School Profile
CollegeTownJuniorSchool is a successful community junior school serving the children of CollegeTown in Sandhurst, Berkshire.
The School
The School is situated near the Berkshire, Surrey and Hampshire borders and is very convenient for a wide range of shopping, sporting and cultural facilities. Excellent motorway and rail links (London 45 minutes), together with a variety of housing to rent or buy, make this an ideal location.
Opened in the 1966, the School is well maintained and has two hard play areas, extensive playing fields (including an adventure activities area), a purpose-built multi-sports area and well-developed quiet areas for the children.
The School grounds offer excellent environmental facilities including a large natural habitat pond, nature trail, organic orchard, organic vegetable garden, greenhouse and bird hide. In 2001, the School was awarded the Mars “Silver Sapling” Award for Environmental Development, as well as receiving the Bracknell in Bloom Award for Best School Grounds.
The spacious interior of the School is well equipped and many areas have been recently refurbished. The School offers superior ICT facilities, including a networked suite of computers within their own classroom managed by a dedicated ICT technician and an experienced system manager. CollegeTownJuniorSchool has been designated as a Centre of Excellence by RM in recognition of the enthusiasm, expertise and dedication to the use of ICT across the curriculum.
Investors in People
CollegeTownJuniorSchool received this national accreditation in 1998, which recognises the commitment of the School to the professional development of its entire staff. The School was successfully re-appraised during the Spring Term 2002 and 2005.
Organisation
The School is divided into year groups, with years 3 and 4 forming the LowerSchool and years 5 and 6 the
UpperSchool. At present there are three mixed ability classes in each year group. Joint planning within each
year group team is a feature of curriculum development and delivery.
The Senior Management Team comprises the Headteacher and a Deputy Headteacher.
Curriculum
The Governors and Staff are committed to providing a broad and balanced curriculum, which offers opportunities both for the creative experiences of drama, music and dance and for the development of a range of physical and sporting activities. A wide range of extracurricular clubs and activities, run by Staff, enhances the formal curriculum.
In recognition of the School’s outstanding commitment to promoting the benefits of physical activity and School sport, CollegeTownJuniorSchool holds the Active Mark Gold Active Award accredited by Sport England.
The School has achieved the Healthy Schools Gold Award for Berkshire Schools.
Pupils
The pupils are enthusiastic, confident and articulate. They are a pleasure to work with.
Pupils mainly live in the neighborhood of CollegeTownJuniorSchool, although some are driven to School from surrounding districts. Approximately 27% of the School roll is from service families posted to the Royal Military Academy (RMA) Sandhurst, 8.5% of which are EAL.
The School council, with two elected representatives from each class, meets with the Headteacher three times each term and the pupils’ views contribute to planning at both Staff and Governor level.
Parents
Communication links with parents are excellent and an active parent-School partnership is a strength of the School. The College Town Schools Parent Teacher Association (PTA) raises money and provides support for both the Infant and JuniorSchools and represents a valuable link between the two Schools that share the CollegeTown site.
Community Links
Most of the children joining the School come from College Town Infant and Nursery School which is adjacent to the JuniorSchool. A good relationship has been established between the two Schools to ensure a smooth transition between years 2 and 3. The vast majority of children transfer to SandhurstSecondary School at the end of year 6.
The School also works very closely with the RMA to help the service children moving into the School and especially to support those children with English as a second language.
Governors
The School enjoys a close relationship with the Governing Body who sees their role as supportive to the work of teaching professionals.
There are currently three committees, which meet each term: Curriculum & General Purposes, Staffing & Finance and Environment.
Local Education Authority
CollegeTown comes under the Bracknell Forest Local Education Authority (LEA). One of the new unitary authorities, the LEA was established in 1998 with 41 Schools (33 primary). It has offices in Bracknell and it also manages an Education Centre at EasthampsteadPark, both are only 5 miles from the School. A team of advisors provide a wide range of support and in-service training opportunities.