West Cliff Primary School
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| 200px | |
| Established | 1935 |
|---|---|
| Type | Community school |
| Headteacher | Christina Zanelli |
| Deputy Headteacher | Kirsty Hird |
| Location | Church Square Whitby North Yorkshire YO21 3EG England Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Local authority | North Yorkshire |
| DfE number | 815/2197 |
| DfE URN | 121346 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Ages | 4–11 |
| Website | School website |
West Cliff Primary School is a primary school in Whitby, North Yorkshire, England. It caters for girls and boys aged 4 – 11, with 170 pupils on roll. The current Head teacher is Christina Zanelli, who took over from Mrs Beverley Stell in September 2009.
Contents
History
The school now known as West Cliff Primary School, cost £11,488 when it was first opened as Whitby West Cliff Council Senior School in 1935. It was opened by Alderman Sir William Worsly in June 1936.
In 1963, Whitby West moved to what is now Caedmon School and the Mount and Cliff Street primary schools combined to form West Cliff County Primary School.
In July 1996 the School celebrated its Diamond Jubilee, with a party on the school playground, where each child was presented with a commemorative mug and book mark. The School choir and band also gave a concert.
Mrs Janet Bell, was headteacher from 1983 to 2003. Among her many achievements include introduced the schools five day visit to Bewerley Park Outdoor Educational Centre, where pupils still visit today. She was the moving force behind the school's longstanding involvement in the Eskdale Festival of Arts and Music. She fostered a number of local, national and international links, including with the Endeavour Trust. As a result of her energy, a number of pupils travelled abroad on school trips when this was comparatively rare in primary school.s
In September 2003, Mrs Bell retired and Mr Alistair Forsyth became Head teacher from September 2004 until July 2009 when he moved to take up a headship in The Orkneys.. Mrs Beverley Stell, who had been the Deputy Headteacher for five years, took over for one year before leaving for her first permanent headship. The current headteacher, Mrs Christina Zanelli, joined West Cliff in September 2010.
Staff and students
West Cliff Primary School has a body of around 200 pupils aged between 2 and 11, taught in classes named after sea creatures: Puffins (Reception), Starfish (Year 1), Turtles (Year 2), Penguins (Year 3), Seahorses (Year 4), Dolphins (Year 5) and Seals (Year 6), due to the schools coastal location. The school's nursery opened in April 2016 when government regulations allowed schools to take children from the age of 2.
The Head teacher of West Cliff is Mrs Christina Zanelli, who also continues to actively carry out a teaching role, along with a further ten teachers. These are supported by ten teaching assistants (TAS) – four of which are qualified to teach classes if needed. Finally, the school has two office staff, five midday supervisors, a caretaker and two cleaners.
Teaching and curriculum
At West Cliff all subjects are covered in the National Curriculum from Maths and English to Geography and History. Foundation subjects are often taught through a whole school topic (which changes each term). This provides a framework to launch curriculum subjects from in order to improve student engagement and application of learning. For instance, the topic in summer 2013 for Key Stage Two was World War 2, while Key Stage One examined the Great Fire of London and Florence Nightingale. Currently the entire school is learning about Space. Topics the school have studied in the past include: Romans, Ancient Greeks, Rainforests, Victorians and the Vikings. The school also invites parents in to work alongside their children in topic or curriculum based activity sessions.
Educational visits
Pupils are taken on educational visits to enhance their classroom experience, by bringing learning to life in a real world context. Each year the school tries to have at least one whole school trip related to the school topic, where pupils from the Reception Class up to Year 6 learn together. Recent visits have included a Mosque to learn about Islam, Flamingo Land to learn about endangered animals and Eden Camp to learn about World War Two. Other trips throughout the year are specific to particular year groups, for example, Year 5 go to Bewerley Park Outdoor Educational Centre annually. The school also has strong links with local Secondary schools (Year 5 and Year 6 especially). The pupils take part in practical science and maths lessons which help prepare them for the transition between schools.
Sports
The School competes in a number of sporting events and encourages the children to work as a team and become motivated in all aspects of their development. The main sporting events the school participates in are cross country, gymnastics, netball, football and swimming, for both boys and girls.
Extra Curricular Program
Several extracurricular programs are supported by the school. This enhances pupils’ experience, ability and progression further though running clubs either at lunchtime or after school. In addition to groups engaging in activities such as arts and crafts, Mine craft, netball, choir, fitness, recorders, football, Samba drumming and drama a 'Homework Club' allows children and their parent’s access to resources (such as ICT) that they may not have at home
Education and integration into the community
West Cliff has many links with the local community, and maintains these as part of bringing a "whole picture approach" to pupil development. Parents are regularly invited into school to take part in themed afternoons linked with topic work or other curriculum areas. The school also invites visitors and organisations into school to enhance pupils learning from a real life point of view.
Examples of the schools activities include an annual Harvest Festival where food brought in by pupils is donated to local residential homes, though in 2013 the donations were reallocated to help set up a food pank in Whitby. At Christmas time, the school choir sing carols in a variety of locations around Whitby, for local charities and the elderly. In the past, the school has been involved with a community garden in Pannett Park; opening a new chain store in the area; playing Samba drums to open the Music Port festival West Cliff also involves itself in fundraising events for local (RNLI)[1][2] and national (Children in Need) causes, as well as raising money to fund educational visits throughout the year.
In 2016, the School's Cook became national School Cook of the Year.
References
Additional sources
Whitby Gazette - West Cliff welcomes positive Ofsted report
Yorkshire Post - Whitby Dinner Lady wins Schools best Chef
School Chef involved in health eating program
Guardian Zurich Schools Competition
