We are a one form entry school which means that we have only one class per year group. Each class has 30 pupils, and our Nursery has 26 pupils. There are 8 year groups, divided into 3 main phases:

• The Early Years Foundation Stage is Nursery (3–4 yrs)
• and Reception (4–5 yrs)
• Key Stage 1 is Year 1 (5–6 yrs) and Year 2 (6–7 yrs)
• Key Stage 2 is Year 3 (7–8 yrs), Year 4 (8–9 yrs),
• Year 5 (9–10 yrs) and Year 6 (10–11 yrs)

Each class has their own classroom. Each class has its own class teacher. We have additional spaces and rooms that are used for group and individual teaching and specific activities such as music. All our teachers are fully qualified to work with primary aged children and together have a wide, rich range of experience and skills which they bring to the life and work of our school. Teachers are happy in this school and several have been with us for many years. We also welcome Early Career Teachers and have strong links with the Institute of Education’s teaching training programme currently taking a lead in a new national teacher training programme called ‘School Direct’. All our class teachers are assisted by a great team of support staff, including brilliant office staff and a fantastic site manager. Teachers and pupils take great pride in their classrooms, ensuring that the children’s work is on display and that everything is well-organised and well-presented. This is vital in creating the right atmosphere for learning.

At Eleanor Palmer teachers adopt a range of teaching styles and strategies, dependent on the activity / lesson objectives. Each week there will be occasions when your child will work individually, as one of a pair, as part of a mixed attainment group, an attainment group and as a member of the whole class. We try not to have set groups as this can restrict what a child is challenged to do. Each day’s groups, and focus group for the teacher are defined by the previous day’s assessment. Different children respond to different teaching and learning styles and we are constantly working to get this right using staff meetings to reflect on good practice and challenge ourselves.