Long Lane Primary is a Community School, opened in April 1966 and maintained by West Berkshire Council. There are around 207 children on roll who are taught in seven classes. We invest in Teaching Assistants (most of which are HLTA's), who support the work of whole classes, small groups, and individual children.
We have a large playing field, two smaller playgrounds, one large playground and an outdoor learning environment, which serves the needs of the Foundation Stage children.We also have an outdoor area for Year 1 and Year 2 and are working on our continuous provision within the KS1 setting.
The school has a number of additional teaching spaces to support small groups of learners where appropriate. There is 'The Hub' (small teaching space adn 'The Rainforest Room' (teaching space) and also a food tech room and music room to support wider opportunities.
The school is very well equipped with ICT equipment. We have a suite of PCs plus 2 or 3 computers in each classroom and, from Reception to Year 6 each room has a large screen TV. Our whole school network encompasses over 100 PCs and laptops. We have wireless connectivity across the whole site. In order to make the most of the technology we also have a growing number of laptops, some with touch screens. The children love using them!
Teaching is class based and children are grouped flexibly to meet their learning needs. Children are given learning activities to complete with parents at home as well as other regular activities to practise. Our reading scheme is the ‘Accelerated Reader’ programme which draws upon books from a wide range of publishers. The school teach a subject specific curriculum, that supports links with themes where relevant. We offer a wide variety of active and exciting opportunities across the year groups with a planned progression of skills and knowledge in each subject. Curriculum maps can be found for each class on our website and show Learning Objectives that can be used to support your child’s learning.
Please visit our curriculum page for more details on what and how we teach at Long Lane.
Personal development
At Long Lane we are fully committed to developing a holistic approach to learning which includes supporting all pupils with personal development skills from their starting points. We acknowledge that all children have different lived experiences and personalities and strive to instil intrinsic values that support ‘self motivation’, their ‘love of learning’ and ‘being a good learner’. We do this through the promotion of ‘Secrets of Success’ which is a programme (woven into our curriculum) that supports learning behaviours. Alongside this we adopt a Therapeutic Approach to Behaviour that encourages empathy and understanding of feelings and supports all pupils to display pro-social behaviours and to talk through negative behaviours and learn from them. This is a huge part of our culture at Long Lane and is woven into everything we do from lessons, behaviour in and out of class, pastoral support and the way in which staff treat each other. This approach is an integral part of how we fulfill our safeguarding duty and build a safe and happy culture at Long Lane. In order to give children a balanced and inclusive perspective on society, the school teach from the Jigsaw scheme for PSHE. Alongside this and woven into our PSHE scheme, our 'No Outsiders' programme supports an understanding of British Values, protective factors and living together in a wonderfully diverse world. Through stories pupils learn about how to be good citizens, acceptance and tolerance and respectful curiosity whilst they celebrate diversity in themselves and in the wider world.
Active and outdoor learning
Long Lane School encourages active and outdoor learning wherever possible. We have extensive grounds with a variety of equipment for pupils to play and explore. All infant classes have an outside area with opportunities for continuous provision and outdoor learning. Forest School opportunities are provided in some Year groups (this is offsite provision) and there is an outdoor classroom on the school field. Further opportunities are provided with a wide range of sporting activities, resources and coaching through extra curricular clubs. Please see Sports Premium page.
The school take an active approach to learning and use 'Teach Active' maths and english activities to enhance the curriculum. Active learning is woven into all subjects and lessons to ensure that 'No learner is left Behind' and that children 'know more and remember more' about their learning. We believe this is also the best way to engage and ignite learning, curiosity and creativity.
Our playground in zoned into active areas for all children to explore through team building, problem solving, creative thinking and building resilience. We are really proud of our unique outdoor opportunities that allow child initiated learning to continue right through to y6 and ensure that children are learning in every part of their day. We have a GoKart track, den building, loose parts, forest school play area, nature centre, reading and writing sheds, as well as lots of sporting activities. Our y6 leaders lead clubs for younger children in the school at lunchtimes such as 'karaoke club', 'stone painting club' and many more. Our rainforest room is a well being centre for pupils who wish to have a quieter lunchtime and is open for all year groups and run by our wellbeing ambassadors. All children mix together from all our age groups and this has amazing opportunities for developing citizenship and nurturing relationships for every age group.
Extra Curricular
The school believes in the many benefits to be derived from music and through visiting teachers have offered tuition in Strings, Drums, Guitar, Brass, Violin, Woodwind, Piano and Keyboard and we have a school choir. We offer a variety of after school clubs, many of a sporting nature, which teachers and outside organisations run on a termly basis.
We love to have parents in to see our school in operation and offer 'Parent Learning Tours' where parents can see how we operate during the school day, get involved in the learning and also interview our learning ambassadors (pupils) about their learning. This supports parent/school communication and pupils talking actively about their learning.
We offer a number of other community events for parents to be part of learning at Long Lane including; coffee mornings, reading breakfasts, book fairs, welcome time, play dates, information evenings (reading, therapeutic thinking, maths mastery).
Please click her for more information - Pupil Opportunities and Cultural Capital
We have a simple uniform policy which is popular with parents and children alike.
The Long Lane Parent Teacher Association (PTA), a charity run by volunteer parents, is active and well supported by parents. It raises in the region of £20,000 each year, which is spent on various activities and resources at the School’s request.
We are so proud of our PTA who are dedicated to planning and delivering events across the year for children and families including 'Gardening Family days', 'Elf Olympics', Fish and Chip Quiz night and many more.
PALS (Parents As Links to School) - We are very lucky to be able to work with our parents in many different ways. We currently have a PALS group who meet once a short term with SLT to discuss matters arising to support the link between school and parents. Parents bring FAQ's and queries, as well as voice their perspective on operational and communication matters to ensure that there is clear communication with stakeholders. Any parent can join this group.
The Governing Body is drawn from a variety of backgrounds including finance, legal, healthcare, secondary education, local government and school staff. The work of the governors is divided between two committees.