Sep 5, 2010
Foundation School
Ensuring every child is known: 3 schools within the Academy
The Foundation School is a very distinctive offer at LWA. Led by Sam Standring, the school has two full time year managers who devote their time to the welfare of students. Janine Reid, who works with Year 7, handles all transition arrangements with our primary feeder schools ensuring a smooth and anxiety-free transfer from primary to secondary school.
This is supported by extensive contact between Academy staff and Year 6 students throughout the final term of primary. As well as being involved in Primary-based projects, all students spend at least a day working in the secondary school environment, Ms Standring is assisted by Kath Tinker, Learning Project Leader in the Foundation Curriculum.
The Curriculum
It is of enormous importance to us to ensure that our students build on the knowledge and skills gained in Primary schools and begin to make good progress as soon as they arrive with us. The Year 7 curriculum is very much tailored to the needs of young secondary students, combining familiar elements of primary approaches such as fewer changes of teachers, with the specialist subject teaching more common in secondary.
The curriculum offer in the Foundation School has been praised by the National Curriculum authority and local education authority inspectors for providing engaging, exciting and developmental experiences for students in the early years of their secondary studies.
Specialist Teaching
We have two colleagues with special responsibility for teaching in the Foundation School, who both have extensive primary experience. Vanessa Preston, Advanced Skills Practitioner in Foundation School, leads on the special project in Year 7 and Year 8. Manni Lalli, Advanced Skills Practitioner in Literacy, ensures every individual student has the support to develop their skills in literacy, which are essential to make good progress at secondary level.
