Sandwich Infant School

Overview

Sandwich Infant School continues to be a good school, providing a "friendly and caring" environment where pupils settle quickly and make good progress. Leaders have a clear vision, and the school benefits from support within its multi-academy trust, ensuring high expectations are met alongside a nurturing ethos.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe and behave well due to "firmly established" routines and consistent staff approaches.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) "thrive here," receiving strong support that parents particularly value.
• Early reading instruction is sound, with a new phonics programme allowing staff to identify and support struggling readers early.
• The curriculum is carefully mapped, particularly in mathematics, art, geography, and history, ensuring a clear continuum of learning.
• Staff are "overwhelmingly positive" about working at the school, supported by inspiring leadership and collaborative trust partnerships.

Areas to improve

• Pupils’ achievements in writing are "not as strong as they should be," requiring a sharper whole-school approach to prevent this from slowing progress in other subjects.
• Pupils’ "love of books, reading and the written word is underdeveloped," with many lacking enthusiasm despite a book-rich environment; leaders must raise the profile of reading meaningfully.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.