For information about our approach to and the content of our curriculum we follow in each academic year for every subject, please view our Curriculum page.
Please be aware that parents and carers have the right to withdraw their child from all or part of RE, please contact us to discuss this.
Phonics
Phonics is taught from Reception using Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised which is a systematic and synthetic phonics programme, validated by the DfE. The progression of Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised ensures children build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, in order to master phonics to read and spell. Application of phonics is encouraged in a range of contexts and across the curriculum.
At Thistle Hill Academy, we are always ready to learn. Our vision is to make stars out of every child and help them to shine in their own unique way. We will achieve this by adopting the following values- Supportive, Togetherness, Ambition, Respect and Success- in collaboration with our community.
Support
- We support our friends
- We show each other we care
- We help others when they need it
- We strive to be complimentary
- We show empathy and put ourselves in the shoes of others
Togetherness
- Working as a team
- Listening to others
- Showing the best of ourselves in our Community
- Building a strong school community with our parents and neighbours
Ambition
- Doing what you think you can’t
- Encouraging other to achieve
- Believing in ourselves
- Wanting the best for ourselves, families and our community
- Reaching for the stars!
Respect
R- ready
E- empathy
S- support
P- patience
E- equal
C- caring
T- together!
Success
If we support each other in a way that brings us together and allows us to have ambition. while showing respect to those around us!
This is SUCCESS!
The Stour Academy Trust recognises that our education system needs to quickly and more radically shift to close equity gaps and to better prepare our young people for the 21st century. We are transforming our schools from passive forms of learning focused on direct instruction and memorisation, by moving towards interactive methods that promote the critical and individual thinking needed in today’s innovation-driven economy.
Our pedagogical model combined with the intentional deployment of technology will help us deliver personalised learning in an enabling environment. Technology will accelerate our progress but will not be the driver of our vision.
We aim to nurture a community of learners that challenge thinking, where our staff are empowered to take risks and develop their practice to meet the needs of an evolving school system, which is not held back by traditional restrictions and ideologies.
By limiting routine or unnecessary tasks we allow professionals to focus on learning behaviours and interactions which will promote emotional intelligence and the development of children as life-long, curious learners.
There will be no barriers to achievement within our learning community and our teachers will build strong relationships that facilitate the learning of others. Collaboration will open doors, minds and possibilities and enable individuals to meet their personal goals.
Financial Information
Deed of Variation of Funding Agreement
Parent Forum
The Stour Academy Trust recognises the value of parent forums as a means of having a sustained dialogue with a committed and informed group of parents on a range of issues that impact on their day to day life with the school which affect them and their children.
To view our Governance structure and membership information, please visit our governance page at:
thestouracademytrust.org.uk/governance-and-financial-information
Every parent/carer with a child enrolled at the school has the opportunity to become a member of the parent forum.
As a member of the parent forum, parents have an important role in working closely with the school by being asked their opinion by the Leadership on issues relating to day to day matters.
Parent Forum Meetings are held once a term.
Find out more about our Parent Forum below:
The total amount of grant funding your school received for academic year 2024 to 2025 19080
Is the total amount for PE and sport premium grant for academic year 2024 to 2025 correct? Yes
Did your school have any unspent grant funding from the allocation for academic year 2024 to 2025? No
Did your school carry forward any grant funding from previous years for use in academic year 2024 to 2025? No
Categories of grant spending
Has your school spent any of its PE and sport premium grant on CPD? No
Has your school spent any of its PE and sport premium grant on internal activities? Yes
How much has your school spent on internal school based extra-curricular opportunities? 1677.28
How much has your school spent on internal sports competitions? 9220
How much has your school spent on internal top-swimming lessons or broadening aquatic opportunities for pupils? 0
How much has your school spent on internal active travel? 0
How much has your school spent on internal equipment and resources? 8182.72
How much has your school spent on internal membership fees? 0
How much has your school spent on internal use of educational platforms and resources? 0
School based extra-curricular opportunities 1677.28
Internal sports competitions 9220
Top-up swimming lessons or broadening aquatic opportunities for pupils 0
Active travel 0
Equipment and resources 8182.72
Membership fees 0
Use of educational platforms and resources 0
Total school spending on internal activities 19080
Has your school spent any of its PE and sport premium grant on external activities? No
Total CPD category spend 0
Total internal category spend 19080
Total external category spend 0
Total spent of PE and sports premium 19080
Opportunities in sport
Has your school targeted any spending on providing or improving opportunities in PE, sport and physical activities for pupils with SEND or long-term medical conditions? Yes
SEND list Supporting participation in extra-curricular opportunities or competitions, Specialist coaches to assist children with longterm medical conditions
Has your school targeted any spending on increasing or improving girls’ access to PE lessons or access to extra-curricular sport and physical activities? No
Has your school targeted any spending on providing or improving opportunities in sport and physical activities for
disadvantaged pupils? Yes
Confirm how for disadvantaged pupils from the options listed below: After-school sport and physical activity clubs – free of charge for all pupils, Subsidised sport and physical activity clubs for disadvantaged pupils, Community club engagement or pathways
Perceived impacts and improvements
What impact has this funding had within your school on increasing all staff’s confidence, knowledge and skills in
teaching PE and sport? Positive impact
What impact has this funding had within your school on increasing engagement of all pupils in regular physical activity and sport? Positive impact
What impact has this funding had within your school on raising the profile of PE and sport across the school to support whole
school improvement? Positive impact
What impact has this funding had within your school on offering a broader and more equal experience of a range of sports and physical activities to all pupils? Positive impact
What impact has this funding had within your school on increasing participation in competitive sport? No impact
Has your school’s PE and sport premium spending achieved any of the following? An increase in pupils’ physical activity levels, An increase in the number of pupils participating in extra-curricular activities
What impact has your school’s spending of this funding had on PE attainment? Positive impact
What impact has your school’s spending of this funding had on increasing teachers’ confidence and competence in teaching
PE and school sport? Positive impact
What impact has your school’s spending of this funding had on increasing teachers’ confidence and competence in teaching
PE and school sport? Positive impact
What impact has your school’s spending of this funding had on increasing pupil participation in extra-curricular activities? Positive impact
Sustainability
What impact has your school’s spending of this funding had on ensuring that the improvements made are sustainable? Positive impact
Swimming and water safety
Does your school have year 6 pupils? Yes
What percentage of pupils in your current year 6 cohort can swim competently, confidently, and proficiently over a distance
of 25 metres? 54
What percentage of pupils in your current year 6 cohort can use a range of strokes effectively (e.g. front crawl, backstroke, and breaststroke)? 35
What percentage of pupils in your current year 6 cohort can perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations? 4
What impact has your school’s spending of this funding had on swimming and water safety attainment? No impact
Our school is committed to equality. Out aim is to ensure that everyone is treated fairly and has equality of opportunity. We also work to develop good relations between people from different groups.
We recognise that in wider society, people are not always treated fairly, for example because of their: age; disability; gender; ethnicity, colour or national origin; religion or belief. Out aim is to make sure that our school is a safe and secure place for everyone. We do not tolerate unfair treatment or bullying of any kind.
We recognise that people have different needs and we understand that treating people equally does not always involve treating them all the same. When people face particular difficulties they need extra support to help them achieve success and we try to do this for people in our school community.
We also try to make sure that people from different groups are consulted and involved in our decisions, for example through talking to pupils and parents/carers, and through our School Council.
Britain as a country is very committed to making society a fair place and the Government asks all schools to help with this. We are asked to set equality objectives and to make sure we review our progress every year and let people know how we are getting on.
View our Equal Opportunities Policy below:
View our Accessibility Policy below:
Thistle Hill Academy is open from 7.30am – 6.00pm Monday to Friday.
Compulsory times for children are 8.45am – 3.15pm which equates to 6 hours 30 minutes a day, or 32.5 hours per week.
Breakfast club runs from 7.30am – 8.30am
After School Club is split into two sessions. The Twilight session is from 3.15pm until 4.30pm and the Late session is from 4.15pm until 6.00pm.
For more information about free and paid for After School clubs including Breakfast and After School Club please visit our useful information page.
Please see below our most recent Key Stage 2 performance measures for the 2024/25 academic year, as published by the Secretary of State:
Measure | Value |
KS2 Pupils meeting expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 49% |
KS2 Pupils achieving at a higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% |
KS2 Average Scaled Score in Reading | 103 |
KS2 Average Scaled Score in Maths | 100 |
Please also find a link to the compare school and college performance service and our data from the DfE.
Policies
We are required to publish the below policies on our website.
If you would like to view our other statutory and non-statutory policies (e.g. Attendance, First-Aid, Assessment, etc.), please visit www.thestouracademytrust.org.uk/policies or contact the school office who will be able to provide you with a copy.
If you would like to view our curriculum related policies, you will find them in the appropriate subject section of our curriculum page.
Allergy Policy | Use of Spare Adrenaline Auto-Injectors Policy
Behaviour and Anti-Bullying Policy
Charging and Remissions Policy
Complaints Policy | Complaints Process Summary
Equal Opportunities Policy | Equality Statement | Equality (One Page Policy)
Intimate Care and Toileting Policy
PSHE Policy (including Health, Relationships and Sex Education)
Online Safety and Social Networking Policy|Child friendly version
Privacy Notice – Parents|Pupils
Remote education provision information for parents
SEN Policy | SEN Policy (One Page Policy)