IT’S a city school in the heart of its community.

Woolston Infant School sits in a haven of greenery and teachers make the most of their grounds by giving children plenty of opportunities to learn outside.

Children take part in regular outdoor classes including pond dipping and bug hunting activities as well as making use of their extensive outdoor play areas.

The school was rated good by Ofsted and when inspectors last visited in November they praised the school for its inclusive ethos which sees children progress and feel safe while receiving good quality teaching.

Parents also told inspectors they would recommend the school to others.

The school strives to involve itself in its community and provides regular family learning events for parents.

They also host a weekly foodbank.

In the next few weeks children will begin learning songs and making art for their school carnival in July which happens every three years.

The whole school will march through the streets, accompanied by secondary school drummers before pupils and parents return to the school for a barbecue.

There have been a lot of changes in the last few months including the introduction of new iPads which are used for maths and English lessons and the school is about to launch its new library.

Headteacher Julie Swanston, who has been at the school for 10 years, says they have lots of plans for next year too and work has begun to redesign the reception class’s outdoor learning area, after school facilities and their onsite pre-school.

Mum-of-one Mrs Swanston said: “I love being part of the community and we work with families very well and I think that’s a real strength.

"Everybody feels that they’re valued and part of this learning community.

“Our children come in slightly below average. We do lots of small group learning, differentiation to meet a child’s needs and then they leave us above average.

“One of the things we have worked on a lot is attendance and punctuality. The children know the importance of being here on time so they can make the most of their learning.”

The school also strives to be ecofriendly and they have recently been awarded a Green Flag Award in recognition of their work.

As part of this they have introduced a new recycling scheme and children took part in a competition to design a character to promote that and Southampton City Council’s Bin It To Win It initiative.

Grace Burgess, six, was a runner up in the city-wide competition while Lexie Rawlins-Dent, six, won Woolston Infant School’s top prize and her design will be displayed on recycling bins across the school.

There are 180 children on the school registers. 

Daily Echo:

From the Head: Julie Swanston 

Woolston Infant School is a school at the heart of it’s community.

It is a place where we value everyone and give every child the best possible start to their education. Our school places high value on the importance of learning.

Children enjoy coming to school, are keen to learn and achieve their personal best. Just as we expect the children to try and improve, as a school we are continually striving to be the best that we can be.

Due to high quality teaching our children achieve highly in the three years they are with us.

Our children continually achieve well above national average in all areas of their learning.

They make good progress in all aspects of their development.

We aim to educate the whole child including their personal, social and emotional development to equip them with the skills they need to be a learner.

The school prides itself on a range of outdoor learning opportunities.

As a Trailblazer School for outdoor learning we value this important aspect of the curriculum.

Our children receive a broad, exciting and relevant curriculum, including many after school sporting activities.

Woolston Infant School is an amazing place to learn. 

Daily Echo:

THESE year one children from Oak class are some of the first in the school to use the new iPads.

Woolston Infant School bought the iPads last summer and year ones and twos have used them to play maths and English learning games.

They are the latest edition to the classroom which is shared by two classes in each year, allowing children to have more opportunities to interact with each other and make new friends.

Children in Oak class told the Daily Echo they enjoyed using the iPads because they made learning more fun.

Youngsters get plenty of opportunities to gain IT skills while at Woolston Infant School and there are computers ready to use in most of the classrooms.

However, the tablets mean teachers can take their classes outside more often to learn within the school’s extensive grounds.

The computers and tablets are one of the ways teachers help improve children’s maths and English skills before they move on to junior school.

Daily Echo:

THE school has won a Green Flag Eco Schools award recognising its efforts to be environmentally friendly.

Youngsters in the school council have been working hard to help develop the school grounds, save energy, recycle and take part in global citizen activities.

The 12 youngsters came up with ideas on how to make their school more eco-friendly.

Among the improvements they made was bringing more recycling bins to Woolston Infant School which children and teachers use to throw away paper, cardboard and food and drink cartons.

The school council is made up of two children from each class who meet weekly to help make sure other youngsters are playing nicely together and to come up with ideas to help improve aspects of their school including lunch times and lessons.

They also encourage other children to go to them with ideas which they can relay to staff at their regular meetings.

They also report back to their individual classes after each school council meeting. Each of the school councillors wear a special badge to help other children find them.

Daily Echo: Ayesha Banda and Joshua Pannell holding baby chicks.

RECEPTION children welcomed some new arrivals this month. A trio of chicks hatched in their classroom on May 13.

Teachers had been carefully looking after 12 eggs from Manor Farm and Country Park in Bursledon in an incubator since the Easter holidays.

Children named the three chicks Leonardo, Cutie and Ruby Red after a class vote.

The chicks helped the year R children as they learnt about new life this spring.

They will later return to Manor Farm.

Year R have also been looking after chrysalises and learning about how caterpillars transform into butterflies.

They have spent the last few weeks looking out for changes.

When the butterflies break out of the cocoons the children will release them into the school’s conservation area. 

Daily Echo:

CHILDREN at Woolston Infant School are looking forward to using their new library after half term.

The room is bigger and brighter than their last.

The school has also stocked up on extra books.

It comes after lots of hard work at the school to transform the room.

Workmen have been painting walls, fitting carpets and putting furniture together as well as tiding up the garden.

Teachers hope the room will be used regularly, both during and outside of classes.

Once the library has opened on June 1 workmen will return to Woolston Infant School to help them with two more projects.

They plan to update their onsite pre-school and after school facilities which is used for its variety of clubs.

They will also transform their reception class’s outdoor learning area which will include a range of extra play areas, soft outdoor surfaces and astroturf.

Daily Echo: Pupils pictured in the schools outside learning conservation area.

Woolston Infant School prides itself on its large grounds which features a conservation area.

The area features a log circle where children can do classwork when the weather is fine, a pond surrounded by bluebells and some woodland.

Children regularly use the area as part of their regular lessons.

They take part in bug hunts and go pond dipping as they learn around Southampton’s wildlife.

Every year, year R pupils also look after chrysalises in their classrooms and release the butterflies into the area after they break free from their cocoons. 

Daily Echo: (l-r) Monty Turner, Jessica Small and Sebastian Kozma pictured during a cookery lesson.

YOUNGSTERS have been learning how to eat healthily by taking part in cookery classes.

Most recently children including Monty Turner, Jessica Small and Sebastian Kozma, pictured, have made breakfasts, pasta salads and hummus.

Learning how to be healthy is key at Woolston Infant School, which has achieved the healthy schools mark.

Children also grow their own vegetables in their onsite allotment which is then used in the school canteen.

The allotment helps the children gain a better understanding of where their food comes from and all of the children help look after the plants.