We are very pleased to welcome you to South Grove Primary School. South Grove is a two-form entry primary school for children from 3-11. Our Nursery provides 40 part-time places both morning and afternoon (with some that can become full time). In addition we have a Resourced Provision for 16 children with a diagnosis of Autism and Developmental Global Delay of which we are very proud. This allows children to be fully integrated into the life of the school and equally, access the specialist support that will enable them to develop and grow.

The school was built in 2005 and provides an attractive, well–resourced,  modern setting within spacious grounds. The physical layout of the school encourages co-operation between staff and pupils with an extensive use of common resources.  We are able to provide a well-stocked library resource area with access to ICT facilities; our large hall provides for assemblies and PE and we are lucky to have a Music Studio with a specialist Music teacher. A separate dining area allows for another teaching space before and after lunch. Each classroom is well-equipped with an Interactive white board and wireless connection allowing children to access the use of ipads and laptops as well visiting the ICT Suite. Our practical classroom allows for cookery, science and art to be specifically taught in a specialist area. We have four separate playgrounds catering for the various age ranges of our school. The Key Stage Two playground has a generous sized playing field as well as a well-stocked garden and conservation area.

The school’s specialist Additional Resourced Provision for Autism and Developmental Global Delay has designated classrooms within the school and access to its’ own soft play area and sensory room.

We provide a calm, caring and supportive working  atmosphere where high standards of hard work and achievement are set, with respect and politeness for all children and adults. It is very friendly and inclusive school where we are committed to developing the whole child. Emotional, social development and developing skills for future life is seen as important alongside academic achievement and progress. Children are encouraged to become confident learners, caring and articulate and to become the best that they can be.

The school has well established extended services providing a vast range of clubs for children both before and after school. The school believes greatly in a ‘learning community’ where all in our community are learners, including our parents. We actively encourage parents to take part in their own courses and workshops on the school premises not only to support learning with their children,  but personal learning.

We are committed to working in partnership with parents, the community and other agencies and partners in order to provide the best for our pupils and their families, in order to ensure that our pupils leave school with the skills they need to be able to make choices in their future lives. We welcome parental interest and involvement.

The Governors, staff and pupils hope that through the website we can give you a sense of what life at South Grove Primary is like.

Our Vision is…….

For all our children, the heart of our school, to be...

• creative, inspired and challenged (curriculum)
• resourceful, resilient and empowered to participate in our local and global communities  (future)
• included, valued and safe (environment, inclusion and diversity)
• part of a learning family,  communities growing together (Partnerships)
• independent, enquiring and reflective learners (learning, independence)

Aspiring to be the very best that they can be.

‘To be the very best that we can be.’

Safeguarding

Our Commitment to Safeguarding

South Grove Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment in accordance with DfE guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children and Keeping Children Safe In Education. An integral part of that work relates to the governments PREVENT strategy and the duties it places on academic institutions.

At South Grove we believe that all children have a right to be safe and should be protected from all forms of abuse and neglect.

Because safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility, all staff members are committed to recognizing and reporting all concerns relating to child safety, wellbeing and in particular are vigilant to spot signs of abuse and maltreatment. An integral part

As such, we promise to:

• Be observant and alert to signs of abuse
• Be curious and question explanations given by parents/ children/staff
• Be compassionate, honest and clear
• Ask for support when we feel at the limit of our experience/patience/skills
• Understand and follow school policies and procedures
• Work together with other agencies when appropriate to  make sure that support for children, young people and families is  effective and helps improve outcomes

The school has a number of policies and procedures that contribute to our safeguarding commitment, including our Safeguarding Policy which can be viewed following the link below.

Sometimes we may need to share information and work in partnership with other agencies, when there are concerns about a child’s welfare. We will ensure that our concerns about our pupils are discussed with parents/carers first, unless we have reason to believe that such a move would be contrary to the child’s welfare.

Every school has a Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), and Deputy, these are the main points of contact for child protection cases.

At South Grove Primary School:

Designated Safeguarding Lead is Brigid Montgomery

Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead is Julie Maltwood

These members of staff are the main contacts in the event of a child protection concern and can be contacted via the school office.

The Local Authority’s Designated Officer (LADO) can be contacted on 0208 496 3646 or you can talk through your concerns by emailing lado@walthamforest.gov.uk

Waltham Forest LADO

South Grove Primary School Safeguarding Policy 2021-2022

COVID-19 Safeguarding Addendum 2021-2022

Keeping Children Safe in Education 2021

Online Safety

Today’s pupils are growing up in an increasingly complex world, living their lives seamlessly on  and offline. This presents many positive and exciting opportunities, but also challenges and risks.

The online world develops and changes at great speed. New opportunities, challenges and risks are appearing all the time. This can make it difficult to stay up to date with the latest devices, platforms, apps, trends and related threats. It is therefore important to focus on knowledge and behaviours that can help pupils to navigate the online world safely and confidently regardless of the device, platform or app.

Key Learning at School

At school we teach about appropriate online behaviour enabling pupils to understand what acceptable and unacceptable online behaviour looks like. We teach pupils that the same standard of behaviour and honesty apply on and offline, including the importance of respect for others. We also teach pupils to recognize unacceptable behaviour in others.

Through specific lessons on online safety, we help children to know how to identify possible online risks and make informed decisions about how to act. The focus is on helping pupils seek a situation, think through the consequences of acting in different ways and decide on the best course of action.

Knowing how and when to seek support, enabling pupils to understand safe ways in which to seek support if they are concerned or upset by something they have seen online.

Pupils often spend significant periods of time access the internet at home. We know that children sometimes have greater expertise in navigating online service than adults in home. We know that children sometimes have greater expertise in navigating online services than adults in the home. We offer advice and tips for parents on our newsletters and there are numerous websites offering advice to help you support your child. The following links may be helpful.

Photographs and Videos

Whilst lots of parents and carers really enjoy seeing photos and videos of their children’s school life we are very mindful of our duty of care towards all our pupils. We take the issue of safeguarding very seriously and this includes the use of photographic and video images.

Any photographs or videos taken by parents, carers and relatives at school productions, sports days or other events are for the enjoyment of individual families. They must not be used in any way that could potentially place a child at risk. This would include publishing images in any form of print or on the internet including social networking sites. This is emphasized before concerts and assemblies and parents are asked not to take any photographs or videos during these times. Opportunities for individual photos of their child are given at the end of the concert or assembly.

Parents at the point of their child’s admission give their consent for various forms of publicity. If this changes at any time parents are asked to inform the school office as soon as possible and keep the school updated.

Keeping Children safe in Education 2021: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1014057/KCSIE_2021_September.pdf

Financial Information

Number of school employees have a gross annual salary of £100,000:  Zero

School's financial benchmarking service  https://schools-financial-benchmarking.service.gov.uk/School?urn=103072

Federation of Walthamstow Central Area Schools (FoWCAS)

South Grove Primary School is part of a soft federation – the Federation of Walthamstow Central Area Schools (FoWCAS) - working with the following local schools: Greenleaf, Henry Maynard, Edinburgh, Winns and Chapel End Infants.  A soft federation does not change governance within a school and schools retain the same level of autonomy.

FoWCAS schools work together to improve outcomes for all our children. This includes:

• Collaborating and sharing good practice
• Developing teaching and learning
• Achieving financial efficiencies
• Sharing resources