Honeywell Infant School

Honeywell Infant School is a vibrant and creative school. We have a well-deserved reputation for high academic standards and offer a strong start to a child’s education. The school features in The Good Schools Guide and was judged to be ‘outstanding’ in our last Ofsted inspection in 2010.

At Honeywell Infant School we aim to meet the educational challenges of the 21st century and enable all our children to be confident active members of society. we promote a culture that encourages children to enjoy learning, be successful and develop their gifts and talents.

Our approach gives parents and children a sense of caring, confidence and security making a sound basis for each child to develop their potential and to being their life in school. There is always something exciting going on as we have a rich and fulfilling timetable.

The school performs at the very highest level academically. Our analysis of the data shows that not only do children do well at the end of the different phases of the school, but also make good progress regardless of whether they are gifted and talented or have additional needs. Key Stage 1 results remain very strong and again placed Honeywell amongst the highest achieving schools in the country. In all areas we scored well above the Local Authority and National scores and our achievement is graded as significantly above the expected results in all curriculum areas by the DfE and Ofsted.

We believe children should be nurtured academically, socially and spiritually in a secure and supportive atmosphere. We believe that children should be encouraged to have high expectations of themselves and their achievements, to be proud of their individuality, to be able to share their experiences with others and to respect different beliefs. Every child’s achievements will be valued by the whole school community.

The aims of our schools are to

• Have a commitment to equality of opportunities for the whole school community where the diversity of race and culture and inclusion for all is demonstrated.
• Provide a safe, secure and supportive learning environment where children are encouraged to talk and are listened to.
• Etablish and maintain effective partnerships between the home, school and local community.
  Provide a broad and balanced curriculum.
• Enable children to be a confident and autonomous learner.
• Provide a range of opportunities for learning through first hand experiences.
• Offer opportunities for each child to maximise their learning potential.
• Inform children, parents and staff about the next step in the child's learning through a range of assessment practices.

The schools is very well resourced. We have spacious classrooms within the four storey Victorian building. There are specialist teaching areas for ICT, music and three large halls for assemblies, indoor PE lessons and whole year group activities, such as theatre groups and curriculum workshops.

The schools have two large playgrounds which enable Infant and Junior children to play separately. There is a garden play area which school use for curriculum work and playtimes. We have an enclosed all weather ball pitch for outdoor PE lessons and the schools also use Wandsworth Common for games activities and events. The Infant School has a Nursery with its own grounds, enabling the school’s youngest children to have their own dedicated space.

The Reception and Nursery classes are part of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), where the curriculum consists of seven areas of learning and development:

• Persnal, Social and Emotional Development - developing confidence and independence as part of a group.
• Communication and Language - communicating with one another through speaking and listening skills.
• Literacy - developing early skills in reading and writing.
• Maths - learning about number, quantity, measurement, shape and space.
• Understanding the World - investigating and beginning to understand the things, places and people around the local community.
• Physical Development - improving control and coordination of the body and learning to move and handle equipment efficiently.
• Expressive Arts and Design - finding ways to communicate by using colour, shape, sound, texture, dance, movement, role play and stories.

Children in Reception class learn through a range of activities, which include self-directed spontaneous play, planned focused teaching and learning activities, exploration, experimentation, discussion and investigation. Much of the learning is practical and based on real life experiences.

Assessment of children working in the seven areas of learning and development is through observation by the class teacher and well trained support staff. Observations made throughout the year inform the final assessment at the end of Reception. The class teachers will talk to each parent about their child's progress at parent/teacher consultations.

Here is a transition phase as children start Key Stage 1 and make the change to a slightly more structured day and way of learning. Children are still actively engaged in activity based learning and there is a focus on reading, writing and maths, supplemented by a broad and exciting topic based curriculum. The curriculum includes trips to places in and around London in order to enhance learning. In Key Stage 1 children have two short playtimes and a longer lunch break. They attend assembly every morning, where moral and topical themes are explored and school values reinforced. Children also have the opportunity to share their work with each other in a weekly Achievement Assembly.