Sixpenny Handley First School and Nursery

Overview

Sixpenny Handley First School and Nursery continues to be a good school, characterised by a "happy and inclusive" community where pupils feel safe and valued. Leaders have designed an "ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum" that broadens pupils’ horizons, with strong outcomes in mathematics and reading for most children. The school fosters positive attitudes towards learning, with staff maintaining "clear routines and high expectations of behaviour" that result in calm, purposeful classrooms.

Strengths

• Pupils benefit from "supportive relationships with adults" and learn to treat others with "kindness and tolerance".
• Teachers possess "good subject knowledge" in most subjects, particularly mathematics, where pupils build knowledge logically and solve problems effectively.
• Leaders prioritise reading, ensuring younger pupils receive "precise support" in phonics, while most pupils enjoy reading and discuss books enthusiastically.
• Pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are "fully included in the curriculum" and achieve well due to effective assessment and adapted activities.
• A "rich and effective programme for personal development" prepares pupils for life in modern Britain, covering health, relationships, and diversity.

Areas to improve

• In a small number of wider curriculum subjects, leaders must ensure the curriculum sets out precisely what knowledge pupils should learn, as current sequencing is not clear enough.
• Leaders need to ensure weaker older readers receive "well-planned phonics teaching" with books matching the sounds they know, so they can catch up in reading fluency.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with staff who are "alert to risks to pupils’ welfare" and act swiftly to provide support for vulnerable pupils.