Next Open Day:
Saturday 13th March 2010, 10am - 12 pm
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Flanchford Bridge:
In the event of Flanchford Bridge being closed, please click here for alternative directions to school.
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Welcome to Burys Court, now the junior school to Moon Hall College. The fact that you have come to this web site probably means you have an interest in education and in what our school has to offer. However, a web site tells only part of the story. The best way to experience the friendly, positive atmosphere and to appreciate our setting is to visit the school, talk to us and, most importantly, see our children at work and play. Below is our mission statement which, we believe, encapsulates the ethos of the school.
Scroll down to read the 2009 OFSTED Report
Mission Statement
Our aim is to develop self-assured, polite, articulate individuals with an understanding of the challenges facing the world in which we live. We emphasise the importance of having a firm base in literacy and numeracy on which to build further academic achievement, and of acquiring the skills needed for a happy and successful life.
To achieve this we provide a broad and balanced education that: -
- Promotes academic excellence and establishes sound work habits which enable each child to achieve his or her potential
- Caters for individual needs and stresses the importance of self worth
- Provides opportunities for attaining personal goals and offers a wide range of activities through which the children can discover and develop their skills and aptitudes
- Teaches the importance of moral and social values and encourages self discipline, responsibility, good manners and thoughtfulness for others
- Develops an understanding of our environment and the importance of conservation.
In all that we do, we seek to foster core values of confidence, compassion, respect and ambition.
Ofsted Report 2006
Ofsted conducted an intensive four day inspection with two inspectors from 30th October to 2nd November 2006 and we were pleased that the ambitions in our mission statement are supported by their findings. The following quotes are extracted from the Ofsted Report.
“relationships are very good throughout the school and as a result pupils are becoming confident and self-assured young people”
“pupils are very positive about the school and thoroughly enjoy their education”
“The teaching overall is good. The staff are experienced and many have specialist qualifications related to meeting special educational needs….Because relationships are very good and there is effective and sensitive discipline, lessons run smoothly and often at a brisk pace. Classrooms are orderly and purposeful places, often with a quiet hum of focused learning….Throughout the school teachers generally have high expectations.”
‘Pupil’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. The grounds develop pupils’ awareness of the beauty of nature. They are taught to reflect on a range of spiritual and moral issues, and aspects of the human condition, such as care for the environment. There is a very strong emphasis on appropriate social behaviour and pupils report there is almost no bullying.”
To view a full copy of the Ofsted Report click here or you can find it on the Ofsted website at www.ofsted.gov.uk.
Council for the Registration of Schools Teaching Dyslexic Pupils (CReSTeD)
Following an inspection in November 2008, Moon Hall College and Burys Court have been approved and registered with CReSTeD. In their report, the inspectors, quoting the summary of main findings in the OFSTED report, said that:
“We would fully endorse all these comments with the rider that the teaching is excellent to good. “
For a full copy of the report please click here.
For further information about Burys Court and Moon Hall please select from the options at the top of this page.
Ofsted Report 2009
In March 2009, Ofsted conducted a further two day inspection. We are very pleased that Burys Court and Moon Hall College have been judged to be a good school. We have achieved ‘good’ in all seven of the criteria used to judge years 3-11 in Moon Hall College and Burys Court. The following quotes are extracted from their report.
“Pupils are well prepared for their future choices of school whether they leave at the age of eleven or at 16. Personal, social, and health education is good and there are many enrichment activities and after school clubs.”
“Pupils enjoy their education and this builds confidence and helps develop their self-esteem. Behaviour is good and generally pupils are eager to complete their work and enjoy the responsibility and independent aspects of this. Pupils have a good sense of right and wrong and assemblies, circle time and form sessions all reinforce and develop their understanding in this respect. The school has a positive sense of community and pupils report there is little bullying.”
“Pupils have excellent discussion skills. They demonstrate good social skills and the older children experience a range of work experience opportunities”.
“Provision for the welfare, health and safety of the pupils is good and pupils feel well cared for. The school provides delicious, healthy school lunches, cooked daily by a qualified chef who sources fresh food locally. Fruit and water is provided should pupils want it. Pupils are encouraged to be physically active at break times and the school policy on healthy lifestyles is cross-curricular. This view was confirmed by the children who stated they knew about healthy living through various subjects. They understand about drugs and smoking issues. PE is very important to the children who say that they really enjoy their games lessons, but also the range of extra curricular sports such as Karate, dance, and trampoline that help them to stay fit.”
Overall, Ofsted has consistently rated the school as a good school. However, there were four areas where we felt Ofsted were harsh or unfair in their judgements.
They are:
Our objectives as a school: We are a mainstream school which specialises in helping dyslexic children and others who benefit from individual help. We are very clear that our philosophy is to treat each child as an individual. We are not a special school, nor a school with a dyslexia unit. We are a school that is organised so that specialist provision at all levels is woven into the very fabric of the school.
Support for mainstream pupils: We do believe that average and above average pupils are able to have their needs met in our small groups. For example in Maths we have children working well ahead of their chronological age. In a short time and from a small base we have had considerable success in getting children into competitive entry schools at age 11, including an academic bursary in one case and an academic scholarship in another. Unlike many larger schools, here each member of staff knows every pupil by name, and we discuss them individually throughout the school week. We know the ability of each pupil and their strengths and weaknesses without having to look at charts of scores. We do not need a photograph of a pupil as a prompt at Parents’ Evenings. We have our charts of results but they were not organised in the way that Ofsted prefers. We are therefore working to establish a system of organising individual records that shows how pupils are doing against national expectations and over time and is acceptable to Ofsted
Provision of free access to outdoors for Reception
The report on the Early Years Foundation Stage was affected by the fact that three of the Reception Class children did not have free access to outside because their classroom is on the first floor, although they spend plenty of time outside under supervision for both learning and play. In order to comply with the regulations, the school needs to move the whole Reception Class to a ground floor room with an outside play area like the nursery and have a free flow system in which the children learn through play and can choose whether to be indoors or outside. We take full responsibility for the decisions made this academic year: They were made in consultation with parents and in the best interests of the children concerned.
Loose paving stone
We were criticised for the one paving slab between the nursery classroom and the secure outside area although it has only a very slight movement. It was not cemented down so that Nathan or Mr Peter could lift it when requested by the nursery teachers because it has an ants’ nest under it and the children enjoy seeing the ants’ home. Our assessment was that it did not constitute a trip hazard but the Ofsted inspector disagreed. The flagstone that is not cemented down is said to prevent the nursery children from ‘having full and complete access to outside learning areas at all times’ which affected the judgement on the Early Years Foundation Stage.
For a copy of the report please click HERE.
MOON HALL SCHOOLS EDUCATIONAL TRUST
(A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)
REGISTERED IN ENGLAND NO: 2485159; CHARITABLE REGISTRATION: 803481
