Our popular school draws pupils from the village and the Eastern districts of Northampton. The school is set in the village of Overstone on the main road. It was opened by Lady Wantage on June 27th, 1877 (according to the log book only 5 attended and they were sent home!) The yearly rental was 1 shilling.
Overstone Primary school is a little, rural school with a big heart. We are proud of our children and what they achieve. The parents have positive views of the school and they are happy with the provision. Standards are good and the latest Ofsted report is very positive (October 2007). We have a very hard working, committed and talented staff, who provide an interesting and varied curriculum and help the school to run well. The school has a strong community feel and the staff and children know each other very well.
At Overstone Primary School we have a clear understanding of how children learn and continually strive to provide the best possible conditions to facilitate this. We acknowledge that we live in a changing world and that we need to prepare our children for tomorrow’s needs. Consequently, we not only place fundamental value on the traditional 3Rs, but also on developing skills for the 21st century.
We acknowledge the importance of developing a caring and stimulating environment, where children’s high self-esteem enables them to take risks in learning and to learn confidently through their mistakes. We encourage children to ask questions and for them to learn how to solve challenges and problems. We make it our business to strive for excellence, empowering children to be happy and responsive. Children are challenged within the delivery of an enriched, creative and linked curriculum. We are an inclusive school that developes independence, responsibility, kindness and good manners through a detailed and extensive personal, social and health education programme.
We are a forward thinking school, planning for the best possible education. The school is always over-subscribed. We work hard to celebrate success, recognise our own and children’s weaknesses, continually evaluate and look for further ways to improve the education of the children.
The school has four classes for pupils from Reception to year 6. Cohorts are small, with only 15 pupils in each year group; classes are made up of two cohorts (R, Yr1/2, Yr3/4, Yr5/6).
By the time the pupils leave the school, standards are well above average in English, above average in Maths and average in Science. The school has strong links with the local church of St Nicholas. We enjoy using the church as part of our curriculum and the regular visits of our local vicar and children’s worker for assemblies.
The children at Overstone Primary School are given lots of different opportunities to shine. We have a good after school provision with a wide range of activities offered for our children. In achieving our Active Mark we entered into a partnership with many outside providers, including Northampton Rugby Club. Our commitment to the Arts has gained us the Arts Mark Silver Award, which again has driven our links with the community, including the Overstone Singers. Recent extras include multi-skills sports; netball tournaments; string instrument lessons for all year three and year four pupils; a visiting theatre group; and the Waste education bus.
Education is a partnership between home and school and we place a great deal of emphasis on our partnership with parents. We believe that children learn best when home and school work together for their benefit. When your child starts school, it is not where your job ends and ours begins. It is where our job begins and yours continues! Children coming into the school bring a wealth of knowledge and understanding about the world around them. It is our aim to build on these skills and promote a willingness and enthusiasm to learn more.
We encourage prospective parents to visit our school. If you would like to come and look around and catch a glimpse of what we get up to at Overstone Primary School, please phone the school office to make an appointment. We also organise open days and events throughout the year which we hope you will be able to attend.
We hope that this will be the beginning of a long and successful home school partnership between us. Working closely with parents is an important element of our work for the success of each child.
We look forward to welcoming you to Overstone Primary School and thank you for your interest in our school.
Pauline Hulse
Head teacher