Primary Times - the definitive what’s on and where to go family guide of activities and events for children of primary school age. Things to do with your kids during the school holidays including arts and craft activities, music and theatre for children, parties, competitions, days out, and family attractions along with term time drama schools, dance classes, after school clubs and sports activities. Things to do at a place near you!
Plymouth Schools Open Day Directory
As Year 6 pupils begin their final year at primary school, they may be feeling a mixture of emotions. Many of the children will.png)
gain a welcome boost in confidence by becoming the eldest in the school, yet, they also know that they will be moving on, so there’s a sense of excitement, or sometimes anxiety, about the next step to secondary school.
Any unanswered questions or apprehension will be addressed early in the school year, as many of the secondary schools hold their Open Days or events in September and October.
These ‘Open’ events give prospective pupils and their parents a taster of secondary life. They will meet current teachers and representative students, be able to tour the facilities, look at the work displayed on the classroom walls and gain ‘a feel’ of the school.
Aside from attending the Open Days, there is other legwork you can do to help you and your child make the right decision.
Go to www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk to find the Progress 8 scores - this score shows how much progress pupils at a school make between the end of key stage 2 and the end of key stage 4. On the website you’ll also find league tables, statistics and the Ofsted rating for individual schools. To find an Ofsted inspection report about an individual school visit https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk
Catchment Areas
Although most pupils end up applying to the school in their catchment area, there are some schools that do not operate designated areas and have a slightly different admissions policy. So, it is worth checking the admissions policy on each school’s website for further information. If you are considering applying to a local independent school, it will have its own separate admissions procedure.
Catchment Areas in Plymouth
Designated areas have been pre-determined by Plymouth City Council. To find the designated school for your area visit http://map.devon.gov.uk/dccviewer/schoolareaplusone/
Applying to a School out of Catchment Area
You’ll be asked to list up to 3 state schools in order of preference on your application form. Whether a place is offered will depend on the school’s admission process and if places are available. For most schools in Plymouth, there is an admissions priority for children who live in the school’s catchment area. If the school is over-subscribed, the applications are ranked in distance order and priority will be given to those who live in close proximity to the school.
Pupils Applying to Schools Outside Plymouth
If you live in Plymouth and want to apply to a school outside the boundaries of Plymouth City Council, in parts of Devon or Cornwall for example, you will need to make an application via the school admissions team at Plymouth City Council. Simply specify your school of preference on your application form. The deadline date for application submissions of 31 October 2019 is the same in each unitary authority.
Students Living Outside of Plymouth
Students living outside Plymouth City Council’s boundaries will need to apply via Devon County Council’s school admissions team. Catchment areas apply. To find the designated school in the Devon and Torbay area, visit http://map.devon.gov.uk/dccviewer/schoolareaplusone/
The Application Process
Submit your application for a primary or secondary school place online. An email receipt will confirm that the application has been received. Online applications can be changed right up to midnight on the closing date.
Plymouth City Council Applications:
Primary, Infant and Junior School applications in Plymouth: The application system will be available from November 2019 to 15 January 2020.
Secondary School applications in Plymouth: The application system will be available from 3 September 2019 to 31 October 2019.
Plymouth contacts:
• School Admissions: Primary admissions: 01752 307166; Secondary admissions: 01752 307469
• Email: school.admissions@plymouth.gov.uk
• Online applications: www.plymouth.gov.uk/schooladmissions
Devon County Council Applications:
Primary School Applications: The online system will be available from 1 November 2019 until midnight on 15 January 2020.
Secondary School Applications: The online system will be available from 1 September 2019 until 31 October 2019.
Devon Contacts:
• Education helpline: 0345 155 1019
• Online applications: www.devon.gov.uk/educationandfamilies/school-information/apply-for-a-school-place
• You can search for information about a school in Devon at www.devon.gov.uk/schools
• Email: primaryschooladmissions@devon.gov.uk or secondaryschooladmissions@devon.gov.uk
Allocation Days
The dates when school places are officially confirmed are:
1 March 2020 – Secondary Schools
16 April 2020 – Primary Schools
Read a general overview of each school and find out when the Open Days will be taking place...
All Saints Academy Plymouth
All Saints Academy ensures that every student is well-educated, prepared for the future and is able to live life to the full. The mission at All Saints is summarised by the motto ‘Together We Succeed’. It has high expectations of students, with a commitment to delivering excellent teaching and learning that inspires students and leads to excellent outcomes.
Its mission is underpinned by four values; Futures, Family, Foundations, and Faith.
It has strengthened the teaching staff and senior leadership team by appointing a number of nationwide outstanding professionals, who bring a breadth of knowledge and extensive experience to the team. It is well on its journey to becoming one of the South West’ best schools, which has already been recognised in both its most recent Ofsted and SIAMS inspections.
The academy is housed in state of the art buildings. Its outstanding facilities are some of the best in Plymouth from purpose built classrooms, all fitted with interactive whiteboards to professional catering kitchens for students to use and a Motor Vehicle workshop.
Excuses are not accepted for not committing to the All Saints’ mission and that is what helps students succeed. It works closely with the Ted Wragg Multi-Academy Trust and partners with outstanding schools up and down the country, along with Marjon University, Plymouth City Council and the Diocese of Exeter as its primary partners.
For details call 01752 705131 or go to www.asap.org.uk
Coombe Dean School
At Coombe Dean School, success is built around positive relationships, making it a place where young people feel safe, secure and able to achieve their dreams.
It builds on the strong foundations of literacy and numeracy and offers a broad range of secondary subjects. Whatever subjects your child loves, whatever they need for success, its staff will work alongside them and encourage them with learning that stretches and challenges them.
Alongside academic excellence, it offers fantastic personal development, preparing students for successful careers. In the workforce of tomorrow, they will need to be an expert in communication and creative thinking. They will need to understand themselves and be able to work with all kinds of different people. At Coombe Dean School they will be helped to achieve this through its ground-breaking Life Skills programme, called ‘Own Your Attitude,’ and a wide range of activities outside the classroom. They develop self-awareness, self-esteem and respect; they learn how to build great working relationships; they improve wellbeing and gain the resilience they need to be successful.
The school looks forward to welcoming your child and helping them become confident, curious learners, equipped to achieve their ambitions and motivated to pursue their dreams.
Call 01752 406961 or see www.coombedean.co.uk
Fletewood School
Fletewood School is a Christian independent school dedicated to the discovery of excellence in each child. It is celebrating 100 years of delivering affordable, quality education for children aged 3 to 11.
Fletewood School offers an individualized education with small class sizes and a sense of family. Ofsted recently commended it for its outstanding work in promoting pupils’ personal development and welfare and it is known for its close links with the local grammar schools. It offers term-time 30-hour funding in its Nursery/Reception class to all eligible families and 15-hour funding to all children from 3 to 5 years old. It also offers wrap-around care for all students until 5pm each evening.
Join the school for its Centenary celebrations over the weekend of Friday 13th to Sunday 15th September 2019. The school will be open to the public and will be displaying 100 years of Fletewood’s history. Keep an eye on the website and Facebook page for updates on all events.
To request a visit, contact admin@fletewoodschool.co.uk, or visit the website for further information: www.fletewoodschool.co.uk.
Hele’s School
For over three hundred years, Hele’s School has been associated with a tradition of educational excellence and personal achievement. It is led by a dedicated and enthusiastic team who are passionate about education and are committed to creating the best possible life chances for pupils. The teaching is driven by the belief that every child should have a happy and inspiring experience of school and it focuses on continually developing its classroom practice to ensure that it delivers challenging and stimulating lessons.
At Hele’s your child will experience a dynamic, rigorous and modern curriculum which supports and challenges them to achieve their full potential, both in and out of the classroom. A broad range of subjects and enrichment activities are offered that encourage students to develop new skills and interests.
Hele’s is a community with the highest standards. Everyone at Hele’s is proud to be associated with the school, and this shows – in positive attitudes, in an environment that promotes care and personal achievement, in extremely high standards of behaviour. Students thrive in a supportive environment which makes Hele’s a great place to learn and a great place to grow.
Visit www.heles.plymouth.sch.uk or call 01752 337193
Lipson Co-operative Academy
At Lipson you become part of a family, not just a school. It is a place where everyone is valued and known as an individual. At its heart, cooperation is about working together and it aims to create an environment where students and staff can thrive.
It expects high standards of work and behaviour from its students. It is committed to bringing out the very best in everyone. Its mission is to be exceptional in everything that it does and although there is rightly a strong emphasis on academic achievement, all students are encouraged to take part in a wide range of wider curricular activities. It is very proud of the way that its students represent the school in so many areas of excellence both within and beyond the classroom.
It wants its students to be confident, well rounded individuals who are well prepared and able to play a full role in the world in which they live. It is important that they leave Lipson with the necessary skills and qualities required to make a contribution to society, but it is also vital that they leave with the necessary qualifications to earn their way in the world.
For details see www.lipsonco-operativeacademy.coop or call 01752 671318
Marine Academy Plymouth
Open Evening: 19th September, from 4.30pm to 7pm.
Tours all evening and with presentations in the theatre at 4.45pm and 5.30pm
At Marine Academy they believe that every child should have the opportunity to attend University when they leave and that students should conduct themselves in an exemplary manner at all times. They believe that a child’s happiness is linked directly to having fixed boundaries, consistency, regular routines and being praised for success.
Its new curriculum is highly academic; with the vast majority of students receiving three lessons of languages a week. The school will be offering subjects such as economics and politics as well as an increased focus on the humanities.
All of its students receive a free breakfast every morning and all will be given access to free 1-2-1 music tuition. Its intention is to replicate the very highest standards expected at top private schools for the children of Marine Academy Plymouth.
If you’d like to see the school in action and to find out why it is different, go along to one of its open mornings. To arrange a visit, contact 01752 213939 or email contact@marineacademy.org.uk.
Open Morning dates are 23rd and 26th September and also 1st and 4th October from 9am to 10.30am
For details see www.marineacademy.org.uk or ring 01752 213939
Notre Dame Plymouth.jpg)
Notre Dame is Plymouth’s only comprehensive school for girls. Part of a worldwide network of schools founded by the Sisters of Notre Dame, this is a Catholic school that welcomes all those who want to learn in a supportive, caring and aspirational environment. Recently rated by Ofsted as ‘good’, Notre Dame is a school that lives its mission statement:
- an optimistic school promoting Christian attitudes
- a school where every person belongs
- a school which values learning and high aspiration
- a school which rises to challenges and celebrates achievement
Notre Dame offers a broad and balanced curriculum as well as a wide range of extra-curricular activities and a whole range of trips and visits. The school also provides a strong faith life. Retreats, reflections, liturgies and Mass are all part of the pattern of the school year.
All girls leave Notre Dame ready to embrace their chosen future. In the past year, the school has seen students leave to take up a whole host of opportunities, including university, beginning work or starting apprenticeships.
Whatever their plans, Notre Dame girls are prepared because of the school’s focus on education of the whole child: ‘head, heart and hands’.
For further information, call 01752 775101 or visit www.ndonline.org
Plymstock School
No two schools are ever the same, but the belief at Plymstock School is that it is a truly unique and special place. Its objective is simple – it strives to be a world-class learning community that enables all young people to succeed.
It is very successful, the highest performing non-selective school in the city and one of the strongest nationally.
Being a very popular choice with parents it is significantly oversubscribed. Consequently, as of September 2018, it has expanded its Year 7 school intake from 260 to 300 students each year. Its expansion has brought substantial investment and the construction of an exciting 450 seater Arts Centre has begun.
Teaching and learning is at the heart of Plymstock. Its curriculum is broad, balanced and provides students with the opportunity to discover their hidden talents. Its standards of discipline are very high and consequently students are free to learn without disruption. It is a school that still subscribes to traditional expectations for behaviour, and you will find many things that you won’t see elsewhere, such as all students standing when an adult enters a classroom. Relationships between staff and students are exceptionally strong and a real strength of the school. Staff are happy, morale is good and staff turnover is low – staff really want to work there.
Importantly, when students complete their education they go on to do great things. Recent leavers have included the Captain of England Women’s Cricket team and the CEO of one of the world’s largest social media marketing companies, Social Chain.
Plymstock is the only school in Plymouth to be featured in the national Good Schools Guide.
See for yourself why Plymstock School is a special place to learn. Go to www.plymstockschool.org.uk or call 01752 402679
Saltash Community School
The academic year of 2019-20 is an exciting one for Saltash Community School. Its name and logo have changed, with its new Year 7 students being the first to wear the new badge on their blazers with ‘Saltash Community School’ replacing ‘Saltash.net’. Its vision, ‘Achieving More Together’ also shows how important teamwork is at the school, as do the TEAM core values: Tenacity, Empathy, Aspiration and Motivation.
The school continues to build on the successes of last year and, as such, has set itself some aspirational goals for 2019 - 2020:
• Every child and adult in school should consistently strive for excellence in all areas of learning.
• Achievement in all its forms and at all levels should be recognised ensuring every learner feels both supported and challenged.
• Strong partnerships with peers and parents should be created to maximise the progress of all learners.
• All children and adults should feel safe within a caring and nurturing community in which mutual respect and kindness are non-negotiable.
Building on its ‘Be Well’ agenda, students will take part in a Steps to Success day when returning to school in September. This day will involve outlining all the ‘ingredients’ for school success: healthy eating and healthy lifestyles; mental health and wellbeing; ways of learning and revising and having the right attitude to learning.
Once again, the school is over-subscribed for next September, which is wonderful news and testament to the hard work of everybody within the school community, who have made this school such a great place to be.
For details call 01752 843715 or visit www.Saltash.net
Sir John Hunt Community Sports College.jpg)
Making the right choice of secondary school is one of the most important decisions a family will take. Sir John Hunt Community Sports College is a smaller school where all the students are known as individuals; it is caring, supportive and aspiring. In joining Sir John Hunt you are joining its family, where each young person is challenged to excel “To Greater Heights”.
The college and community are proud of its academic success, incredible facilities, outstanding care and guidance and the range of inspirational activities on offer both within and outside of College.
For those families that are unable to attend the open events then feel free to contact the school on 01752 201020 or www.sjhcsc.co.uk to make an alternative arrangement
St Boniface’s Catholic College, Plymouth
St Boniface’s is a boys school in the heart of the City and is widely accessible using public or private transport, as well as cycle and walking paths. Its small size means that its staff know each and every student and works with them to help them reach their potential. It is an eclectic community that welcomes families from all faith backgrounds and those from none. It is not exclusively for Catholic children; all they ask is that its ethos is respected.
With over 160 years of tradition, the school has a remarkable legacy to uphold and celebrate. Your son can be part of the next phase of the community’s rich history. Its new Headteacher Mrs Cox has implemented a range of strategies to ensure the students get the best learning experiences and opportunities.
It has recently rewritten its entire scheme of work for each subject to ensure it works for boys; the pedagogy behind the way boys learn is the basis for its new teaching approach.
Choosing a secondary school for your son will be one of the most important decisions you will make, so contact 01752 779051 to arrange a tour, or attend the Open Evening on September 24th at 6pm.
For details see www.stbonifaces.com
Stoke Damerel Community College
Stoke Damerel is a vibrant and forward-thinking community of teachers and learners. Its students, staff and governors believe that Stoke Damerel is a very special college - caring, happy, aspirational. Teachers and support staff at Stoke Damerel work hard to make sure every student feels a valued member of the school community.
With a culture of high expectation and aspiration, which is inherent in everything it does, students are justifiably proud of their school and their achievements and there is a strong sense of collaboration where students and staff are united in their desire to learn and improve.
It has developed a strong partnership of school improvement within the College and its wider multi-academy trust through high-quality teaching, learning and leadership. As well as excellent academic facilities and support, students have access to fantastic extra-curricular activities and numerous health and wellbeing opportunities.
Making the right choice of secondary school is one of the most important decisions for a family and its Open Evening is always an enjoyable, interactive event where you and your child will get to experience first-hand the happy and welcoming atmosphere it is so well-known for and meet its confident, friendly students and caring and professional staff.
For details ring 01752 556065 or see www.sdcc.net
Tor Bridge High
Tor Bridge High, rated good by OFSTED 2018, is part of the Tor Bridge partnership, encompassing Tor Bridge Primary, Plym Bridge Nursery and Cann Bridge School.
Its students follow a curriculum which is highly personalised to provide real choice and challenge for every individual. A huge number of extended curriculum activities in sport, music and the arts, plus access to whole school themes of enterprise, outdoor challenge, internationalism and student leadership provide endless opportunities for enrichment.
The outstanding team of staff at Tor Bridge High is inspiring, motivational and truly supportive. Creating the balance between the freedom and discipline for young people to develop as responsible individuals can only be achieved by working closely together with their families.
A unique feature is its Small Schools system that provides a “positive school culture in which all pupils are welcome and accepted” OFSTED 2018, where support and guidance for learning is more effective than in a larger traditional Secondary School organisation. What matters most at Tor Bridge High is that its young people achieve the success, qualifications, experience and skills needed to realise their ambitions for their future.
For information call 01752 207907, email: receptionhigh@torbridge.net or see www.torbridge.net