Dr Walker's school
The School was founded by the distinguished seventeenth century Rector of Fyfield, Dr. Anthony Walker, that ‘Atheism, ignorance, profanity and sin may be rooted out of our parish’. There is now a new, modern school close to the original site, which continues to provide an excellent all-round education.
The school has grown in recent years and now has six classrooms and one hundred and fifty two full time pupils on roll. The school has a strong sense of community. It is placed at the heart of the village and has a close involvement with the church. We have forged links with local businesses, secondary schools and colleges.
The school premises offer children the opportunity to develop and continue learning outside of the classroom. The school has a pond and award winning butterfly garden. We are developing a new adventure playground and this should be completed in the Spring Term 2007. We have an outdoor classroom and our KS1 children benefit from the use of covered outdoor play areas throughout the year.
The school features consistently in the top third of all schools in Essex for Standard Assessment Tests (SATs). The school’s strengths were recognised during a recent OFSTED inspection in 2006 when it was stated that:
‘Pupils achieve well. They show very positive attitudes to learning and behave well. They are given an excellent start in the Foundation Stage (the Reception class) where extremely good provision enables them to reach above expected standards. By Year 6, pupils continue to reach standards that are above average overall.’ The report also states that standards have been maintained since the previous inspection and that the school continues to provide a good quality of education which ensures pupils make good progress in their learning.
The provision for pupils personal development is very good, as is that for their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.