Welford Primary School was opened in January 1972. It was designed as a two-form entry primary school catering for children aged 4 to 11 years old. In 1978 a Nursery Unit was added and 3 years later a Community Unit was built. More land was later acquired for both recreational and educational purposes. The school also completed an extension to the building in 2002 and 2012. This new extension provided additional office accommodation, teaching rooms, staff room, and a dedicated computer suite to accommodate 30 children.
The school is a modern building set in the heart of the community of Handsworth. Its buildings are well-maintained as are the grounds. Together they present an excellent environment for young children to learn in and live together. Welford School has up to 420 children on the roll aged between 4 and 11 with an average class size of 30. In addition 60 full-time equivalent places for children aged between 3 and 4 in our Nursery. The school has a wide range of facilities and resources to support children’s education. These include well-equipped classrooms (all with interactive whiteboards), an Assembly Hall, and a PE Hall.
The Cornerstones Curriculum is a creative and thematic approach to learning that is mapped to the new 2014 Primary National Curriculum to ensure comprehensive coverage of national expectations. Our new curriculum will be delivered through Imaginative Learning Projects (ILPs) which will provide a rich menu of exciting and motivating learning activities that make creative links between all aspects of our children’s learning.
We believe children learn better when they are encouraged to use their imagination and apply their learning to engaging contexts. Our new curriculum will provide lots of learning challenges throughout the academic year that will require children to solve problems, apply themselves creatively, and express their knowledge and understanding effectively across the curriculum. Cornerstones also provide a rigorous essential skills framework that outlines the end-of-year expectations in all subjects. These essential skills are tied to activities and are age-related so that staff can track children’s progress and identify their individual learning needs.
