Kingsley Community Primary and Nursery School Inspiring Positive Futures

Tonight’s Meeting Overview of class structure Reasons behind the change How will this look for Kingsley CP & Nursery Classes Curriculum Looking into the future Questions

Overview of class structure Introduction As of September 2017, Kingsley Community Primary and Nursery School will function with 3 Key Stage 2 classes rather than 4. Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 will remain as 1 class per year group. SLT and the Governing Board have considered every option as part of a 6 month process looking into pupil numbers and the budget. Every decision that has been made is in the best interest of ALL pupils. Overview of class structure

Why is this happening?

School Admissions The published admission number or PAN as it is commonly referred to is the number of pupils in each year group that the admission authority has agreed will be admitted appropriate to the capacity of the school. Our school PAN is set at 30, which means that this is the number of pupils the Local Authority deems that the school can accommodate in each year group.

Overview of class structure The admission authority (the Local Authority) determines the official net capacity. This will be somewhere between the two calculated figures. Kingsley Community Primary and Nursery School Net Capacity is 210. The Pupil Admission Number is then set based on the net capacity. This is roughly one seventh of the net capacity (as there are 7 year groups in a primary school).

Our predicted numbers

Impact of lower numbers As a school, we are funded by the government (CWAC) for each individual pupil As our numbers are approx. 160 against a pan of 210 we have a shortfall of the equivalent of 50 pupils Up until now we have sustained 4 classes and teachers, however this is having a negative impact year on year Reducing the number of classes will allow us to ensure that the budget is spent effectively on resourcing etc

How will the changes look for Kingsley? 2017/18

Class Structure For 2017/18, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 will remain as individual classes Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 will be combined and split into 3 classes rather than 4 Each class will be named rather than calling them Year…… The school council will have a lead role in naming the classes

How will we decide on classes? A number of influences will be taken into consideration in order to make a professional judgment based on the needs of the children. Split year groups are considered very carefully, depending on each cohort of children. These include (and are in no particular order of preference): Social learning group; Emotional development; Readiness to learn; Stage of learning; Gender and age (balance of class and year group); Additional needs.

Mixed Age Classes In Cheshire West and Chester there are 78 primary schools in the Authority that are normally able to organise in single age group classes throughout. There are 52 that normally have to implement mixed-age group teaching with approximately half of these likely to be having to cross-phase teach at some point during the child’s journey through the school.

Research Almost a million children are taught in mixed-age primary classes. Government statistics from 2002 show that around one-third of primary classes are mixed age. Concerns usually stem from the belief that their child is being held back. But there is little evidence that children are disadvantaged academically by mixed-age classes. Evidence suggests that pupils develop cognitively and socially through mixing with older and younger children and there is no proof that mixed-age groups adversely affected pupils' performance - evidence suggests that they could gain socially.

Curriculum SLT and subject leads are working together to create a bespoke curriculum. The design, implementation and evaluation of this, will ensure: All children cover every topic/theme Literacy and numeracy skills embedded throughout Clear progression throughout the Key Stage Children are inspired Children’s personal development, behaviour and welfare is developed throughout Children are prepared for life by developing and embedding skills such as resilience, curiosity, confidence, respect

Looking into the future Each year, we will review the situation by looking at pupil numbers and predictions No permanent changes will be implemented giving the flexibility to increase to 4 classes if and when numbers increase

‘Inspiring Positive Futures’ Kingsley will continue to be a ‘Good’ school which is moving closer to Outstanding each year Our School values will continue to underpin all that we do The Children are, and will always be at the heart of everything we do Our overriding aim is to prepare our children for life. They will leave Kingsley as confident, resilient, happy young people who have a high standard of values. ‘Inspiring Positive Futures’

Our recent OFSTED inspection identified many overwhelming positive aspects about the school. ‘My daughter has progressed in leaps and bounds’ ‘Standards have risen appreciably’ ‘….how passionate the teachers are about educating the children’ ‘This is how a school should be’ All aspects within the report come about because of the inspirational team that we have here.

The staff and governors will be happy to take questions Please stay behind and speak to one of us