South Darley C.E. (V.C.) Primary School

South Darley School is a Church of England Controlled Primary Day School for girls and boys and was first opened in 1862 as a small, one-roomed village school to serve the hamlets of Darley Bridge, Wensley, Oker and Snitterton. Over the years it has been enlarged and now has three fully equipped, fully carpeted classrooms, modern facilities, a disabled toilet, and ramps ensuring accessibility for all.  

The main aim of the school is to help and guide the children in our care to become confident, kind, helpful and caring members of the world community.  

This will partially be achieved by giving them all a firm grounding in Numeracy, a solid working knowledge of English language and grammar and a clear fluent handwriting style. All other National Curriculum subjects will be covered to give the best possible general education and a chance to develop their talents to the full.  

To this will be added a confidence in themselves and their abilities to achieve. They will be given the opportunity to feel proud of themselves and of the things they do.  

Within the school community they will be encouraged to help one another and to be tolerant of the views and feelings of others.  

It is our aim to encourage co-operation between the school, the home and the local community as a whole so that all feel welcome and a part of the education offered by the school.  

There are currently three vertically grouped classes: the Infants with 4-7 year olds, Lower Juniors 7-9 year olds and Upper Juniors 9-11 year olds. At the present time (2006/7) these classes hold 28, 19 and 23 pupils respectively. The children are often grouped according to ability and staff provide carefully differentiated work, always striving to set realistic challenges.  

Discipline is an important part of our school life and we aim to enhance the opportunities for learning whilst at the same time promoting responsible behaviour. This creates a positive atmosphere, based on a sense of community where all are considerate individuals; respected by and respecting all other members of the school.  

Pastoral care is undertaken by all the adults working in the school. They help the children develop a positive attitude to learning and try to ensure that pupils achieve their full potential in all areas of life. Time is given to listening and talking over problems, offering advice and guidance.  

At the age of eleven the children usually transfer to Highfields School in Matlock.

The School Governors encourage the wearing of the school uniform. This is, for the boys, grey or black trousers and red jumper with a white shirt. For the girls a grey skirt, grey or black trousers or a pinafore dress with a red jumper or cardigan for the winter; a red and white dress for the summer. School sweatshirts, fleeces and polo shirts are available from the school. We would particularly ask that you label all your child’s clothing especially as so many of the garments are identical.

Each week the juniors go swimming and for this they require a towel and costume. For safety reasons children with long hair must have it tied back or wear a bathing cap.

The wearing of earrings during swimming and PE lessons is not allowed due to Health & Safety requirements. For Indoor PE each child requires shorts, tee-shirt and a pair of plimsolls, elastic topped ones are the easiest for the infants to manage. If you could provide a named bag to keep these in it would be most helpful. For Outdoor PE each child requires clothing appropriate for the time of year i.e. in winter; tracksuit/jogging bottoms, jumpers/fleeces and trainers may be needed.                                                                                          

Many parents like to help their children at home so that when they arrive at school they feel confident and relaxed.  You may find the following points a useful guide:  

Please clearly mark all clothes so that they can easily be recognised. (Lost property is kept in school for half a term, after which it is sent to a charity shop.)

It would also be a great help if your child could dress and undress and put on shoes. Slip on plimsolls are the easiest to manage.  

Encourage your child to use the toilet independently.  

If your child is going to stay for school meals please help them to use a knife and fork properly.

To develop speaking and listening skills, encourage your child to talk about imaginative play, for example dressing up and pretending to be a monster or telling a make believe story.

  Reading (Maddie Y4)

Reading:

To help develop reading, you could help your child to understand that print, in books and elsewhere  in their surroundings, has meaning.   

 Encourage recognition of their own name and an understanding that the words in the book provide the story.  

Any time spent looking at books with an adult and talking about the pictures, television programmes, family outings etc. is extremely useful.  

The children learn letters as phonic sounds, so it is best to teach, “a” for astronaut, “b” for basket, “c” for cat rather than the letter names.  

Games such as ‘I Spy’ are helpful in teaching these sounds.

Writing:

As a beginning to writing children should be trying to communicate meaning by drawing pictures and forming isolated letters, or even words and phrases.  

If you want to help your child to write their name please use a capital letter for the first letter only and not for the whole name.  

Mathematics:

You can help your child in Mathematics by providing opportunities to develop skills in number (counting, adding and subtracting); sorting, sequencing and ordering everyday objects; making predictions whenever an opportunity arises and recognising shapes in the world around.

You do not need special equipment to help in this way, it can all be done with things in the home and in the environment outside. For example, a conversation with your child whilst waiting for a bus might include comparisons of short and tall people.  

Mathematics is best learned in a real situation, rather than sitting your child down and expecting them to work in a formal learning session.  

Grasping number skills is always easiest when there is an element of fun in the activity.  

Bearing these points in mind, encourage as many of the following skills as possible:  

·        compare objects to see which is longest, tallest, thickest  

·        talk about a set of things, for example, “Which is the longest pencil?”  

·        predict which of two objects will be the heavier  

Other:

Encourage your child to hold a pencil or crayon in the correct way rather than as a “fist”. This makes writing and drawing easier in later life.  

They will be expected to use scissors in some activities so it would be most helpful if they knew how to use them when they came to school.  

Whilst preparing your child for school don’t forget that play, affection, independence, friendship and time to do whatever they choose, even when that is nothing at all, are also important parts of every child’s personal growth.

                  Imaginative play (Morgan Y1)