Kingsway Villagers

Hello everyone,

Thank you so much for the lovely words posted about Kingsway Primary School! As the Headteacher of the school I am delighted that many of you speak so warmly about us and would like to offer some help for those of you new to this area and a bit confused by what we offer:
Kingsway Primary School works together with your local cluster schools (Beech Green, Meadowside, Hardwicke, Longney, Haresfield, Field Court Infants, Field Court Juniors and Severn Vale) under a working partnership called Quedgeley Learning Community (QLC). The second Kingsway Primary School has been invited to join this partnership also. Together we have pledged to ensure ALL schools in the area are the best they can be and that ALL pupils get the opportunities they deserve. We have pledged to not compete against each other to the detriment of any school and that by offering a complementary range of activities across the network, we offer strength in numbers. Indeed we share opportunities so if I put on an event, I invite other pupils from across the cluster to attend and so do the rest of the schools. For example this term we have a Gifted and Talented Art Workshop run by Severn Vale’s Art department, an Arts Festival during the summer and previously undertook a large scale Olympics for over 400 pupils from all the schools.
There are no schools in your local cluster who Ofsted does not rate and none of us are in Special Measures or Requires Improvement – quite a feat if you look around elsewhere. Indeed, the majority of us our rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’.
Under the new Ofsted framework we get only 12 hours notice of inspection. So when we were Ofsteded on 10th and 11th October 2012, we were rang at 12.15pm for an inspection that started at 8am the next day. Gone are the days of being able to ‘perform’ on one day and be less than perfect the rest of the time! In our inspection, evidence of achievement was traced back to 2010 and was extremely rigorous. We achieved ‘good with outstanding features’ in ALL areas and are so proud of achieving this in only FOUR years.
I count myself fortunate to be the Headteacher of such a vibrant successful school and I would urge any prospective parent to make a tour to any school to have a look – you won’t be disappointed in any of us. We are all different but we are all something I hope residents will continue to be proud of for many years to come.
Good schools usually increase house prices, attract residents seeking a successful community and therefore stabilise the area enormously. I think we should be a very proud community because our success is your success too.

With every best wish,

Mrs Needham
head@kingsway.gloucs.sch.uk

Dear Kingsway,

It is a little while since I have added news about the school, but the thread about difficulty getting a child into the school has prompted me to provide some guidance.

Kingsway Primary School admissions have shown unprecedented growth over the last 18 months as shown below:

• September 2008  – 30 pupils on roll in one class
• November 2008  – 108 pupils in 4 classes
• January 2009 – 122 pupils in 6 classes
• July 2009  – 137 pupils in 6 classes
• September 2009 – 182 pupils on roll in 8 classes
• April 2010 – 220 pupils on roll in 8 classes
• September 2010 – we will be 279 pupils on roll at least and be at least 10 classes.

This has led to confusion over spaces available at the school, because at times we are full in some year groups, until sufficient admission appeals necessitate another class being opened. This then releases more places for pupils.

Gloucestershire County Council keeps our allowed admission numbers low so that we are not swamped by people who would like to attend GCC’s ‘Flagship’ school and who do not live locally. While this may appear frustrating for local parents, it is actually a helpful system and stops more distant pupils blocking out local children moving onto the estate at a later time.

At the moment, we have lots of spaces across the school for September 2010 because larger numbers in each year group are moving up the school releasing spare capacity in classes, BUT these spaces are going very very fast. If you register your interest with us for September 2010 before 1st July, myself – as Headteacher, will deal with admissions but after 1st July 2010, this control will return to GCC. Do not miss this final opportunity for spaces!

If you want a place in your local primary school then apply to us and we will do all we can to get you in.

Although there are plans for a second school on Kingsway, this is once again governed by completed house purchases and is sometime in the future. In the interim period, more and more Kingsway pupils will be referred to places in other local schools, necessitating travel and isolation from friends. The more parents who appeal to Kingsway Primary school, the more we can open up to accomodate your wishes.

Our contacts:
Tel: 01452 881800
Email: admin@kingsway.gloucs.sch.uk
Website:  www.kingsway.gloucs.sch.uk

Mrs Needham

Headteacher

It has been a long time in the discussion, but Kingsway is about to get its very own Children’s Centre. This will be based in the grounds of Kingsway Primary School and together these two organisations will offer much needed services for children and families, in your community.

On Wednesday 3rd February from 5.00 – 7.00pm, the plans will be on display at Kingsway Primary School for any interested residents to view. Key personnel will also be present for any of your questions and for hearing your ideas for shaping our services to your community. We will also invite you to have a look around the school and to meet the Headteacher too.

Without the support of this community, others will shape the services that are offered which may not be what you would choose. Please do come along and help us get this right. Please pass the message on to any residents you think will be interested in this event.

Thank you,

Mrs Needham (Headteacher of Kingsway Primary School)

Kingsway Primary School will be actively endorsing a ‘Walk to School’ ethos for our pupils and we aim to reduce, not add to, the traffic concerns of many residents.

This ethos will be included in all our literature and will be part of the vision for the school. Indeed, we are just about to start working on a School Travel Plan with QUVL and Gloucestershire Highways to support this aim.

Mrs Paula Needham
Headteacher

I thought I would update all readers about the remaining places available at the school for this academic year. After a flurry of new admissions, the following number of places are available:

Reception – FULL
Year 1: 9
Year 2: 9
Year 3: FULL
Year 4: FULL
Year 5: 11
Year 6: 10

In summary, of the 120 places available for this year, only 39 remain. I know that some residents are waiting until the school opens its doors in January for Y1 to 6 but it may be too late by this point. Please do enrol in your local school and help build our community.

If you require a place at the school, then call 01452 425077 and speak directly to the Headteacher, Mrs Needham. If you want a place in a year group that is already full, then please do contact us and we can try to help you.

Mrs Needham

There still remains some confusion over how to get a place at the Kingsway School and I thought it wise to summarise everything here. It remains the most accurate and effective guide to what steps to follow!

If your child is starting school and is requiring a place in our reception classes in whatever year (2008, 2009, 2010 etc):
Admissions are controlled by the Admission Team at Shire Hall (01452 425407). Please contact them directly for advice. There is a section of Gloucestershire County Council’s website devoted to admissions and this explains everything you need to know – here.

If you want to ‘get in the system’ and ensure that you are known by myself and the school, it is also worth completing a registration form and we will hold it on file until the right time. This means you do not get forgotten and are alerted to all procedures in advance. I should emphasise that this is not an application to the school and does not guarantee you a place.

There are 30 places in our reception class until 2012, then we increase to 60 places. HOWEVER, if applications for places exceeds 30, then we can open up the second classroom earlier than this. As far as we are concerened every Kingsway reception child will get a place at their local school.

If your child is in Y1 to Y6 then it is me, as Headteacher, who allocates admissions to the school. The procedure is as follows:

If you want a place at the school then you need to complete an application form. On receipt of this application form, I can allocate you a place if I have room. It is that simple!
Again, it is our purpose to ensure that all children in the Kingsway area will get a place at the local school.
We currently have 15 places in each of these year groups (Y1 has 15, Y2 has 15 etc) but can increase this as need demands.
Application forms are available from
Kingsway Primary School,
c/o Shire Hall,
Westgate Street,
Gloucester,
GL2 2TP
or tel: 01452 425077
or email: paula.needham@gloucestershire.gov.uk

Finally, here is the update on our opening date:

Pupils in our Reception class 2008 will be taught as Kingsway Primary school but in a temporary classroom on the grounds of Beech Green Primary School. They will be in practical terms a school in a school. As soon as the school is ready, these pupils will move over to the school building. We have been told this week that this will be possibly the middle of December but it may be sooner. This decision belongs to QUVL.

As there are only two classrooms at Beech Green, we cannot admit any other year groups until the school is handed over. This decison again belongs to QUVL but we will be moving as soon as the building is ready for occupancy. Pupils in Y1 to Y6 will therefore be invited to move from their current schools from about mid December onwards but certainly no later than Monday 5th January 2009. We believe that most parents will prefer to allow their children to complete the Christmas term at their current school and then join in the Christmas celebrations rather than join us for a fortnight. Hence the reason we feel our opening for Y1 to Y6 is more likely to be January.

Hope this all makes sense now.

Mrs Needham
Headteacher