Gifford Primary School

Gifford Primary is an outstanding four-form entry school with a Nursery and a Hearing Impaired Provision in Northolt, part of the London Borough of Ealing.

As a school we pride ourselves on providing a learning environment and a rich variety of opportunities for our children so that every one of them may be helped to reach their full potential and make the most of their talents.

The care and wellbeing of every child is integral to our school and we have a dedicated and committed team of staff and Place2Be who work hard to ensure this.

We want all our children to develop a love of learning and a curiosity about the world in which they live, alongside all the important ‘lifelong learning’ skills which will enable them to flourish.

Our staff group are passionate about the quality of the education they provide; and we actively engage with parents and the wider community, as we recognise the importance of encompassing the richness of diversity and culture into our school.

We are very proud of the work we do at Gifford. We are rated as Outstanding and we have been in the national top 100 primary schools for pupil progress for the last 2 years, with major achievements in sports, music and many other areas. We are a National Support School, which is an accreditation in supporting other schools locally and nationally. Gifford Primary School is a Community school for 3-11 year old's providing a caring, secure and intellectually challenging environment in which our pupils feel valued and can learn successfully. We also have specialist provision in our school for Deaf children.

The school is named after Sir John Gifford who was a local land owner and owned the land on which the school is built, a copy of his last will and testimony is kept at Northolt Village church. The first school building was built in the late 1940’s, to be used as a hospital during the war as we are close to the Northolt RAF base. It was never used as a hospital but established as a school in the early 1950’s. If the old school had been used as a hospital, the classrooms would have been the wards, and the offices, staffroom and kitchen areas would have been the operating theatres.

There were two separate schools – Gifford Infant School and Gifford Junior School, but you could walk through from one to the other without going outside. The first Head Teachers at the school were Mrs Mansfield for the Infants and Mr Maguire for the Juniors. Miss Williams and Mr Robinson were subsequent Head Teachers for the Juniors. Mr Maguire has since passed away, however the school planted a tree in memory of him on the school grounds which can still be seen on the path way at the rear of the school field that lead to Northala Park.

The Gifford Mission Statement is: Working in partnership to provide excellent and enjoyable education which enables all children to achieve their highest standards.

With the support of our school community we ensure we:

• Develop self-motivated learners who demonstrate resilience and pride in everything they do.
• Foster critical thinkers through rich, tailored and exciting learning opportunities.
• Nurture our global citizens to be socially responsible.
• Promote the importance of mutual respect, positive well-being and kindness.
• At Gifford our rigorous and forward thinking approach to teaching ensures learners have the tools needed to continue on their educational path.