Evendons Primary School

General information

Evendons Primary School is planning to open in September 2014. It is a Free School that has been approved to move to the pre-opening phase. During this phase, a consultation with key stakeholders will ensure the School continues to focus on one of its primary aims of offering parents and carers in Wokingham a choice in where they want their children educated.

Evendons Primary School will be teaching the National Curriculum, with added emphasis on the Science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects, embracing the new technology and ensuring that pupils are given the 21st Century skills to succeed in both work and life.

Our motto is 'Nurture, inspire, flourish'

The rationale for Evendons Primary School is:
• Need for a local community based Primary School;
• Create real choice for parents;
• Provide high quality education that matches or exceeds that of the four local Primary Schools;
• To address the need for a more diverse curriculum to enhance skills for the 21st century (in particular enterprise education and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)).

Background
Parents are becoming increasingly concerned that to excel and succeed in life and work, academic achievement alone is no longer sufficient. We intend to offer parents the option of a primary school that not only focuses on academic excellence but also addresses the issues of 21st Century Skills that employers so desperately need and increasingly expect. We will create an environment where children will learn to be flexible and adaptable and where they can, with confidence, apply their skills, competences and knowledge in different situations. Evendons school will engage with the wider business community to ensure that we embed a culture of enterprise and entrepreneurship to compliment academic achievement and instil the behaviours and attitudes required to succeed in life and work.

Community is at the heart of Evendons Primary School. CfBT Schools Trust (CST) and the Evendons Primary School Group (EPSG) are seeking to provide real choice for parents in Wokingham to send their children to an excellent, local primary school that focuses on both academic excellence and enterprise. We have chosen a one form entry of 25 pupils (which is likely to grow to two forms when demand requires) to maximise the distinct advantages of learning in smaller class sizes. Ultimately the school will have 350 pupils, but will begin in 2014 with a reception class and year one class.

Our Headteachers’ goal will be to provide a safe and caring community led school for our children to grow and succeed. Our School Motto will be:
‘Nurture, Inspire, Flourish’.

We are committed to providing a fun and vibrant learning environment with a focus on academic excellence in English and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subjects, and encouraging creativity in The Arts, camaraderie in Sport and nurturing respect for others and the environment.

Evendons Primary School will be inclusive and open to all faiths and affiliations to reflect the diversity of the community.

The school’s aim will be to develop the whole child, personally, socially and emotionally as we believe these are as important as academic achievement. We will focus on creating pupils that are:
• flexible and adaptable- being able to participate effectively as an individual or as part of a team;
• skilled in the application of knowledge and are prepared for their next steps in education and later life;
• motivated and industrious and can maximise their potential;
• empowered, self-confident with high self-esteem;
• creative and inquisitive;
• healthy and have active lifestyles. Enjoy sport and the outdoors;
• morally responsible with a sense of community and citizenship.

Our aim is to encourage each child to be independent, inquiring and ambitious. We will inculcate values of:

Tolerance: this can be taught to pupils throughout. It is essential that pupils understand its importance. Whether it is through discussion or by connecting the issue of tolerance to a lesson. We will expect discussions with children as to why having a tolerant attitude is important, how it can help them become better people and how it benefits everyone else and society as a whole.

Respect: It is the goal of Evendons Primary School to create a mutual respectful atmosphere between all individuals involved within the school including administrators, teachers, staff members, pupils, parents and visitors. Pupils and teachers especially are expected to greet each other with kind words and Pupil/teacher exchanges should be friendly and in an appropriate tone.

All school staff and pupils are expected to use the following words that show respect for another person at the appropriate times when addressing each other. On certain days or during International week these could be taught and then spoken in another language:
• Please
• Thank you
• You are welcome
• Excuse me

Trust: We will trust children to be responsible for themselves in the school environment: They will have to be responsible about not going in the road or the car park; they will have to be trusted not to play with dangerous objects; they will have to be trusted not to wander off. Teachers will of course tell them the boundaries whilst teaching. After that, judgment flourishes. A child who is trusted to jump from boulder to boulder because the school trusts that he or she will not jump unless it is safe, develops trust in his or her own decision-making abilities.

Community: Recognise and reward both individual and team performance solidifying the notion of team spirit, loyalty and acceptance of others through a House System in both work and play.

Evendons Primary School will offer:
• a fun, vibrant, learning environment - a springboard for success;
• outstanding teaching. Excellence in English and STEM subjects;
• a broader curriculum with a particular focus on enterprise and 21st Century Skills;
• enriched learning experiences;
• engagement and partnership with the local community;
• a focus on the achievement of the ICT Mark and Eco-Schools Awards;
• after school and breakfast clubs which will enable both parents to work bringing economic benefits to both families and the community.