We are a three-form entry primary school, located in South East Sheffield. We refer to ourselves as ‘Team Athelstan’ which encompasses everyone who works and learns at our school. A strong team mentality is a huge part of our identity, and we recognise that working together helps all of us achieve. We work collaboratively and want all our pupils to become successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens, who will thrive in whatever path they choose in the future.

Our pride and joy is ‘Buster’, an actual double decker London bus, who sits in the playground, having been lovingly converted into a library for our pupils to enjoy. We are also building on the success of our wonderful Enchanted Forest Garden where pupils are able to take part in ’Forest School’ activities. We are developing other sites, within our grounds, called The Creature Feature and Creation Station. When both of these are finished, we will be able to provide outside learning activities for all of our pupils. We are also proud to have achieved a number of quality marks, including the Primary Science Gold Mark, the Gold Sports’ Mark and the Silver Arts’ Mark, which recognises the high quality of our provision in the Arts.

In addition to this, we are a Read Write Inc Model School and have also been granted Achievement for All Lead School status, the only school of this type in the Yorkshire and Humberside region.

Remote learning has been a significant area of focus this year and we are constantly reflecting and adapting our approach to ensure that we are offering our pupils the very best learning opportunities in their own homes. Throughout this journey, we understand that partnership with our parents is paramount in creating effective remote learning, and if we get this right then the motivation and enthusiasm with children at home increases.

Through this dialogue with families, we have identified that a significant barrier for many families is the access to quality hardware. With the support of the Laptops for Kids campaign, we have been successful in obtaining additional devices that have been donated by local companies. We have used them to give more pupils the ability to access quality learning at home.