School opens its doors to the community
Families in Ledbury can enjoy activities and services in one location thanks to Ledbury Primary School becoming a fully extended school.
The government wants all schools to offer access to a core set
of extended activities by 2010. These activities include providing
community access, offering parenting support, providing swift and
easy access to support services and offering full access to
childcare. Schools are also expected to offer a varied menu of
activities for their pupils.
The scheme is based on the principle that in order for children and
young people to reach their full potential they need a positive
approach to learning and to school. Having opportunities before and
after school to play sport, engage in arts and drama, volunteer and
make creative use of ICT all help.
Ledbury Primary School has been providing many of these activities
for some time. The school has a thriving breakfast and after school
club, a Saturday drama club for 8-15 year olds, parenting classes
and speech and language support. In addition there are a range of
activities for adults to enjoy such as dance, aerobics and tae kwan
do.
The school has its own nursery for four to five year olds and to complement this local voluntary-run pre-school, Busy Bees, formerly Mucky Pups has just opened up on site. Ofsted registered Busy Bees offers sessions for children aged two to four, which in conjunction with other services at the school, means there is childcare available from 8am-6pm Monday to Friday.
"We are delighted to be working with the school to provide flexible childcare for parents," said Kassie Eldon, manager. "The school has provided us with much bigger and brighter premises and the children benefit from the use of school playing fields and facilities too.
"We've only been at the school for one week and we're full already with 47 children on the register, which shows there is a real need for parents and families to be able to access services in one location."
Julie Duckworth, head teacher at Ledbury Primary School said: "The school is going from strength to strength thanks to the hard work of staff, governors and support from parents.
"Some of the services we have been providing will eventually move to the recently opened Children's Centre which is on our school site. The combination of Children's Centre and school facilities means parents and families can come to one site for childcare, formal education, leisure and family support which has to be good news for everyone."
