About us

Crewe is a medium sized town with a population of approximately 50,000. It is an industrial town with fairly high levels of unemployment. There are good road and rail links to other parts of the country. Many of the children come from a mainly working class area with a minority from private housing. Approximately 80% live on Council owned properties.

Monks Coppenhall Primary and Nursery School is a co-educational school maintained by Cheshire Education and providing for children between the ages of 3 and 11 years. The school is situated on the northern edge of Crewe, approximately four miles west of the M6 motorway.

• The mobile classrooms were removed and the remaining demountable classrooms were converted into a much-needed Nursery. The Nursery was opened in September 1995 to provide 52 part-time places. In the summer of 1996 a pre-nursery room was opened following a grant from the Lottery Charity Commission.
• The current building is set in spacious grounds with a wildlife area, a large playing field with a long jump pitch, two playgrounds and a specially designed outside play area for the nursery children. The view from the school overlooks the Cheshire countryside.
• There is a large dining room which is used exclusively to serve the midday meal and a large hall which is fully equipped with PE apparatus. Each classroom has at least two computers, a CD ROM, Internet connection and is equipped for audio visual aids. There is a fully equipped computer suite with 16 computers.
• On each corridor there is a large shared ‘wet area‘ which is used for art, design and technology work.
• The school has installed a comprehensive security system comprised of an external anti-vandalism fencing, coded security locks on all external doors and an intercom system to check visitors on the main door.
• The school crossing patrol is on duty when children are coming to and leaving school as the school is situated on the north circular route around Crewe. For this reason there is also a seated waiting area provided inside the school gates. In the interests of safety, parking facilities are not available within the school grounds.
• At the secondary stage 50% of Year 6 pupils transfer to Coppenhall High School and the other children to various secondary schools within South Cheshire.

School Organisation

Foundation Stage - Nursery and Reception

Key Stage One - Years 1 and 2

Key Stage Two - Years 3, 4, 5 and 6

Times of sessions are as follows:-

Nursery 9:00am – 11:30am 12:45pm – 3:15pm

Reception and Key Stage 1 9:00am – 12 noon 1:00pm – 3:00pm

Key Stage 2 8:45am – 12 noon 12:55pm – 3:10pm

There is a mid-morning break for Key Stage 1 children of 10 minutes from 10:40am – 10:50am and for Key Stage 2 children from 10:30am – 10:40am.

At the beginning of the school year Reception children will have a separate playtime break until staff feel it is appropriate for them to combine with KS1.

There is a registration period of five minutes at the start of each session and the remainder of the time is set aside for teaching.

The Years 1 and 2 are taught in single year groups in mixed ability classes. At Key Stage 2 the children are set into ability groups for Mathematics and English. The children are taught for much of the curriculum by their class teacher who considers each child as an individual, though of course numbers dictate that some teaching will be given to groups of various sizes and in some cases class teaching is considered desirable and beneficial.

The curriculum of the school is based on the revised National Curriculum orders, the National Literacy Framework, the National Numeracy Strategy and the Foundation Stage Early Learning Goals.

Assessment

Pupils are continually assessed by their teachers as teaching and learning takes place each day. This continuous assessment informs planning and is an important element of securing progress. From time to time, however, more formal assessment is carried out in line with statutory requirements. This takes place on entry to the Reception classes (Baseline Assessment) and at the end of both Key stages (SATs). You will be fully informed of the outcome of these assessments.

Subjects

The school seeks to offer a curriculum which is both broad and balanced and consists of the following subjects:-

Core Subjects:-

Mathematics

Science

ICT (which is used to enhance and support all areas of the curriculum)

Foundation Subjects:-

History

Geography

Physical Education (Swimming is provided for Y3 children)

Art and Design

Music

Other Subjects:-

Personal, Health and Social Education

Believing in the worth of each individual, the school aims to stretch the mind of the most talented, gifted child and simultaneously develop as far as possible the talents of the less able. The school aims to help each child as an individual, to advance at his/her own pace, seeking to ensure that the pace is, in every case, the swiftest possible.

Every child is encouraged to think for himself or herself and not follow blindly in the wake of others.

The school strives to stimulate the imagination, encourage a sense of wonder and develop the scientific attitude of enquiry and experiment. The children are encouraged to experiment with their own environment and to be ever inquisitive, seeking their own answers to the problems which confront them, helped and encouraged by their teachers. Thus we endeavour to