PPA Teacher

Woodlands is a one form entry primary school in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire.
Borehamwood is inside the M25, close to the boundary between Hertfordshire and Barnet, with good road and public transport links with surrounding areas (NW London, Hatfield, St Albans and Watford).

The school caters for pupils from age 2 years 9 months to 11, through the main school and the integrated playgroup. It is situated in the most deprived ward in Borehamwood and caters for pupils from a wide range of backgrounds. There are currently (January 2008) 266 pupils on roll in the main school and 28 in the playgroup. The school has a good reputation locally and has for some years been oversubscribed.

The school is located in a pleasant setting with spacious grassed areas, a playing field with trees and hedgerow. The buildings are well maintained and the school is well equipped. Teaching accommodation is light and spacious, with whiteboards in every classroom. There is a library, computer room plus a laptop trolley for use in classrooms, a special needs room, and an extended dining room housing a food technology area. Building work is about to start on extending the nursery and playgroup area as part of a Pathfinder project which will provide more flexible care for nursery children.

The school is particularly proud of its caring and inclusive ethos. The last Ofsted report in April 2005 said “This is a very good school with a particularly inclusive and welcoming atmosphere. It is very well led and managed. Very good teaching results in pupils achieving well and in some cases very well.” The playgroup was inspected in Dec 2007 when the quality and standards of care were judged to be good and the quality and standards of the nursery education outstanding.

We are also proud of our high standards of achievement and good behaviour. Children make very good progress throughout the school. This is achieved through a team of talented, hard-working, dedicated and experienced teachers and teaching assistants who are committed to getting the best from every child.

The school offers a full range of extended care through an on-site breakfast club and after-school club, and a wide range of extra-curricular activities. We have been at the forefront of many new developments - for example Woodlands was one of the first schools in Hertfordshire to get Healthy Schools status and one of the first primaries to have an active School Council. We have participated for several years in a “Learning to Learn” research project and have recently been accredited as a Learning to Learn School. Innovative support mechanisms in the school include intervention programmes for children falling behind, Protective Behaviours work, a School Counsellor, trained Peer Mediators (Problem Busters), and Reading Partners.