Our School

A warm welcome from the Headteacher 

Firstly, we are delighted to welcome you to Brightlingsea Junior School !

Our school opened in September 1974 to serve the community of Brightlingsea and Thorrington, on a site shared with Brightlingsea Infant School . The building was originally of open plan design with twelve class bases, a demountable classroom, and a hall that is fully equipped for Physical Education. The hall also serves as a dining hall and assembly area. We have our own School Kitchen which provides a balanced menu of home cooked meals, using local produce where possible. We have a school nutrition policy and all school dinners meet current nutritional guidelines.

The exterior of our building could be described as somewhat drab and grey, so to compensate for this we make a real effort to ensure the interior of our school is bright and colourful. We have displays of 3D artwork around the school and murals painted by our pupils with the help of a local artist, in many of our toilets.

In 2005 we created a Parents Room in school, and we run regular classes for parents in partnership with Tendring College . Previous classes have included Basic ICT, ICT Spreadsheets, ‘Keeping up with the children in Literacy’, ‘Keeping up with the children in Numeracy’ , parent and child french classes & cake decorating workshops.  The room is also used for private meetings between parents and teachers or outside agencies and provides a relaxing area for parent volunteers to take a break between supporting classes. The room is comfortably furnished with refreshment facilities and a childrens play area. The room also contains a PC with internet access for parents to use. The room is well stocked with advice and information leaflets on a variety of parenting issues, we also have a small number of books and videos available for loan. We aim to make parents feel welcome in our school and valued as partners in their child’s education – we hope the provision of this room will help us to achieve this.

At the rear of the building there are two large playgrounds and extensive sports fields. In addition we have two adventure playground areas with a variety of equipment and an area of decking with benches and shade.

Our school garden, which borders the top playground, was remodelled in 2005 with a seaside theme and was entered into the Anglia In Bloom competition. Our keen gardening club are responsible for maintaining this area and also look after our wildlife area. We have recently set up a school allotment which is supported by a small  non-glass greenhouse.

In October 2006 we created two large animal enclosures on our school field and  re-introduced school pets. We have Continental Giant Rabbits and a small herd of guinea pigs. Our classes all take turns to care for these school pets and time with the animals is also a very popular reward for good behaviour.

In 2003 the school gained the prestigious Investors In People Award. In 2002 we gained the Basic Skills Quality Mark and in 2006 and 2009 this was successfully renewed. We have also achieved a National Healthy Schools Award. In 2008 we were successfully assessed against the Financial Management Standard in Schools (FMSiS).

We are part way through a four phase building improvement plan. The first phase, completed in the summer of 2004 provided us with a brand new ICT suite & Library, in place of an internal courtyard. The second phase, which was completed during the Autumn Term 2005, was an extension into a verandah area to create two new large enclosed classrooms. Phase 3 of our building work to remodel 7 more classrooms took place over the summer holidays 2007. These purpose built rooms are much larger than our original semi-open plan rooms, just two of which remain. The new rooms all have their own internal cloakrooms and sinks and have their own external door. They have been fully equipped with new furniture and have interactive whiteboards and a new classroom PC. All new style rooms have ‘light tunnels’ to make use of natural daylight and will soon be fitted with ‘windcatchers’ which provide natural ventilation. This phase has also created new corridors which have been furnished with modern storage cupboards.

All three phases completed to date have been funded with Capital Formula delegated to the school matched with successful joint funding bids to Essex Local Authority. The final phase of our building plan will see the last of our semi open plan class bases remodelled and improved to the same high standard. Phase 4 will involve an extension to the front of the building to create a new admin block, enabling us to relocate our school kitchen and thereby extend our undersized school hall. We would also relocate our finance office, Parents Room and SEN base, to free up enough space to create the last three enclosed classrooms that we need. Phase 4 of our building plan is likely to be the most expensive to date and may not be possible without additional funding from the Local Authority.

We are fortunate to offer 'Out of School Hours Childcare Provision' on our school site. This venture is managed by Brightlingsea Infant School and is open to pupils at both Brightlingsea Infant and Junior Schools. The club operates from a demountable classroom at Brightlingsea Infant School . The club opens five days a week almost all year round. Sessions are from 07:30 to 09:00 and 15:00 to 18:00 during term times and 08:00 to 18:00 during school holidays. Children can attend for breakfast or after school sessions during term times or for half day sessions or full day care during the holidays.

Brightlingsea Juniors is a popular school in the area. There are excellent resources at the school for all areas of the curriculum. We are committed to all the children achieving and reaching their full potential. Brightlingsea Junior School provides a caring and supportive atmosphere, which allows children to develop emotionally, socially and academically. All our staff play an important part in the children's development. Our hard working and dedicated professionals have only one priority, and that is to provide the very best that we can offer. Brightlingsea Junior School is a very caring and happy school where every child matters.

Parents are actively encouraged to take a vested interest in the school so that together, the school, parents and most importantly the children can work together in partnership.

Finally, we warmly welcome you to visit Brightlingsea Junior School to see our children at work and experience at first hand what we have to offer at our school.

Best wishes,

Claire Claydon

Headteacher

Click on the link below to see our Vision and Aims