June 2018 Ofsted rated us as GOOD overall and OUTSTANDING in personal development, behaviour and welfare.

At Holmwood School and Nursery we educate children aged 3-7 years.  We have high expectations in all areas, whilst ensuring your child feels safe and finds learning fun and rewarding. We believe children have to feel secure and happy in order to learn and meet their potential.

Every member of our team believes in our motto “Bringing out the best in everyone”.

Pupils at Holmwood are inspired to learn, be resilient, and actually thrive on being set challenging tasks.  We have adopted the full Read Write Inc programme of teaching reading and writing and children can frequently be heard coming out of their lessons linking challenge in the lesson to their well-being scales going up!  Children make good learning progress with us and consistently meet or exceed the national figures in reading, writing, maths and phonics.  Pupils leave us ready and confident for the next stage in their education with almost all of our pupils choosing to feed in to Two Mile Ash School.

We offer all children a broad, balanced and fun curriculum that inspires them to learn, and actively enjoy learning.  The school boasts a wonderful outdoor area. Our children have very regular opportunities to explore, play, problem solve and grow things outside. We regularly take part in trips or special events to promote various topics, such as Science, DT or my favourite “aspirations day” when we all dress up to show what job we would like to do when we grow up!  Pupils at Holmwood may be young but they learn key life lessons at every opportunity.

Pupil behaviour is consistently exceptional.  The whole team supports the fact that positive behaviour, trusting relationships and a strong culture of keeping children safe underpins all we do.  We have a strong culture of shared values and children learn to respect themselves and others.  They take great pride in their school.

As the Executive Headteacher I also lead our partner school Ashbrook, therefore I am based at Holmwood School for half of the school week.  Mrs Hayley Waters, Deputy Headteacher, ably heads the dedicated team in my absence.  There are many other wonderful aspects of Holmwood for you to find out about, but rest assured Holmwood parents regard us as a warm and welcoming environment so do take the time to come in and look around.

Kind regards,

Jess Elford

Headteacher,

Holmwood School and Nursery

Benefits of Joining IFtL

Joining the IFtL family has a large number of benefits, most notably our commitment to supporting our staff through CPD and professional development. We offer high-quality CPD to help staff and school leaders grow and develop in their careers.

We are committed to providing a wide range of opportunities to all, in a supportive, collaborative and nurturing environment.

Regardless of the role or level, our staff have the opportunity to work with colleagues across the trust to collaborate, network and grow.

As our Trust develops, we are dedicated to upholding our supportive, caring approach to our staff. Our family of schools work closely to ensure we work with the same goals, values and ethos.

Our staff are committed to supporting and working for the future generation of our Communities. In addition, we offer a wide range of benefits to our staff which include:

• Employee Benefits portal - This offers discounts and cash rewards in gyms, shops, cinema, options for health cash plans.
• Employee Assistance Programme with Health Assured - Free counselling and advice for employees and their families (T & C's apply)
• Tax-Free Cycle Scheme
• Eye Tests and glasses vouchers (subject to terms and conditions)
• We follow (as a minimum) Teachers Terms and Conditions
• Graded Pay Scales (Support Staff) – Based on performance management
• CPD, Coaching and Mentoring
• Annual leave (Support Staff Only) – Minimum 27 days plus 8 days Bank Holidays
• Life Assurance Scheme (Support Staff Only) - Death benefit of 3x annual salary if in LGPS scheme for support staff
• Pension (Support staff) - As a member of the LGPS you contribute a percentage of your pensionable pay each month and IFtL will contribute a minimum of 20% of your monthly salary.