The school was built in 1913 and since that time has been the only school in Silkstone Common. With the closure of Hood Green School, children from the neighbouring villages of Hood Green and Stainborough have been brought to the school by bus.

In 2004 a new extension was added giving an extra classroom. In 2010 further building work took place giving a purpose built Reception/Year 1 classroom, a new hall and kitchen. We were careful to ensure that the extensions blended in with the original building so frontage of the school retains a cohesive appearance, whilst inside the rooms are bright, airy with plenty of space and modern facilities. At the same time we improved our playing field by levelling it, improving the drainage and reseeding it so it is now a good playing surface. We have also improved the other outside play facilities with improved playground markings, outdoor play equipment and a climbing wall.

The school has always been close to the community it serves and inspires a good deal of affection. Within the local community there are many that attended the school up to eighty years ago.

We maintain a friendly and family oriented approach which results in a positive atmosphere which has been favourably commented on in our recent Ofsted reports.

The school is dedicated to the development of the whole child. To do that, we work in partnership with the children, their families, and the local and wider community.

What Can Parents/Guardians/Carers Expect The School To Provide For Their Children?

The School will undertake to:

• provide a broad and balanced curriculum
• help children to develop lively, inquiring minds and the ability to question and argue rationally
• help children to develop self-discipline and become self motivated learners
• cater for each child's individual needs provide a caring and secure environment
• assist and encourage every pupil to achieve his/her full potential be it academic, creative, personal or social
• prepare children for the demands of a rapidly changing society.

The Home-School Agreement

What we expect of parents and children to help them get the best from our school.

Parental involvement

Parents are invited to be involved in work being undertaken at school. Class teachers and the Headteacher are available for consultation at any time. It is not necessary to wait for the school open days.

How do you expect the children to behave in school?

No school community can work efficiently and harmoniously without guide-lines. On the other hand it is neither desirable nor possible to make regulations about every aspect of school life and every situation that may arise. We expect a high standard of sensible, responsible and considerate behaviour from all the children. Our most recent Ofsted Report said “Pupils very good behaviour and attitudes to school enable teachers to concentrate all their efforts on teaching and pupils learning”.

We have a small number of school rules, which include:

• No running within the school building.
• No sweets to be eaten in school. This does not include chocolate biscuits eaten as part of a packed lunch.
• No child should leave the school premises during school hours unless by arrangement between the parent/guardian and the Headteacher.
• Children are not allowed on school premises out of school hours unless supervised by a member of staff.

Are children punished?

Punishments administered include verbal reprimands, withdrawal of privileges etc. Corporal punishment is not used.

Bullying

The school has an effective anti-bullying policy. Please contact the Headteacher if bullying becomes a concern to you.

Out-Of-School Care

The Governors and Headteacher have investigated the practicalities of this in conjunction with the organisation currently providing these facilities at Silkstone School. At the moment school facilities and lack of interest from parents means that out-of-school provision in addition to the current after-school clubs is not practical.

We are fortunate to have an enthusiastic group of parents who fully support the school by organising social and fund raising events. Whilst in the past funds raised have been used to purchase additional equipment at present we are using funds to pay for transport for school trips across the school and trying to ensure that the trips remain affordable to all.

All parents are automatically members of the group and we would encourage any who can to come along to the regular meetings. The meetings are relaxed and friendly. We always welcome any contribution. The date of the next meeting can be found under forthcoming events and will be on the calendar.

We are very proud of our school’s performance. We were rated as Outstanding in all areas in our last two Ofsted inspections (2005 and 2008)

We have consistently been listed as a high performing school in the national league tables. This is thanks to the hard work and dedication of our staff, the support of our parents and the enthusiasm and positive approach of our children.

This year the Sunday Times (November 2012) placed Silkstone Common J & I School 41st in their Primary Schools in England League Table. Information for this was based on school results for the three years 2009/10/11. There are currently 16,971 primary schools in England

We are proud that our children, whatever their background and abilities, consistently achieve above their expected results.

You can see SATS-RESULTS-2013 in this file (click the link).

You can see SATS-RESULTS-2014in this file (click the link).

Pupil Premium Allocation

For the financial year 2014/15 this amounted to £10,300.00.

pupil-premium-14_15

Sport Premium Grant

PE-funding-14_15

We value highly the contribution of all our children to the life of the school. They have thoughts and ideas that can make our school a better and safer place. Our school council, comprising nine members elected yearly from classes 1 to 5, meets regularly to debate and agree upon actions we can implement in school to improve it. These ideas come from class council meetings where everyone can have a say in how our school can be developed for a better future.

In previous years the councils' work has been mainly surveying pupil's ideas about new playground markings, meeting companies involved with this and then helping decide the finished plan. They have helped organise the playground leader's scheme to develop structured play at lunchtimes and organised the collection of supermarket tokens to purchase new playground equipment. They have surveyed the pupils’ views on sports they would like to do and other aspects on our school life they would like to develop.

Our current school council members are:

• Phoebe Kent - Class 5
• Harriet Robinson- Class 5
• Olivia Wolff - Class 4
• Sophie Lunn - Class 4
• Joseph Bridger - Class 3
• Alice Fielding - Class 3
• Archie Farrell - Class 2
• Alice Feetham - Class 2
• Max Hardman - Class 1

Previous achievements

• Raised over £200 by organising 2012 school calendar
• Set up After School Art Club after consulting with student body as to what they wanted
• Organised and judged competition for design of logos on the new hall doors
• Decided upon format of Sports Relief Day 2012- over £1,200 raised
• Raised awareness of positive behaviour outside the classroom by organising a poster competition in 2011
• At the request of governors, interviewed pupils using I-pads to get soundbites on aspects of our school the students like the most.

The School Day

• The school day starts at 9.00 am.
• Supervision of the children is provided from 8.50 am.
• Morning school ends at noon.
• Afternoon school starts at 1.00 p.m. and ends at 3.30 p.m.

There is a break of 15 minutes during both morning and afternoon sessions.

Lunch

Parents may choose whether their children go home or stay at school at lunchtime. If they stay at school they will be cared for by our four school meals supervisors.

Dinner money is collected on Monday of each week. Packed lunches are allowed if preferred.

Please give a week's notice if changing from a school dinner to a packed lunch

What is the school's teaching philosophy?

Following the philosophy of the Barnsley Entitlement Curriculum much of the work is based upon first hand experiences in order that skills in the core and foundation subjects can be acquired and built upon.

Much of the National Curriculum can be taught through a 'Topic Work' approach to learning. These are carefully chosen by members of staff to ensure that the programmes of study laid down in the National Curriculum are being covered. As a consequence of this approach to learning, at various times during the year the children may be involved in visits out of school.

We would hope for your support to allow these visits to take place. Should you wish to know in more detail what your child will learn during any particular year please do not hesitate to contact your child's class teacher who will be pleased to give you details of the anticipated curriculum for your child.

How would you describe the ethos of the school?

Some quotes from the last Ofsted Report:

• "Pupils acknowledge, modestly, that they learn a lot, but they stress that the school is also about 'friendship and laughter'."
• "Their enormous enjoyment of every facet of their education is just one element in their outstanding personal development."
• "Exemplary relationships between pupils and adults contribute to pupils feeling utterly safe in school."
• "Children's personal, social and emotional development is outstanding."

To find out more about curriculum areas and our approach to teaching and assessments please look in the Virtual Office.

These files give you the term times and holiday dates for this year and following years. Please note that Inset days are only fixed for the current academic year. (Right-click to save to your computer.)

• School term Dates 2014-2015