Sandown School
SANDOWN SCHOOL is a happy and popular Community Primary School which serves the growing North Deal area of this historic seaside town.
Established in 1988, the school occupies a site which comprises fourteen permanent classrooms, equipped with SmartBoards & internet access; a hall, with a sports floor and fully equipped for PE and drama; an ICT Suite, equipped with 32 laptops & SmartBoard technology; Infant & Junior activity areas, used for extension and withdrawal activities; a Year 6 Science & Technology Room; an outdoor Early Years area; a Library area, from which the school Bookshop operates each Thursday; a Medical Room; a canteen, from which breakfast (breakfast club) and hot meals are served each day; an administration block, encompassing the School Office, Headteacher's Office and school Business Manager's office and self-contained Staffroom.
The building comprises a 1907 Infant Block, an Administrative block & hall added in 1988, a Lower Junior extension & Staffroom added in 1994 and an Upper Junior block completed in February 1997. In addition, there are two hard-core play areas and a staff and visitor car parking area.
The Western Road Playing Field, across the road from the school, is the school's `on-site' grassed area and has an enclosed area designated for school sports and games activities. We have developed an environmental area (A Living Classroom) there. New Century Nursery is also sited on the field.
We use Dover swimming pool each week for Junior swimming tuition.
Sandown has a roll rising of 337currently reflected in smaller class sizes at Sandown.
Sandown is a friendly, popular and forward-looking school and has a teaching establishment of Acting Headteacher + 14 full time teachers, 1 part time teacher and 12 Teaching Assistants and 1 ICT Teaching Assistant/Technician. Class sizes currently average 25. There are two parallel classes in each year group . We generally have 30-40% of the children on the school Additional Education Needs Register and in the last three years over 35% of our children moved on to selective education with 47% of the 2006 cohort having met the criteria for grammar school places by passing the Kent Test and or Dover Entrance test.
Sandown has an experienced, dedicated and hardworking staff that form a cohesive team who work long and hard for the benefit of the children and the development of the school. The quality of teaching was identified as strength during our OFSTED Inspection of September 2000, which acknowledged Sandown as a good school which gives good value for money. There is a wide range of extracurricular activities within the school, which is well-resourced and equipped - although we are always looking to further enhance and develop the school's resource base and the range of opportunities we offer the children.
Sandown is proud to have achieved several awards; Active Mark Award, FA Charter Standard, Deal in Bloom, Gardening for Wildlife, and we are currently working towards Eco status.
Sandown has an active Parent-Teacher Association, a committed Governing Body, and receives excellent in-school support from both parents and friends of the school and the L.E.A. It is a happy school with high ideals, standards and expectations that firmly believes "every child matters." |