Highbury Infant School and Nursery

Overview

Highbury Infant School and Nursery continues to be a good school, where children are described as "animated, inquisitive, kind and very well behaved." The report highlights that teaching is interesting and adults model fairness, ensuring pupils feel secure and safe. Leaders have implemented careful strategies to help children catch up after the pandemic, with a strong focus on reading and well-being.

Strengths

• Reading and mathematical skills develop very well, with effective phonics teaching and constant informal assessment supporting all pupils, including those with special educational needs.
• Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is a strength, bolstered by strong links and shared staffing with the nearby junior school.
• Pupils’ language and communication skills develop well through careful questioning, verbal interactions, and the regular use of rhymes and songs.
• Staff are unanimously positive about leadership, which has worked to rationalise assessments and reduce unnecessary administrative tasks.
• Parents are overwhelmingly effusive about the way staff nurture and support their children, contributing to positive behaviour and uninterrupted learning.

Areas to improve

• Leaders should ensure phonics teaching is completely consistent across the school, as staff very occasionally use materials not in line with the new scheme.
• In some foundation subjects, teachers focus more on activity completion than the quality of pupils’ learning; leaders should provide targeted continuing professional development to improve teaching in these areas.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with thorough recruitment checks, meticulous case files, and strong liaison with other agencies.