Handsworth Primary School

Overview

Pupils at Handsworth Primary School are described as “proud members of the school community” who feel “welcome, valued and confident to be themselves.” The inspection found that leaders maintain high expectations, resulting in a “broad and well-sequenced curriculum” where pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, “achieve well.” The school fosters strong relationships and a positive ethos underpinned by consideration, cooperation, courtesy, and care.

Strengths

• Reading is a high priority, with “precise” teaching in phonics ensuring most pupils become “fluent readers by the end of Year 1.”
• Staff are “skilled in addressing and supporting the behaviour of pupils with additional needs,” creating calm classrooms where learning is rarely disrupted.
• Leaders have “high expectations” for pupils with SEND, identifying needs promptly and adapting lessons so all pupils can “access the intended learning.”
• Pupils benefit from a “wide range of leadership opportunities” and visits that “enhance and enrich the curriculum,” fostering independence and curiosity.
• Governors provide a “good balance of support and challenge,” ensuring high-quality governance and holding leaders to account effectively.

Areas to improve

• In a few subjects, pupils have not secured some key knowledge over time; leaders must ensure recent curriculum changes are “embedded through staff training and support” so pupils achieve a “deep understanding.”

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are “effective,” with leaders establishing a “robust culture of safeguarding” and maintaining thorough records and recruitment checks.