School Booklet 2015-16

Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16 CONTENTS 1. nothing 2. Contents 3. Letter from the headteacher 4. Contact details; times of day 5. Staff at Isambard Brunel Junior School 6. Staff at Isambard Brunel Junior School (continued) 7. Local Governing Body 8. School Vision and Aims 9. Admissions Policy; contact with school; pupil records; freedom of information 10. School website and email; facilities; 11. Visitors and security; attendance and punctuality 12. The curriculum – literacy; 13. The curriculum – numeracy; science; computing; 14. The curriculum – RE; art; DT; 15. The curriculum – Geography; history; PE; PSHE and citizenship; 16. The curriculum – Music; thinking 17. Other aspects of the curriculum – Gifted and Talented children; visits; clubs 18. Reports and Parents’ evenings; Special Educational Needs 19. Pastoral Care; Extended Schools; Illness 20. Medicines; absence; organisation 21. Homework 22. Rewards and sanctions 23. Rewards and sanctions (continued) 24. Newsletters; Student Voice 25. Uniform; School dinners 26. Results 27. Ofsted comments 28. Data Protection 29. Formal complaints; disclaimer 30. Appendix 1 – Portsmouth City Council Admissions Policy

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Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16 LETTER FROM THE HEADTEACHER Dear Parents Welcome to Isambard Brunel Junior School and our latest school brochure. I hope you find the information in here helpful and that it begins to answer some of the many questions I expect you have about who we are and what we do. If we’ve missed anything out, please let us know so that we can include it in the next edition. I really believe in parents and schools working together. It is a privilege to care for and educate your children. We take that responsibility very seriously. However we only have them for a short time each day and I know that without your support and understanding, we cannot do well. So if there is anything you are not happy or worried about please come in and speak to one of us. We will either explain to you what is happening (and why!) or try to put things right. If you want to speak to me in person, please do: if I am not available when you come in, then the office will make you an appointment as soon as possible. And if everything is going well, please let us know about that too! I really do hope your child does well at Brunel and enjoys their time here. Yours sincerely

Iain Gilmour Headteacher

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Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16 CONTACT DETAILS ISAMBARD BRUNEL JUNIOR SCHOOL Wymering Road North End Portsmouth PO2 7HX Tel: 023 9266 3444 Fax: 023 9266 0909 email: [email protected] School Website: www.isambard.portsmouth.sch.uk ACADEMY TRUST Chief Executive Officer: Denise Shepherd The Thinking Schools Academy Trust C/O New Horizons Children's Academy Park Crescent Chatham Kent ME4 6NR TIMES OF DAY 8:50am – 12pm

Morning sessions

12pm – 12:55pm

Lunch

12:55pm – 3:20pm

Afternoon sessions

Playground opens at 8:40am The school doors are open at 8:40am. Parents are to stay in the playground and let children to enter the school building on their own. Children leave between 3:20pm and 3:30pm to make sure there is a good end of the day. The school office is normally open from 8:30am to 5pm Monday to Thursday and 8:30am to 4:30pm on Friday.

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Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16 STAFF AT ISAMBARD BRUNEL JUNIOR SCHOOL Teaching staff Year 3 Emma Hamer Sara Parker Natalie Read

Class teacher Class teacher Class teacher

Samantha Brown Deborah Bryson Rose Fleming

Teaching assistant Teaching assistant Teaching assistant

Year 4 Jo McVicar Charlotte Snowdon Chantal Tyler

Class teacher Class teacher Class teacher

Jack Brignall Lisa Kirk new appointment

Teaching assistant Teaching assistant Teaching assistant

Year 5 Isobel Messer Shannon McNally Vicky Pearson

Class teacher Class teacher Class teacher

Leigh Bennett Kelly Bromley Emma Boreham

Teaching assistant Teaching assistant Teaching assistant

Year 6 Hattie Paine Liz Wise

Class teacher Class teacher

Bev Jennings Jacqueline Wyatt

Teaching assistant Teaching assistant

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Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16 STAFF AT ISAMBARD BRUNEL JUNIOR SCHOOL (continued) Emma Hitchings Helen Toghill

Teacher – Year 6 support and cover Teacher – Year 6 support and MFL

Mandy Chandler

HLTA (Year 6) and PPA cover

Office Staff Kerry Abdul Kim Ellis Pat Smith Mary Sheridan

Reception; administrative assistant School Business Manager SIMS manager Clerk to Governors

Site and Supervisory Staff Ian Wrightson Debbie Byrne Lorraine Johnson Pam Kaur Ashma Mannan Sharon Ratcliff Natalie Rose Claire Bateman Kim Willis Caroline White Sue Woolvin

Caretaker Cleaner Cleaner Lunchtime supervisor Lunchtime supervisor Cleaner; senior lunchtime supervisor Lunchtime supervisor Lunchtime supervisor Cleaner; lunchtime supervisor First Aider (Lunch) Lunchtime supervisor

Inclusion Team Deb Welling Angela Godwin

Inclusion Base Manager ELSA

Leadership Team Iain Gilmour Sara Paine Anne Cope

Headteacher Deputy Headteacher Assistant Headteacher and Inclusion Manager

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Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16 LOCAL GOVERNING BODY CHAIR Michelle Treacher

VICE CHAIR Chris Bailey

Sara Paine

Lee Miller

Jayne Pratt

Bob Smith

Mary Sheridan

Deborah Welling

Iain Gilmour

Valerie Wilshaw

Authority

Authority

Staff Governor

Trust Governor

Directors’ Appointment

Directors’ Appointment

Clerk

Staff governer

Headteacher

Parent

Governors can be contacted via the school. At the moment there are two governor subcommittees. One covers finance, personnel and buildings; the other covers standards and curriculum. These sub-committees meet every half term as does the full governing body. At the time of writing, there is one vacancy for a parent governor.

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Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16 THE SCHOOL AND ITS VISION Isambard Brunel Junior School is a local authority school located in the North End area of the city of Portsmouth. It is housed in a Victorian school built over one hundred years ago. We share a site with Meredith Infant School and the majority of our intake comes from them. Most children go on to attend Mayfield Secondary School, Portsmouth Academy for Girls or City of Portsmouth Boys’ School.

THE VISION Walk into the school... walk through the halls... walk into the classrooms... walk around the playground... walk into the staffroom... walk into the office…

What do you see? What do you hear? What do you feel? If it’s learning - we’ve got it right. If it looks like fun - we’ve got it right. If we’re getting better - we’ve got it right. If we’re working together - we’ve got it right. If we’re making a difference - we’ve got it right.

SCHOOL AIMS Building Bridges - Moving Forward To help all learners to reach their full potential through the best possible teaching. To promote the way children develop their emotions, their social skills and their learning. To actively work with families and the community to advance learning for all. To promote equal opportunities for all.

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Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16 ADMISSIONS POLICY Parents wishing to apply for a place at school should call the city council on 023 9268 8008. We follow Portsmouth City Council’s policy which is included in Appendix 1. CONTACT WITH THE SCHOOL Please speak to any member of staff if you have any concerns or questions. Appointments can be made via the school office. We find that most worries can be sorted out by a quick chat with your child’s teacher or by a quick note or telephone call. If you need to speak to the school urgently, a senior member of staff will be available at most times. The headteacher is happy to see all parents at any time if he is not in a meeting. Formal appointments with the headteacher can be made via the office. Please bear in mind that the start and the end of the day are quite busy and there may be a short wait before a member of staff is available. Finally, we use a texting system to send reminders to all parents. PUPIL RECORDS As you would expect we keep a range of information about your child at school. Personal information such as address, date of birth and telephone numbers is kept on a secure computer system called SIMS. The only people to have access to SIMS are the office staff, senior leaders and the headteacher. SIMS keeps records of your child’s attendance and progress. It is used to send on information about your child when they change school and is done via a secure network. Teachers keep their own records in order to track the progress your child is making. All records at school are confidential. You can ask to see what is stored about your child by writing to the school. We may charge for copying. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION From 1st January 2005 the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) has meant that anyone has the right to see information held by the school such as letters, emails, photographs or CCTV footage. We hope to be as open and honest as possible about what we do as a school as this will give you confidence in what we are doing. However the Data Protection Act still applies so we cannot release personal information. We would hope that any information you need is given to you. Should you want to make a formal request, we should comply within 20 working days unless there is an exemption. Letters should be addressed to “The FOI Officer” at school.

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Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16 WEBSITE AND EMAIL Our website is www.isambard.portsmouth.sch.uk The school does use email. The address is [email protected] FACILITIES The school is a two storey Victorian building built around the turn of the 19th – 20th century. We have a great deal of space and are always looking for ways of making best use of what we have. We have two halls – one upstairs and one downstairs. Lunches are eaten in the lower hall. Most classrooms, the library and the ICT suite are upstairs; two classrooms and the intervention suite are downstairs. The rooms used by our pastoral team are also on the first floor. We have a lift giving easy access for our disabled visitors or children in prams or pushchairs.

We have two community rooms downstairs. These are used by the school, the Children’s Centre and other groups. The school has two playgrounds. The east playground has a large Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) used for team games including football and basketball. The west playground has a small grassed area, a gazebo and the school vegetable beds. Although we do not have a field or swimming pool, we visit other schools and use theirs. - 10 -

Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16

VISITORS AND SECURITY All visitors are asked to report to the office. They will be asked to sign in via a computer system which will produce a photo ID bade. This should be clearly displayed at all times. Entry to the school is via a security buzzer. There is a separate entrance for community users. ATTENDANCE AND PUNCTUALITY If children are not in school, they cannot learn and so we really work hard to make sure every child is in school and arrives on time. We cannot do that without your support and hope that you feel the same way! We award a weekly attendance and punctuality trophy in Celebration Assemblies. The winners are put on the website.

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Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16 THE CURRICULUM We offer a broad, balanced curriculum that makes as many links between subjects as we can. THE CORE SUBJECTS LITERACY (ENGLISH) Our English teaching gives children a love of language and shows them that reading and writing are still key skills even in the 21st century. English is taught every day with extra sessions for spellings, handwriting and reading. Each block of lessons has a specific theme such as story writing, poetry or explanatory texts. Children read examples of the genre written by other people and look at how they are put together. They then have a chance to work with the language used in those examples before trying to write their own.

The children get Guided Reading sessions. These teach the basics of reading and skills like reading between the lines. We want children to know that reading and writing are skills for life. We encourage them to enter writing competitions both in and out of school and take part in the annual Portsmouth Book Award. We have a well stocked library which every class visits each week. Any lost books are charged at £3 for a replacement.

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Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16 NUMERACY (MATHS) Maths is taught everyday and our teaching makes sure children can see that it can be fun and is an important life skill. We work on mental maths (times tables and number bonds) and written methods for calculations – the sums you write down to work out. Mental maths is practised every day and the written methods are covered at some point during every term. Maths is not just about numbers. Children also learn about shapes, co-ordinates, patterns, problem solving and data handling. The new national curriculum says all children should know all their tables up to 12x12 by the end of Year 4 so please help! SCIENCE Science explains why the world works in the way that it does. We teach science in topics that last for half a term. They include electricity, plants, forces and materials. The topics in Years 3 and 4 are taught again in Years 5 and 6 in more depth. The children do their own investigations and experiments. This lets them find out facts for themselves and to think like a scientist. As with every subject, we look for opportunities for children to see science in the real world by attending Science Fairs and involving other organisations. COMPUTING The school is well resourced for ICT and has recently upgraded its wireless network. Every class has a computer linked to an interactive whiteboard and the internet. The main ICT suite has thirty new computers; we also have 60 laptops and 32 iPads linked to an Apple server. All the computers are networked so children can get to their work on any computer. We have lots of software to support all subjects. Children are taught how to use a range of software to produce and present their own work including Word, PowerPoint and Excel. They are shown how to use the internet and how research can support other subjects. We teach them basic programming skills as well.

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Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16

RE In a multicultural city it is more important than ever to teach children about the many religions in Portsmouth. RE tells children about what religions believe and how they show their belief. It shows children how people use their faith to make sense of the world. The children look at Christianity, Islam and Sikhism. We teach RE in an honest open way that does not preach or judge. RE lets children develop their own spirituality and to learn about the moral choices we have to make in life. These themes are covered in lessons as well as our collective worship assemblies. Here we think about and respond to questions and issues about life and the world around us. If you do not want your child to have RE lessons, you need to write to the school. THE FOUNDATION SUBJECTS ART Art lets children be creative and express themselves. We use a range of equipment ranging from watercolour paints to clay. We also show children what other artists did to inspire their own work. DT DT teaches children how to design, make and evaluate a project. Before starting their project, the children look at other designs to get ideas. They are taught how to use tools and materials to make their project. When they finish, they think about what went well and how next time it could be even better.

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Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16 GEOGRAPHY Geography makes children aware of the area in which they live and how it is different to other parts of the country or the world. It explores why the world is the way it is. Children are asked to decide if features are natural or manmade and how people can change their environment. HISTORY History teaches children how events in the past have made a difference to modern life. We look at specific times in history such as the Greeks and the Tudors. Children find out how people lived, what they did and who the important people were. History is often linked to other subjects. For example as well as looking at Greek pots, children are asked to make their own versions. PE PE teaches children how to stay fit and healthy, how to play a range of games and how to work as part of a team including how not get too upset if they lose. We use our lower hall for gymnastics and dance. Other games such as tennis, rounders and hockey are taught either in the hall or the outside MUGA. Children have two PE sessions a week. We encourage them to take part in other sports outside of school.

PSHE & CITIZENSHIP PSHE covers everything from bullying to keeping safe in the sun. We teach PSHE in a number of ways including visiting speakers, class Circle Times or small group work. Sex education is taught to Years 5 and 6. Citizenship is taught alongside PSHE. This looks at how we are all members of a local and national community and how they work. - 15 -

Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16 MUSIC In music lessons children sing, play instruments, listen to music and compose their own music. We make good use of the Portsmouth Music Service and take part in several festivals during the year. This lets our children work with a specialist teacher and children from other schools. We offer specialist lessons to those children who want to learn instruments. These are taught by members of the Portsmouth Music Service and must be paid for. More details are available from the office. THINKING We teach the children various thinking tools to help them with their learning and to prepare them for life outside school. These include thinking maps which you will see around the school. We hope to be accredited as a Thinking School by 2018.

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Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16 OTHER ASPECTS OF THE CURRICULUM GIFTED AND TALENTED CHILDREN We believe in challenging all children no matter their level. Some children have a strength in a subject such as maths or English. Others may be talented artists, musicians or excel in a sport. We aim to give chances for these gifted and talented children to push themselves even further. These may be in the classroom where the teacher sets them a special challenge, in one of the events run by trust schools or an after school club. EDUCATIONAL AND RESIDENTIAL VISITS We like using trips to make your child’s learning as real as possible. These have included visits to local churches and museums and geography based walks around the local area. Sometimes we do take children further such as the Natural History Museum in London. Like most schools we do ask for contributions to help towards the costs of these trips. We are very grateful to those parents who do support us in this way. We offer the chance for some children to take part in a residential visit. In the past we have visited places such as the Isle of Wight and Dorset. CLUBS We are lucky that we are able to have Pompey in the Community run after school clubs for the children. Other staff run clubs during the school year at different times – please look out for letters coming home.

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Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16 REPORTS AND PARENTS’ EVENINGS We send our yearly reports home during the Spring Term. This allows you to see how much progress your child is making and what we want to work on in the Summer Term. We have three parents’ evenings during the year. In the Autumn Term we let you know how your child is settling into their new class. In the Spring Term we talk about your child’s report and the aims for the last term. In the Summer Term we can talk about what your child has achieved during the year. We will also tell you the results from any tests your child may have taken. SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS Children may have special education needs or SEN at any point in their school career. The needs may be about how their emotions are developing, their behaviour, their sight or hearing, their physical needs or their learning needs. Children who are on our SEN register have an Individual Educational Plan. This shows you what we do to support them at school. This may range from the teacher giving them slightly different work in the classroom to them having one-to-one sessions with a teaching assistant. The regulations around SEN children changed in September 2014. “Statements” are being replaced with “Education and Health Care Plans” and the old levels of support are no longer used. If your child is on the SEN register and you have any questions, please contact Mrs Cope, our Inclusion Manager.

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Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16 PASTORAL CARE We know that just as some children need extra help with their reading or maths, other children need extra help with their behaviour. We have an experienced team who support these children. They do this by offering them ways of dealing with anger in a positive way, helping them feel better about themselves and understanding the ups and downs of friendships. Sometimes the team will deal with any behaviour that disrupts learning in the school as outlined in our policy.

Our team work with a wide range of outside agencies. These include the Behaviour Support Service, an Educational Psychologist and Relate. EXTENDED SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITY GROUPS We have a homework club running until 3:45pm Monday – Wednesday. We work closely with groups such as BOSCAS and the Brunel-Meredith pre-school. This means child care is available for all children from 7:30am to 6pm. There is also a nursery on site called Izzies. This is run by Isambard Brunel Centre Ltd which is a company owned by the school. ILLNESSES The school has a number of trained First Aiders on site who can deal with minor ailments. Children who are ill are sent to the First Aid room next to the office. The First Aider will call you if they think the illness or injury is serious. We send notes home for children who we feel will need further treatment. In extreme emergencies we will call for an ambulance first and then let you know what has happened.

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Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16 MEDICINE The school is not allowed to give children any medicine without a letter from you. If your child’s doctor has said they need something during the day, please let us know exactly what it is and when they need it. You should do this by filling in a form from the office. We can then help your child take it themselves. If your child has asthma, please make sure that there is a named, up-to-date blue inhaler in school. ABSENCE If you wish to take your child out of school for any reason, you need to fill in a “Leave of Absence” form. You can get these from the office. This lets us decide if the absence can be authorised or not. We cannot authorise birthday treats or shopping trips. We do not authorise any holidays. We ask you to make appointments for doctors and dentist after school but know that this is not always possible. If your child is ill, it really helps us if you call the office to let us know what has happened. We will call you if your child is not in school and we do not know why just in case you were not aware yourself. Children who are in school less than 85% of the time are referred to the Attendance Monitoring Service. In extreme cases fixed penalty notices can be issued. If this is the case we will write to you first asking you to come and talk about what we can do to help. We will also write to you if we are worried about your child being late. The city council runs truancy sweeps. If you are seen with a school aged child during school hours without good reason, the child will be returned to school. ORGANISATION The school has eleven classes – three in Years 3, 4 and 5; two in Year 6. Each class has a teaching assistant in the morning. Other teaching assistants work in the afternoon with certain children. The behaviour team supports children by working with children in their class or by setting up small groups. These look at social skills like anger management and friendships. We run intervention programmes during the year. These are small groups that help children who need extra help with English or maths.

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Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16 HOMEWORK We believe that homework gives children an extra chance to practise important skills. Homework shows them that learning happens as much outside as inside school. It also gets them ready for secondary school.

All children are asked to read every night and to practise their spellings and tables. At the start of each term, we send out a newsletter. This will tell you what the homework is. Sometimes children are given projects to do at home such as model making or doing some research. These projects take a number of weeks to complete. REWARDS AND SANCTIONS We work hard to make sure that you hear as much good news as possible about your children. We have a wide range of rewards to make sure that all children feel good about the way they behave, their attitude to school and their learning. These are supported by a Code of Behaviour: Consider other people’s feelings Make the school a safe place for other people Make the classroom a place for children to learn and teachers to teach Take care of the school building Be the best we can be

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Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16 Celebration Assembly The first assembly of every week is a whole school Celebration Assembly. This is a chance to recognise success in and out of school. A variety of certificates and trophies are awarded including any the children get in their own time. House Points We have four houses in school named after famous Portsmouth people – Dickens, Nelson, Pounds and Weston. Each child is in a house and can earn house points for good work, effort and effort. Children are given certificates when they reach 25, 50 and 100 house points. The house points also go towards a weekly house trophy presenting to the winning house in Celebration Assembly. Lunch Raffle Tickets At lunchtime the children can be rewarded with a raffle ticket. These are for showing good behaviour, eating all of their lunch and having good manners at the table. The raffle tickets for each class are collected by the teacher and on a Friday one ticket is picked out and the winning child from each class attends a ‘High Tea’ with the Headteacher. Stars of the Week Each class has a Star of the Week chosen by their teacher for excellence in some area of their school life. Each child is given a certificate in Celebration Assembly and their name put on display outside the Golden Room. Attendance and Punctuality Trophies The class with the best attendance and the class with the best punctuality are given trophies in Celebration Assembly. Their names go on the plasma screens. Any class who gets 100% is given extra playtime. Class Points If an entire class is seen doing something excellent in school, they can be awarded a class point by any adult. When the class reaches 20 points they can choose a class reward such as a trip to the local park or a popcorn party. Headteacher Drop In Children who produce some excellent work or put in a special effort can be sent by their teacher to see the headteacher during the week and to receive a special wristband.

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Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16 Golden Time Children are given half an hour Golden Time at the end of every week when they can choose an activity from a range of options.

Other rewards Classteachers may use their own rewards with their class which will vary from teacher to teacher. Sanctions There are times when children choose to misbehave. Most times this can be dealt with by a quiet word from an adult but there are times when other action needs to happen. We use three “traffic lights” to warn children if their behaviour is unacceptable. Children start each day on the green light and a move to the orange light is a warning. A move to the red light will involve sanctions such as losing Golden Time or having a lunchtime detention. For more severe behaviour, we use internal exclusions. Extreme behaviour will result in after school detentions on the same day with the third detention in any half term being on Saturday morning. We also will use fixed term exclusions and, if necessary, permanent exclusions. If there is a serious issue we will call you to ask you to speak to your child. We might ask you to come in to work alongside your child. In extreme cases we may have to send a child home. If this is anything to do with the way they have behaved, this is an external exclusion. This is the case even if you agree to take them home. We also operate after school detentions for children whose behaviour still worries us. We will always write to you before a detention. Just as some children need extra help with their reading or their tables, we know that some children need extra help with their behaviour. This is why we have the behaviour team at school. They work very hard to make sure every child enjoys as much success as they can. The team may set behaviour targets for children or meet with them regularly. We have very good links with other organisations who support behaviour such as the city’s behaviour support service. - 23 -

Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16 NEWSLETTER AND TEXTING The school writes a half termly newsletter to let you know about what is happening in school and to give you other information and reminders this is available in paper form and on the website. The newsletter also contains a comments slip for you to fill in. We send lots of texts every week with reminders too! STUDENT VOICE Children have a strong and influential voice at Isambard Brunel Junior School via the School Council. Each class elects a child to represent them on the School Council which meets every fortnight in the Conference Room. The School Council discusses any matters that they feel are important to the children and therefore to the school. In recent months the school council has:   

looked at results of safety / behaviour survey and made suggestions suggested ideas for school development plan been interviewed by Ofsted

School Council minutes are shared on the school network and as a Podcast. Student Voice at school is managed by Mrs Bromley

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Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16 UNIFORM The governing body has chosen to set a school uniform to give all children a sense of pride in the school. Our uniform supplier is Simmonds who are setting up a “pop up” shop at the Portsmouth Academy for Girls. Their website is www.simmonds-ltd.com Dark blue jumper, cardigan or sweatshirt with the school logo White polo shirt Black or grey trousers or skirt Black shoes PE – white T shirt, blue shorts, plimsolls or a second pair of trainers In the summer, shorts or blue gingham dresses may be worn. Jewellery should not be worn. Please keep “holiday haircuts” for when your child is not at school. DINNERS School dinners are cooked by ISS Catering Services. They deliver the meals to us to be served. ISS work closely with the school to make sure that the meals are popular as well as being healthy. School dinners cost £2.00 a day or £10.00 for a week paid in advance or on the day. School dinners are ordered on a daily basis from Mrs Smith in the lower hall from 8:40am to 8:50am. Families who get relevant benefits can claim free school meals by filling in a short form which you get from the office. Even if you do not want your child to actually have a dinner, filling in the form really helps us. If you are not sure if you can get free school meals, please speak to Mrs Smith in the office and she will help. This year the school gets at least £900 for every child who has a free school meal. Even if you do not want the meal, please fill in the form.

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Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16 RESULTS – 2015 KS2 test results and progress All pupils Percentage achieving Level 4 or above in both English and mathematics.

81%

Percentage achieving Level 5 or above in both English and mathematics.

17%

Percentage of pupils making expected progress in reading.

92%

Percentage of pupils making expected progress in writing.

98%

Percentage of pupils making expected progress in maths.

96%

Percentage of pupils making better than expected progress in reading.

43%

Percentage of pupils making better than expected progress in writing.

42%

Percentage of pupils making better than expected progress in maths.

42%

Average point score.

28.1

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Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16 OFSTED COMMENTS This is some of what Ofsted has had to say about Isambard Brunel Junior School in 2014. The schools’ work to keep pupils safe and secure is good, which parents agree with. Strong teaching in Year 6. There is targeted support for more-able pupils who are on track to attain Level 6 in mathematics, reading and writing, which is the expected level for 15 year-olds. Teachers make good use of homework for spelling and reading, and to support topics. Good use of resources, such as video clips and interactive white-boards. The curriculum is broad and balanced and enriched through projects. The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, cultural development. Pupils have a good sense of right and wrong and as a result are attentive to the needs of others and are polite and caring. The school provides a safe environment for its pupils for example, bikeability, road safety training, e-safety and talks on cyber-bullying. The school has worked well to improve writing. Careful checks on pupils’ progress ensure that those falling behind are identified and given additional support. Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. Pupils enjoy the responsibility of being peer mediators. Pupils say there is very little bullying, when there is the school deals with it quickly. Lunchtime is well organised, school meals provide a healthy lunch which the children enjoy. The school works hard to promote good working relationships that support both pupils and their parents. - 27 -

Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16

DATA PROTECTION Schools, the academy trust, the local authority and the DCSF (the part of the government that deals with schools) all hold information on pupils to help run the school system. This means they have to follow the 1998 Data Protection Act. The law says that the data held about pupils must only be used for certain things. We hold information on pupils in order to help our teaching. We use it to check and report on progress, provide the right sort of pastoral care, and to assess how well the school as a whole is doing. This data includes contact details, National Curriculum test results, attendance, ethnic and religious groups, special educational needs and any medical information. From time to time we have to pass on some of this data to the city council or to another school. We also have to pass it on to the DCSF and to QCA. QCA is in charge of the National Curriculum and national tests. The academy trust uses data about pupils to do the things it has to do. These include choosing how much money to give schools and how well schools are doing. QCA uses data about pupils to help run the National Curriculum tests for Key Stages 1 to 3. The results are given to the DCSF so they can publish data about how schools are doing across the country. QCA uses the information to make sure the National Curriculum is working well and that the national tests are the best they can be. The DCSF uses data about pupils to produce league tables, to follow policy and to see how well the school system is working. The information is used in such a way that does not name individual children. The DCSF gives data to the city council and schools about children if a former school did not pass it on. Sometimes data is shared with other departments or agencies but only to look at the numbers Children, as data subjects, have certain rights under the Data Protection Act. These include a general right of access to data about themselves. Parents use this right on their behalf if they are too young to do so themselves. If your child wishes to see their personal data, or you wish to do so on their behalf, then please write to:

The Data Officer Isambard Brunel Junior School Wymering Road Portsmouth PO2 7HX

The Data Protection Officer The Thinking Schools’ Academy Trust c/o New Horizons Children’s Academy Chatham Kent ME4 6NR - 28 -

Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16

The QCA’s Data Protection Officer QCA 83 Piccadilly London W1J 8QA

The DCSF’s Data Protection Officer DCSF Caxton House Tothill Street London SW1H 9NA

FORMAL COMPLAINTS We hope any complaints you have can be dealt with by the school. If you are still not happy, you need to write to the chair of the local governing body. You can hand the letter in to the school office. If you are still not happy, you should contact the academy trust. We do have a formal complaints policy. DISCLAIMER This booklet is written for parents of children joining the school during the year 2015-16. We have made it as accurate as we can at the time of writing. If you would like this booklet in another language, please speak to the office.

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Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16 APPENDIX 1 – PORTSMOUTH CITY COUNCIL ADMISSIONS POLICY 2014/15 This policy will apply to all admissions for the academic year 2014/15 including mid-year applications. If the school is oversubscribed, applications will be considered first according to the following priorities in the order set out below: 1.

Children who are looked after by a local authority (i.e. in their care or provided with accommodation by the authority for a continuous period of more than 24 hours).

2.

Children who have a significant medical, physical or psychological condition. Evidence must be attached. Applications under this criterion must be supported by written evidence from the medical professional involved stating clearly why the preferred school is the most appropriate for the child and reasons why other schools in the city are inappropriate. All applications received under this category are considered by a multi-disciplinary team of the local authority.

3.

Children living within the school’s designated catchment area. If the school cannot admit all applications from the catchment area, priorities 5(i) to (iv), will be used.

4.

Children living outside the school’s catchment area in the following priority order: i)

children who have a brother or sister (living in the same household) already on roll and who will still be attending the school the following year; Note – this category does include step-brothers/step-sisters, adoptive brothers/sisters living within the same household or children whose parents are married or cohabiting and live together within the same household.

ii)

children who have a sibling attending or have been offered a place for September 2014 and will continue to attend an Infant school on a physically adjacent site to the Junior school; Note – this category does include step-brothers/step-sisters, adoptive brothers/sisters living within the same household or children whose parents are married or cohabiting and live together within the same household.

iii)

children attending, at the time of application, a named feeder Infant school;

iv)

children who live closest to the school, based on the shortest distance from home to school, measured ‘as the crow flies’. (This distance will be used where necessary to prioritise applications). - 30 -

Isambard Brunel Junior School – School Brochure 2015-16 Note: Should a school be oversubscribed from within any of the criteria 5 (i) to 5 (iii) above then distances as given in 5 (iv) will be used to prioritise applications within these categories. Should there be two or more identical distances requiring prioritisation, this will be done by casting lots. Pupils with statements of special educational needs The Admissions code states “children with statements of special educational needs that name

a school in the statement are required to be admitted to the school that is named. The governing body (even where it is the admission authority) does not have the right to refuse admission….” Children with a school named in their statement of special educational need will

have priority for admission over and above all other admission applications and will be included in the admissions allocation process. Fair Access Protocol The Local Authority has a “Fair Access Protocol” which prioritises admissions for certain categories of school age children. This protocol relates to admission applications throughout the year. The protocol will take priority above the school’s admission policy for those on a school’s waiting list and the LA may require schools to admit above their published admission limit.

Distance measurement Distances will be measured using the City Council’s Geographical Information System (G.I.S). The Local Land and Property Gazetteer (L.L.P.G) unique property reference co-ordinates will be used to represent the school, whilst home co-ordinates will be primarily derived from the L.L.P.G, with Ordnance Survey’s ADDRESS-POINT product used as support.

Catchment areas Further details of the individual school’s catchment area will be provided in ‘Admission to primary and secondary schools - Information for parents 2014/15’ and on the council’s website.

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