General Information
ABOUT OUR SCHOOL
Westgate School is situated in the west of Otley, a traditional West Yorkshire market town only about 8 miles from Leeds city centre. Westgate is a one-form entry primary school which means that there is one class for every year group, from Reception to Year 6. All 7 classes have a maximum of 30 children in each and every class teacher is supported by a teaching assistant.
Our most recent inspection was in December 2023, when OFSTED confirmed that Westgate continues to be a Good school in all areas. You can download and read the report below.
We occasionally have places available for families moving to the area - please enquire through the school office if you are interested in knowing more. We have a Nursery class and more information about admission to our Nursery and to school is available here.
Admissions to the Reception Class are dealt with by Children Leeds Admissions Department and parents will be contacted about this during the Autumn Term of the academic year before they are due to start compulsory education. Once in the Reception Class children can stay until they transfer to high school (usually Prince Henry’s Grammar School in Otley) at age 11. The parents, staff and children all work closely together and there is a real whole school family feel.
The idea for our logo came from one of our pupils and depicts our mission statement - Striving for Excellence, Caring for Children. It shows two children following the path to excellence, but because we have close links with the local community, the picture also shows the River Wharfe and the Chevin, the hill which overlooks the town. We take part in various Otley events every year such as the Carnival and Victorian Fair and support the local children’s hospice with weekly donations from our families and regular special events. We all love our logo and use it on our uniform, on all our letters and on our signs.
Westgate Primary School has an open door policy. We welcome all visitors to come and see the school and prospective parents are always invited to visit us. If you are interested in doing so, please don’t hesitate to telephone and make an appointment. You are welcome to see the school at work and to have the opportunity to ask specific questions about what we do and what we hope to achieve. For children already at the school, teachers are available at the end of each school day and parents and carers are also invited to share more formal contact at twice yearly open evenings. We want our communication to be a two-way process, so as well as sharing concerns, staff will take the opportunity to share good news about the children. We ask that parents do the same and celebrate children’s successes with us, as well as any worries. It is really important that we build a picture of the whole child, their strengths and interests. If parents have a particular concern, we ask them always to discuss it with the class teacher first. It is usually the class teacher who has all the information and will be best placed to answer the questions. The class teacher will then, if necessary, consult one of the senior teachers. The school complaints policy is available to download below in the rare instance that any concerns are not able to be swiftly resolved.
The School Day
Our doors open at ten to nine each day and children are collected in the playground by their class teacher. On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays there is a whole school assembly, each one with a different focus. These comprise The Westgate Way, Special Visitors and Open the Book, Singing Assembly and Celebration Assembly.
Wednesdays are slightly different as this is the day when most of our teachers have their PPA (Planning, Preparation and Assessment) time out of their classroom. On this day each week, classes from Y2 to Y6 are taught for half of the day by a specialist sports tutor, Mr Eley, for PE and a specialist music teacher, Mrs Durrant, for whole-class music and Spanish with Isabel Ruiz, our Spanish tutor.
Children have a staggered fifteen minute morning break and children in KS1 have an afternoon break too. At lunchtime children have fifty-five minutes break in KS2 and an hour in KS1/ Foundation Stage, so that they get time to play outside as well as eat their lunch in the school hall.
School finishes at quarter past three. Most children are collected by parents and carers, while some stay to our out of school club, WOOSH, and some stay on different evenings for extra-curricular clubs organised by the staff.
Pupil Voice and Investors in Pupils
A fundamentally important part of the ethos at Westgate is the emphasis placed on personal development and responsibility for all pupils. This is recognised in the fact that that we have held the Investors in Pupils Award since 2006. Children are encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning and behaviour, through personal target-setting, rewards and the way the curriculum is structured. The viewpoints of our pupils feed into decision-making at Westgate and children are encouraged to understand every aspect of school life and have their say. Our well-established School Council is made up to representatives from Y1 to Y6, elected by the children each year and provides one of the formal mechanisms for children's views to be heard. Our aim is to prepare all children to be active and responsible citizens as they grow up. You can find out more about Investors in Pupils by clicking on the link below.
Commitment to Race Equality and Challenging Racism
We are very proud to have held the Stephen Lawrence Education Standard, level 2, since 2007. This is reflected in the way we promote diversity and tackle racism throughout our curriculum. Children are taught to challenge stereotypes and value each other for the person they are, regardless of ethnicity or skin colour. Our Race Equality Working Party includes staff and parents and they are pro-active in moving our school even further on with issues of equality. We have links with schools overseas, in Nepal, Kenya and Spain, and sponsor a child through ActionAid. You can find out more about the Stephen Lawrence Education Standard through the link below.