Longhorsley St Helen's Church of England Aided First School

Overview

Longhorsley St Helen’s Church of England Aided First School is described as a “warm and welcoming” environment where pupils are “known and valued.” The report highlights “exceptional” safeguarding standards and “strong” performance in attendance, behaviour, early years, and personal development, while noting that achievement, inclusion, leadership, and curriculum delivery currently meet the “expected standard” but require further refinement.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are “exceptional,” with an “open culture” where concerns are “actively identified, acted upon and managed.”
• Attendance is “consistently high” for all groups, supported by leaders who “forensically examine attendance data.”
• Early years provision is “strong,” with children developing “strong foundations in reading and writing” through “precisely taught phonics.”
• Pupils demonstrate “sophisticated understanding” of British values, showing “tolerance, respect” and “empathy” through diverse learning experiences.
• Behaviour is “consistently well,” with pupils being “kind, thoughtful and respectful” and no incidents of bullying reported.

Areas to improve

• Leaders must ensure gaps in “foundational knowledge and skills, particularly handwriting and the use of capital letters, are identified and closed.”
• Assessment use needs strengthening to “accurately identify and close” misconceptions, as staff do not always check understanding before independent work.
• Oversight of the curriculum must be strengthened to ensure it is “implemented consistently across the year groups” and meets all pupils’ needs.

Safeguarding

The report states that “safeguarding standards are met,” confirming that leaders have established an “open culture” where safeguarding is “everyone's responsibility” and pupils are “made safer and feel safe.”