Background Information

Five Ways Primary is a co-educational day school administered by Staffordshire County Education Committee. It caters for pupils between the ages of three and eleven years of age and serves mainly the Heath Hayes area of the County and the developing Hawks Green district. The social backgrounds of the pupils are very mixed. Heath Hayes is a former mining village, whereas the new housing developments cater mainly for younger professionals and their families. The school also accommodates a small number of children who have been provided with Social Services accommodation.

The school is housed in two main buildings. Key Stage One pupils are accommodated within the semi-open plan unit off Langholm Drive. This “Phase 1” of the buildings programme was completed in December 1991. At the present time, Key Stage Two pupils are housed in the existing accommodation sited at the other side of the main school playground. The “Early Years” block was completed in May 1997 and extended further in 2000. The school has a 52 place nursery which is housed in this building. A second ICT suite was opened in September 2000. There are 654 pupils on roll at the present time.

Five Ways is a forward-looking, highly professional organisation, which takes seriously the education of the children of Heath Hayes. The quality of teaching and learning throughout the school is of a very high standard, with levels of attainment rising from year to year. The teaching throughout the school centres around a well-planned and highly structured progression of learning objectives. Staffing organisation is based upon curriculum strengths, professional expertise and stated individual preferences. Pupils are taught in ability groups throughout the school, and discipline is good with undesirable behaviour kept to a minimum.

High standards of professional performance and appearance are expected from the staff. The staff as a whole form an extremely professional and committed team who work hard in the interests of the education of all pupils.

The school management philosophy is based upon a belief that, “The success of the school depends upon the contribution made to its aims by its people. The greater and the more unified the collective contribution, the more successful the school.” (Five Ways Management Philosophy Statement). The medium through which this is achieved centres around individual staff training plans which are derived from a highly structured School Development Plan. This is linked to a system of performance management for all teaching and support staff. Training requirements for all staff, teaching and non-teaching, cater for school and individual needs.

The school holds the national award of ‘Investors in People’, which reflects the strong commitment to staff development and training.

The school budget is used to underpin the philosophy of the school and to support the School Development Plan. Funding is allocated from school budget to support the implementation of training plans.

The headteacher, deputy headteacher and three assistant headteachers form the senior management team which provides strong leadership and support. The decision making process is based upon consultation, with all personnel being encouraged to voice constructive opinions relating to the work of the school. A variety of staff “teams” have been established, all of which operate within the school policies, but have the power to make decisions which affect their working practice.

Governors play a large part in the development of the school. Governors’/Staff Advisory and Development Teams are established, which make decisions concerning priority areas for development. During the course of the year, the teams meet to monitor the progress of the Development Plan within their designated area, with final evaluation of the full plan at the end of the year.

Five Ways is a “No Smoking“area.