Prospectus
The focus of the school
School Details
The Local Education Authority:
School Times:
Curriculum Delivery
National Curriculum Assessments 2001
Admissions Policy for Nursery Class
Admissions Policy for Infant School
Charging
The focus of the school
The Pines Infant and Nursery School provides a challenging environment and invests in excellence to create a better future for our children and the community in which they live. Back to topSchool Details
THE PINES INFANT & NURSERY SCHOOLHanworth Road
Hanworth
Bracknell
RG12 7WX
Telephone: 01344 427490
Fax: 01344 306684
Email: secretary@office.pines-inf.bracknell-forest.sch.uk Back to top
The Local Education Authority:
BRACKNELL FOREST BOROUGH COUNCILEdward Elgar House
Skimped Hill Lane
BRACKNELL
RG12 1LY
Telephone: 01344 354072 Back to top
School Times:
Infant school: 8.55 am - 3.15 pmMorning break time: 10.30 am - 10.45 am
Lunch break: 12 noon - 1.05 pm
Nursery Classes: 8.50 am - 11.50 am
OR: 1.00 pm - 3.20 pm Back to top
Curriculum Delivery
Organisation of the ChildrenChildren in school are in different academic year groups depending on their date of birth. The academic year is September 1st to August 31st. This means that a child born on September 1st in one year is in the same academic year group as a child born on August 31st of the following year.
The Nursery Class
The Nursery class has 52 part-time places. Children attend the nursery class on a part-time basis for at least a year before they start full-time school in the infant classes.
The Reception Year
Children who are 5 years old before April 1st each year will attend for one or two terms full-time in the Reception class.
Key Stage One
The children in Years 1 and 2 are in Key Stage One of the education organisation.
Admission dates
Children are admitted to full-time school in the infant classes the term after their fifth birthday. The cut off dates are December 31st for the spring term; March 31st for the summer term and August 31st for the autumn term. If places are available, (no class may exceed 30 for the year) then the governing body will admit children who have had their birthday before the first day of term.
Year One
The September after their fifth birthday children begin their first full year in school and are the Year One Group. This means that children who have a birthday between April 1st and August 31st receive no full-time schooling during their Reception Year and enter school as a Year One child.
Year Two
The September after their sixth birthday the children enter the Year Two Group. At the end of this year, the children do the National Standard Assessment Tests and their levels of achievement in the National Curriculum are reported to parents.
Year Three transfer
The September after their seventh birthday the children begin Key Stage Two and enter Year Three. They will transfer to another school at this time. Many of our children transfer to the nearby Pines Junior School.
Teaching organisation
The school has three teaching wings;
Green Wing: Nursery and Reception
Yellow Wing: Key Stage One classes
Blue Wing: Key Stage One classes
Homebases
Each child belongs to a homebase which has its own teacher. The teachers work co-operatively as a team, planning the work and discussing and making decisions based on school policy.
Teaching the curriculum
Teachers use the National Curriculum documents and school schemes of work to determine what is taught. Work is planned for each year group and links are made between subjects where appropriate. Information about what your child is taught is available from the class teacher.
A variety of approaches is used to match individual children?s need and abilities. The children will work individually, in a small group or in a large group. For some teaching, particularly in English, Maths and Science the children will be grouped according to ability. We believe that the child is the centre of the educational process.
Curriculum time
The schemes of work are divided into units of study. Some of these units are continuous and taught throughout the year, others are blocked units which means they are taught over a limited period, for example the Victorians or Weather Around the World.
The staff plan what is to be taught for the year, the term, the week and the day. The amount of time for teaching in a week is 21 hours and 15 minutes.
Over the year we will spend approximately the following amount of time on each subject:
English: 225 hours
Mathematics: 204 hours
Science: 68 hours
Information Technology: 34 hours
Design Technology: 34 hours
History: 34 hours
Geography: 34 hours
Music: 34 hours
Art: 34 hours
Physical Education: 34 hours
Religious Education: 34 hours
Many subjects are taught on average for one hour a week. We have allocated the majority of our teaching time to Maths and English, which includes at least an hour of each every day. Much of the work planned in each subject is linked together in themes and therefore the total subject hours are greater than the hours available for teaching.
The teaching of the curriculum is enriched by the inclusion of:
voluntary help in school
visitors from the community
visits to places connected with the curriculum
dance, theatre and music companies
audio tapes
television and radio broadcasts
Also available are:
morning reading club
the School Bookshop. Money for savings stamps to be brought to school on Monday.
Curriculum Documents
Full details of the curriculum content are available from the Headteacher. The curriculum documents are available to parents on request. Back to top
Admissions Policy for Nursery Class
When are children admitted?It is expected that children will attend nursery for a minimum of three terms and therefore we will offer the three term placements to as many children as possible when possible. Occasionally, if places occur, we will offer places for four, five or six terms.
Where a child has transferred to the area and has already attended nursery they will be given a place if one is available.
How do I register?
Parents may register their child in the calendar year of their child?s third birthday. (Sight of birth certificate or medical card is required).
Number of places
There are fifty-two part-time places. There are no full-time places.
Special needs
Two places are reserved each term for children identified as having special needs. If these are not taken up, places will be given on the basis of the criteria below.
Admissions criteria
The new admissions are decided on the following criteria in order of priority:
1 children of families living in the area redefined in 1988 served by the Pines Schools (ref: catchment area map) who have or have had brothers or sisters in the school.
2 children of families living in the area redefined in 1988 served by the Pines Schools.
3 children of families outside the designated area who have or have had brothers or sisters in the school
4 children of families living outside the designated area who will be attending the Pines Infant School.
5 children of families living outside the designated area who will be attending other schools.
Applications are considered in order of date of registration.
The Pines Infant and Nursery School - Catchment Area Back to top
Admissions Policy for Infant School
The Governors follow the LEA policy and admit children at statutory school age. Children who are 5 years old by December 31st start in the spring term; children who are 5 years old by March 31st start in the summer term and children who are 5 years old by August 31st start in the autumn term. No Infant class may exceed 30 children for the year under class size legislation but if places are available then children may start school if they are 5 before the first day of termIf places are available, a child may be admitted before their fifth birthday in special circumstances.
How do I register?
Parents may register their child for the school class after their third birthday (sight of the birth certificate or medical card is required).
Number of places
The maximum annual admission figure is 79 (standard number). The total capacity of the infant classes is 211.
Admissions criteria
The new admissions for each term are decided on the following criteria in order of priority:
1 children of families living in the area redefined in 1988 served by the Pines Schools (ref: catchment area map) who have or have had brothers or sisters in the school.
2 children of families living in the area redefined in 1988 served by the Pines Schools (ref. catchment area map)
3 children of families living outside the designated area who have attended the Pines Nursery Class
4 children of families living outside the designated area who have or have had brothers or sisters in the school
5 children of families living outside the designated area.
Applications are considered in order of date of registration. Back to top
Charging
VisitsNo charges can be made for visits wholly or mainly in school time. This provision of the 1988 Education Act came into force in April 1989. This affects all journeys from school and costs of all visiting companies.
These enriching activities are vital in the broadening and enhancing of your child?s education. We propose to continue with educational visits both to and from the school. We will apply the following procedure:
?h Send details of proposed events to parents
?h State the cost needed for each child to cover the event
?h Request a voluntary contribution to cover the cost, including insurance cover. No child will be excluded because of a parent?s unwillingness or inability to make a voluntary contribution: the law requires this.
?h Point out that in the unlikely event of insufficient monies being received to cover the cost, the event will be cancelled.
We have always valued the support and encouragement that we have received in the past and are confident that this will continue.
Damage
The Governors reserve the right to charge a parent for any damage to school property or equipment beyond normal wear and tear. Back to top