First Federation Trust
About Whitchurch Primary
Whitchurch Primary school is situated on the outskirts of the picturesque town of Tavistock, on the very edge of Dartmoor National Park. It is surrounded by some of the most beautiful countryside in Britain. It is a mixed primary school for children between the ages of 4 and 11 years where staff, parents and governors work together to ensure that every child achieves their best.
We make the most of our unique position by linking it to our curriculum design, so that the children learn to value and appreciate their locality.
Whitchurch School is a one form entry school. There are seven classes, from Foundation Stage through to year 6. All children are allocated a School House and we are very proud of our family feel, when children from every age group meet for House Assemblies and other events such as Sports Day.
We have wonderful facilities that can be used for many aspects of the Primary Curriculum and are also used by the wider community. The Whitchurch Scout Group and Redeemer Church also use our site. Our facilities include a large playground, a school field, a woodland conservation area, as well as an outdoor area for Early Years provision in the Foundation Stage, all providing a wonderful outdoor learning environment. We have a well-resourced and well-used library which supports our commitment to placing reading as a priority for learning across the school. There is a class set of portable lap-tops to ensure our children have an excellent level of access to IT resources, which are used to support many areas of learning across our curriculum.
Our school kitchen freshly prepares all of the children’s meals on site and looks to source many items from local organic sources. The children have an excellent choice of lunches and healthy snacks.
We have a Breakfast and Afterschool Club, WACY, and can offer wrap-around care from 7:00am until 6pm.
(Whitchurch School Association), our PTA, are a very active group of parents who organise a range of fundraising events throughout the year, such as the school discos, Christmas hampers and second hand uniform sales. We are very fortunate that our families support these events so well, and monies raised have funded projects such as trips to the theatre, forest school activities and new computer equipment for the children.
We have an open-door policy, and we actively encourage parents to work in partnership with the school. We are currently very fortunate to have parents who support our clubs, listen to readers, accompany school trips and help at events.
There are a wide range of extra-curricular clubs at Whitchurch including netball, cross country, football art and music. We also offer a range of enrichment opportunities, for example, children in year 4, 5 and 6 attend residential trips where they have lots of fun learning to work together in team building activities and trying new things.
Our talented staff team and excellent facilities ensure a smooth transition for your child joining our school and we look forward to making your child’s primary education a very special and memorable time.
Please see our Curriculum tabs on the school website, to learn more about the experiences that we aim to provide for all pupils during their time at Whitchurch.
We welcome you to our school so that you can see for yourself how we learn together. Please call the school office, 01822 616202, to arrange a time to visit. We will be delighted to share our school with you.
Kerry Bargewell
Head of School
“Pupils are proud and happy to attend their caring school. They use their ‘ACE’ values to help them to behave respectfully. Pupils are kind and polite towards everyone. They welcome new pupils and visitors with a warm smile. Pupils have a thirst to learn new things. They study an ambitious curriculum that prepares them well for their next steps in learning and beyond.” (Ofsted 2023)
“The school emphasises the importance of reading. From the very beginning of the Reception Year, children learn how to crack the alphabetic code. Highly skilled staff follow the school’s phonics curriculum to support pupils to learn the sounds that letters make. Pupils become confident, fluent readers, who read high-quality texts.” (Ofsted 2023)
“The school, alongside the trust, has worked with determination to make sure that pupils’ experiences of school are positive. At the heart of this work is pupils’ personal development. Through a well-planned curriculum, pupils learn about ‘who they are as pupils at Whitchurch Community Primary School.’ Pupils develop their spiritual, moral and social understanding well. They understand the importance of being physically and mentally healthy.” (Ofsted 2023)