ABPS School Information

Anston Brook Primary School was formed through the amalgamation of the infant and junior
schools in 1999, with the new build being completed (to schedule) in November 2008.

Originally, the school was built in the early 1900's to serve the whole of Anston.

In 1973, a separate infant school was built on the same site to accommodate the increasing
numbers and the two schools were formed. In the meantime, other Anston schools were built to
serve the growing urban population.

Rotherham Borough Council is our local education authority and we are a feeder school to
Dinnington Comprehensive, in the next village.

There are currently 200 children in the school.

Foundation Stage

The foundation stage reduces the number of transitions a young child experiences. For some
children the transition from home to nursery and nursery to reception can be very traumatic,
even with caring, well trained staff. Allowing a young child to stay in the same environment, with
familiar adults and routines, until they are emotionally secure reduces stress for the child and
helps build up their confidence and emotional security. A happy, confident, secure child will learn
better.
Children learn at different paces and the foundation unit allows children to learn at their own
developmental level and not at the chronological level. Now there will be no limit to what nursery
children can achieve, they can learn alongside older children and have access to their teaching
and activities. The child who has less experience particularly benefits when they reach reception
age, as they can continue to play and learn alongside younger children, have access to
appropriate resources, and have the time and space to develop at their own pace. The
foundation unit allows children to transfer to Year 1 able to cope emotionally with all the routines
and procedures of National Curriculum school life.

Our aims are:-
To ensure that all practitioners understand your child’s developmental stages, physically,
intellectually, emotionally and socially
To ensure that your child feels happy, safe, secure and valued
To promote parents and practitioners working together
To build upon what your child knows and to develop this throughout the Foundation Key Stage
To ensure that no child feels excluded or disadvantaged
To plan and organise for a stimulating, positive, purposeful and active learning environment
To observe and respond appropriately to your child to help him or her move on to the next stage
of developmental learning

Key Stage 1

Key Stage 1 consists of two year groups where the children are aged between 5 and 7.

They come from the Foundation Key Stage with the experience of learning through play and go
on to develop their skills and abilities through investigation and more formal sessions in all
National Curriculum subjects in order to take their SATs at the end of Year 2.

The children enjoy their daily Literacy and Numeracy lessons, whilst developing all the skills in
reading, writing and number that are essential for their route to Key Stage 2.

Topics introduced in Year 1 and then developed further in Year 2 are:
Ourselves - where the children learn about how we move and grow.
Light and Dark -where they explore this and find out how important it is in our lives.
Materials - finding out what different materials are used for and why, investigating toys and how
they work.
'Growing plants' and 'Sounds and Hearing' are other topics that are covered and the children
enjoy lots of practical hands on experiences.
A child’s moral, social, spiritual and emotional well being is important to us and we ensure that all
children can show and speak about their thoughts through 'Circle Time', 'Religious Education' and
'Citizenship'.

A necessary part of the school day is 'Brain Gym' and being able to drink lots of water which is
essential to help us concentrate and develop our thinking skills. This is a feature that is prevalent
throughout the whole school.

Key Stage 2

The Junior Children, as with the Infants, still enjoy a topic based curriculum, whilst covering the
Literacy and Numeracy Hours!
Lower Key Stage 2 children study themes such as World War 2, the Ancient Greeks, The Tudors
and Life in India.
Years 3 & 4 and Upper Key Stage 2 children enjoy topics such as The Life of John Lennon,
Ancient Egypt, The Victorians and Life in Africa.
We try to visit educational sites (where ever possible) such as Eden Camp and Gainsborough Old
Hall to enhance the topics and give the children richer experiences.
If visits are impossible we often invite visitors from other nationalities to school to give the
children opportunities for discussions and a view of different cultures.