Active Mark - Awarded 2008, for our 3rd year

Active Mark and Sports Mark are awarded annually and reward delivery of the national PE, School Sports and Club Links strategy. Schools are automatically assessed for one of the marks through the national school sport survey, which all partnership schools take part in. This means that schools will not have to complete a separate application form. This ensures that the burden placed on schools is kept to the very minimum.

For 2008 the standards that had to be achieved in order to achieve Active Mark were:

• At least 90% of pupils across the school were doing at least 2 hours high quality PE and school sport a week.

Neil Sarginson leader of PE
"It reflects the hard work and support from children, staff and parents in encouraging sport in and out of school hours. It is a tremendous achievement and I am really proud of it."
Alex in year 4
"I feel proud to be in a sporty school."

International School Award – Awarded 2008

Oct 8th: Watlington Primary school in Oxfordshire received the prestigious International School Award at a high-profile ceremony inLondon, presented by broadcaster and journalist George Alagiah.

Click to read the British Council Press Release!

OFSTED – 2008

Click here for the latest Ofsted report (1st July 2008).
And here for our own Ofsted Press release
The school has gone from strength to strength since the last inspection. It now provides an excellent education for its pupils. As a result, their achievement and personal development are outstanding. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school and of what it provides for their children.

Healthy Schools – Awarded 2006

Letter to pupils from Julie Garner (HS coordinator for Oxfordshire)
“You were excellent guides who showed a great deal of enthusiasm for your school. It was lovely to see all you had been doing in the school grounds and within the buildings. It was also pleasing to hear about all the other work you have been doing that contributes to you all adopting a healthy lifestyle.”

Letter to Head Teacher
“It was a pleasure to meet with your task group and hear about all you have achived in the past year. I was particularly impressed with the truly representative nature of your task group and the active involvement of your pupils. Working in the truly whole school fashion embeds the healthy school philosophy and makes the work sustainable.”

Watlington Primary School was nominated by Julie Garner for The National Teaching Awards in 2006 because she said it was one of the “healthiest schools she has ever visited!”

Investors in People – November 2005

Quotes from the IIP report
“There is a strong team ethos at the school; people frequently speak about support from all quarters - Its one big team, it is a really nice thing to come into.”

“People do feel their contribution is valued and recognised through thank you’s mentions in assembly and newsletters. One aspect of this is the number of people who had commented on the very specific praise they had received.”

“The high level of training and development and the range of creative approaches to aligning school development and personal development are very impressive.”

“Evaluation is very strong too. In particular, the school frequently uses an evidence based approach. This is a distinctive feature of the approach at Watlington Primary School.”

“The school has a warm, friendly confident atmosphere; the feel is informal but focused…………many people commented that it was to do the best for each child and adult, and this expectation that everyone at the school will be learning and developing is very strong. ”

Artsmark Gold – Awarded 2006

Watlington Primary School has achieved one of 1,220 Arts Council England Artsmark awards announced today. In this sixth Artsmark round, 249 schools across the country achieved Artsmark, 412 Artsmark Silver and 559 achieved Artsmark Gold status.

Artsmark is the national arts award for schools that demonstrate a commitment to developing arts provision – from drama tomusic, design and literature, dance to sculpture. The scheme also encourages schools to work in partnership with artists and arts organisations. The arts transform lives and raise aspirations and improving opportunities for young people and their local communities to engage with the arts is a key priority for the school and the Arts council.

Angela Briggs, headteacher of Watlington Primary School, said:
“ I am delighted that the Arts Council has recognised Watlington’s progressive, arts education programme which enables pupils to work with local artists. There is a huge amount of arts activity going on at Watlington. For example, this week some of our Key Stage 2 pupils will be working with Mexilore, a professional dance company, to learn about The Aztecs and improve their dance skills. Others have been working with local professional artists, musicians and dancers on a weekly basis since September 2005. Many of our children performed at The Watlington Festival over the Bank holiday and they perform in weekly assemblies for parents and relatives so they are confident in their artistic abilities. These standards could not have been achieved without the hard work, enthusiasm and commitment of the whole team at Watlintgon Primary and I would like to say a big thank you for all their hard work in achieving this gold standard award!”

Sir Christopher Frayling, Arts Council England Chair, said:
“Warm congratulations to those who have been awarded Artsmark this year! The arts are for everyone and an Artsmark recognises the significant achievement of schools which are committed to putting the transforming power of the arts at the heart of their curricula - and at the heart of their school community.”

Eco Schools

The Eco Team was set up in January 2007. Children were asked to write a letter to the Head, Angela Briggs, telling her why they thought they would be a good member of the Eco Team. Mrs Briggs selected the team members shortly after. The team meet on a regular basis and have wasted no time in making their presence felt! They have made posters and held a "Who wants to be a Millionaire?" style assembly to highlight eco facts. Staff have been told that they will be issued with yellow and red cards if they do not turn off their classroom lights!!

On March 21st 2007, Watlington Primary School were awarded Level 1 in Sustainable Learning - the first step towards becoming an Eco School. The award specifically congratulates the school "For improving the management of its energy and water and identifying opportunities for making savings." Four members of the Eco Team attended a special assembly at Tetsworth Primary School on Friday 26th May to accept a certificate for achieving this level from Boris Johnson, MP for Henley. Photograph to follow soon ...... hopefully!

We look forward to more achievements from the school and its' Eco team soon!