|
|
Our school Blackawton Primary School reflects the village it is situated in. It combines a strong sense of community with a high degree of individualism. We strive to learn in community.We believe that children learn best when they feel safe, happy and valued. We recognise that children learn in different ways and have different strengths. We look to foster self-esteem by valuing and supporting the needs of all the learners in our school. We want children to have independence, integrity, respect for themselves and others, be self-expressed and have a love of learning. We want children to take responsibility and work in teams through the school. Children have a voice in the school to ensure their opinions are considered, valued and impact on the development of the school. For example, children have recently written their own prospectus to hand out to children who are interested in coming to Blackawton. We are also keen for parents to be involved in the school. We have parents who offer their skills and support children in a range of ways from running clubs to listening to children read. The perspectives of others are taken very seriously by the staff and governors. We are keen to learn and improve ourselves. The governors are involved in many aspects of the school life and are a great strength of the school.  The school has been regularly updated and we are excited by the possibility of a partial rebuild to improve the learning environment at the back of the school. We are currently updating our ICT provision to include laptops and interactive whiteboards in all classrooms.At Blackawton we recognise and and take account of the fact that different children learn in different ways. The curriculum is topic based and allows children to look at an area of learning in a variety of ways. We look to develop learning skills and independence through the experiences children have. Creative Arts have high priority in our school and in the local community. We aim to give children opportunities to express themselves through art, music, dance and drama. We use visits and visitors to greatly enrich this aspect of the curriculum. We also have many specialist music teachers who teach instruments to 65 children in the school. Mr Strudwick, our Headteacher, teaches dance across the school. We also have a band run by Mrs Kinder, the previous Head.  The school want our learners to successful and happy. We also want them to be healthy and safe. The curriculum takes account of this with children learning to cook and is supported by our fantastic healthy school dinners.We want our children to think and learn like historians, scientists, mathematicians etc. and share the excitement of discovery where possible and appropriate. We are helped in this by living in such a wonderful place, surrounded by the sea, estuaries and the moors, and by historic towns of Totnes, and Dartmouth. We use and enjoy them all. The staff of the school are dedicated, passionate and caring. One of the many benefits of our school is that we are able to work closely fostering quality relationships, based on trust, ensuring the learning of children and adults. The school provides a wide range of clubs that enrich the opportunities of children. We are also keen that the school is a part of the village and have a number of adult groups using the facilities in the evening.  The best way to make sense of these words and this website is to come and visit us and see the unique and special nature of Blackawton Primary School for yourself. Our Headteacher  My name is Dave Strudwick and I am loving being at Blackawton School. I have a love of learning and thoroughly enjoy the privilege of leading our school and teaching every child in the school. I am currently beginning to play the saxophone. This is a challenge I've taken on after being inspired by so many of our children who play instruments.I arrived in September 2005 to build on the school's previous successes. I have worked in a variety of schools in Devon as a teacher and Head. I also worked with Devon's Behaviour Support Team as an advisory teacher and with Devon Curriculum Services supporting schools to become healthier places. I have two children, Chloe (16) and Ethan (5), and live in the Teign Valley. I really enjoy sport and used to run for Devon at 800, 1500 and Cross Country. My claim to local fame was that I won the Dartmouth Regatta Road race many years ago. I still remember running up all those steps! I have co-authored a book about educating challenging children, available in all good bookshops (well, not quite). I love to paint, occasionally DJ, and will try most things that don't involve me being too high up (I'll never do a sponsored sky dive). I am keen to work closely with Parents recognising the expertise they bring concerning their children and as people in their own right. I hope you enjoy Blackawton as much as I do and look forward to meeting you if you can come in. School Vision and Aims We would like to share our school aims written collaboratively by children, staff, parents and governors. What the children think See what the children think here. What the parents think A questionnaire was sent out to parents earlier this year and these are the results ... there are several tabs at the bottom of the document. OFSTED The school was inspected by OFSTED on 15th May 2007; read the inspection report here. (You will need Acrobat Reader to view it.)  Please talk to our administrator, Christine Tucker, if there is anything you would like to know about the school:telephone +44 (0)1803 712363 fax +44 (0)1803 712645 email admin@blackawton-primary.devon.sch.uk If you would like to contact the school nurse, Jane Marshall, at any time please telephone +44 (0)1803 862622 If you would like to see where we are, here is a map, and an ariel photo. | ||||||||||
|
© 2008 Blackawton Primary School. This page last updated on 17/05/08. In the event of any query, please email webmaster@blackawton-primary.devon.sch.uk. Please note that this site does not work in Netscape 4. If you are having problems, download Netscape 6. |
