At Dorothy Barley, we aim to provide the highest standards of teaching and learning so that all children can achieve their academic potential. We also ensure that we foster and develop the social and emotional well-being of our children. Our children deserve the best.
Our core values at Dorothy Barley are supported and developed through our Golden Rules which promote themes of kindness, respect for ourselves and others, honesty, and hard work. These core beliefs underpin everything we do and help us be the best we can be.
We are proud of our Additional Resource Provision for children with moderate learning difficulties. Known as our Learning Centre, or Walnut Class, it is a specialist resource center on which our staff can draw. The 12-place resource base meets the needs of pupils from Year 3 through to Year 6 and is staffed by specialist teachers and a range of support staff.
All the children in our ARP all have statements of special educational needs/ Education Health Care Plans and places are allocated by the local education authority. Usually, parents of a child who may be suitable for a place are referred to us for an initial discussion about suitability from either an educational psychologist or school special needs coordinator.
Inclusion and integration are core principles in our school so all of our ARP children are registered in a mainstream class and depending on their level of need, their timetables will be divided between the mainstream class and the ARP classroom.
Our ARP children also mix with mainstream peers every break and lunchtime they attend whole school celebrations, year group trips, including residential trips and can also attend clubs and lunchtime activities. We actively encourage our ARP children to maximize their full access to the exciting life of our school whilst having specialist support to meet their individual needs. Learning in our ARP is always fun and stimulating. All ARP children are encouraged to participate in various sporting activities. The children also represent the school at Panathalon Competitions.
Our ARP is a real strength of the school. It has a very positive influence on all children and the entire school community. The relationships which have developed have enabled all of our children to better understand each other’s needs. This has been a significant factor in establishing the caring ethos which is evident in our school. Our ARP offers an open door policy we are always on hand to help and support in whatever way we can.
At Dorothy Barley Junior Academy we follow The Primary National Curriculum. The statutory requirements for each of the subjects are contained within The Primary National Curriculum document below. Here you can find out what each child should be taught in their time in Key Stage 2 at Dorothy Barley Junior Academy. The statutory elements of The Primary National Curriculum must be covered by the end of Key Stage 2 but can be completed in any year between Years 3 and Years 6. If you have any further queries regarding the curriculum at Dorothy Barley, please do not hesitate to contact your child's teacher.
Dorothy Barley Junior Academy serves a richly diverse community with over 40 languages spoken at the school. 46% of our pupils have English as an Additional Language with 64% being from Minority Ethnic groups and 36% White British. 13% of our children are SEND. Last year 45% of our pupils were deemed eligible for the Pupil Premium Grant. We have high aspirations and ambitions for our children and we are determined to ensure that all our children are given every chance to realize their full potential.
The pupil premium is a government initiative that targets extra money for pupils from deprived backgrounds. Research shows that pupils from deprived backgrounds underachieve compared to their non-deprived peers. The premium is provided to enable these pupils to be supported to reach their potential. The Government has used pupils entitled to free school meals (FSM), looked after children and service children as indicators of deprivation, and have provided a fixed amount of money for schools per pupil based on the number of pupils registered for FSM over a rolling six-year period. This fixed amount of money is expected to increase every year for the course of this current Parliament. At Dorothy Barley Junior Academy we will be using the indicator of those eligible for FSM as well as identified vulnerable groups as our target children to ‘close the gap’ regarding attainment.
All staff is aware of areas for development in the school in terms of subjects, year groups and they know which children are focus children.
Money is used to benefit all pupil premium children and supports higher as well as lower ability children by extending provision on offer. We have rigorous assessment and monitoring systems to support improvement in the quality of teaching and interventions to maximize impact. Our team leader system enables us to be more responsive and frequent support such as team teaching, planning, one-to-one training, and CPD.
