Community

Arden is at the heart of the local community and our aim is to support families in any way which will allow their children to flourish and achieve their best.

This is achieved through a variety of ways.

The Arch

The Arch stands for Arden Community Hub and is a satellite space for Greet Children’s Centre, as well as providing support for Arden families and those in the wider community.

The aim is for it to be used every day of the year – in school, before and after school, at weekends and in holidays – to provide services for the community.

Already there are lots of activities there:

• Five successful English Classes are run there.
• Monday and Tuesday afternoons have dressmaking classes.
• There are stay and play and crèche sessions for pre school pupils.
• Gup Shup and Chai every Wednesday at 9.
• Beauty, dance and Mendhi courses.

In the near future the following are hoping to be added:

• Adult Arabic Classes
• Homework support
• Toy Library
• Access to local services eg health, police, housing
• Cooking and Healthy Eating Classes and Sessions
• Before and After School Childcare

There will also be holiday and weekend activities for children. Most of these activities will have a small fee to ensure the space can stay open, as we have limited funding.

If you have any ideas or interest in coming to activities or hiring the space at very competitive rates, please contact Mrs Rana at the school (Monday to Wednesday) or contact the Children’s Centre, who manage the timetables, on 0121 675 6373.

Adult Learning

We provide English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). It is provided by South Birmingham College. Another well establish adult class is textile or clothes making. The participants often proceed from the class to sew for the family from home.

Health and Fitness classes have been long established. Parents recognise the value of this stepping stone for them. Again, they often progress and feel confident enough to attend the local gym as a result.

Working with textiles

Health training

Parents have expressed an interest in attending an ICT course which hopefully we will provide in the Autumn term.

A group of parents share each others skills for two hours each week, such as cooking, embroidery and hena designing at present.

If you have any other skills or ideas to share with our community or want to join any of the above please contact Mrs Rana.

Family Learning

This year Family Learning has completed three projects with three different year groups called 'Keeping up with the Children'.

Parents and children benefit from visiting and working with their children at school in a fun environment. They then feel confident enough to take on the responsibility and support their child with their education. Often Adult Learning and Family Learning go together.

Every child gets to spend £10 on books to use at home with parents. For some of the parents it was their first trip to a book shop and their first journey on a bus.

Family Support

We support every family who come for advice of any kind connected to their child's education. An Open Door policy operates, where Mr Khan and Mrs Rana are available to speak with parents on the playground before school or at any time, if parents phone or arrange a visit. The school will also contact and visit parents when the need arises.

Introductory sessions for new pupils and parents are held to show them around the school when they arrive during term time. School policies such as behaviour, visits, times and uniform are also discussed. Hopefully this will give the child enough confidence and knowledge to get started and ensure there are no health issues that may affect their education.

Parent Voice (The Parents Working Party)

The Parents Working Party (PWP) was established in 2006. The group is made up the parents of the pupils in the school. Along with the Every Child Matters (ECM), they meet on a termly basis.

As a group the PWP have helped to write, implement and update whole school policies such as Homework, Behaviour, Relationships and Medicine. In addition to this, they have taken part in food taster sessions of school lunches and their comments have helped to improve the menu.

The PWP are the voice of parents - their aim primarily is to make changes for the better and share this information with the other parents and the wider community.

The agenda has been set for the next academic year and we will be looking at the following issues:

• Fund raising
• Induction for new parents
• Assessment data
• Clubs

Parents Workshops

At Arden Primary we hold various Parents Workshops where parents can attend with their children.

Recently, the whole school took part in 'Number Club'. Each week the children complete an individual timed test of mental calculations and if they are correct they receive a certificate and are 'promoted' to the next level. This allows teachers to give each child exactly the right level of work and it lets children feel proud of their achievements. Lots of chidlren become very competitive! Number club helps to improve the speed and accuracy of mental calculations.

We held Number Club Workshops for all parents to attend with their children. We had fantastic attendance and it meant we could show the parents how we helped the children to learn in school and our expectations of them in numeracy.

Each week the children take their Number Club sheet home to learn so they are ready for their timed test. The children's success is evidence that they are benefiting from the partnership between school and home.

Using the Community

The school has close links with local religious communities, South Birmingham College, the Islamic Exhibition Centre, the local leagues, Golden Hillock Sports Academy and the local schools all have contacts that are shared between them, especially the Learning Mentors.