School Information
Offwell School is a Church of England Primary School. We are situated in the heart of Offwell Village only a few miles from the busy market town of Honiton. We are fortunate to be in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty close to lovely countryside.
Admission to our school is from the age of 4 years until 11 years at which point the children move on to Secondary School.
We currently have 73 children on the roll and they come from: the village itself, several neighbouring villages, Honiton and further afield.
We also welcome children from the term they turn 3 years into our Foundation Stage Unit. We presently have 19 nursery children on roll.
The original school building dates back to 1840 and we have sympathetically extended this to include an office area. At the back of school are two further classrooms and our final class is housed in the church hall. The buildings are all on one site with 3 play areas, a meadow, paved garden area and outside classroom for Foundation children. We also use the local Village Hall and playing field which are just up the road. We are glad to be regular visitors to the village church, St Mary’s, opposite the school.
The current class structure is:
- Pre-School and Reception – Mrs S Hunt
- Year 1 and Year 2 – Mr Thomas (Senior Teacher)
- Year 3 and Year 4 – Miss Kirkland
- Year 5 and Year 6 – Miss Phillips
School opens at 8.35am with registration taking place at 8.45am. School finishes at 3.15pm meaning the children are in school every day for 6 1/2 hours. We have 15 minutes break in the morning and one hour at lunchtime.
All classes are well supported by experienced Teaching Assistants.
Our Vision:
Be well; Learn well; Live well; Offwell!
Be well: we value our mental and physical health as the foundations of achieving our potential, through supporting and caring about our own and each other’s wellbeing.
Learn well: we are dedicated to ensuring that all our children are able to achieve to their full potential, through Quality First Teaching, a creative curriculum and good home-school support.
Live well: as a church school, we believe that we live best when we learn to live with and for each other; sharing our lives and our planet in a spirit of peace, hope, loyalty, honesty, forgiveness and compassion.
We are proud of our school’s Christian ethos which is illustrated in our five core values: Sharing, Caring, Honesty, Loyalty, Forgiveness. These values were voted for by the children and they all take pride in them.
A number of extra-curricular activities are available. We offer a weekly after school Sports Club. Lunch time clubs may include; sewing, running, choir, art. In addition to the clubs we also have WASP (Welcome to After School Provision) which currently runs four times a week from the end of the school day to 5.30pm. Activities include cookery, football skills, craft or just fun! All the clubs and WASP are run either by the teachers, teaching assistants or a governor.
There is a PTFA (Parent, Teacher and Friends Association) which actively fundraises on behalf of the school by organising a wide range of activities: disco, sunflower growing and quiz nights.
As a school we place great emphasis on widening a child’s horizons to which end there are peripatetic music tutors who offer tuition in a variety of instruments (saxophone, clarinet, flute, violin, guitar, recorder, piano) at a reasonable charge. The children also undertake suitable educational visits taking part in singing activities, Humanities, Life Skills, Maths Enrichment and visits linked to their current curriculum topic. Every year there is a residential trip for the Year 5 and Year 6 children.
Offwell School has a long history, a vibrant present and a bright future. All our children are encouraged to have self-discipline, to care for others, to enjoy life to the full, to be courteous and punctual, friendly and open. To ensure children develop these attributes we feel school should be a lively and happy place with good discipline and clear structure, where care and love is shown, where children feel secure enough to question and think for themselves and where they can work hard and have fun. Every member of the school is part of a team and is truly valued.