Welcome

Thank you for visiting our school website.

 

I hope you enjoy looking at our website and getting a small glimpse of life at Widcombe Infant School. Children are at the heart of our school. We have been judged a good school by Ofsted. However we continually strive to improve and make Widcombe Infant School the best school it can be for our children. Widcombe Infant School with Widcombe CE Junior School is part of the Palladian Academy Trust. Our school day opens at 8.40-8.45am and closes at 3.15pm which amounts to 32.5 hours in a typical week. Please feel free to contact me at school by telephoning 01225 421998 if you would like a guided tour and see at first hand life at Widcombe Infant School.

 

Kind regards,

Alison Watts - Headteacher

Welcome to Widcombe Infant School. Our aim is to provide an excellent education for individual children. It is fundamental that children are happy and secure at school, so that effective learning can take place within a positive, stimulating environment. Each child is treated as an individual with their unique personality, talents and needs recognised. A mixture of teaching styles is used. The children learn as a whole class, in groups and as individuals to ensure they progress and reach their potential.

We are a small school located in Bath near to the city centre. We are a mixed infant community school with ages from 4 -7 years. The school consists of 6 classes; two in Reception, two in Year 1 and two in Year 2, totalling 180 children. All classes are kept to 30 children and the number of hours per week of lesson time is 21 hours. The school serves mainly the community of Widcombe but also draws pupils from a wider area, and our intake of pupils represents a breadth of social, economic and academic backgrounds. At present 70% of the pupils are White British, 7% are Pupil Premium pupils, 23% have English as an additional language and 7% are on the SEND register, including 3 children with Educational, Health and Care plans and 3 children with Transition Funding. Our Pupil Premium (additional income provided for the children entitled to free school meals, children from families in the Services and for Looked After Children) is used to support small group work and individual work to ensure these children are not disadvantaged.

The school has achieved Basic Skills Quality Mark in recognition of the high standards and continual developments in basic skills teaching, and Artsmark Gold in recognition of the great importance placed on the creative aspects of the curriculum and recognition of the distinctive breadth of opportunities within the creative arts. The school has been awarded Active Mark as a result of its work within Physical Education, the Director of Public Health Award for Healthy Schools, Primary Science Quality Mark Gilt, OPAL Platinum Play Award and ICT Mark in recognition of the provision, teaching and use of ICT within the school. These demonstrate the school's commitment to providing a broad education, so developing children socially, creatively, physically and academically.

A number of years ago the school was invited to become a Beacon School to share good practice with other schools and this commitment to working with other schools has continued. Last year Widcombe Infant School welcomed many staff from other schools, both within the Local Authority and beyond, to observe good practice. 

Pupils at the end of Infant School attain standards that are well above average for their age, attaining skills and knowledge expected of older children. All groups of pupils achieve equally well. Standards, notably in English and Mathematics are consistently very high when pupils leave the school.

Children enjoy a wide range of activities in the playground, including using the adventure playground equipment, the castle, the climbing wall, the tree house, the teepee, the maze and the senses garden. Our Year 2 children act as play leaders in the playground. The school has its own Forest School area including a campfire, a mud kitchen, den building equipment and bug hotel, as well as allotments to grow vegetables and flowers. The environmental area contains a pond, orchard and meadow.

Our computer suite has 8 computers for the children to use. We take half a class at a time in there for direct Computing learning whilst the other half class learn French. After half the session they swap over. Every child from Reception to Year 2 has regular time in the suite each week. Staff use the projector and interactive whiteboard to model lessons, skills, programs etc. In addition groups of children from each class work in the ICT suite to extend their learning in a range of curriculum areas using ICT as a tool for learning.

All classes learn French and this is extended to incorporate languages spoken by children in the class. In addition children learn about the French culture. Children learn French through songs, stories, topic vocabulary, drama, key vocabulary etc.

Parents are the first and most important educators of children. Parents are warmly welcomed into the school to work with the children, with activities such as reading, cooking, sewing, art activities, Maths games, literacy games etc.

Widcombe Infant School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.