Parent Information
Parent Information and Forms
Below you will find all sorts of important documents and information about our school.
The children at West Lea School are proud of being a part of the school. The governors, parents and staff together believe that wearing a school uniform enhances this feeling of belonging. We also believe that school uniform prevents the inevitable loss of self- esteem caused to individual children should a family not be able or willing to provide the newest, most expensive or most fashionable clothing and equipment.
From time to time, some issues of safety and comfort for individual pupils which may necessitate some changes to the normal uniform can be taken into consideration.
For these reasons the school asks that the uniform detailed below be followed: Children will wear the school uniform as stated in the table below. Items should be plain avoiding large logos/ patterns and have some form of discreet personal identification such as a label with the child’s name written on it.
Navy blue/black trousers/tracksuit bottoms or skirt Nave blue/black shorts for summer |
White or pale blue shirt, or white polo top Navy blue v-necked jumper or cardigan Navy blue sweatshirt |
Sports Uniform |
Outdoor Wear |
No jewellery should be worn to school except for: one pair of stud earrings (no multiple studs), a single small religious symbol will be permitted and respected and a small plain watch.
Sensible, black or dark coloured plain safe shoes/trainers..
Trainers for PE.
Caps or hats are not to be worn inside any part of the school building.
Traditional head wear associated with learners’ own religious practices is permitted. Lanthaler, Dutoit, Wright, Enfield, Joshua and Holmes classes do not need to wear uniform, however they are expected to wear smart/casual appropriate clothing and adhere to the above points. Gold and Phelps Class (based at Broomfield School) will be expected to wear black trousers, white shirt, black jumper and black shoes on the days they are in Broomfield.
There can be occasions when severe weather causes disruption to travel. Most commonly this occurs due to snowfall.
Our policy, in these circumstances, is as follows:
Always assume the school is open. If a decision to close (due to severe weather) is made, the following will apply;
- we will update our website as soon as a decision is made, including the school ‘APP’ and social media
- in the case of school closure, we will also inform the local authority (snow line)
- we will always try to keep the school open
- we will only close the school when roads are in a hazardous condition and therefore travel would put individual’s safety at risk
- We will send a text message to staff and parents
To ensure that our telephone system does not become clogged with traffic, could we please ask that:
- you visit the school website as this can be updated very quickly and will display the most up to date news
- download the app from our website (if you have a mobile equipped to receive these) so that you will be able to access information from our website whenever it is updated
- ensure that we have your current mobile ‘phone number so that a text message can be sent to you
Please do not call the office to request early collection of your child. Once a decision has been made, the procedures will be communicated to you via the channels explained above.
Please click on the link below which takes you to the Parent View page. This gives you the chance to tell Ofsted what you think about your child’s school, from the quality of teaching, to dealing with bullying and poor behaviour.
Information about Maths:
Follow the link for information on Maths at home; https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/advice-for-parents/maths-at-home/
Information about Reading:
Follow the link for information on Reading at home; https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/advice-for-parents/reading-at-home/
Helping your child with Writing:
Book Review
Diary
Letter Template
Reversible Alphabet Mat
Sky and Grass
Teenagers Tips
Words
Y1 and 2 words
Powerpoints
Writing info for parents
- Achievement – Describes both attainment i.e. the level achieved and the progress you have made from a starting point.
- AfL – Assessment for Learning – Assessment for Learning is the process of seeking and interpreting evidence for use by learners and their teachers to decide where the learners are in their learning, where they need to go and how best to get there
- APP – Assessing Pupils’ Progress – APP is a structured approach to periodically assessing maths, science, reading, writing and speaking and listening skills.
- AST – Advanced Skills Teacher
- ATL – Association of Teachers and Lecturers
- Attainment – The actual level attained and/or results.
- Attainment Targets – A general defined level of ability that a pupil is expected to achieve in every subject at each key stage in the National
- Blending – To draw individual sounds together to pronounce a word, e.g. f-l-a-p, blended together, reads flap
- CiC – Children in Care
- CLA – Children Looked After
- Core Subjects – English, maths and science: all pupils must study these subjects up to Key Stage 4
- CPD – Continuing Professional Development
- Creative Curriculum – There are numerous different interpretations exist for the concept ‘the creative curriculum’. In some schools it means topics or themes, in others it means asking children what they want to learn.
- CSS – Children’s Support Service, this is the new name for Pupil Referral Unit (PRU)
- DBS – Disclosure & Barring Service – DBS refers to the new agency created out of a merger between the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and The Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA), its full title is The Disclosure and Barring Service. The checks and information provided will remain the same but will be branded DBS Checks.
- DfE – Department for Education
- Differentiation – a wide variety of teaching techniques and lesson adaptations that teachers use to pupils of differing abilities in the same class.
- EAL – English as an additional language
- EBacc – English Baccalaureate
- EBD – Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties
- “EHC Plan – Educational Health Care Plan – An education, health and care plan is a document that says what support a child or young person who has special educational needs should have. ”
- EMTAS – Ethnic Minority & Traveller Achievement Service
- ESOL – English for Speakers of Other Languages or English as a Second or Other Language – If English is not your main language you can take part in a course to help you improve your English. These courses are called ESOL.
- EWO – Education Welfare Officer
- EYFS – Early Years Foundation Stage. A framework of care and Education for children from borth to fiver years of age. This stage typically means Nursery and Reception Classes.
- FFT – Fischer Family Trust
- FSM – Free School Meals
- FTE – Full Time Equivalent
- G & T – Gifted and Talented – Gifter are those with high ability in one or more academic subject and the talented are those with high ability in sport, music, visual or performing art.
- GCSE – General Certificate of Secondary Education
- HLTA – Higher Level Teaching Assistant
- HMI – Her Majesty’s Inspector of Schools
- ICT – Information and Communication Technology
- IEP – Individual Education Plan for SEN pupils
- iGCSE – International General Certificate of Secondary Education
- Inclusion – Removing barriers in learning so all pupils can participate at their own level.
- INSET – In-Service Education and Training – Training for staff which takes place during the school year.
- ISA – Independent Safeguarding Authority
- ITT – Initial Teacher Training
- IWB – Interactive Whiteboard
- Key Stage five – age 16-18 (Sixth form)
- Key Stage four – age 14-16 (Years 10 and 11);
- Key Stage one – age 5-7 (Years 1 and 2);
- Key Stage three – age 11-14 (Years 7, 8 and 9);
- Key Stage two – age 7-11(Years 3,4, 5 and 6);
- LA – Local Authority
- LAA – Local Area Agreement
- LAC – Looked After Children
- LSA – Learning Support Assistant
- MLD – Moderate Learning Difficulties
- More able – Higher performing pupils than the majority of the class.
- NAHT- National Association of Head Teachers
- NASUWT- National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers
- NC – National Curriculum
- NEET – Not in Education, Employment or Training
- NGA – National Governors’ Association
- NLE – National Leader of Education
- NOR – Number on Roll
- NPQH – National Professional Qualification for Headship
- NQT – Newly Qualified Teacher
- NtG – Narrowing the Gap
- NUT – National Union of Teachers
- NVQ – National Vocational Qualifications
- Ofqual – Office of Qualifications & Examinations Regulation
- Ofsted – Office for Standards in Education
- PE – Physical Education
- Performance Table – Published by the DfE to compare schools’ results.
- Phonics – Phonics refers to a method for teaching speakers of English to read and write their language. It involves connecting the sounds of spoken English with letters or groups of letters (e.g that the sound /k/ can be represented by c, k, ck or ch spellings) and teaching them to blend the sounds of letters together to produce approximate pronunciations of unknown words. In this way, phonics enables people to use individual sounds to construct words. For example, when taught the sounds for the letters t, p, a and s, one can build up the words “tap”, “pat”, “pats”, “taps” and “sat.”
- PPA – Planning, Preparation and Assessment time to which teachers are entitled. Progression – pupils develop academically and personally from year to year and from one key stage to the next in a way which builds on what has already been achieved.”
- PRU – Pupil Referral Unit
- PSHE- Personal Social Health and Economic education
- PTA – Parent Teacher Association
- QTS- Qualified Teacher Status
- RAISE- Reporting and Analysis for Improvement through School Self-Evaluation
- RE – Religious Education
- SACREs – Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education
- SATs – Standard Attainment Tests/Tasks – National Curriculum Tests and Tasks which take place at the end of Key Stage 1 and at the end of Key Stage 2.
- SCITT School – Centred Initial Teacher Training
- SCR – Single Central Record – Schools must hold a single central record of all adults working with pupils. The records hold security and ID checks among other specific information.
- SEAL – Social & Emotional Aspects of Learning
- SEN – Special Educational Needs
- SENCO – Special Educational Needs Coordinator
- Setting – Putting pupils of similar ability together just for certain lessons. So, for example, it would be possible to be in a top set for French and a lower set for mathematics.
- SIP – School Improvement Plan
- SLT – Senior Leadership Team
- SMSC – Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (development)
- Streaming – Splitting pupils into several different hierarchical groups which would stay together for all lessons.
- TA – Teaching Assistant
- Transition – The movement of pupils from Key Stage to Key Stage or school to school and the procedures associated with it.”
- VCOP – vocabulary, connectives, openers and punctuation pupils are expected to use in their writing.
- VLE – Virtual Learning Environment
At West Lea School, our parents/carers benefit from the services of our own Parent Support Advisor, Zuhre Omer. Her role is diverse in nature, but some of the services and events offered are as follows:
- Organising coffee mornings for parents/carers
- ESOL classes
- Day trips out for Parent/carers
- Appointments with parent/carers
- Transitioning to college
- Early Notification transitioning to adult services
- Transport applications
- Support with form filling
- Home visits
- Multi-cultural coffee mornings (MCCM)
- Local offer applications – Joint services
- Speakers from outside agencies
- Supporting students and parents emotionally
- Mentoring sessions one to one with students
- Annual World’s Biggest Coffee Morning
- Support PTA (Parent, Teachers Association)
- Residential trips
In addition to the above, coffee mornings are held every Thursday, at West Lea between the times of 9.30am and 11.00 am in the school library. Parents/carers are welcome to come along and join us. It is a place where we can all meet and have a chat; refreshments are provided. The Leadership Team, Teachers, O.T and Physiotherapist are invited to the coffee mornings and attend as appropriate. We have speakers from outside organisations to provide parents and carers with information and support available in the outside community.
