Claybrooke Staff and Governors believe that education is a continuous learning process which begins at birth and continues throughout our lives. We work in close partnership with parents and the wider community to prepare pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences they will encounter in adult life, helping to promote good citizens in our multicultural society.

At Claybrooke Primary School every individual is valued and each child is helped to achieve his or her full potential in all aspects of learning.

It is an L.E.A. Controlled School - that is maintained and controlled by the Governors and Leicestershire Education Authority whilst using property owned by the Marc Smith Charity Trust. We also receive grants from the Alderman Newton Charity which help us to fund our Special Educational Needs provision and from the Marc Smith Charity which helps to fund additional educational resources.

The school is well equipped with among other things, 2 T.V.s & video, various computers and printers, including 5 CD Roms and 3 laptops, scanner, digital camera, internet connections and access, a large quantity of science, maths and technology equipment, 4 tape recorders, C.D. player, slide projector, overhead projector, camera and camcorder, piano, portable organ, percussion instruments, recorders and a clarinet.

Children who become five between 1st March and 31st August enter school at the beginning of the Spring Term in January.

Pre-admission visits will take place for 2 afternoons per week in the term before your child is admitted to school so that they can meet the staff and other children and get accustomed to their new surroundings. Please could you enrol your child at school as soon as possible after his or her 3rd birthday, as we have to notify the authority who will then let you know when your child can start school.

Our Planned Admission Limit is 15 pupils to be admitted per year but movement of population makes it difficult to predict numbers in each class accurately. The school is funded and staffed according to the number of pupils on roll.

At the age of 11 most children transfer to Lutterworth High School. In 2000, 7 children transferred to Lutterworth High School and 2 transferred to Thomas Estley Community College. Information regarding a child's all-round progress is passed to the new schools and liaison meetings are held frequently to review transfer procedure. Our staff are committed to make the transition between schools as smooth and easy for each child as possible. Visits are arranged so that the children can become familiar with their new school. Staff attend cross-phase liaison meetings and follow up on the progress of each child after transfer.

We belong to the Lutterworth Area of Primary Schools Association which plans events for the schools in the area and provides many links for the children eg., small schools' 6 -a - side netball, football and rounders leagues and tournaments, small schools' area swimming gala, small schools' area sports and music events.

Teaching times are as follows:-

Please try to make sure your child is on time for school and send them to school every day unless they are ill. Our school attendance is excellent, averaging 97%. The children like coming to school and unauthorised absences stand at 0%.

If your child is ill, please telephone the school or send a note when they return. Parents should leave a telephone number and name of person we can contact if a child is ill during the day.

If your child is asthmatic and needs to use an inhaler please inform the school. Children in the Juniors, especially, are encouraged to take charge of their own inhalers which must be named.

Routine health checks are carried out on children in Year 1, including hearing and vision tests. Dental inspections and other checks may be carried out in subsequent years. Parents are contacted before any health checks are carried out and will be informed if any treatment is thought to be necessary.

From time to time, incidents of head lice occur. Please check your child's hair regularly and let us know of any problems.

At morning and lunchtime play, children play outside unless it is wet, when they are supervised in their classrooms. Children are supervised at all times but if a child cannot behave sensibly during lunchtimes, parents will be informed and the child may be excluded from school between 12 noon and 1.05pm.

Our school colours in accordance with parents’ wishes, are grey skirt/trousers, white shirt/T-shirt, and red sweatshirt. Shoes should be both comfortable and practical; high heels are not allowed as they are dangerous and slippery in the playground.

The school has available for purchase - red sweatshirts with school logo price £5.50 and black jogging bottoms price £3.50. Please ask Mrs Morris in the school office for your requirements.

Children are expected to dress themselves and so we encourage them to wear clothes which are easy to get in and out of. It is important that all garments are carefully named, please. Children should have suitable clothing for P.E. - a pair of dark P.E. shorts, white T-shirt and plimsolls which should remain in school from Monday to Friday. Leggings or a tracksuit may be worn in cold weather for outside games.

From Easter until October, when the children swim, they will need a one piece bathing costume or trunks and a towel. Children with shoulder length hair must wear a bathing cap, which can be purchased from the school office, price £1.00.

We recommend that children do not wear jewellery at school as it can be dangerous. For safety reasons no jewellery may be worn during any form of sporting activities.

School rules are few but are made for the safety and welfare of all the children in our care. We rely on parents to act in partnership with the school on matters of discipline, as with all aspects of their child's education and aim to keep you well informed when problems occur. The head teacher and staff act as caring parents in the disciplining of children in school and we have clear guidelines for children who are involved in anti-social behaviour, including bullying. If necessary a child will be excluded from school for serious indiscipline.

Parents are encouraged to discuss quick queries with staff before or after school but for more lengthy discussions parents should arrange to see the class teacher when school ends. Mrs Evans is available to see parents by appointment, usually on a Thursday or Friday. We will also contact you if we feel there is a need.

Hopefully, these informal discussions between teachers, parents and children will provide the opportunities to share both the difficulties and worries as well as the positive aspects of school life.

Parent/Teacher Interviews are held twice a year, in the Autumn and Summer Terms. Appointments are made and parents are able to have a detailed private discussion with their child's class teacher. Social and emotional developments are discussed, alongside the progress your child is making with school work.

Detailed written reports are sent out to all parents at the end of the school year; we aim to provide a broad and balanced picture of each child as a valuable and individual member of our school.

Any concerns you may raise about your child's education will be dealt with initially within the school. It is expected that the majority of questions and anxieties can be dealt with in this way. Formal complaints will be dealt with firstly by the governors of the school and then, if unresolved, by the L.E.A., according to the LEA policy on complaints procedure.

Parents are sent frequent letters during the term which should inform you about any changes or activities connected with the school. Please can you check your child's bag regularly for written communications.

We hope that you will join us at our special Harvest, Christmas and Easter Assemblies for parents, governors and friends, as well as musical concerts, sports days, sports tournaments, fun events and school trips wherever possible. We also encourage parents to help in school under the guidance of the class teacher, whether this be with cookery, sewing, listening to readers, number work, sound games, computer work, art and craft, covering books etc., or helping with transport to matches and events. All offers of help are greatly appreciated, whether on a regular or one-off basis, please let Mrs Evans know.

The pool and cover were supplied entirely by parents and the pool is largely maintained now by the efforts of the P.T.A. They have also raised money for additional books, P.E., science and technology equipment, musical instruments, computers and printers, CD player/tape recorder, audio visual equipment, the repair of the climbing frame and a large marquee which can be hired out. In addition to this, they also subsidise the transport for school educational visits and provide presents and food for parties at Christmas time for each child.

Attainment targets have been set for each National Curriculum subject and these establish what children should know, understand and be capable of at each level. Teachers monitor each child's progress carefully and keep accurate records to inform future needs and stages of learning. Children are encouraged to improve their own performance, rather than continually compete with others, and are praised for their efforts. Achievements are often recognised and shared in whole school assemblies.

Children are tested formally on entry to school (baseline assessments) and then again at the end of Key Stage 1 in Year 2 and again at Key Stage 2 in Year 6 and these results are reported to parents. We also have annual school tests in reading, spelling and mathematics as well as weekly tests in spelling, tables and mental maths, as appropriate to the age and maturity of each child.

We encourage children to find pleasure and develop an interest in literature as well as reading for information. Children are shown how to use the school library which houses both fiction and reference materials. We hope that they will also use their local library to help with topic work.

The scheme of work allows for the development of written language skills so that children are able to write for a range of purposes in a variety of styles, using spelling, grammar and punctuation with increasing accuracy. Children are supplied with spellings relevant to their individual need and maturity but are given an initial grounding in phonics, blends, diagraphs, high frequency words and word families.

Children are given sets of words or sounds to learn and are tested weekly, with the spellings being used in context in a dictation to ensure proper understanding.

Alongside this work we encourage the children to take care of their own health, the health of others and to enjoy and care for their environment. Sex education is taught as part of our health education work in Year 6 with an emphasis on responsibility and respect for each other. Lessons are carried out in mixed groups and children are encouraged to join in discussions about physical and emotional changes under the direction of the teacher and school nurse.

The Leicestershire Life Education Unit further supports the health education work undertaken throughout the school.

In 1999 we were awarded a Healthy Schools Award certificate in recognition of the work we do both in school and linked to the community. Related to this we have formed an environmental club where the children are encouraged to make decisions about how to improve their immediate environment. Many plans have been made and as this is a very long term 'adventure', work will continue for many years to come.

In addition to being in a spacious rural area we are fortunate enough to have a large games field and a wonderful and quite extensive spinney which are used for Science/Health education.

The school is not affiliated with any particular religious denomination and so religious education is based around a nationally-agreed scheme. Parents have the right to withdraw their children from either Religious Education or the Act of Collective Worship under section 25 of the 1944 Education Act - if you wish to exercise this right, you should contact Mrs Evans and the school governors.

The history curriculum aims to help children develop the concept of time whilst understanding the events that took place over a particular period in time. From studying the local area, children should also become aware of their past and their place in history. Whilst at Claybrooke School, children will learn about many famous people, from grandparents to ancient Kings and Queens, whilst also studying periods of history such as Roman Times, the Vikings, the Victorians, the Tudors and Stuarts, Britain since the 1930's and Ancient Civilisations such as the Ancient Greeks, Egyptians and the Aztecs.

In Class 3, Years 5 and 6 have a hectic, fun-packed 3 day residential visit to York and Whitby. We visit museums related to areas they have covered in the classroom, such as Eden Camp, the Castle Museum and the Yorvik Museum as well as walking down the Shambles and touring York Minster. Trips are also arranged at various times during the school year so that children can use the knowledge and skills they have learnt whilst holding real objects and seeing real places for themselves.

During lessons we make full use of the equipment in the Tops Bags (sport and play). Top sports bags are rotated around the local primary schools so we can vary our activities. We also have mixed sports clubs at lunchtimes, so netball and football can be enjoyed by everyone.

The school teams, compromising netball, football and rounders play in leagues and tournaments locally throughout the year. Our netball team has enjoyed great success for many years and are currently the West Area champions.

A swimming squad represents the school in a small school's gala annually and is usually very successful.

Concerts at both key stages are held during the year, with an end of term assembly and 'Leavers Concert' giving additional opportunities for termly performances to parents.

Mr Carnall is able to teach a variety of woodwind and brass instruments, including clarinet, flute, trumpet, trombone and saxophone. The pupils pay £3.50 per session towards these individual or small group lessons. He also takes an advance recorder group whilst a member of staff, Mrs Pope, introduces the beginners to recorder playing at a lunchtime club.

equipment safely. We have our own kiln and each child makes at least one item of pottery per year.

We feel that it is important to display work attractively: we want to share ideas and show that we value the contributions of each child. We have won prizes in several national competitions for our whole school displays and class work, including a CD Rom computer, a trip to a West End Theatre in London and £500.

We look to identify difficulties at the earliest possible age, so that we may take appropriate action. We have staff who are experts in diagnosing learning difficulties as well as extremely competent, caring, special needs ancillaries who work alongside the teaching staff; we are proud of the success we achieve and the progress all of our children make.

We follow the 5 stages outlined in the S.E.N. Code of Practice. Children may be given additional support either individually or in small groups and an individual education programme may be developed for a particular child. Progress is carefully monitored and regularly reviewed. Sometimes when a child has severe problems requiring additional specific help outside agencies may be called in and the Leicestershire Education Authority (L.E.A.) may gather information to issue a 'Statement of Special Educational Need'. At all times we work in consultation with parents to do the best for each child.

At all times we ask parents to give positive encouragement to their children to help them complete their tasks. If there are any difficulties with understanding or time constraints, please discuss these with the class teacher.

The activities available include:

Policy documents covering aspects of school life which have been written by the governors and staff are under regular review. these are kept in school and are also available for you to see.

We will not tolerate or condone any form of racism or sex discrimination by staff or children in our school. Every child is treated with equal care and respect, regardless of ability, disability, religion, gender, colour or home background and is taught appropriate to his/her individual needs with the resources that are available within the school and with the help from additional outside resources within this county.

The Education Reform Act makes it clear that we may only ask for voluntary contributions towards travel and entrance fees (board and lodging costs are not voluntary). Should the parent of any child not wish to make a voluntary contribution, that child will not be treated any differently. However, it must be understood, that, should the full costs of the visit not be met by voluntary contributions, the proposed activity would be unlikely to take place.

Parents are asked to make a contribution towards musical tuition and swimming. Any parents experiencing financial difficulties or who are in receipt of Family Credit may discuss the matter confidentially with Mrs Evans.

If there is loss or damage to school property, resources or equipment, which has been clearly caused by a child behaving in an irresponsible manner, parents will be asked to cover the cost of replacement or repair.