious Education Ethics & philosophy is taught in accordance with the guidelines issued by Northamptonshire Local Authority.

Students study a wide range of social issues affecting them and the world around them in order to develop higher order thinking skills, independent learning techniques and the ability to debate and develop an informed point of view. It is anticipated that all students will participate in this course. Parents have the right to withdraw their child from this subject, though we would hope to be able to discuss any issues of concern before such a withdrawal takes place.

Ethics & philosophy is taught as a discrete subject throughout years 7 to 9.

Students in Years 10 and 11 choose the subject as a GCSE option and complete the GCSE qualification at the end of Year 11.

Homework Homework is an essential part of developing students’ independent learning skills and helps to consolidate their understanding of concepts covered in class and their preparation for examinations. All students are expected to do this work, though the amount set will vary from subject to subject and according to the age of the student. Homework can involve learning, reading, research or revision activities, as well as writing assignments. Parents are invited to inform the form tutor if they feel concerned about the amount of work being set.

Students are issued with a personal planner in which they are asked to record, on a day-to-day basis, the homework set and carried out, together with the time taken. Some faculties may set an extended homework, which may be completed over a number of weeks. Parents are asked to sign the planner on a weekly basis, as an indication that it is being kept up to date.

Sex Education Sex education is taught embracing values, attitudes and behaviour, as well as knowledge, in such a manner as to encourage students to have due regard to moral considerations and the value of family life.

The programme focuses on the physical, emotional and moral development of each student and from Year 9 work follows a specialist programme with teachers working alongside nurses to deliver sex education, as well as tutor time activities, year group assemblies and specialist visiting speakers.

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Enrichment Opportunities 14

Physical Education & Sport

The Arts

Through the physical education curriculum, we promote physical fitness, student participation in team sports, identify and develop elite sportsmen and sportswomen of the future and encourage healthy lifestyles for all. However, physical education also develops inter-personal and problem-solving skills and personal qualities, such as self-esteem, self-confidence, team-building, tolerance and empathy, and helps forge links between the school and the community.

The school has excellent links with the local clubs and the community.

We believe that all students should have access to the arts and that aesthetic education is an essential part of every child’s development. We promote this through a core curriculum experience for all students.

We enable students to access a broad arts education, including art, dance, drama and music, creating a sense of enjoyment and achievement and encourage self-confidence in and through the arts.

Teachers from the performing and visual arts subjects offer a diverse range of extra-curricular activities which are accessible to all students. Activities take place in after-school and lunchtime clubs and include vocal groups, instrumental groups catering for all instruments and abilities, musical theatre productions, drama events and scripted plays.

Resources The major resources are: • Sports hall • Gymnasium • Three football pitches • Two rugby pitches • Artificial cricket wicket • Two indoor cricket nets • Two floodlit astroturf courts, incorporating 8 tennis courts

• Five-a-side pitch, netball and hockey pitches

Resources

• Grass athletics track

The major resources are:

• Climbing wall • Fitness centre • Fully equipped dance studio • Outdoor basketball court • Specialist outdoor table tennis facility

• Three art rooms with dedicated IT facilities

• Fully equipped dance studio with sprung floor

• Two large music teaching rooms, each equipped with 15 computers, electronic keyboards and acoustic pianos

• IT suite

• Five purpose built music practice rooms

• Sibelius software for music composition

• Drama rehearsal space

• Sets of African drums and samba drums

• Two fully equipped drama studios with lighting bars and sound

• Seminar room • Lockable instrument stores

• Large flexible performance hall, seating capacity 264 (raked seating)

Other extra-curricular opportunities Several faculties run residential visits that enhance students’ understanding and enjoyment of academic courses. These include residential visits to Belgium [history department), North Norfolk & Iceland (geography department) France and Germany (modern languages department), the USA (leisure & tourism and hospitality) and the CERN laboratories in Switzerland (science faculty). The school is a member of the Holocaust Trust and arranges annual student visits to Auschwitz as part of this commitment.

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Examinations outcomes, results and careers All students in years 10 and 11 follow courses leading to public examinations for the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) or equivalent qualifications in BTEC subjects. Most students take examinations in nine subjects.

In years 12 and 13, students follow a range of academic and vocational courses leading to General Certificate of Education (GCE) qualifications in either 3 or 4 subjects. Where students enter the Sixth Form without at least a grade C in English or maths at GCSE, it is a pre-requisite that they will continue to study these subjects in the Sixth Form to develop their skills in these areas.

Examination results are published according to national regulations and are available on the school’s website.

The school is always pleased to discuss results overall or in any specific areas.

Enquiries should be addressed in the first instance to Mr Cowell, Headteacher.

A summary of our GCSE, A level and BTEC Qualification results can be found in the back of this booklet.

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WOLLASTON SCHOOL

01933 663501 office@wollaston-school.net Wollaston School Irchester Road, Wollaston, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, NN29 7PH