Handel House gettop Ofsted marks

Handel House Preparatory School was awarded top marks by the Government body after an visit in October in several areas.

These included the pupils spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and the provision for pupils’ welfare, health and safety as well as their behaviour.

“We are absolutely delighted with the report,” said headteacher Victoria Haigh.

“It says we are a very good school with some outstanding features and we are grateful for the hard work of staff and children because the children’s behaviour is impeccable.”

“We have improved dramatically since our last inspection, which is very good news for the school,” added Mrs Haigh.

The Northolme school also received good grades for its curriculum and quality of the early years foundation stage provision.

“Teaching is good and pupils make good progress, both academically and socially,” said the report. ”The school has worked effectively to address the issues for improvement identified by the last inspection.”

The report also stated that teaching and assessment are good and result in pupils making good progress and arrangements to assess pupils’ progress are thorough and well organised.

“The good academic progress that pupils make, coupled with their well-developed social skills ensures that they are well equipped for the future and for the new stages of their education,” added the report.

But the inspectors did make some recommendations that the school could carry out to improve further.

These are: the more effective use of marking to explain the next steps in learning to pupils; the refinement of planning for early years foundation stage classes so that it’s clear what children are expected to learn for each activity they experience.