Other Information

Parental Help in School

We believe that parents can bring help, support and specific expertise into the school. We are always grateful for offers of help (which, in the first instance, should be addressed to your child's class teacher or the Headteacher). Individual teachers use their own professional judgement as to the way that they make use of offers of parental help in school. Activities that parents currently undertake often involves individual and small group work, including cookery, Art, Design and Technology as well as reading with children.

School Parent Governors

The school governing body, appointed every four years, includes four elected parent representatives. The five currently elected parent governors are

Mrs. G.S. Clowe

Mrs. G. McDowell

Mrs. E.R.A. Newport

Dr. A.B. Rushton

Mr. S. Salt

Miss F.L. Watts

Admission and Transfer Arrangements

For Nursery admissions please click here

The school is very popular and there is great demand for places. We endeavour, under the terms of Solihull's Local Education Authority's admission policy to accommodate children from within Balsall Common wherever possible. Admission forms may be obtained from the school office.

Class sizes in the Foundation Key Stage and Key Stage 1 are restricted to a maximum of thirty pupils. Due to the demand for places in Key Stage 2 our maximum class sizes are 33.

Transfer to Secondary Schools

After completing their primary education, the majority of our pupils transfer to our local secondary school, The Heart of England. Parents will receive a letter from the Director of Education during the autumn term of their final year at school, offering them a place at the secondary school serving the area in which they live. Parents will at that time have the opportunity to request a place at any other secondary school within the borough if they do not wish to accept the place they have been offered. During their final year at school our Year 6 pupils visit their secondary school and there is a comprehensive induction programme organized between the Heart of England School and ourselves to ensure that every support is provided for the pupils transferring into the secondary sector.

We are developing further cross phase links with The Heart of England, which will result in work beginning in Year 6 and continuing in Year 7. We also have Art teachers from The Heart of England working with groups of Year 6 children during their final year. This has the result that the children will already know some of the staff in the secondary school when they begin in Year 7.

Homework

This is an issue frequently raised by parents in their discussions with class teachers. There is a school policy regarding homework and, in the context of this policy, individual teachers exercise their own professional judgement in the way "homework" is given or presented. In line with the government guidelines the main focus of homework is on Literacy and Numeracy.

Foundation Key Stage

Nursery- tasks to complete include observational walks, learning to dress themselves and visiting the library.

Reception- regular reading and learning of National Literacy key words, numeracy activities.

Key Stage 1

The recommended time allocation is about one hour a week and involves reading, spelling and numeracy activities.

Key Stage 2

Years 3 and 4- recommended time allocation is one and a half hours a week, involving reading, spelling and numeracy activities.

Years 5 and 6- recommended time allocation is two and a half hours a week, including Literacy, Numeracy, independent research, preparing oral presentations and reading in preparation for lessons.

The role of parents and carers in supporting pupils

Parents should be encouraged to:

• Provide a reasonably peaceful, suitable place in which the pupil can do their homework
• Show that they value homework and support the school
• Encourage and praise their child when they have completed the homework

School Council

The School Council is a representative group of Year 6 pupils. The Council meet regularly to discuss and present ideas and suggestions which the pupils feel would benefit the school. The Council also includes two teacher observers who offer help and guidance when required. School Council suggestions are regularly adopted and have resulted in improved equipment and resources, health and safety provision, as well as break and lunchtime arrangements. The Council also organize school events such as out-of-uniform days and children's table top sales, the proceeds of which go to charity.

School Bookshop

For a number of years now the school bookshop has been run, very successfully, in conjunction with Waterstones the Booksellers. "Bookshop Day" is usually held once per term and is always well supported. It is an opportunity for children and parents to purchase from a full and exciting range of both fiction and non-fiction titles, and although the school library benefits from the commission from sales, this is not the purpose of the bookshop- the overriding aim is to further encourage reading and the love of books!

Parking Procedures (Bringing children to school and collection of children)

Parents of children in the Nursery and Infants escort their children to school through the Balsall Street or main Asbury Road entrance onto the Infant Playground.

Junior children enter the school through the main Asbury Road entrance.

During the last few years we have introduced a one-way system at the beginning and end of the school day to ease congestion in the road approaching the main gates of the school. This has been achieved, not just by the co-operation of parents but through consultation and with the support of residents of Asbury Road and Wilton Road. We would kindly ask you to follow these procedures at the times stated:

• Please approach the school using the agreed one-way system between the times of 8.00am-9.10am and 3.10pm-3.45pm by entering via Wilton Road and leaving via Asbury Road.
• There should be no parking whatsoever in the short stretch of road between Wilton Road and the school gates.
• Please park the way your car is facing. This may seem obvious but, if anyone attempts to turn their car around into a space, it will defeat the whole purpose of the one-way system.
• Do not double park. It is likely that most parking will be on the left side of the road, so please avoid blocking driveways, etc.
• At no time should the school grounds ever be used for turning. PARKING IN THE SCHOOL GROUNDS IS NOT PERMITTED.
• It is important that we are just as diligent on Balsall Street East. Do not park on restricted areas, double park or park dangerously.
• Ultimately, the success of this initiative is reflected in greatly reduced dangers to our children, as well as much less congestion and annoyance to local residents.

Charging for School Activities

Within the terms of the Education Reform Act, it is the policy of this school's Governing body:

• To levy the appropriate charges to parents for al board and lodging requirements on residential visits.
• To levy charges for activities wholly or mainly outside school hours, where appropriate.
• To levy charges for materials and ingredients where parents have indicated in advance that they wish to keep the finished article.
• To ensure that on occasions where charges may be levied, no pupil is disadvantaged solely by their inability to pay.
• To leave to the Head's discretion the proportion of the costs of an activity which can be properly charged to public or non-public funds.
• To require parents to pay for damage to school property for which their children are responsible where reimbursement is appropriate.
• To request voluntary contributions from parents for school activities in school time which can only run if there is sufficient voluntary funding, whilst ensuring that no child is debarred solely by the inability or unwillingness of their parents to pay.
• To continue to encourage and support the work of the P.T.A. in sustaining their funding and subsidies for a wide range of school activities and the maintenance of the school fund, in its voluntary capacity.
• To empower the Head and Chairman of Governors to act on any issue which may require an immediate decision over the implementation of the policy in any particular circumstance.

Collective Worship

The school meets daily, in key stages or phase groups, for assemblies. When we celebrate special occasions, such as festivals, infant birthdays or the end of term, we try, wherever possible, to accommodate parents, hall space permitting. Parents have the right of withdrawal for their child from collective worship on religious grounds. Any such representation should be made in writing to the Headteacher.

Complaints Procedure

Under the terms of the Reform Act, there is a statutory procedure to deal with complaints by parents who feel that, in relation to a school's curriculum, the LEA or governing body is failing to discharge its duties. The arrangements are not intended to deal with complaints about the actions of Heads or individual teachers, but specifically the curriculum, including religious education and worship, exemptions from National Curriculum and the provision of information and charging policies. It is hoped that any matter of concern could be dealt with informally at the school through the Headteacher or Governors before proceeding to formal arrangements.

Access to Children's Records

Parents are granted access to their children's school records under the terms of the Reform Act, unless the disclosure of this information is deemed likely to be detrimental to the child concerned.