The Western Telegraph's School of the Month for April 2022 is Fenton Community Primary School, based in Haverfordwest.
Fenton is a large Primary School on Jury Lane in Haverfordwest. It serves the catchment of Jury Lane, Portfield and the Garth area of town.
Fenton has a Flying Start part-time provision for two-three-year-olds, this focuses on the development of pupil’s speech and language needs as well as their personal and social needs.
There is an increased access to services such as Health Visitors, Parenting programmes and Speech Therapy. Pupils can then transition into the main school, which currently has over 400 pupils.
The school has a nursery class and 11 classes across Foundation Phase and Key Stage Two. Fenton also has a very successful Learning Resource Centre (LRC) for pupils with Complex Learning Needs.
This 23-place base has pupils from Reception to year Six, working according to individual need across four specifically designed rooms. Pupils attend this from all over the county.
Fenton prides itself in supporting pupils and families and in ensuring that children are seen as individual learners. The school cares passionately about the progress that all children make from their individual starting points.
The school has dedicated staff who support families and ensure they have all they need at home to support their children. Through the curriculum, the school ensures that its children are provided with authentic learning experiences.
Learning is relevant to its pupils’ context and it is brought to life with dynamic and exciting opportunities that enable the children to be the best they can be. For example, pupils visit the many beautiful beaches around Pembrokeshire, they go kayaking, they visit museums and go zip-wiring.
The school's learning is based around a hook and a celebration, they ask big questions such as ‘Why did the Viking come to Haverfordwest?’
They celebrate learning with science fairs, visits from top athletes, performances to audiences, involvement in community projects and in many other ways.
The pupils and their parents support many charities through fundraising activities and donations.
Recently, the LRC pupils initiated and organised a donation day for Ukraine and helped to deliver the items collected to the distribution centre.
Fenton also has a reading dog who is part of the Fenton team. She visits the pupils in their mainstream classes and in the LRC on a weekly basis, and the pupils read to her.
The school supports Cariad Pet Therapy – a Local Haverfordwest Charity, through the LRC pupil’s voluntary work and by collecting pet food. Fenton's Military pupils are involved in projects and events within the community such as working with the other Military pupils at the VC Gallery, where their recent artwork has been displayed.
Pupils are well supported by SSCE Cymru. Fenton will run a range of after-school clubs including choir, gardening and Criw Cymraeg. Many of the children take part in sporting challenges, and competitions such as cricket, rugby and football.
The school has several children who represent Haverfordwest and Pembrokeshire in their chosen sporting field. The school says that the children at Fenton have embraced the return to normal since the pandemic.
Although Covid continues to affect pupils, staff and families, there is a team approach to make sure that little learning is lost and that families have enough finances, food and resources to support themselves during difficult times.
The school continues to work closely with the foodbank and PATCH to support where needed.
Fenton is a family.
To feature in our school of the month please email community@westerntelegraph.co.uk
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