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Headteacher’s Welcome!

Tamara McCarthy
Headteacher

Welcome to the website of Holbrook Primary School. A school that has been judged by Ofsted to be good with outstanding Leadership and management. We are very proud of this classification! The reason we attained this is because our pupils make at least good progress from the day that they start at Holbrook school.

In consultation with the children, parents, staff and Governors, these are the things that we believe make Holbrook a special place to learn. 

Autumn Term 2023

Dear Parents,

It has been fabulous welcoming everybody back to Holbrook after the holiday and everyone has settled well into the Autumn Term 2023.

Doors open and the school day starts at 8.35. Classroom doors close at 8.45 and all late children enter school through the front office, sign in and then are taken to their classroom by a member of staff. Their attendance code will be marked as late.

The school day ends at 3.00, ensuring your child receives their full educational entitlement. Please be courteous to other parents on the playground and continue to maintain an appropriate distance from the class teacher at the classroom door.

Breakfast club continues to be popular and is open from 8.00 in the morning, five mornings a week. Please contact the learning mentors if you require a place at breakfast club and they will look at availability.

Indoor shoes are now required in school. Please ensure that your child comes to school with a pair of soft shoes that they can change into. This protects the carpets in school so means that school money is spent on resources for children and learning rather than cleaning and replacing carpets. Many thanks for your co-operation with this policy.

Our Attendance policy is very much up and running so please make sure your child comes to school every day and on time. Attendance is so important for the development of your child, for their education, their emotional well-being, to develop social skills as well feeling and being part of the Holbrook community here at school.

We really look forward to welcoming you at Holbrook, in a safe and sensible manner, ensuring we continue to keep each other safe.

Tamara McCarthy

Headteacher

Our school family.

The leadership team have thought carefully about the care and nurture that the children of Holbrook school need, therefore the school is split into family hubs. This means that a named Deputy Head teacher and Learning Mentor follows your child through school, providing familiar faces who get to know you and your child well, supporting throughout your child’s education.

The children of Holbrook School say that they particularly like it that their Head teacher, Tamara McCarthy and Deputy Headteachers,  Dawn Lama (Years five and six) Nicola Kelsall (Years two, three and four) and Clair Henry (Nursery, Reception and Year one) are on the school gates every morning, welcoming all pupils to school and then wishing them a lovely evening on their way home, come rain or shine! Umbrellas are always at the ready!

The benefits of our school

We have a clear leadership structure that enables us to support learning from the beginning of your child’s learning journey right through to the end of your child’s primary education.

The year group teams work closely together to ensure that your child receives the best provision, well matched to their learning needs but also continuing to work together as a whole school team, ensuring consistency as your child moves through the primary phase.

At Holbrook, we have established a culture of constant reflection and sharing of ideas and as Ofsted commented, this means that… staff at all levels contribute effectively to the school’s development and feel valued.

We are well supported by our Governing Body who Ofsted stated are ‘highly effective.’

Our network

To ensure that we are always held to account and are offering the BEST possible provision for your child, we work closely with other schools within the City. We share  ideas and best practice and this enables us to provide an enriched curriculum underpinned by the needs of the local community and of the City.

Our extensive school grounds

We are fortunate and very proud of our extensive school grounds that support and facilitate learning outside the classroom, benefitting the experience for our pupils and supporting them in making at least good progress from nursery all the way through to year six. Children regularly visit our forest, pond and gardening area during their learning time, enhancing and providing real life experiences. The Summer Fayre is a popular event, bringing parents and families together, sharing picnics and enjoying the grounds of the school too.

Our curriculum 

We offer children a curriculum that is creative, exciting and one that draws on the amazing school grounds. The high value we place on learning beyond the classroom, eg through forest school was recognised by Ofsted who found that ‘The redesigned curriculum includes topics that strongly motivate pupils. It effectively promotes their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

We are particularly proud that during our inspection, Ofsted recognised that

Teachers are highly focused on gaining pupils’ interest and inspiring them to learn. They use questioning very well indeed to check on and deepen pupils’ understanding.’ Teachers are encouraged to be innovative and creative and are supported by an extensive professional development programme. This means that the pupils of Holbrook school don’t just enjoy their learning, but are taught by teachers who are inspired and well trained to deliver the new curriculum. This enables pupils to feel empowered and to have high expectations and aspirations of themselves, to work hard and be successful learners.

Our celebrations

At Holbrook school, we believe that every child is unique, with their own individual talents and special qualities. We believe that we should develop and celebrate these. Our BEST system supports this well and pupils say that they love it! Children and families at Holbrook school come from different parts of the world and bring many languages, cultures and faiths to school. We warmly welcome and celebrate this rich diversity as it makes our school a very special place. Our pupils are proud to be part of the school community demonstrating our whole school vision which is underpinned by the British values and BEST.

Our parents 

We want parents to be fully involved in their child’s education. We welcome you to Holbrook school and we very much want to work together to help your child to be the BEST! Parents told Ofsted that they appreciate the information they receive about their child’s progress and the ways in which all staff work in partnership with them.

Please have a look around our website and read our latest OFSTED report here. We would welcome your comments about both the site and Holbrook Primary School. If you would like to visit our school, we would be delighted to meet you and look forward to hearing from you!

Kind Regards

Tamara McCarthy
Headteacher