At Holy Name RC we always put children first. Our children are encouraged to become confident, caring, and articulate and to use their abilities to the full. We provide a calm and happy atmosphere and set the highest standards of respect, courtesy, hard work, and achievement for all children and adults.
It is our mission to provide the best quality Catholic education for the whole child, working together with parents/carers and our Catholic Community, so that children develop a love for learning. Strong, committed partnerships between our school and our parents play a crucial role in our children’s development into young adults. By working together we will give your child the best start in life. We strive to promote the values of our Christian faith throughout our daily life. We provide a religious syllabus, which develops our children’s knowledge and understanding of our faith, whilst enabling children to relate these values to all the aspects of our life within the Faith Community of our Parish.
Creativity, fun, and broadening horizons are central to our work. We find as many ways as possible to provide a curriculum that will stimulate, inspire and raise standards for every child in our school. We are always working towards providing exciting contexts for real learning as well as providing a solid understanding of the basics.
Our overall Curriculum aim is to provide quality teaching and support to enable our children to reach their potential with the highest possible academic standards, a positive attitude to learning, good self-discipline, and an understanding of the skills and qualities of others. To achieve this aim the Governors, Headteacher and Staff recognize the need to constantly review our practice to ensure our goals are being achieved. These are our broad curriculum aims for each subject that we cover in school.
When Parents/Carers have to be given a place for their Nursery Age child, they will be invited into school for two transition meetings. The first one will involve just the Parent/Carers and we ask that you do not bring your child to this meeting. This meeting will outline the routines for your child and we will ensure that all the ‘paperwork’ for your child is complete. You will be also be informed of our Safeguarding procedures and this is a chance for you to ask any questions.
The second meeting will involve you and your child coming for a ‘Stay and Play session. At this meeting, you will be given a start date for your child. We have a staggered intake to allow each child to settle in and the children will increase the time they stay over at least the first six days. If your child settles during this time they can stay full time. However, many children take longer than this so the settling-in period will be adjusted to meet the needs of your child as each child must be happy and settled with their new environment.
As Holy Name School has a Foundation Unit there is little or no transition between Nursery and Reception children who already attend our Foundation Stage Unit. However each academic year we have several Reception age children who join Holy Name either straight from the home environment or other settings. These parents will be invited to a ‘Welcome’ Meeting where we will, outline routines provide relevant information for your child, ensure all paperwork is up to date, and it is a chance for parents, carers, children, and staff to meet each other and this is the beginning of the home/school partnership. This meeting also provides the opportunity for Parents and Carers to ask questions and staff to gain an insight into your child’s needs.
These children can come for ‘little’ visits in the Summer term following this meeting. All Reception Age children will start school on the first day back for children in September. They will be given a full-time place and only if they do not settle will they be put on a phased settling-in period.
In the Summer Term when your child is in Year 5 the Local Authority writes to the school to check pupil information so that they can allocate High School places according to your choices applying the admission criteria. As the Local Authority prefers online applications school will offer the use of our Computer Suite to assist Parents/Carers with their application. If Parent/Carers decide to apply themselves we will also ensure that all our Parents/Carers are aware of the deadline date and apply on time.
Pupil’s transition to High School is well supported by the school. Loreto High has an extensive Transition program, which fully involves Years 4, 5, and Year 6 children. Care is also taken to ensure a smooth transition between classes, fully involving the parents. Loreto RC High School (formerly St Thomas Aquinas), is on Nell Lane in Chorlton. Since January 2002 the school has been on a single site at Nell Lane, Chorlton. Considerable renovations and state-of-the-art developments have been made to the school including a brand new dining hall/refectory of which the school is rightly proud.
We are fortunate to benefit from the school’s Transition Programme in which teachers from the High School visit the Year 6 class, providing valuable support. Children are invited to take part in sporting events with children from other feeder primaries, as well as “taster” and “induction” days.
