Welcome From Mrs Elliott
Welcome to the school. Your children are the heart of everything we do here at Silchester.
The school is situated in the small, rural village of Silchester and has very close links with St Mary the Virgin Church and the local community.
School and church services complement our daily collective worship. The Christian ethos supports an atmosphere where adults and children respect themselves and other people, and value differences, opinions, customs and beliefs of others.
The staff and governors work together to provide a safe, secure and caring environment, where children are encouraged to be independent and take responsibility for their learning and behaviour. Children’s individual needs and talents are recognised and supported, enabling them to reach their full potential. Individual and collective success in all areas is celebrated.
We believe in maintaining a strong, active partnership with parents. Many opportunities will arise for parents to be involved in school life. Your children perform best when we work together. They feel particularly proud when parents attend class led worship.
The school provides a broad, balanced and inclusive curriculum, with emphasis on learning through experience. The children will have many opportunities to visit places in the local area and beyond, e.g. Southsea for a seaside study in KS1, Silchester for the Romans in KS2 and Calshot Activity Centre for the Year 6 residential visit.
In addition, we invite people into school to bring in expertise in specific areas.
For example
- A member of ‘Wise Moves’ to support dance teaching,
- The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, supporting music linked with history or geography
- A grandad who was an evacuee during the war
- The Rector to demonstrate a baptism
Themed days or weeks are planned, where all classes use the theme to enhance learning and teaching in many areas of the curriculum, e.g. a school grounds week was held recently where children covered a number of subject areas in the outside environment.
We look forward to welcoming your child into the school community.
Regards
Sue Elliott
Headteacher and Governor
Welcome
Welcome to the Silchester Primary School website.
The site has been developed entirely by the Staff, Pupils, Parents and Governors of the school. Through the site we hope that we will answer many of your questions, provide an e-learning platform for our children and keep our parents up to date with information. As this site is still evolving we would welcome your comments and contributions. Please do contact us and share your views.
Latest News
Fairtrade Fashion Show Silchester PTA Strut their stuff!
School Grounds Day Look what we managed with a little help.
2006 Ofsted Inspection Report: Silchester School's 2006 Ofsted report is now available for download. Read the report
Find out what's happening at the school Sign up to our new email list and receive regular updates on school news. No more missing letters!
Providing the highest quality teaching and learning for our children is a fundamental part of our mission and values at Silchester
The origins of the school lie in the nineteenth century with the parish church of St Mary the Virgin, Silchester. This foundation is still reflected today in the close ties between church and school. As an 'aided Church of England School' we carry a responsibility to promote a Christian ethos and character and to develop a specifically Church of England style in worship, as well as a Christian emphasis in Religious Education.
In promoting the ethos of a Church School we respect the dignity of each and every individual in the school and we ensure that the school worship performs an important function in developing a sense of school community.
We recognise that parents with many different personal attitudes to the Christian faith choose to send their children to this school. Without imposing, we want to be true to the belief in God on which our school is founded and also foster a sense of personal purpose in the school, building on the school’s relationships with our families, church life and the local community.
Links with the Local Community
Silchester School both supports and is supported by the local community and church in many ways and the children are encouraged to participate in local activities and to develop a feeling of pride in their environment. The Autumn Craft Fair, Church Fete, Silchester Fun Run and the OAP Christmas get together are annual examples.
The pupils at the school’s Harvest Festival offer gifts of produce to be shared amongst the elderly in Silchester and Dr. Barnado’s Home in Wokingham. Regular school contributions to the Silchester Parish magazine and governor reports to the local Parish Councils in the school’s catchment area strengthen links with the local community.
The school has a strong musical tradition. The school band and choir give concerts as part of various community events throughout the year. From time to time the children are involved in concerts, plays, country dancing displays and special collective worships to which parents, friends and local people are invited. Members of the community are invited to share their knowledge and skills with the children in the classroom.
Fund raising for charity plays an important role in the life of the school. A specific charity may be selected for the year, or support is given to a number of different causes. Through fund raising, children learn about people in less fortunate circumstances and they are encouraged to take responsibility for organising activities to support an event.
The school is organised into seven classes of mixed ability. Reception, Years 1 and 2 form the Infant or Key Stage 1 section and Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 form the Junior or Key Stage 2 section.
The school now operates with a standard number of 30 children in all classes. There is a house system and children are actively encouraged to gain house awards by sharing examples of their achievements outside school and through good effort, thoughtfulness and helpfulness in school.
School Information
The School Day School gates open at 8.40am, and at 8.50am children go to their classes and settle down in readiness for register at 9am. School ends at 3.30pm.
The school also has links with the Hurst after-school club. Children are collected from school by mini-bus and taken to the club, which has 2 age groups: Merry Berries for 4-6 years and Tall Trees for 7-11 years. For further information contact the Hurst Leisure centre on 0118 981 161.
Class Size Silchester has a single class year group, with an infants and juniors. There are a maximum of 30 children in each class, therefore no more than 270 children in the school. This ensures a friendly environment with all the children and staff knowing each other.
Uniform School uniform at Silchester consists of:
All Children
-
White polo shirt with school logo
-
Royal blue sweatshirt or cardigan
-
Royal blue PE shorts
-
Royal blue PE polo shirt*
-
PE bag in their house colours
*School Rugby shirts are also available, which are proving very popular for PE in colder weather
Girls
**In spring and summer girls may wear royal blue checked dresses
Boys
To order uniform, please download the school uniform order form, then return your completed form to the school office
Pupils
Children are Partners
Successful education requires a partnership between the staff and children. In addition, as children develop they are encouraged to take an increasingly active role in assisting staff and caring for their school environment and partners within it. There is an active school council, with representatives from each year who have a voice in some aspects of the running of the school.
Home School Contract
This agreement is entered into by Silchester School, its pupils and their parents with the intention of helping each pupil to be successful and so contribute to making our School a School of Excellence.
School Council
Every year at Silchester School the pupils from each class elect 2 council pupils to represent their ideas, views, questions and concerns on the school council. Every child has the opportunity to put themselves forward, telling other children in their class why they would like to be elected. All children in that year can then vote for 2 candidates. In the academic year 2005/06 the council members are as follows:
-
Y1 Oscar Monaghan & Megan Evans
-
Y2 Danni Saxby & Jake Sinkinson
-
Y3 Daniel Leech & Ellie Pye
-
Y4 Georgia Wade & Verity Lemm
-
Y5 James Singh & Lauren Kan
-
Y6 Amy Hawkins & William Molton
Competition Corner
Think you know what this is? Take a look at this half term's competition question
School Clubs
Lunchtime and after school clubs are organised on a voluntary basis by members of staff and parents. These vary from term to term but recently have included netball, athletics, football, choir and brass band. French is offered through an independent organisation and is held at the school.
Sports clubs A number of after-school sports clubs are offered during the year. The clubs are either run by teachers from the school or by external organisations. Different activites are planned during the year, ranging from multi-sports in Autumn/spring through to Tennis/Fit Kids in the summer term. The current clubs are as follows:
Autumn/Spring Timetable of sports clubs
Day |
Club |
Monday (after school) |
Football team practice |
Thursday (after school) |
Netball team practice |
For further information contact Karen McKenzie via the school office |