Camberwell Park School
Brochure
2013– 2014
Cover picture by Joshua Tyler – Year 5
Writing by Afzal Miah – Year 5
Registered Charity: 1111994
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Camberwell Park School
Dear Parents / Carers,
Welcome to Camberwell Park School.
This brochure is intended to tell you more about Camberwell Park School and what it can
offer your child. We have tried to include all the information that you, as a parent /
carer would want. As the brochure contains a wide range of information about the life
and work of the school, you may wish to use it as a reference booklet when you have a
query.
Camberwell Park is designated as the Specialist Support School for the North of
Manchester. This means that Camberwell Park has places for 85 children between the
age of 2 – 11 years whose needs are currently best met in our ‘specialist’ environment of
small classes, high staffing ratios and staff experienced in working with children who
have a variety of difficulties with learning. The school also works closely with
mainstream schools in the area and has a number of children who are educated for some
sessions in mainstream placements and other children from mainstream schools who
attend Camberwell Park for sessions.
The school was inspected by Ofsted in May 2010 and was judged as outstanding in all
areas. Camberwell Park was described as ‘a wonderful school’ where ‘ all children achieve
equally well, regardless of their particular special educational need, ethnicity or gender’ .
We believe we are a happy and caring school and that your child will enjoy learning with
us. We also believe that working together with parents /carers is important. We try to
make you welcome when you come into school and do our best to involve you and keep you
informed about your child’s progress.
If you would like to discuss anything further, do not hesitate to contact me or any of
the staff team.
Mary Isherwood
Head Teacher
Registered Charity: 1111994
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General Information
CamberwellParkSpecialistSupportSchool
Bank House Road
Higher Blackley
Manchester
M9 8LT
Telephone: 0161 740 1897
Fax:
0161 740 3473
Email: admin@camberwellpark.manchester.sch.uk
Website: camberwellpark.manchester.dbprimary.com
Twitter: @CamberwellPark
School nurse:
740 9535
Physiotherapy:
740 9521
Speech therapist:
795 2117
Transport department: 219 6400
Headteacher: Ms. Mary Isherwood
Deputy Headteacher: Mrs Allison Taylor
Assistant Headteacher: Mrs Johanne Henstock
School Business Manager: Mrs Carmen King
You can contact any of us if you need any advice or assistance.
Chair of Governors: Mrs Mary Walsh
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Camberwell Park Specialist Support School
Shared Vision and Mission Statement
At the core of Camberwell Park School is the right of all the learners to an outstanding education and supported access to
Se
all articles in the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child. The school will provide a safe, fun, happy and
healthy learning environment which meets each pupil’s holistic and individual needs. The pupil’s social and emotional
needs continue to be considered and given high status as part of their overall learning. We pride ourselves on the
outstanding behaviour and safety of all pupils.
The pupils, who present a range of learning difficulties and disabilities, remain at the heart of the school. We will support
our pupils to be community citizens through respect and celebration of the varied cultures, racial backgrounds, languages
spoken and individual characteristics which they represent. Their views will be sought and valued in all aspects of school
life including the curriculum and what helps them learn.
Learners make progress through the broad, balanced, enriched and creative curriculum which is delivered by the highly
committed and skilled staff team. The curriculum will continue to evolve and be responsive to 21 st century learning needs
including global awareness and sustainability as well as ensuring it equips our learners with the essential skills they need
as they develop
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Camberwell Park School
the school. Camberwell Park school is an established learning environment for everyone and as such believes that in
order to maintain and develop the highest standards that the learning needs of staff, parents / carers, governors and other
community partners should be considered alongside the children. As such the school is a committed Investor in People
and will provide a high quality training programme for all involved with the school which is focussed on school
improvement and meeting the needs of the children and the whole school community. In addition, the school provides
increasing advice, support and training to other schools as part of a comprehensive outreach programme improving the
learning outcomes for pupils with SEN in mainstream schools across the north of the city and beyond.
We continue to commit to being THE BEST WE CAN BE in everything that we do……….
that is to be Passionate, Respectful, Organised, Understanding and Dedicated
making ‘Camberwell Park a school to be PROUD of’.
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A child is........
A butterfly in the wind,
Some can fly higher than others;
but each one flies the best it can.
Why compare one against the
other?
Each one is different!
Each one is special!
Each one is beautiful!
Author Unknown
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We offer our learners:

an environment which meets the needs of all pupils, through the thorough
assessment, and writing of individual educational programmes (IEPs) based
on each child’s abilities, enabling each child to build on her/his strengths,
skills, knowledge and experience in progressive, positive, successful steps.

awareness of each child’s special educational needs, and a policy which
takes account of those needs and ensures access to the curriculum for all
our children.

access to the National Curriculum programmes of study within a broad,
balanced, differentiated, relevant and imaginativecurriculum, including
religious education.

a warm atmosphere, in which each child feels secure, understood and
highly valued, so building up self-esteem and positive relationships with
others. Pastoral care is the responsibility of each class teacher, supported
by the class teams, and overseen by the strategic planning and leadership
group.

a child centred community in which the diverse and changing needs of
children are considered to be of the utmost importance.

an orderly community where staff and pupils are encouraged to develop a
positive culture through self-discipline.

links with other schools so that children can experience a different school
environment and preparation for the transition to secondary school at
eleven.

extra curricular activities in our Friday Fun Clubs which include sports, art
activities, music, and cookery. The week begins with “Sing and Sign” when
the children learn new songs and the signs to go with them.

a strong partnership with parents
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School
Improvement Plan
Priorities
2013 - 2014
Total
Communication
Quality of teaching
and learning
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School Organisation
The school is made up of three stages of learning: Early Years Foundation Stage,
Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. As far as possible children are grouped with their
peers according to their age. There are some children within who benefit from a
‘specialist’ teaching environment for all or some of the time, in order to meet
their profound and multiple learning difficulties, their needs on the autistic
spectrum or their challenging behaviour. There is provision in school within each
of the key stages to meet such needs where appropriate.
Early Years Foundation Stage (2 – 5 years)
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) has nursery and reception pupils aged
between 2 and 5 years. The EYFS aims to provide a first experience of school
life for children and their parents that is friendly, warm, stimulating and
supportive. It provides each pupil with experiences in each area of the EYFS
Curriculum, that is, Communication, Language and Literacy, Problem solving,
reasoning and numeracy, Creative development, Personal and Social Education,
Knowledge and Understanding of the World and Physical Development. Children
are encouraged to learn through indoor and outdoor structured play sessions,
first hand experiences and specialist teaching which includes individual targets
which are set to meet the needs of each pupil.
Key Stage One – Years 1 and 2 (5 – 7 years)
The curriculum for Years 1 and 2 builds upon the ‘Early Years’ experience. Pupils
now begin more formalised work based on the National Curriculum programmes of
study, but there remain opportunities for explorative and imaginative play. Pupils
continue to work on individual targets and also develop their skills and knowledge
through differentiated group activities. Opportunities are provided to generalise
new skills and practice those that have previously been learned. Pupils are
encouraged to develop independence, including the opportunity to make choices
and solve problems.
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Key Stage Two – Years 3 – 6 (8 – 11 years)
The curriculum for years 3 – 6 incorporates many features of the previous years
as well as encouraging the increased development of independence, co-operation
and social skills. Pupils are expected to work for longer periods and are given
more responsibilities. During year 6, pupils will be prepared for transition to an
appropriate secondary school. The Specialist Support School for secondary aged
pupils living in the north of the city is Northridge High School. Some pupils will
transfer to other schools where appropriate e.g. mainstream placements, Grange
School.
The Curriculum
(Links to United Nations Convention of Children’s Rights
articles:1,2,3,7,8,12,13,14,15,23,28,29,30,31,33)
‘The curriculum provides a vast array of creative and very appropriate
experiences for effective learning and outstanding personal development and
wellbeing’. Ofsted, May 2010
At Camberwell Park the curriculum encompasses Manchester’s equal
opportunities policy in respect that all pupils have an entitlement to access the
national curriculum, there are high standards for learning and that the
curriculum provides continuity and coherence as well as a public understanding
that can be shared with parents, other teachers and governorsand other
professionals who impact on children’s lives outside of school.
The school spiral curriculum is written as a two year curriculum plan around
‘umbrella’ topics for each half term. The topics take their basis from some of
the foundation subjects of the national curriculum. These are then translated
into medium term plans for each year group giving more detail to topic areas. For
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example the umbrella topic for the first half of the Autumn term is History –
Year 1 - People; the topics for each year group are: Myself, My Family, Famous
People, Ancient Times and
Year 2 - Artefacts; the topics for each year group are: Teddy Bears, Toys,
Clothes, Houses and Homes.
The Spiral Curriculum is currently being developed and extended to include
learning outcomes for other aspects encompassing:
 the United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child articles,
 Every Child Matters outcomes
 Open Futures four strands – askit, growit, cookit and filmit.
 Community Cohesion
 Eco-Schools
 Global Dimensions.
 The new National Curriculum – ready for implementation September 2014
Open Futures – Camberwell Park School embarked in a two year
partnership programme with the Helen Hamlyn Trust in September 2011
to enhance the existing curriculum model. Open Futures is about blending
skills and enquiry in a creative way through the four aspects of ‘Grow It’, ‘Cook
It’, ‘Film It’ and ‘Ask It’. The strands provide opportunities for pupils to explore
the worlds of gardening, horticulture, cooking and film; the practical skills allow
pupils to develop their natural curiosity and enquire about the world around
them. “Ask It” enables children to extend their thinking skills, as well as
extension of speech and language skills. The development of Open Futures is now
at the end of the 2 year development cycle and is now fully embedded within the
curriculum at Camberwell Park.
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Religious Education and Collective Worship
(Links to United Nations Convention of Children’s Rights articles: 5,12,13,14,15,16)
Religious Education (RE) is a compulsory element of the taught curriculum. The
school follows Manchester’s agreed syllabus which has been differentiated to
meet the needs of the children. Religious Education lessons cover aspects of
different religions.
Weekly assemblies are held for each key stage which cover a range of different
religious festivals and traditions as well as moral teaching and worship. Collective
acts of worship are held in classrooms each day.
Full details of the school policies for religious education and collective worship
can be obtained from the school upon request. Parents have the right to
withdraw their children from Collective acts of Worship and RE lessons. Any
parent wishing their child to be withdrawn from the collective act of worship or
lessons should speak to the Head Teacher and put their request in writing.
Sex Education
(Links to United Nations Convention of Children’s Rights articles: 5,6,8,9,11,12,13,15,24)
Sex Education is part of the Science and PSHE curriculum. Within PSHE it forms
part of the ‘relationships’ strand. It involves teaching and helping children to
form positive relationships with their peers, teachers and families. It teaches
children how to stay safe by saying ‘no’ to strangers and always telling their
families where they are. At an appropriate time within Key Stage 2, the children
are taught about the names of the different body parts both in general and
those for reproduction. They are taught about the differences between boys
and girls and what will happen to them as they get older. It is a statutory
requirement of the science curriculum that children are taught about their
bodies. These lessons are often taught in single gender groups with the school
nurse.
All parents will be informed when a sex education lesson is to be included in their
child’s curriculum and they will be given an opportunity to discuss the content
with the class teacher. Parents have the right to withdraw their children from
these lessons and any parent wishing to do so should speak to the Head Teacher
and put their request in writing
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Educational Visits
(Links to United Nations Convention of Children’s Rights articles:31,32)
Relevant educational visits have been planned which are linked to all aspects of
the Spiral curriculum, including St Anne’s, Heaton Park and Tatton
Park.Inspections of each location are carried out prior to visits taking place and
are repeated within a twelve month period. Risk assessments are then written to
accommodate the group making the visit.
The aims of educational visits are: To develop pupils’ knowledge / skills /
understanding:
 of their environment by broadening their horizons and experiences.
 by engaging in active learning.
 improving pupils’ self esteem and confidence.
 by helping pupils form positive relationships within the community.
 to promote social skills, health and fitness levels.
 enabling pupils to respond positively to opportunities, challenges and
responsibilities to manage risk and cope with change and diversity.
A voluntary contribution of £10.00 per term is requested to support with the
costs of offsite educational visits, the governors will not cancel any visits during
this academic year, but will review the policy on an annual basis.
Homework
(Links to United Nations Convention of Children’s Rights articles: 29,30)
At Camberwell Park Specialist Support School we regard the term “homework”
as any work or activity that pupils are asked to do outside lesson time either on
their own or with parents/carers. We believe that homework is an important
part of a child’s education and endeavor to support parents/carers in this role.
A good, well-managed homework programme helps children to develop the skills
and attitudes they will need for lifelong learning. Homework also supports the
development of independent learning skills and provides parents with an
opportunity to take part in their children's education.
Parents / carers are encouraged to support their child’s learning at home in a
number of different ways.
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 A ‘parents contribution’ section is included in each child’s Individual
Education Plan (IEP) to suggest ways in which parents can support with
practicing key targets at home.
 Consolidate and reinforce skills and understanding, particularly in literacy
and numeracy. When appropriate home work is sent home with the children
e.g. reading books
 Develop curiosity in our pupils and help them to become independent
learners.
 Visit museums and places of interest linked to the theme their child/ren is
studying.
 When appropriate staff from other agencies e.g. physiotherapists, will
give parents / carers activities to practice at home.
Behaviour
(Links to United Nations Convention of Children’s Rights articles: 5,6,7,8,11,13,16,18,19,
20,24)
The school has a positive ethos to managing behaviour, using a number of
strategies to encourage and reward positive behaviours. These include the use of
stickers, verbal praise, peer massage, yoga and ‘special mentions’ in assemblies.
The school has a clear policy and procedures to manage challenging behaviour. In
some cases, as a last resort and for the safety of the children and staff, it is
necessary to use positive handling techniques. In these cases, a strategy called
‘Team Teach’ is used which ensures positive handling is carried out safely for
everyone involved. All staff are trained to use ‘Team Teach’. The head teacher
reserves the right to exclude pupils for extreme or continued incidents of
disruptive behaviour in accordance with Local Authority guidelines.
Bullying
Incidences of bullying are not tolerated in school. The school works with the
children through the curriculum to teach the message of ‘anti-bullying’ and to
encourage the children to tell an adult if they feel they are being bullied. Any
incidences of bullying are taken seriously and addressed in line with the school’s
policy; they are monitored and reported to governors at each standards
committee meeting.
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Equal Opportunities
Links to United Nations Convention of Children’s Rights articles: 5,10,14)
The school operates an equal opportunities policy which means that children’s
social, cultural and religious backgrounds are valued and respected. All children
will have the same opportunity to participate in activities appropriate to their
needs regardless of gender, race, or disability. We actively promote an
awareness of the multi-cultural community by celebrating festivals appropriate
to a wide variety of faiths.
Race Equality
(Links to United Nations Convention of Children’s Rights articles:5,10,14)
The school carries out it’s duties for race equality in line with the City Council’s
policy. Any racist incidents which occur are recorded and monitored by the Head
Teacher and reported to the Governing Body at each meeting. Reports of any
racist incidents are made to the Local Authority at the end of each term.
Every Child Matters
(Links to United Nations Convention of Children’s Rights articles:1 -42)
Every Child Matters, the Government’s vision for children’s services, September
2003 is still very much at the heart of Camberwell Park’s ethos; the 5 outcomes
of Every Child Matters, i.e. being healthy, staying safe, enjoying and achieving,
making a positive contribution and achieving economic wellbeing, underpin all the
work we do as a school. The school has a team of 3 teaching assistants who help
to co-ordinate and develop aspects of the work throughout school. Here are
some examples:
 BEING HEALTHY – e.g. Encouraging healthy eating, fitway club
 STAYING SAFE – e.g. Teaching about all aspects of safety in PSHE sessions,
 ENJOYING AND ACHIEVING – Enjoying everything about school and
achieving at all levels
 MAKING A POSITIVE CONTRIBTUION- e.g. class helpers, pupils
contribution to whole school events
 ACHIEVING ECONOMIC WELL-BEING – e.g. learning about people who help
us, involvement in off-site visits to different work-places
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PUPIL VOICE
The children at CamberwellPark are encouraged and supported to become
actively involved in their own learning. Examples of this are:
 Child friendly Individual Education Plans using symbols and words to make
the children’s targets more accessible to them
 Work on social, emotional aspects of learning including strategies for
children to express their likes, dislikes and feelings in school
 Opportunities for children to evaluate and comment on their own progress
in their annual reports and for pupils in year 4, 5 and 6 to attend and
contribute to their annual reviews.
 Opportunities for pupils to be involved in a ‘pupil panel’ when recruiting
new staff to school.
SCHOOL COUNCIL
The school council is made up of representatives from each class in school.
Schoolcouncil meets each term and makes decisions about various aspects of
school e.g. theme for Christmas concert, where to donate harvest gifts.
‘The pupils respond very positively to praise and through the school council,
contribute their ideas to make the school even better’. Ofsted, September 2006
Rights Respecting Schools Award
Camberwell Park is proud to be a Rights respecting School, that is, supporting
access for all children to42 articles in the United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the child (UNCRC) e.g. to survive and have good health, to be protected
from any form of abuse, to develop their talents and skills and to participate in
the world in which they belong. The school holds the Rights Respecting School
Award at level 2 which is a reflection of how rights and responsibilities are
embedded into all aspects of school life. As part of this work, we not only think
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about our own direct school community but learn about children across the world.
Our home- school contract with parents / carers also details parent’s/ carer’s
responsibilities under the UNCRC e.g. children have a right to learn; parents have
a responsibility to ensure their child attends school regularly.
School Website – camberwellpark.manchester.dbprimary.com
The school has a newly established school website and virtual learning
environment which is currently under development.
The website element of the vle includes general information about the school and
links to a range of other relevant websites and information.
‘Camberlink’ - VLE ( Virtual learning environment) - The school is also currently
developing ‘Camberlink’ – a virtual learning environment which pupils and their
families are able to log in via secure access and engage in a whole range of
learning activities and share photos / information / videos about school and
home. Your class teams will talk to you about your access to Camberlink and you
will also be able to attend workshops in school.
Inclusion / Outreach
(Links to United Nations Convention of Children’s Rights articles:3,15,23,28,29 )
Camberwell Park works closely with a number of mainstream schools to support
inclusion and outreach for children in the north of the city. A number of children
from Camberwell Park have regular lessons in local mainstreamschools; these
include Mount Carmel, Pike Fold, Bowker Vale and Crab Lane schools. Children are
matched with an appropriate year group and a relevant activity. A number of
children from our specialist classes, join their peers within school for a variety
of sessions, these include Art, PE, Science and Music.The outcomes of all of the
inclusion links are monitored and evaluated regularly by school staff.
Camberwell Park is committed toits role as a specialist support school in terms of
its outreach service to 44 designated primary schools across the north of the
city. We have experienced staff who are able to share their knowledge of
working with children who have Cognition and Learning Difficulties and Social
Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties. This includes providing observations,
advice and training to mainstream primary schools, and inviting the mainstream
primary school staff into our school to support building capacity back in their
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respective mainstream schools. We also have an Inclusion Week every summer
whensome of our supported schools are invited to spend a morning or afternoon
working alongside our pupils. This has been a huge success and many schools now
request an invitation.
Accessibility
(Links to United Nations Convention of Children’s Rights article 23)
The school is endeavoring to take all necessary steps in line with the Equality Act
(2010) to ensure that access is increased to everyone in terms of physical
environment, curriculum and communications. Examples of recent developments
include:
 Physical environment – Establishing disabled parking spaces in the school
car – park, establishing a disabled toilet for visitors to the school
 Curriculum – Developing aspects of the school curriculum for children with
Autistic Spectrum Disorders and Profound and Multiple Learning
Disabilities and Social, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties.
 Communications – Translating key information such as permissions slips
into other languages such as Urdu.
Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (SENDA) 2001
This important piece of Government legislation followed the ‘Excellence for All’
Green Paper in 1997. The act considers many issues which relate to the
educational placement of all children with special needs, the assessment of their
needs and their access to the curriculum. Most importantly, the rights of
parents in all aspects of decision making about their child’s educational
placement were strengthened in the act.
When assessing children’s needs and completing the statutory assessment
process at CamberwellPark, we work very closely with parents/ carers
throughout the assessment process to ensure that the views of parents/ carers
are incorporated into planning and evaluation of their child’s progress as well as
assessment of needs and school placement.
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Disability Equality Scheme
Copies of the school’s ‘Disability Equality Scheme’ which contains a 3 year action
plan in relation to all aspects of the Disability Discrimination Act is available on
request from the school.
Equality Policy
The school has an equality policy ensuring all aspects of equality are considered.
Copies are available on request.
Admissions to school
As a specialist support school, all decisions about placement at CamberwellPark
are made by the Local Authority. The Statutory Assessment Team for children
with learning difficulties and disabilities liaises with the school regarding the
appropriateness of placements. The telephone number for this team, based at
Universal Square, Ardwick, Manchester is 245 – 7445.
With the exception of children attending CamberwellPark for the purposes of
assessment, all children admitted to CamberwellPark have a statement of special
educational needs. Visits to the school prior to admission are welcomed and are
made via arrangement with the Head Teacher.
The 1996 Education Act and the Assessment Process
The school has ‘assessment’ places in school, for children who are admitted to
school following referral from the Assessment Provisions Referral Panel. Staff
at Camberwell Park School work closely with parents / carers and staff from
other agencies over a period of time to get to know children and begin to assess
together the nature of children’s difficulties with learning, how and where they
can be best met.
The Education Act describes how children with any sort of learning difficulty
have those assessed and written into a ‘statement’ of special educational needs.
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The process is a graduated response and all the children who are referred from
Assessment Panel are at the ‘School Action Plus’ stage of procedures.
During the assessment process, staff from the school will meet with
parents/carers twice during the year, to discuss progress and next steps. When
it is felt appropriate to move to the next stage of statutory assessment, a multiagency review meeting will be held with parents/ carers and a request for
statutory assessment will be made to the Local Authority.
Once the statutory assessment is complete, children will either remain at
CamberwellPark or be supported to their next placement whether that is a
mainstream school or another special school.
Attendance at School
(Links to United Nations Convention of Children’s Rights articles: 5.6.8.9.10.13)
Attendance at Camberwell Park School is outstanding; the schools attendance
target is set 92% by the Governors. Attendance for the academic year 12 – 13,
for each month is:
Month
Attendance
September ‘12
92.4%
Attendance where Persistent
Absentees are Removed
95.8%
October ‘12
November ‘12
December ‘12
January ‘13
February ‘13
March ‘13
April ‘13
89.5%
92.8%
87.5%
92.8%
91.3%
92%
94%
93.3%
94.4%
95.8%
98%
97.4%
94.5%
99.5%
All children at Camberwell Park School have a full time place and attend 5 days
each week. Some of the children in the Foundation Stage have a part time place
of 3 days per week at first and this is increased according to each child’s needs,
age and places available.
It is essential that children attend regularly and that the school is informed in
advance if a child has an appointment or on the day if the child is ill. In line with
the school’s policy, all unexplained absences will be followed up by a first day
phone call and further 3 day and 5 day letters.
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PLEASE NOTE - You need permission from the Head Teacher to take children
out of school for any reason. With regards to holidays and extended periods of
leave for children, The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment)
Regulations 2013 – state ‘that Head teachers may not grant any leave of absence
during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances’. Permission should
be sought in writing from the head teacher at least 2 weeks in advance of the
absence. With the exception of illness and appointments, any absences which
have not beenagreed with the head teacher will be recorded as unauthorised.
If children have medical appointments which only take part of the day, parents
are asked to make every effort to ensure children attend school for the
remainder of the day.
The school follows all health protection agency guidelines for common sicknesses
e.g. a child should not return to school until 48 hours after the last bout of
sickness or diarrhea.
Partnership with Parents / Carers
(Links to United Nations Convention of Children’s Rights articles: 5,6,7,8,10,12,18)
Camberwell Park School endeavours to work closely with parents/carers
throughout their placement at school. All pupils in school are allocated a key
worker who is a main point of contact for liaison with school. Some of the ways
we work with parents/carers are by:
Home-school diaries
A designated key worker for every child
Newsletters / bulletins
Review meetings
Parent / carer workshops
Parents / carers are welcome to phone school at any time. If they are not
available to discuss the issue at that time, the class teacher or head teacher will
always phone back as soon as possible.
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‘The school’s success is underpinned by particularly effective relationships with
parents and the wider community’ . Ofsted. May 2010
Open door policy – We want to encourage parent / carers to be able to come into
school and see their children at any time. Any parents/ carers visiting school will
be asked to wait in reception whilst office staff check with class that visiting at
that time will not cause an interruption to learning. If this is so, they may be
asked to wait until break time. If parents / carers need to speak to classroom
staff or the head teacher, it would be helpful to make an appointment to ensure
that they are available.
School self-evaluation – The views of parents/carers are very important to us in
terms of what we are doing well and what areas we could develop further.
Parent’s views are sought both formally, through annual questionnaires sent out
in the summer term and informally through home-school diaries.
Complaints
If you have any concerns or complaints about any aspect of school life, then the
following procedures should be followed:
 Ask the class teacher or classroom staff
 Discuss the problem with the head teacher
 If you are still dissatisfied you can refer the matter to the school’s
Governing Body (You can write to the Chair of Governors, Mrs Mary Walsh,
c/o Camberwell Park School).
 If the Governing Body does not deal with the matter to your satisfaction
you can then contact Children’s Services : Customer and Business Support,
Children's Services, Manchester City Council, Overseas House Level 1,
Quay Street, Manchester, M3 3BB.Telephone: 0161 227 3333
 The final source of satisfaction is the Department for Children, schools
and families (DCSF). Guidance on school issues can be obtained from DCSF
public enquiries (0870 000 2288). Complaints have to be made in writing
(Complaints.peu@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk).
 Parents / carers of children who are in the Early Years Foundation Stage
are entitled to make complaints to Ofsted. Further information can be
gained on line at www.ofsted.gov.uk/parents
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Freedom of Information Act 2000 / Data protection
The freedom of information policy has been approved by the Governing Body.
The aims of the Freedom of Information Act is that all public bodies including
schools, should be clear about the information they make public. Certain
information we hold may not be made public including personal details or details
relating to Child Protection issues. For more information please contact school
and a copy of the school policy will be sent home.
Permission for photographs / video etc
You will be asked to complete a consent form in relation to taking your child’s
photograph/ videoing your child in relation to in school / out of school / for
publicity etc.
Please note, the school will automatically video a range of whole school events for
use in school only e.g. the Christmas Concert, the end of year Celebration
assembly and some other occasional whole school events and special days. If you
wish to know more about this, please do not hesitate to ask.
Parents / carers are strongly advised not to put photographs or information in
relation to other pupils at the school on social networking sites.
School Fund
CamberwellParkSchool is a registered charity 117994 and as such has a
Fundraising committee and a separate set of accounts which are audited by an
independent friend to the school and volunteer from Barclays bank. The school
fund is made up of proceeds from fundraising activities and donations made to
the school from parents/carers and friends of the school. The money from
school funds is used to purchase fresh fruit on a weekly basis, Christmas
presents as well as additional and special items for the children and the school.
The committee are now actively raising funds to replace the school minibus which
is used to transport the children on many trips/visits. Any parent who wishes to
contribute to school fund may do so by sending 50p per week in an envelope
marked ‘school fund’.
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Safeguarding / Child Protection
(Links to United Nations Convention of Children’s Rights articles:
5,6,7,8,11,13,16,18,19,20,24)
Schools have an important part to play in safeguarding all children and
Camberwell Park takes this responsibility very seriously. Safeguarding within the
school includes a range of issues including health and safety, risk assessments,
managing medicines in school, behaviour management, e-safety and lots more.
The school also follows full guidance on safe recruitment and selection of new
staff and ensures that all staff and regular visitors to school have a certificate
provided by the Disclosure and Baring Service (DBS) before coming into school.
Camberwell Park School follows LA guidelines for Child protection where it
appears that a child may be at risk of significant harm. The cause for concern
may be as a result of any of the following: physical abuse, domestic violence,
neglect, emotional abuse or sexual abuse. There may be times when sensitive and
challenging conversations have to take place to clarify some concerns; these will
be treated with the highest regard to confidentiality. At Camberwell Park we
work closely with other agencies to ensure all children are safe.
It is therefore very important that parents/carers keep the school informed of
any changes at home, / incidents of domestic violence / accident/s at home which
may have left marks which might worry us. The school may contact parents if
children arrive at school with unexplained marks on their body. The school will
always let parents know if there is any accident at school which may have injured
a child.
The designated person for child protection in Camberwell Park School is the
deputy head teacher, Mrs Allison Taylor. Safeguarding matters including
concerns can be discussed with her or with the head teacher who has also
received full training as a designated person for child protection.
E-safety / cyber bullying
The school takes the issue of e-safety very seriously and has a range of
measures in place to safeguard children e.g. ensuring websites that cause
concern are blocked from access. The school also teaches the children about esafety in a way that is appropriate to their age and level of development. If you
have any questions about e-safety in school or any concerns about e-safety at
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home do not hesitate to get in touch. It is important that parents / carers
supervise children when using the computer, including you tube and social
network sites to ensure that they are not accessing inappropriate material. It is
also important the children do not have access to electronic games that are
licensed beyond their age.
Health and Safety
(Links to United Nations Convention of Children’s Rights articles: 23,24,36)
The school takes its responsibility for all aspects of health and safety very
seriously to ensure the children remain safe while at school. The School
Business Manager, Carmen King, is responsible for keeping records of all aspects
of health and safety which are closely monitored by the local authority.
The Governing Body
The Governing Body is made up of a variety of representatives linked with the
school, for example, staff, parent, local authority and community governor
representatives. The Governors meet each term to discuss the work of the
school and also have committees which meet to discuss various aspects of the
school, for example, school finances. The Governing Body works closely with the
Head Teacher and other school staff as well as the Local Authority, to ensure
the school achieves the best outcomes for the children, parents and everyone
involved with the school. The chair of governors, Mrs Mary Walsh can be
contacted via the school as can the parent governor representatives.
Home-school transport
(Links to United Nations Convention of Children’s Rights articles 31,32)
Children attending Camberwell Park School can request transport to be provided
by the Local Authority.Home and school transport is not automatically approved
and parents/carers will have to apply stating reasons why this may be necessary
Transport restrictions may occur if you live less than two miles away from
school. If your child is over eight the distance is three miles.Application forms
can be collected from the school office. When they have been submitted to The
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Travel co-ordination Unit, and your child has been accepted for transport, a ‘risk
assessment’ will be carried out;where a member of the travel co-ordination team
will visit you at home, confirmation of transport will then be made if applicable.
This procedure will take place after your child is offered a place at the school.
If you have any further queries regarding home-school transport, the telephone
number for The Travel Co-Ordination Unit is 0161 219 6400
Healthy School
(Links to United Nations Convention of Children’s Rights articles: 24,28)
Camberwell Park is a ‘healthy school’ and renewed the Healthy School Gold Award
in 2010. This means that the school encourages being healthy in all aspects of it’s
work including, food and drinks, taking physical exercise, emotional wellbeing of
children and staff and recycling. Parents / carers are asked to support the
school by not sending unhealthy snacks into school e.g. Sweets / chocolates.
As part of the National Fruit and Vegetable scheme, all children in school have
access to a piece of fresh fruit or vegetables as part of their snack time each
day.
‘Pupils have an excellent knowledge of healthy lifestyles as a result of the very
good support and teaching they receive in this area’. Ofsted, May 2010
School meals
(Links to United Nations Convention of Children’s Rights articles: 24,28)
Meals are provided by ‘Manchester Fayre’ the city council’s catering department.
Manchester Fayre has worked very closely with school to provide healthy and
varied menus which meet the nutritional and dietary needs of all the children.
Vegetarian and Halal meals can be provided and special diets at the request of a
dietician or doctor, a written letter stating the need for the special diet is
required. Meals are cooked and served on the school premises by the school cook
and kitchen assistants. Meals are mashed and pureed for children where needed.
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A team of teaching assistants and lunchtime organisers support the children
during lunchtime. A self service system is in place for most Key stage 1 and 2
children. Children in the foundation stage have their meal in their classroom. The
children have a daily choice of food including: baked potato, pasta or cooks
choice. Meals are charged at £2.22 (£11.10 per week) per day unless you receive
the relevant benefits. Application forms for free school meals are available from
Lisa Daly at the school.
School milk
School milk is provided for all children in the school. Parents are asked to
support the fluoride milk as part of being a healthy school. Milk is free for
children under the age of 5. After this milk is £4.53 per term for ordinary milk.
Fluoride milk is free to parents as it is paid through the school as requested by
the school governors.
ECO school
CamberwellPark is a ECO friendly school which means we consider all aspects of
the environment in the work and life of the school. All classes have a ‘recycling
monitor’ who supports with taking classroom waste which can be recycled to the
school recycling deposits ready for collection. Children across the school have
supported with work establishing and now maintaining the sensory gardens in the
school grounds. The school has successfully gained the bronze and silver ECO
awards and the highest ECO award, the Green Flag.
Investors in People Award
The school has a commitment to all staff in terms of engagement in whole school
improvement, staff training and staff involvement in school self evaluation in
order to ensure the highest standards for the children and their families. In
recognition of this, the school has been awarded ‘Investors in People- a national
standard.
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School Uniform
All children should wear
school uniform when they come to
CamberwellParkSchool. They look smart and it helps children feel part of the
school community. It also helps children to be more easily recognised and keep
safe when on offsite visits. The uniform consists of a red school sweatshirt with
an embroidered school logo and a white polo shirt. Children may wear any dark
trousers or skirts. Sweatshirts are available from the school office at a cost of
£7.00.
Personal Property – We do not encourage children to bring personal property
into school as the school cannot take responsibility for lost or broken items.
For safety reasons, it is preferable that children with pierced ears do not wear
ear-rings to school; however, ear-rings worn must be stud and not loop. Children
should not wear any other jewellery to school.
(Links to United Nations Convention of Children’s Rights article 28)
Please label your child’s clothes and other possessions in some way so that lost
property can be identified and returned promptly.
No smoking policy
Smoking within the school building or school grounds is against the law. All staff
and visitors to the school who smoke are respectfully asked to do so outside the
school grounds.
Working in partnership with other professionals
At CamberwellParkSchool we work closely with colleagues from a variety of
other agencies to ensure that your child’s needs are met. Professionals that we
work with include:
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Physiotherapy:there are two qualified physiotherapist who visit school on for
four mornings a week. A physio assistant is in school each morning.For children
where physiotherapy is a prioritythey are closely involved in assessing the
physical needs of children, advising staff on appropriate physical programmes
and monitoring progress. Where appropriate, physiotherapists or physiotherapy
assistants work with children on an individual basis and support children in
hydrotherapy sessions. The physiotherapists work closely with parents / carers,
education and other medical colleagues to promote each child’s physical
development.If your child requires specialist footwear or orthoses they will be
seen at regular clinics held in school. Wheelchair clinics take place once a
month.The telephone number for the physiotherapy department is 740 9521.
Speech and Language Therapy: We have the services of two speech and
language therapists for one day each week. They work closely with class teams in
many different ways including, observing children’s communication and language
in class, working with class teams on assessing communication and language
difficulties and advising on communication programmes and activities. Where
appropriate, the speech and language therapists also support children with
feeding and swallowing difficulties. The contact number for the speech and
language therapist is 740 9521 (Tuesdays only)
School Nurse: A school nurseis based full time at the school and is involved in all
aspects of school life. She supervises the administration of medication and nonoral feeding, liaising with parents on all aspects of health needs. She also works
closely with the school staff on safeguarding all children and child protection
issues. The contact number for the school nurse is 0161 740 9535.
Medical Clinics: There are a variety of different clinics that take place in
school. These include: Audiology clinics conducted by the school audiologist, Dr Painter. This is
where your child’s hearing will be assessed
 Orthoptist clinics, where your child’s vision will be tested
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Your child’s teeth will be looked at by the special needs dentist who comes
into school or the children will visit the local clinic
 A pediatric continence advisor visits school to discuss toilet training and
order nappies where appropriate.
If you have any concerns about your child’s health please contact the school
nurse – Tel: 0161 740 9535

Community Pediatrician:Dr Anne Ferguson holds regular medical examinations in
school. You will be invited to your child’s medical and it is important that you
attend.
Services for children with Hearing or Visual impairment: The school receives
regular visits, training and support from peripatetic staff from the services for
Hearing impairment, Visual Impairment and multi sensory impairment.
Educational Psychology Service: An educational psychologist works with
children undergoing statutory assessment. She visits the school to observe
children, carry out formal assessments where relevant, meet with school staff
and meet with parents / carers.
School also works with and receives regular visits from a number of other
agencies including:
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Parent Partnership
Casework Service
Pre-school Special Needs Service
Disabled Children’s Team
Children, Families and Social Care
ManchesterMulti-agency Partnership
Orthoptist
Dentist
Podiatrist
Please ask us for the contact telephone numbers for any of these services and
we will help you.
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The Orthoptist at Camberwell Park School: The Orthoptist is specially trained
to detect and treat eye problems such as reduced vision, squints and lazy eyes.
Between 5-8 in every 100 children have an eye problem that needs early
treatment. In children with special needs this number is higher. It is important
that every child in school has a vision test to make sure they are using their
vision to its maximum level.
The Orthoptist ……
 visits CamberwellParkSchool once a week
 measures vision and looks for any eye problems
 supervises treatment and monitors results.
 gives advice to teachers, parents and other health care professionals
on glasses wear and on how to get the best level of vision out of each
child.
 liaises with the teachers of the Visually Impaired
 liaises with the Ophthalmologist ( eye doctor) at
ManchesterRoyalEyeHospital
 arranges and supports a visit from the Optometrist from the
ManchesterRoyalEyeHospital which takes place once a term in school.
 informs parents of her findings either by a letter home or by a
telephone call.
If you have any queries about your child’s eyes please send a message to the
Orthoptist via school.
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Other useful contacts
All the staff at school are willing to help and advise you and have a wide range of
experience and knowledge. If we can’t help then we can put you in touch with
others who can…..
Here are a few useful contact and their telephone numbers.
The Parent Partnership Service
The parent partnership service provides independent advice and support through
the statutory assessment process. Tel 0161 953 2713
The SEN statutory assessment team
The statutory assessment team is responsible for school placements and
completing statutory assessments. The administrator from the team assigned to
the school liaises with the Head Teacher regarding placing children at
Camberwell Park and will attend annual reviews of statutory assessment when
appropriate. The school’s designated administrator is Karen Ashton who can be
contacted on Tel. 0161 234 7160
Contact – a – Family
There are a number of organisations run by parents nation-wide for children with
specific difficulties or syndromes. We can provide information about these from
the Contact-a-Family directory which the Head Teacher holds. Please contact
the Head Teacher if you need any further information. The contact a family
website address is www.cafamily.org.uk/
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CAMBERWELL PARK SCHOOL
CALENDAR FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR
2013 –2014
Autumn Term
Training Day
Monday
2ndSeptember 2013
Training Day
Tuesday
3rdSeptember 2013
School Starts
Wednesday
4th September 2013
Training Day
Thursday
24th October 2013
Training Day
Friday
25th October 2013
Half Term Holidays
Monday
28th October - Friday 1stNovember 2013
School Starts
Monday
4th November 2013
Training Day
Friday
6th December 2013
School Ends
Friday
20th December 2013
Christmas Holidays
Monday
23rdDecember 2013 – Friday 3rdJanuary 2014
School Starts
Monday
6th January 2014
School Ends
Friday
14th February 2014
Half Term Holidays
Monday
17th February – Friday 21stFebruary 2014
School Starts
Monday
24th February 2014
School Ends
Friday
4thApril2014
Easter Holidays
Monday
7thApril– Monday 21stApril 2014
School Starts
Tuesday
22ndApril 2014
Bank Holiday
Monday
5th May 2014
School Ends
Friday
23rdMay 2014
Half Term Holidays
Monday
26th May – Friday 30th May 2014
School Starts
Monday
2ndJune 2014
Spring Term
Summer Term
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School Ends
Tuesday
22ndJuly 2014
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