Audley Infant School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Audley Infant School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils flourish at this welcoming school where everyone feels valued regardless of their differences. The school is ambitious for pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Many pupils are at the early stages of learning to speak English as an additional language when they join the school.

Staff effectively support pupils in developing their vocabulary and spoken English. Pupils embrace the learning opportunities that the school provides for them and achieve well.

The school has high expectations of pupils' behaviour.

Children in the N...ursery and Reception Years quickly learn the importance of the school rules. Staff in the early years ably support children to learn how to cooperate and share. Pupils are well mannered and caring.

They benefit from positive relationships with staff which help to make them feel happy at school.

Pupils value the opportunities that they have to take on responsibilities in school, such as being a member of the school council. Pupils value their school library, which dedicated pupil librarians help to maintain and to run.

Pupils actively contribute to the community. They regularly support local food banks and charities. These experiences help pupils to understand the positive contribution that they can make to society.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school has ensured that the curriculum is ambitious for all pupils, including those with SEND. Across the curriculum, beginning in the early years, the school has carefully identified the key knowledge that pupils should learn and when this should be taught. Carefully considered support and resources help pupils with SEND access the curriculum and to progress through it well.

In most subjects, teachers check on what pupils know and remember from previous learning. Teachers design learning activities that effectively build on what pupils already know. Across many subjects, pupils develop a deep body of knowledge and are well prepared for the next stage of education.

In a small number of subjects, the school has not ensured that teachers have the subject knowledge that they need to be able to teach the curriculum well. This means that some teachers do not cover aspects of the curriculum in sufficient detail. This leads to some pupils having gaps in their knowledge.

These gaps hinder pupils' ability to make sense of new learning and they do not achieve as well as they should.

Staff in the Nursery and Reception Years are skilled at supporting children's language development. The school places a high priority on children in the Reception Year and pupils in key stage 1 developing a secure knowledge of phonics.

Well-trained staff teach phonics effectively. They quickly identify those pupils who need extra help. Pupils who join the school in key stage 1 and are new to learning English quickly begin to understand the different sounds that letters represent.

Children in the early years develop a love of books. They know and enjoy many stories, rhymes and songs. Children learn about reading through the well-chosen stories and non-fiction books that staff share with them.

When pupils begin to learn phonics, they enjoy reading books that are carefully matched to the sounds that they have learned. This helps them to become confident and fluent readers by the end of key stage 1.

The school's clear rules and routines help to create calm classrooms in which pupils focus on their learning.

This begins in the early years where children listen attentively to staff and are keen to help their friends. The school places a high priority on securing good attendance. Well-developed systems and procedures help the school to identify any potential issues and to take timely action to improve the attendance of pupils.

This includes taking appropriate actions in response to extended term-time holidays which adversely affect the attendance of some pupils.

Pupils experience many opportunities that prepare them well for life in modern Britain. The school ensures that pupils learn about different faiths and cultures.

Pupils know what to do if they see something online that upsets them. They benefit from opportunities to develop their talents and interests through attending clubs such as football, hockey and dodgeball.

Governors work in close collaboration with the school to realise their shared ambition for continuous improvement.

Governors support and challenge the school well to improve the quality of education. The school is considerate of staff's workload and well-being when making decisions about policies and procedures. Staff appreciate the consideration and actions taken to help them teach the curriculum well.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a small number of subjects, some teachers do not have the subject knowledge that they need to teach the intended curriculum effectively. As a result, some pupils have gaps in their knowledge.

These gaps hinder pupils' ability to make sense of new learning and they do not achieve as well as they should. In these subjects, the school should ensure that teachers have the knowledge that they need to effectively teach the curriculum, so that pupils achieve well.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in September 2014.

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