Poplar Structure

Children up to the age of 11 are educated within the Poplar base which currently caters for children from Y2 to Y6. Within Poplar the key person for a child is their class teacher and in ERS these are supported by LSAs and, where necessary, specialist input.

These lower age groups are located within our purpose-built Cedars building which has 4 classrooms, dedicated space for therapy and a large central space for other activities. All Poplar children use the main school halls for various activities and have their lunch in the dining area – which also reinforces the idea of being part of the whole ERS family.

We aim to maintain a maximum number of 10 places per class and the curriculum that children experience will be fully commensurate with their ages and abilities. They cover all subjects within the national curriculum, mostly taught by their class teacher, but in a small number of subjects they may have a subject specialist teacher from the senior school.

Poplar classes have lunch times together and morning break is extended to enable children to have a worthwhile playtime, to enhance opportunities for children to interact with each other.

Poplar finishes at 4.00pm. This gives an additional half an hour of teaching time each day and it removes the half-an-hour ‘aftercare’ requirement for pupils who finish at 3.30pm and go home by bus.

Needs

Poplar pupils, like all pupils at ERS, have a programme of provision to meet their individual needs. In addition to the use of strategies to support individual pupils in the classroom, children receive additional specialist support according to need. This can include any or all of the following:

• Specialist Teaching for Literacy or Numeracy
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Occupational Therapy
• Physiotherapy
• Social and Emotional Development Support

Open Days

An Open Day tour, or an individual visit, is the best way to see Poplar in action and will, we hope, help you decide if ERS is the place for your child.  This also provides the opportunity for you to meet Mrs Holt, who leads the Poplar base, or to talk to other specialist teachers about your child’s specific needs.