1. No category

Information for parents
and carers on what we
do, why we do it and
how.
Welcome to Abbeyfields School
I would like to extend a warm welcome to you and your child to Abbeyfields First
School. I am delighted that you have chosen our school and am proud to share with
you why we feel that ours is a truly wonderful nurturing and educational
environment for your child. Our dedicated staff provide a place which is both
stimulating and safe where your children will be given the best possible start to their
education and an excellent foundation for life in today’s ever changing world.
I hope that you enjoy looking at this Handbook and that the information proves
useful. It explains the practicalities of school-life and shares our ethos and values;
everything we believe is important to the successful development of our children.
Our Home School Agreement explains how we can work together with you to ensure
that your child’s experience of school, and in fact their whole learning and
developing experience, is first class!
I look forward to a productive and happy partnership with you and with your child.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any concerns - my door is always
open.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs Sandra Ford
Headteacher
Abbeyfields Mission Statement
Our mission is to respect, fulfil and empower people through education.
Our aims are….
 to teach well, to facilitate learning and to ensure progress is made
 to identify the talents and abilities of each individual and to build on these
 to encourage confidence, independence and self-discipline
 to offer a broad and balanced curriculum which meets the needs of our
children, provides pace and challenge, promotes high standards and is
inclusive
 to promote well-being, healthy lifestyles and responsibility
 to communicate with parents and to meet their requirements in terms of
knowledge about their child’s needs, progress, targets and achievements
 to demonstrate our caring through our actions
 to involve the school in the life of the community and the community in the
life of the school
 to build a strong staff team of talented individuals
 to recognise talent and to promote leadership at all levels
 to train staff appropriately, recognising individual need within a corporate
plan
 to structure the school in order to best use talents and to meet needs
 to minimise stress at all levels and recognise the necessity for a
work-life balance
 to allocate resources to meet needs
 to create a safe and pleasant working environment for everyone
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Abbeyfields
...where every child is special
General Information
Abbeyfields serves the Kirkhill area of Morpeth, but in practice we have many
children from out of the catchment area whose parents choose our school because
of its excellent reputation and ethos. We currently have 340 children on roll with a 78
place Nursery and two form entry from Reception to Year 4. Many of our children
start attending Toddlers from a very early age and progress to Nursery when they are
three years old. The children leave us in Year 4 when they are nine and most move
on to the Three Rivers Learning Trust in Morpeth.
Ethos
Our family atmosphere and the care taken of each individual child are very
important to all of us. At Abbeyfields, children are respected as an individual and
asked to respect others. Teachers build strong and very supportive relationships with
the children in their class. We believe in positive, assertive discipline, using good work
and positive behaviour to motivate. Ours is a culture of praise, we work actively to
promote confidence and self-esteem. If you take a walk around our school, you will
hear adults and children talking together pleasantly. We value each other as
people, staff and children alike.
Code of Conduct
We show kindness and respect through words and actions.
We look after each other and our school.
We smile, we are friendly and we try to make other people smile.
Standards
The standard of work achieved by the children is very high. We aim to recognise
potential and help each child to build on that, by setting challenges and very high
expectations. This is something we do for all our children, regardless of ability; making
sure they make optimum progress in all areas of school is what drives us.
We hold the Basic Skills Primary Quality Mark. This Mark recognises good practice in
the teaching of literacy and numeracy. We promote creative, personalised learning
through a rich, diverse curriculum. We pride ourselves that “every child is special”
and this means we develop each individual through a range of opportunities –
Forest School, Allotment, PE and Sport, creative enrichment and we celebrate their
expertise and talents.
Abbeyfields
...where every child is special
Staff and Governors at Abbeyfields
Senior Leadership Team:
Mrs Sandra Ford
Headteacher
Mrs Sheelagh Halliford
Deputy Headteacher, SENCo, Key Stage 2 Leader, and
Year 4 teacher
Mrs Ailsa Da Costa Early Years Leader, Reception teacher
Mrs Lorraine Sykes Key Stage 1 Leader, Year 2 teacher
Mrs Mairi Gibson School Business Manager
Teaching Staff
Mrs Lisa Shooter Teacher (Nursery)
Mrs Ailsa DaCosta (Reception)
Mrs Marian Dawson Teacher (Reception)
Mrs Lauren Jones Teacher (Year 1)
Miss Leila Halliford Teacher (Year 1)
Mrs Lorraine Sykes Teacher (Year 2)
Miss Fiona Ross Teacher (Year 2)
Mrs Katey Dale Teacher (Year 3)
Mrs Kathryn Cameron (Year 3)
Mr Sam Shaw-Kew (School Direct Year 3)
Mrs Sheelagh Halliford (Year 4)
Mrs Mary Cowey Teacher (Year 4)
Mrs Jean Simpson Teacher (Year 4)
Mrs Sophie Thompson Teacher (Year 4 PPA)
HLTA
Mrs Allison Charlton
Miss Sam Young
Miss Jan Curry
Mrs Helen Briggs
Mr Ross Pearson
Mrs Christine Stevenson
Support staff
Mrs Dawn Glass
Mrs Lynn Roberts
Ms Esther Haughie
Mrs Sarah Speirs
Mrs Christine Stevenson
Mrs Susan Patterson
Miss Nicola Rice
Mrs Annette Dickinson
Miss Amy Wilkinson
Mrs Wendy James
Mrs Val Langston
Mrs Heather Pearson
Mrs Sharon Mungall, School Business Officer
Mr Phillip Briggs Caretaker (Maintenance)
Mrs Annette Dickinson Caretaker (Security)
Mrs Eleanor Ternent Cook
Mrs Yvonne Stewart Catering/Housekeeper
Mrs Kelly Dodds Catering/Cleaning staff
After School Club
Mrs Christine Stevenson
Mr Ross Pearson
Mrs Debbie Ridley
Before School Club
Miss Nicola Rice
Miss Moira Stewart
Mrs Annette Dickinson
Mrs Mandy Daglish
Lunchtime team:
Mrs Rita Armstrong
Mrs Julie Young
Mrs Jean Menzies
Miss Moira Stewart
Mrs Helga Smyth
Mrs Lindsey Collings
Miss Kelly Stewart
Mrs Mandy Daglish
Mrs Anne Henderson
Mrs Debbie McDonald
Cleaning team:
Mrs Yvonne Stewart
Miss Peggy-Jo Falloon
Mrs Kelly Dodds
Mr Shaun Stewart
Abbeyfields Governors
Mr Colin Pearson (Chair of Governors)
Mrs Annabel Littlewood (Vice Chair of Governors)
Mr Andrew Tebbutt (LA)
Mrs Clare Savage (Community)
Mrs Elizabeth Waterfield (Parent)
Mrs Laura Lane (Parent)
Mrs Lindsey Collings (Parent)
Mr Michael Bone (Parent)
Mrs Melanie Scott (Friends of Abbeyfields)
Mrs Lauren Jones (Teacher)
Miss Jan Curry (Support Staff)
Mrs Sandra Ford (Headteacher)
Friends of Abbeyfields (Parent Teacher Association)
Chair – Mrs Melanie Scott
Citizenship
Ours is a very happy school. Abbeyfields teaches children values and ways of
relating to others, which will enable them to play their parts as citizens of the future
and within modern Britain. We have a clear programme of spiritual, moral and
cultural education which is actively taught at an age appropriate level. From
Reception we discuss making and keeping friends, how to resolve conflicts and the
way our behaviour affects other people - including our families at home. We talk
about our responsibilities in school and caring for others and the environment. We
encourage self-discipline, tolerance and fairness, helping children to understand
their part in the world and how they can make it a good and happy place for others
to live.
We advocate the Golden Rules across school and allocate one per half term for the
children to strive towards. These are displayed on the school website as “Thought for
the Half Term.” Awards are given to individuals who have followed the Golden Rules
exceptionally well and a class will win Elmo, our school mascot, as a reward.
We provide Nurture provision through our Rainbow Group where the children
practice how to be good “citizens” or they will experience activities which will boost
their confidence or model expected behaviour. This has a big impact on how the
children access all areas of school.
Community links are very important to us. We have an exceptionally close
relationship with our neighbours at St Christopher’s House and we enjoy joint events
such as Reminiscence afternoons, Cream Teas, Choir and Concerts with each other.
We also work very closely with our neighbouring schools in the Morpeth Partnership.
Flexibility
We offer our children all the benefits of the New National Primary Curriculum (2014),
but we also maintain ways of working with young children that from our extensive
experience, we know to be effective. We create pupil profiles for all who need to
have the curriculum modified and support any child who has difficulties accessing
the curriculum.
The Environment
Ours is a lovely site; we are very lucky indeed! The playground is big and the school
field a lovely place to play surrounded, as it is, by mature trees and meadow grass.
The Friends of Abbeyfields (FoAS) provide equipment for the children to play with
and the staff encourage the children to play together co-operatively. The whole
feeling of space and opportunity means the children have a wonderful place to
learn, play and explore.
The opportunities for learning outdoors are endless on our site. We have a total of
three Forest School sites; two on-site plus we also have access to the beautiful
Athey’s Dene, just a short walk from school across the fields where the children
experience activities such as pond dipping. Please see our dedicated Forest School
website for more information and recent developments:
http://www.abbeyfieldsforestschool.co.uk/index.html
Each class have responsibility for the upkeep of our multi-award winning Allotment
http://www.abbeyfields.firstschool.org.uk/allotment/index.html
We enjoy outdoor learning whenever possible and appropriate. We have an
outdoor theatre and a poly tunnel classroom for all children to
enjoy. Our new 24ft tipi will be in place in October 2014. In Foundation Stage and in
Year 1 we have created dedicated exciting outdoor classrooms which are
developing all the time and which the children access everyday whatever the
weather.
The Curriculum
At Abbeyfields we follow the New Primary National Curriculum 2014. Our long term
and medium term planning for each year group can be found on our school
website http://www.abbeyfields.firstschool.org.uk When planning also we consider
our “curriculum drivers” which we feel provide the children with the necessary skills
and attributes of life-long learners who LOVE learning (curriculum experts, nurture,
computing, enhancement and outdoor opportunities).
We have a wonderful school site which lends itself perfectly to outdoor learning
which we enjoy whenever possible. We love to hold Theme Weeks (e.g. Culture
Week, Bugs, Butterflies and Beasties, Global Week, Maths Week) and Learning for
Life Days (e.g. Friendship Day)when the children work in mixed age groups so they
can maximise learning from each other and make lots of friends.
Regular updates about what the children are doing will be shared through year
group newsletters, SHARE meetings (workshops and information sharing with parents)
and through our weekly News in Brief on our school newsletter every Thursday.
Homework
We expect the children to read and enjoy books at home on a regular basis. We will
provide suitable reading material, matched to your child’s ability or needs, for as
long as is necessary. Spellings and times tables will also be sent home for children to
learn. All other homework is sent weekly via our “Happy Home Book” and we
encourage all the children to complete the tasks wherever possible. We ask you to
support these crucial aspects of your child’s development.
Reporting to Parents
We offer parental consultations in all year groups on a termly basis to discuss
progress, happiness and any other important factors. In Year 1-4 termly progress
reports are sent home the week before the consultations which give an overview of
how your child is progressing in each subject and give comments on the support
your child receives and the effort they make. In Early Years, reports to parents are
sent home at the end of the academic year. Other more regular communication
takes place via the Learning Journals. Reading folders and planners in Year 4 are
also a good source of communication between home and school. Obviously, staff
are available if you have any questions; during Early Birds, via a telephone
conversation or please make an appointment for longer conversations.
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and Inclusion
Abbeyfields provides an inclusive education. Awareness, knowledge, understanding
and tolerance are all vital attributes we teach discretely. The school aims to meet
the needs of all children in its care with a curriculum that is well matched to each
pupil. Please see our “Local Offer” which details everything we can provide at
Abbeyfields for children with additional needs, again on our website:
http://www.abbeyfields.firstschool.org.uk/send.html
Concerns and Complaints
Should any aspect of the school give cause for concern, do not hesitate to contact
us. Please contact the class teacher in the first instance if you have any cause for
concern about your child’s education, happiness, behaviour etc. If the class teacher
cannot resolve an issue, they will include a member of the senior leadership team
(Key Stage Leader, SENCo, School Business Manager or Headteacher – whoever is
most appropriate given the concern, to help find a solution).
In the event of a formal complaint, when all other avenues have been exhausted,
there is a statutory procedure, details of which are available from the school (please
ask the Headteacher) or the school website.
Visits and Visitors
Teachers are asked to make every effort to invite visitors into school and to go
outside school on relevant visits as part of their topic work. No
charges are made for such visits but parents are asked for contributions towards the
costs, as our school budget is not adequate to meet these costs (see “Charges”
below).
All Visitors to school must sign in at the Main Office and wear a visitor’s sticker while
they are on-site. All adults involved in working unsupervised with children are
checked by the Disclosure and Barring Service and the school are advised of any
problems. We ensure that this check is complete before an adult is allowed to have
contact with the children.
Charges
There are some activities which take place in school for which we are charged outside concerts, days out, swimming lessons, instrumental tuition etc. When such
activities are being arranged we advise you of the cost to the school per pupil and
ask for a voluntary contribution of that amount from you. Classes raise funds to keep
these costs to a minimum and we have an additional contribution towards costs
from Friends of Abbeyfields, but we do need your co-operation in this if we are to
keep offering such activities, as we rarely cover costs. All charges are made through
Parent Pay as we are a cashless school. Please ask for details at the school office.
Property
Your co-operation is also sought in caring for your child’s belongings - please name
everything. If something is lost we do have a lost property area in Year 1/2
cloakroom and a member of staff deals with this. Essentially, the sooner we know if
something has gone missing the more likely we are to find it, and if it has a name on
it, it will be returned to its owner immediately.
First Aid
For minor accidents we administer “comfort and sympathy.” Acting in loco parentis,
staff are expected to comfort the child and minimise distress. If any attention other
than that above is deemed necessary a First Aider will be consulted. All accidents
no matter how minor are entered in the accident book, which is in the First Aid room,
recording child’s name, date, time and place of accident, nature of injury, action
taken and name of First Aider. More serious accidents are recorded on
Northumberland County Council ACC1 forms and reported to NCC and the Health
and Safety Executive as appropriate.
If the child has a bumped head there is a standard “Bump Letter” which is sent
home in order to alert the parents to the possibility of concussion (even with very
minor bumps). If any child has to be taken to hospital every effort will be made to
contact the parent, guardian or family, so that they can accompany the child
concerned to the hospital. If no-one can be contacted, a member of staff will
accompany the injured or sick child. In this case the member of staff will take along
the Emergency Contact Form with all the relevant details.
Once at the hospital, on no account will a member of staff authorise treatment,
unless it is in a life threatening situation and they are advised that this is so by
medical staff.
Absence and Punctuality
When a child has been absent, we satisfy ourselves that the parent was aware that
the child was not at school and that the reason is appropriate. Parents are asked to
inform us immediately by telephone. Our registers must show the reason for
absence.
Sometimes we find that a child has a worrying number of absences, or that they
are regular e.g. every Thursday morning, or that the reason given is not acceptable
e.g. to buy new shoes or to accompany another child to the doctor. We may also
be concerned about the validity of the reasons given e.g. regular visits to the dentist
when tooth decay is unattended to. Absence is recorded on our computer database and checked regularly. Where we have concerns with absence parents are
contacted by telephone or letter. In some cases parents are invited to
school to discuss persistent absence and the emphasis will be to seek a solution to
the problem, which maybe outside a parent’s control. The focus is always on how
we can help and support. However, if there is no improvement, it may be necessary
to enlist the support of the Educational Welfare Officer who will work alongside
parents/school to seek an improvement to the child’s attendance.
Please, please avoid term time when taking your child on holiday, but if this really is
unavoidable, you must fill in a Leave of Absence Request Form well in advance of
the leave taking place and return it to the Headteacher. Leave is granted at the
discretion of the Headteacher and since new regulations came into force on
September 1st 2013, leave can only be granted in “exceptional circumstances.” For
more information please visit the school website:
http://www.abbeyfields.firstschool.org.uk/illness.html
School opens at 8.50am for Early Birds and we ask that ALL children are on the
school premises, in class, for a 9am start. It is vitally important, not just for your child,
but for all others in your child’s class that the days starts well and on time. We really
appreciate your support in this. Persistent lateness will be monitored and support
offered in the first instance. If no improvement is achieved, a meeting will be held
with a member of senior staff who will search for further solutions to any issues. We
want to work with you to make sure your child reaches their full potential.
Medicines
There are times when a child has to bring medicines to school…many of our children
are asthma sufferers and so on. We are able to administer prescribed medicine
when necessary and to supervise the taking of inhalers. For medicines, please send
the original container into school clearly marked with your child’s name, the type of
medicine and when it should be given and complete the appropriate medicine
administration form which is held in the office. These should be handed directly to
the class teacher, who will store the medication appropriately, as medical
instructions state.
We cannot administer over the counter medicines at school and such things as
Paracetamol etc are not allowed on the school premises. Please help us maintain a
safe school by keeping to this ruling.
School Uniform
We love to see our children in their Abbeyfields uniform – it gives them a sense of
identity and pride. We are hopeful it will also make life easier for speed and
expectation of dressing/choice of clothes each morning! Our school colours are red
or grey sweatshirts with the Abbeyfields “Smiley Face” logo (optional; any red/grey
sweatshirt would be fine) and grey skirts/trousers. We also have a fleece coat and
hooded sweatshirt both red, with our school logo - for outdoor use. In the summer
lots of the girls like to wear red-checked dresses, widely available from many shops,
which are reasonably priced. We have a variety of additional items; hooded tops,
fleece coats and rain jackets– details from the school office. Alternatively, we also
have Forest School hoodies which are also very popular in school and can be worn
daily.
The School Day
All the children follow a common school day, which begins at 9am and ends at
3.15pm. School is opened at 8.50am for our Early Birds welcome. Teachers will meet
the children and are available to speak to parents and carers at this time. The
children may choose either to go into their class to complete the Early Birds
challenge (a fun task or activity designed to support the curriculum), or play outside
on the yard until the bell goes at 8.55am, in order for us to enjoy a prompt start to
the day; maximising precious learning time. We kindly ask parents/carers to vacate
the school building at this time so lessons can start immediately.
Reception and Key Stage 1 lunchtime is from 11.45-1pm and Year 3 and 4 is from
12.30pm-1.30pm.
Playtimes
Staff who are on the playground ensure that the whole play area is supervised. All
staff are requested to facilitate play and are especially vigilant in the prevention of
bullying. When it is raining the children remain within their class bases. Each
classroom has a selection of wet playtime activities for the children to do and each
class is supervised.
We have two playtimes in the school day:
10.15-10.30am and 2.30-2.40pm
Traffic and Parking around the school site
There is a special pedestrian route around the back of school. ALL children must
use this for safety reasons. If you pick your child up from school please set a good
example to everyone by using it yourself. We know it is quicker to use the front, but
another child may follow you with disastrous consequences. We also ask that you
use allocated entrances and exits at the beginning and the end of the school day
rather than walking through the school which will cause congestion, children may
follow and we may need to clean the corridors again, particularly when it is wet.
The parking area outside the school is also fraught with danger. Please park sensibly
and not on the pavements, on the zig zag yellow lines, on junctions or near to the
gates where young children have to cross to get home.
Finally, please use the zebra crossing even if it is out of your way. The road outside is
very dangerous for unaccompanied children and if they see you crossing they may
follow. Thank you for your co-operation.
If you have any issues with this aspect of school, the lead on this is Mr Andrew
Tebbutt (Governor) and he can be contacted via Mrs Gibson/school office.
Jewellery
Watches are useful in our everyday lives and children are welcome to wear these to
school, but we discourage the wearing of jewellery.
We ask for your cooperation in not sending your child to school wearing any
jewellery/earrings.
Rewards and Sanctions
Abbeyfields is a very positive school. The ethos of the school is one of celebration
and value. Children are polite, friendly and well behaved because they want to be,
because their self-esteem is high and they feel important to other people.
At Abbeyfields they experience tolerance, encouragement, praise, fairness, security
and approval. Each class has a system of praise and rewards to build the
confidence of the children.
Sanctions usually take the form of the removal of this praise and encouragement.
From time to time it may be necessary to remove a child from a difficult situation
and this will be done, but at all times we endeavour to modify a child’s behaviour by
making him or her want to return, to regain the teacher’s approval. Sometimes it
takes a lot of patience but it always works and the behaviour changes are
permanent. We also employ the “traffic light” system across school which is a visual
prompt for the children to evaluate if their behaviour is acceptable or needs some
modification. For further information, please see our behaviour policies on the school
website.
http://www.abbeyfields.firstschool.org.uk/policies.html
Restraint
We find it acceptable to use physical restraint in any situation where verbal restraint
will not suffice in order to protect either the child at the centre of the situation or
other children and staff e.g. if the child is about to run across a busy road or attack
someone else and telling him or her to stop is no good.
Policies
We have a selection of our policies available on the school website (link as above).
If there are any other policies you would like to see, please contact the
Headteacher.
Friends of Abbeyfields
The Friends of Abbeyfields can offer you an opportunity to become actively
involved in school. Without our parents and friends the school would be a much
poorer place in many different aspects - not simply financially! Please help this
dynamic and tireless group to help the children. An A.G.M. is held in September
each year and a new committee elected- look out for details.
Volunteers
If you can help in school on an occasional or regular basis, please refer to our Parent
Volunteer Register information on the school website. An enrolment form is available
from the school office.
Abbeyfields – updated October 2014