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School Meals
Uniform
On ‘normal’ days:
Plain grey trousers (not jeans or leggings), shorts, skirt or dress, or red/white checked summer dress. (Grey joggers/leggings are allowed in preschool/nursery)
Bright red or white long or short sleeved polo shirt.
Bright red sweatshirt or cardigan (or school fleece body-warmer).
White, grey, or black socks or tights.
Plain black school shoes, boots or trainers (which your child can fasten independently).
On ‘PE’ days:
Plain grey or black jogger bottoms, black shorts, or black leggings, or school logo PE tracksuit bottoms.
Bright red round neck t-shirt.
Bright red sweatshirt or cardigan (or school logo grey PE tracksuit top).
White, grey, or black socks.
Plain black trainers (which your child can fasten independently).
Please note: the uniform does not have to have the Prudhoe West logo on it –plain jumpers, polo shirts etc. are fine as long as they are the right colour/style.
Branded uniform can be bought from Salto UK, Low Prudhoe.
Red reading folders, caps, fleeces, school coats and hi-visibility jackets can also be bought.
The clothing/ footwear that your child wears to school must be clearly marked with your child’s name. Everything should be simple enough for your child to manage independently – eg. velcro fastenings on shoes, elastic waistband on trousers.
With the exception of a watch (once a child can tell the time), earrings and jewellery must not be worn
Prudhoe West Curriculum
We provide a bespoke curriculum which acknowledges our school’s unique characteristics and meets the needs of our children. The aim is to provide opportunities for all children to develop as independent, confident, successful learners with high aspirations. Through the curriculum we deliver, our children will become understanding British citizens who make a positive contribution to their community and wider society. Aspirational expectations will combine the acquisition of knowledge and the progressive development of skills to create a purposeful and imaginative learning journey for every child.
Our curriculum drivers are:-
SMSC
Oracy
Childhood Experiences
Basic Skills
Well-being
- Subject Intent Statements
- Golden Threads Mapping
- Sequences of Learning
- Knowledge and Skills Progression Documents
- Knowledge Organisers
Online Safety
At school we believe that IT should be used as a means of enhancing learning and engaging pupils. IT is not a subject within its own right; rather skills that are taught and then used across the entire curriculum. The aim is to equip children for living in the 21st century; this is realised when the learning environment is resourced with up-to-date technologies and staff have the knowledge and skills to use these effectively to move learning forward.
Online Safety
Within school, pupils are taught about how to stay safe in our modern digital world.
The person responsible for Online Safety in school is Michelle Brewster (Headteacher).
If you have any concerns about online safety please contact any member of staff.
Below you will find a range of useful Parent Guides to help you keep your child safe while online.
Additionally, the CEOP website contains some really important information for parents and the Childnet site gives helpful guidance on social networking for parents.
The SaferInternet site also provides advice on setting up parental controls on your home computer.
The Click Clever, Click Safe site has lots of useful information about Cyberbullying.
As parents you can help by:
- having open discussions about your expectations and how to stay safe online
- closely monitoring the sites your children are accessing
- limiting the amount of time your allow your child to spend online or using gaming devices
- discouraging the use of social network sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat - however, if your child does use social media remind them to only communicate with friends and family (people they know and trust in the real world), and also to ensure that their privacy settings are set high and to make them aware of how to report an incident if they feel uncomfortable.
- ensuring they do not give out any personal details to people they meet online including on games consoles such as Xbox and PS3.
- take notice of PEGI ratings – age rating is there for a reason and could mean that your child is being exposed to inappropriate materials if you do not abide by them.
- check your child's devices daily to see what they have accessed and who they have connected with
Funded Childcare
2 Year Old Funded Places
We offer places within our Pre-School for children whose parents receive their ‘Golden TIcket’. 2-year-olds will be eligible for free early education and childcare if you live in England and get one of the following benefits:
- Income Support
- income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
- income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Universal Credit - if you and your partner have a combined income from work of £15,400 or less a year, after tax
- tax credits and you have an income of £16,190 or less a year, before tax
- the guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
- support through part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act
- the Working Tax Credit 4-week run on (the payment you get when you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)
A child can also get free early education and childcare if any of the following apply:
- they’re looked after by a local council
- they have a current statement of special education needs (SEN) or an education, health and care (EHC) plan
- they get Disability Living Allowance
- they’ve left care under a special guardianship order, child arrangements order or adoption order
If you’re eligible for free early education, please contact us for an application and to arrange a visit.
30 Hours Funding for 3 & 4 Year Olds
We offer fully flexible 30 Hours places for three and four year olds. Hours can be split between Pre-School, Nursery and Kids’ Club, so can be used between the hours of 7.30am and 6pm.
Parents of three and four year olds will need to meet the following criteria in order to be eligible for 30 hours free childcare:
- They earn or expect to earn the equivalent to 16 hours at National Minimum or Living Wage over the coming three months.
- This equates to £120 a week (or £6,000 a year) for each parent over 25 years old or £112.80 a week (or £5,800 a year) for each parent between 21 and 24 years old.
- This applies whether you are in paid employment, self-employed or on zero hours contract.
- The parent (and their partner where applicable) should be seeking the free childcare to enable them to work.
- Where one or both parents are on maternity, paternity, shared parental or adoption leave, or if they are on statutory sick leave.
- Where one parent meets the income criteria and the other is unable to work because they are disabled, have caring responsibilities or have been assessed as having limited capability to work.
- Where a parent is in a ‘start-up period’ (example: they are newly self-employed) they do not need to demonstrate that they meet the income criteria for 12 months.
- If a non-EEA national, the parent must have recourse to public funds.
Attendance
At Prudhoe West Academy we recognise the importance of being in school, on time, every day.
The national average expected for children is 96%.
If your child has only 90% attendance, this means they have had the equivalent of half a day off per week. This would add up to 247 days off over their full school career; or 1 full school year of lost education!
Holiday Requests
If you wish to request some time off during school term time there is a form that must be completed. Please know that permission for holidays are only granted in exceptional circumstances. If your request is declined, and you still take your child out of school, each parent within your household can be issued with a £60 penalty notice for each child you have taken out of school. If a penalty notice remains unpaid after 21 days it will increase to £120. If after 28 days it remains unpaid you may be summoned to appear before Magistrates to explain why your child has unauthorised school absences and you may be liable for a fine of up to £1000.
Taking into account all of the above, we strongly advise you against taking children out of school during term time for family holidays.
Jobs
Why work for WISE Academies
We want WISE Academies to be the employer of choice for talented staff looking to work in the North-East of England. Below are some of the benefits of working for us: –
- Full access to Teachers’ Pension Scheme and Local Government Pension Scheme.
- Strong induction processes.
- A wide range of CPD opportunities offered through the Town End Teaching School Alliance, through joint working between the academies within our Trust and through other opportunities.
- Access to a well-being package for staff which provides a range of free benefits including counselling, physiotherapy, GP helpline and access to consultants and medical operations*.
- Full statutory rights around maternity/paternity and sickness schemes.
* exclusions may apply
You can find a list of our current vacancies here
Fundamental British Values
The Department for Education states that there is a need “to create and enforce a clear and rigorous expectation on all schools to promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.”
The government set out its definition of British values in the 2011 'Prevent Strategy' and these values were reiterated by the Prime Minister in 2014. At Prudhoe West Academy, these values are reinforced regularly and in the following ways:
Democracy
Democracy is embedded at the school. Children are always listened to by adults and are taught to listen carefully and with concern to each other, respecting the right of every individual to have their opinions and voices heard. Children also have the opportunity to air their opinions and ideas through our School Council and regular questionnaires. The elections of the School Council members and House Captains are based solely on pupil votes, reflecting our British electoral system and demonstrating democracy in action.
The Rule of Law
The importance of laws whether they are those that govern the class, the academy or the country, are consistently reinforced. Our school has ‘School Rules’, which are deeply embedded in our work every day. Each class also discusses and sets its own rules that are clearly understood by all and seen to be necessary to ensure that every class member is able to learn in a safe and ordered environment. Our children are taught the value and reasons behind laws, that they govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when laws are broken.
Individual Liberty
Within the academy, children are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. As an academy, we educate and provide boundaries for our children to make choices safely, through the provision of a safe environment and an empowering education. Our children are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and are advised how to exercise these safely; examples of this can be clearly seen in our online safety and PSHE lessons. Whether it is through choice of challenge; of how they record; of participation in our numerous extra- curricular activities; our children are given the freedom to make choices. They understand that with rights comes responsibility.
Tolerance of Difference and Respect for Others
Our core value of tolerance of and respect for those who have different faiths and beliefs, different genders, different sexual orientations, different abilities, different families and different economic circumstances underpins our work. Welbeck Academy enhances children's understanding of different faiths and beliefs through Religious Education studies and different social circumstances through PSHE work. Visits out of the academy and visitors to the academy provide a richness of experience for our children. Through this our children gain an enhanced understanding of their place in a socially and culturally diverse society.