Hillside Infant School

This is the kind of infant setting where early communication is treated as everyone’s business, from the first days in Nursery through to Year 2. Language development is prioritised immediately, and reading is built through a tightly organised phonics approach with regular checks and targeted catch-up support.

Leadership continuity matters at this age, and the current head teacher, Rebecca Fennell, has been in post since September 2016.

The tone here is purposeful but child-centred, with staff emphasising familiarity and consistency. The school sets expectations through a short, memorable set of values that are explicitly tied to behaviour, “Trying our best every day”, “Kindness and honesty always”, “Working as a Hillside Team”, and “Using good manners”. In practice, that reads as adults reinforcing routines in calm language, rather than relying on sanctions.

Early years is not treated as a separate island. Subject learning is built cumulatively from Nursery onwards, which matters in an infant school because the end goal is readiness for Key Stage 2 habits even though pupils move on after Year 2. The strongest thread is communication, with an explicit focus on spoken language and vocabulary from the start. That is backed up by reading practice that is matched carefully to the sounds pupils already know, which helps children experience success early rather than guessing from pictures.

A practical point that many parents miss is how much the school has had to manage change over time. The school has been through size adjustments and capacity planning, and it shares a site and some facilities with Hillside Junior School. That can be a positive for transition, but it also means the school has to run tight daily logistics to keep early years calm and age-appropriate.

Infant schools do not publish Key Stage 2 outcomes because pupils leave at the end of Year 2, so parents should not expect SATs-style headline figures. Here, the most meaningful published indicators are the external evaluations of curriculum quality, reading, behaviour, and safeguarding.

The latest Ofsted inspection (17 to 18 October 2023) confirmed the school continues to be Good, and stated that safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Reading is treated as a system, not a standalone lesson. Phonics begins in Nursery and is taught daily in ability groups with a consistent session structure, using the Twinkl Phonics Scheme, with workshops offered to parents to support practice at home.

In maths, the school is unusually explicit about the representations it expects pupils to use. Parents will see shared language around tools such as the ten-frame (for number bonds and early addition and subtraction), the part-whole model (to show how numbers decompose), number lines (for tens and ones), and a hundred square (for structured counting and calculation). These are simple resources, but the point is consistency, children are not learning a new method every term.

Curriculum breadth is not neglected, even in a reading-led model. The school describes a broad and interesting curriculum, and external review materials highlight that subjects are sequenced so pupils build knowledge over time. Where improvement is still required is ensuring that tasks consistently match the ambition of the planned curriculum, so that pupils practise and apply learning with enough depth in every subject.

Most pupils move on after Year 2, and the school’s context makes transition particularly practical because the junior school is on the same site. The school’s own admissions information notes that most children move into Reception after attending Nursery and continue through the infant and junior stages, but Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place.

For families planning longer-term, the key question is whether you are aiming for continuity through the linked junior pathway, or whether you expect to move later. Either way, the infant years here are designed to send pupils on with secure early reading habits and the classroom routines that make Key Stage 2 feel manageable from day one.

Demand is real. In the latest available admissions figures, there were 100 applications for 48 offers, which equates to 2.08 applications per place, and the entry route is oversubscribed. This is the main practical constraint for families.

For September 2027 Reception entry, applications are coordinated by London Borough of Hillingdon. The on-time deadline is 15 January 2027, national offer day is 16 April 2027, and the offer acceptance deadline is 30 April 2027.

The school encourages visits, with open mornings typically running in the autumn term and tours taking place during the school day. If you are shortlisting several local options, the FindMySchool Map Search can be useful to sanity-check practical travel time and day-to-day logistics before you commit to a preference order.

At infant age, “pastoral” mostly means adults catching small issues early. The school’s approach emphasises staff knowing pupils and families well, pupils feeling safe, and adults dealing with unkind behaviour promptly. That matters because children who feel settled are more available for learning, especially in early reading.

Safeguarding processes are framed as routine rather than reactive. The school participates in Operation Encompass, which means the school is informed by police about domestic abuse incidents involving a child prior to the next school day, enabling timely support.

Support for additional needs is referenced through the school’s inclusion leadership structure, and external review materials note that pupils with special educational needs and disabilities receive support that helps them access the same ambitious curriculum as peers.

Extracurricular provision is often limited in infant settings, so it is helpful that clubs are clearly scheduled and run by named external providers. For autumn term 2025, the school lists gymnastics (PT coaching) on Mondays, street dance (Stomp Dance) on Tuesdays, dodgeball and football (Premier Education) midweek, and performing arts (Empower) on Thursdays. Collection for these clubs is set for 4:15pm.

There is also a clear “try something new” philosophy, with “Try Days” referenced as a mechanism for pupils to sample new activities and experiences, supported by educational visits that connect to the planned curriculum. For parents, the implication is that enrichment is not treated as optional icing, it is used to reinforce classroom learning and widen children’s experiences early.

The school day runs 8:45am to 3:15pm (32.5 hours per week). Nursery sessions are offered as morning (8:30am to 11:30am), afternoon (12:30pm to 3:30pm), and full-time (8:30am to 3:30pm).

Wraparound care is clearly defined. Breakfast club operates 7:45am to 8:45am and after-school club runs 3:15pm to 5:45pm.

• Competition for places. Demand exceeds supply, and the Reception route is oversubscribed. Families should plan on the basis of realistic alternatives as well as a first preference.

• Nursery is not a back door. Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. That can be surprising, so it is worth aligning expectations early.

• Curriculum task-match still matters. The school’s main improvement focus has been ensuring classroom tasks consistently reflect the ambition of the curriculum, so parents may want to ask how this is being monitored and supported in each year group.

• Extra clubs are structured, but limited slots. Wraparound clubs and external activities have set schedules and timings, but places can be limited, which matters for working families.

This is a strong option for families who want an infant setting that takes language, phonics, and routines seriously, and that uses consistent methods across early years and Key Stage 1. The culture is geared towards pupils feeling safe, learning to regulate behaviour, and building early reading fluency with close matching of books to taught sounds.

Who it suits: families prioritising a structured start to reading, clear expectations, and wraparound care that is spelled out in practical terms. The barrier is admission rather than the day-to-day offer, so using Saved Schools and shortlisting tools can help you keep realistic contingencies alongside your preferred choice.