Lowe's Wong Infant School

Lowe's Wong Infant School is situated in the heart of Southwell and shares the site with the Junior School. It is a popular school and attracts children from the town of Southwell and the neighbouring villages. The school grounds include extensive grassed areas with established trees and sport pitches which help to enrich the facilities available to the children.

Lowe's Wong Infant School

The school will have approximately 205 pupils on roll by the summer term. The Headteacher is Mrs. Vanessa Platt. The school was built in 1971, and has had several recent extensions due to rising numbers. There are seven classes, plus a Nursery class.

Headteacher Mrs Platt and pupils

Children can begin in the Nursery at the beginning of the term following their 4th birthday, and can attend for up to five sessions a week for two terms. Sessions are for mornings or afternoons and are 2.5 hours long. The Nursery is funded by the Education Department at County Hall and is staffed by two qualified Nursery Nurses under the supervision of a teacher. The children are taught in accordance with 'Early Learning Goals' and experience has shown that attendance at the Nursery prepares the children well for the Reception class. The Nursery is a bright and stimulating area where the children are fully integrated into school life, are taught early reading and writing skills, learn to listen carefully and follow instructions and have lots of experiences with different art and craft activities. Play is very important to young children as it gives opportunities for language development, it helps them to co-operate and share and it develops their imaginations as through their play they make sense of the world around them.

Learning through play

At the beginning of the term in which they are 5 children begin full-time education. There are three intakes into the Reception classes - September, January and April. The following September children move into Year 1, and the next year into Year 2 and so on. Children are kept in classes of only one year group wherever possible. Within each class they are grouped according to their ability in Mathematics and Reading, and with this system the teacher can work with individuals and groups at the appropriate level. The National Curriculum is taught to all the children.

Children learn through practical experiences

As a school we are proud of the quality of education we provide, and this is proven by the high standards the children achieve. Analysis of national data shows our levels of Literacy, Numeracy, and Scientific awareness compare exceptionally favourably with similar high achieving schools.

The education of young children is not only about achieving high standards, we aim to give every child the opportunity to develop their own particular strengths and to achieve success and good self esteem. Individual effort is praised and rewarded.

The children have lots of fun at our school - play is valued and is planned into the curriculum.

Play is very important to young children

Every term the children go out of school on visits to places of interest to enrich the work they are doing in the classroom. We are pleased to offer a range of extra-curricular activities which include French, Football and Short Tennis.

We are very fortunate to have extremely supportive parents , many of whom come into school to help on a voluntary basis doing activities such as reading, baking, sewing, playing games etc. The 'Friends of the School' are our P.T.A. and arrange lots of events that are both fun and raise funds for the school.

Parents are welcome to come in and help

At the end of Year 2 the children move up into the Junior School. We liaise with the staff there to ensure a smooth transfer.

You probably wonder where the name 'Lowe's Wong' came from? The word 'wong' is an old English word of Scandinavian origin, and refers to a piece of unenclosed meadow land. The Lowe family leased a house in the town (Dunham Prebend) for about 120 years and the adjoining 'wong' was let with the house. The major part of the wong now comprises the school grounds - hence Lowe's Wong!

If you would like more information about the school or want to arrange a visit, please telephone Mrs. Platt on 01636 812207.