EYNSHAM Community Primary School’s unusual design has helped shape the whole feel of the school.

Instead of conventional classrooms, the school has three big open-plan rooms, where 90 children across three classes must work together to share space in the school.

Each class has its own break-out areas, separated from the main room by a curtain.

According to staff at the school, the layout influences the way staff work together and how children interact.

Headteacher of seven years Zena Vass said: “It is a real community school, and members of the Eynsham community take an active part in the school, and the school takes an active part in the village.

“The open plan design was one of the things that appealed to me when I applied for the job, because it is different, and within the school, that community feel is partly based on it.

“The staff have to be team people and enjoy working with other individuals as well as children. You are always sharing some of the learning.

“Children have to share the space and resources.

“I think as a result, people do not feel isolated and it makes children quite gregarious.”

In lessons, the children follow a creative curriculum, tying in different areas of the curriculum to topics.

For example, Years Five and Six have this year been studying ‘islands’ as their topics, including designing and drawing up rules for their own model island, drawing in elements of personal and social education, geography, discussion and debate, and writing work.

But Mrs Vass said just as important was the range of extra opportunities.

Sport is big at the school, and it has won a range of West Oxfordshire and county trophies.

Each year a group puts on a different drama production, and there are after-school clubs for music, art, chess, and computers.

And as pupils get older, they have a weekly ‘creative afternoon’, in which a different teachers takes them an introduces them to one of their personal interests, ranging from music to design and technology.

The curriculum on offer was praised when Ofsted last visited in 2009.

Inspector Keith Williams said: “Pupils enjoy school, and one of the reasons for this is its outstanding curriculum.

“Staff work hard to provide a broad, interesting and exciting range of activities that capture pupils’ enthusiasm and build upon their learning as they move through the school.”

He added: “The school’s track record of raising standards shows it is well placed to continue to improve.”

Mrs Vass said: “It is about ensuring children get opportunities beyond the narrow curriculum and that they have a range of direct experiences.

“We have got close links with Bartholomew School so we see a lot of children return and know how they are developing as individuals.”

She added: “Our main challenge now is that the village is growing and the number of pupils is growing with it.

“We desperately need a central library, and we have a big project to try to get an astroturf pitch outside.”

  • CHAIRMAN of governors Angela Cox said the biggest challenge facing the school was its expansion over the coming years.

With Eynsham growing, the village’s only primary school is expected to take up to 400 pupils.

Mrs Cox said: “One of the aspirations is to keep the feel of the school the same as it expands.

“We have a wonderful team of teachers, and we are lucky in that I think the governors, PTA, and staff are all aware that we are all part of the same team working for the children.”

She added: “The ethos of the school is built around the shape of the buildings as much as anything.

“Because of the way the buildings are set out, the teachers have to work in very close team relationships with each other, and so do the children.

“That engenders a sense of community.”

An active PTA organises events throughout the year, including quiz nights, a summer fete, Christmas fayre and Eynsham’s main fireworks display, to be run jointly with Bartholomew School’s PTA for the first time later this year.

Mrs Cox said: “The parents as a whole are very supportive.

“When there is an event going on, they come along.

“The school is called Eynsham Community Primary and there really is a ‘community’ here.

“We have a local artist who comes in, and one pupil’s grandparent comes in to teach morris dancing to the children for the big May Day celebrations.”

  • IN charge of the school’s eco-club, Year One and Two teacher Lindsey Gidlow, pictured left, has recently overseen the creation of the school’s new vegetable patch.

Abingdon-based construction firm Leadbitter Group donated the new raised beds in the school’s grounds, after constructing the nearby 40-home Merton Court development.

The area means that the club will be able to grow their own produce in a previously overgrown patch of land.

Mrs Gidlow said: “I love the school grounds, and the open plan design of the school makes it very friendly and homely.

“Because of the layout, we have to work around each other rather than being closed off from each other.

“We share our work and share our ideas, and the pupils benefit from that.”

Head Zena Vass said: “Lindsey is obviously a very good teacher.

“She is my team leader for Key Stage One and has developed the whole eco club and runs it with the help of another teacher and a member of the governing body.

“They look at sustainabilty and conserving energy in the school, but it is also about teaching the children to play their part in looking after the school grounds.”

Projects carried out by Mrs Gidlow and her team include creating a sensory garden in the centre of the school site.