Welcome
Hello and welcome to Glastonbury Thorn School. If your child is to join us for the first time we welcome you as parents/carers and look forward to a happy and successful partnership over the coming years. If you already have a child here, we are pleased to renew the links between us.
Confidence in a school comes from knowing and understanding what is happening within it. We hope you will develop your knowledge of Glastonbury Thorn through contact and discussion with our members of staff and governors. We invite you to take advantage of the many opportunities we offer for you to come into school. It is important that mutual understanding and trust should be the basis of our shared responsibility.
We believe Glastonbury Thorn is a very special school. We hope that when you have visited us, you will want to come and join our school community.
School History
Glastonbury Thorn School opened in September 1993 and from September 2002 became a Foundation School. It was named after the Glastonbury Thorn tree which grows in the local churchyard.
Glastonbury Thorn was originally built to serve the Shenley Church End and Crownhill grid squares. However, we are a popular school with a high profile both locally and further a field - currently 36% of our children live outside our defined area.
The school underwent an Ofsted inspection on 21 st March 2007 – the inspectors report was extremely complimentary and we were judged to be outstanding in every area. (The report can be viewed on the Ofsted website – www.ofsted.gov.uk or can be downloaded here in pdf format). We are very proud of our school and it was wonderful to have our many strengths validated in this way. However, we are not complacent, and are always looking for ways to further improve – we strive to achieve our mission statement “Every day getting better in every way”.
The design of the main building is open plan with a large teaching area, three practical areas and home bases for each class. We have a library, ICT suite, staff workroom, spacious hall and a music/drama room. In 2006 we held the official opening of our new purpose-built Foundation Stage annex. This includes three home bases, a large shared area, and a secure outdoor area.
The external environment includes children's seating in the playground, grassy areas and a large natural pond within a landscaped garden which provides a superb on-site resource for environmental studies. A fence is positioned around the pond area for safety. We are currently improving the outside of the school and the Friends Association recently funded the installation of a new wooden activity trail and basketball net for the children. |