FAQs
What is Cramlington Village Primary School?
Cramlington Village Primary School is an academy school established as part of the ‘free school’ agenda. It was set up by a group of local parents and teachers looking for something new in Cramlington.
When did the school open?
The school opened its doors on September 2012, beginning with Reception and Year 1 classes, then adding a Reception class each year until it covers all ages from 4 to 11.
Where is the school?
Cramlington Village Primary School is situated in Cramlington as centrally as possible. Situated in Bowmont Drive, the school is easily accessible from the A189 known as the Spine Road, or from the centre of the town, by road, foot or on the local cycle track.
Why did we need another school in Cramlington?
There was a real need for a school of this type in Cramlington – a fast growing new town where existing primary provision was insufficient. Primary schools in Cramlington are currently running close to capacity and plans to build another 1,100 new homes in the town over the next five years could swell the primary age population by around 300 children. More than 500 parents signed a survey saying they would consider sending their children to the new primary school before it opened.
What is different about this school?
We have a passion to see the children in Cramlington achieve more in terms of progress and standards, but we also want to give the children firmer foundations for life by offering them a broader range of learning experiences. Some of the things Cramlington Village Primary School offer include:
- Personalised holistic curriculum
- Individualised learning through play, indoors and outdoors until year three
- Swimming lessons for every year group
- Term times and school hours to suit children’s learning patterns
- Strong and effective parent partnerships
- Sociable mealtimes based on learning and developing
- Family style dining with hot meals delivered through sociable mealtimes facilitated by teaching staff
Who is behind this free school?
The Cramlington Village Primary School steering group is made up of local parents and grandparents who want children in Cramlington, including their own, to have another choice of school in the town.
What is the link between CVPS and Little Angels nursery?
The school builds on the practice and principles of local nursery Little Angels that has achieved four consecutive Ofsted ‘outstanding’ judgements. Parents had been asking the nursery for some time to extend its successful ethos into the primary phase. Cramlington Village Primary School continues the practice of making the curriculum relevant to each child, rather than making each child fit into the curriculum. However, Cramlington Village Primary and Little Angels nursery are completely separate legal and financial entities.
Do you provide after-school childcare?
CVPS contracts out all the childcare to Little Angels, a team of high quality experienced child care staff provide on-site childcare at the end of the normal school day and throughout the school holidays so that parents can work. This service provides a safe, child-friendly environment, nutritionally balanced midday and evening meals, and a structured program of interesting and stimulating activities for the children. The service is entirely flexible for parents to use as required. It is chargeable, but charges are kept to an affordable minimum.
How do you ensure parity of experience (compared with other Cramlington pupils) for our children as they reach transition age 11?
We are very carefully cross referencing all the Key Stage 2 National Curriculum level descriptors and focus carefully on the tracking of pupil progress over time. Our curriculum plans have been carefully scrutinised by the Department for Education as part of the assessment process that we undertook during our application. In 2014 after being open for two years Ofsted judged our provision as good, with elements of inspirational teaching.
If you do not follow the National Curriculum, how will Ofsted judge your performance?
The Ofsted inspection framework assesses the school’s capacity and effectiveness to offer children appropriate stimulating challenges in learning. The school demonstrated strong evidence that inspiring teaching is provided within all year groups. Some schools already do their own thing with regard to curriculum and yet are still able to attract the ‘outstanding’ judgment as they offer fantastic opportunities for their children. We intend to do that at Cramlington Village Primary School. This freedom from the National Curriculum is already afforded to those schools which have converted to academy status.
How can you apply for a place at CVPS
CVPS works within Northumberland County Council’s admissions process for children entering Reception class. For all other year groups and for our nursery places, please contact the school office, either by email or telephone. The admissions information is listed here.