About Us

Westbury School is a locally maintained special school providing education for pupils who experience emotional, behavioural and social difficulties.

Pupils at Westbury are admitted to the school following completion of a Statementing Process and with agreement that placement at the school is appropriate for their needs.

Pupils experience the full range of the National Curriculum between key stage 2, 3 and 4. The school has developed a strong ethos around the achievement agenda, and over the last three years, the school has demonstrated year on year improvements at the end of year assessments(2 and 3) and has seen 100% pass rate at GCSE over the last two years.

The school has been subject to a review of its performance by the LEA during the summer term 2003 and the summery report, recently received by the school, has noted significant positive aspects across the full range of criteria usually associated with OfSTED inspections. In March 2004 Ofsted carried out an inspection of Westbury school and concluded that 'Westbury is a good school with very good features'.

Places at Westbury are at a premium within this and other authorities and there is often a waiting list for pupils requiring full-time educational provision.

There has been significant financial investment in the school financially over the last two years. Curriculum resources are of a high quality and support the extensive curriculum development that has taken place during this period. The buildings are of a high standard, well maintained and provide an outstanding learning environment. There has been the recent addition of a full sized Sports Hall to the school site. The school has recently completed the development of an E-learning suite within the school which we believe further enhance the curriculum and learning opportunities for all our pupils. This level of investment clearly demonstrates the Local Authority's commitment to the ongoing development of the school.

Reward System

Points

Westbury School runs a successful rewards points system throughout each Key Stage. The pupils each have a reviewable behaviour and work target relating to their Individual Education Plan. In each lesson they are marked on how they have met these targets, along with the work they have acheived, whether they have been in the correct area and their respect towards others.

Together with points for tutor time, each pupil has the potential to acheive 120 points in a day. After lesson 5, their points are added up. If they have 100 or more points, they have access to a lesson 6 activity. Any points over 100 are saved as bonus points, and these with any points they recieve for good work or behaviour, are banked for reward trips at the end of each term.

Lesson 6

There are different lesson 6 activities available every day. Each key stage has a choice of a sporting and non-sporting lesson. These include Hockey, Basketball, Footabll Team Skills, Craft, Drama and First Aid. Usually, each key stage has a separate sporting activity and joint non-sporting lesson. On Friday, lesson 6 is Big Match, where everyone who makes lesson 6 has a big game of footabll using the school's excellent sports hall. Since we opened the Key Stage 2 class, many pupils have taken the opportunity to use their lesson 6 to help support the teaching of the KS2 lesson 6, promoting good relationships throughout the school.

For pupils who do not make enough points to join in a lesson 6 activity, a lesson is provided with set work, or for pupils to complete work from the day.

Bonus Points

Each Bonus Point that is saved is equivalent to one penny when it comes to paying for reward trips. Pupils also use their points to pay for any damage to school or equipment that they are responsible for. This system serves as a good incentive to the pupils.

Links to some of the places used for reward trips can be found in the Staff section of the website.