Canvey Island Infant School and Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Canvey Island Infant School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and pupils value the sense of family at this school.

The school values of respect, resilience and responsibility are at the heart of everything that the school does.

Pupils in this school are happy and confident. They respect each other and the adults who help them to learn.

Pupils have very positive relationships with teachers and other staff and enjoy coming to school.

The school is a hive of purposeful activity. Pupils arrive at school eager to learn.

This includes the newest arrivals into Reception. Parents are very positive about the sch...ool. A typical view expressed through Parent View was: 'This is a fantastic school.

I cannot praise the teachers and learning support assistants highly enough.' Parents and pupils recognise the strong sense of community established due to the dedication and determination of staff.

Staff follow the school's behaviour policy well.

They set high expectations for pupils' behaviour. Parents, staff and pupils agree that bullying is extremely rare. Pupils get on well together.

They are pleasant and polite. The size of the school means that pupils and staff know each other well.

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

Leaders ensure that pupils are taught well.

Subjects taught enable pupils to gain the knowledge and skills they need to learn. Other activities, such as working with different charities, build pupils' strong spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, for example, sponsoring Molly the guide dog. Teachers plan lessons that build on pupils' prior learning.

This enables pupils to make strong links between subjects and remember more. For example, Year 2 pupils learn about the Great Fire of London through computing, science and history.

Children settle well into the early years.

They enjoy the wide range of activities indoors and outdoors. Staff have high expectations of what children can do. They build on what children already know.

Children learn the sounds that letters make quickly and do so in many inspiring ways that interest and stimulate them. Children grasp new ideas because staff explain them well. Staff make learning exciting.

Leaders place a strong focus on reading and mathematics for all pupils. Staff are trained well to deliver high-quality phonics sessions from the earliest opportunity. There is a strong culture of reading in the school.

This means pupils enjoy picking up books and reading at school and at home. The high importance placed on early mathematics ensures that pupils gain confidence and speed when working with numbers. Therefore, pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are well catered for.

Leaders expect disadvantaged pupils to do well. They make sure that teachers include activities to help disadvantaged pupils to keep up. Leaders check that this is working.

Pupils with SEND are well supported. Useful individual plans help pupils to make the steps they need to learn more. Staff are well trained in meeting pupils' needs and, as a result, pupils with SEND make good progress in their learning and personal development.

Parents value the work of the school and the support that their children with SEND receive.

Staff feel well supported by leaders. They value the training that they have had and the chance to work with other teachers.

Leaders take account of staff workload and well-being when making decisions.

There are, however, aspects of the school's work that require further attention. Firstly, pupils are not given enough opportunities to use and understand a wide range of words.

As a result, they too often do not remember the key vocabulary needed to develop their knowledge, understanding and skills. Secondly, several members of the governing body are new in post and as a result are not yet fully aware of how the school measures the impact of all of its work such as changes in what is taught and the reasons for these changes.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff take safeguarding very seriously. Regular safeguarding training means that they have a good understanding of how to spot signs that a pupil may be at risk of harm. Leaders work well with external agencies.

There is a coordinated approach to ensuring that pupils are safe.

Governors check that the school keeps detailed records on the suitability of staff to work in school. These records are up to date and organised well.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

The remodelled curriculum is designed around enrichment in learning and has been planned well. However, opportunities to provide language-rich environments that develop pupils' expressive and descriptive vocabulary are insufficient.

The relatively inexperienced governing body is not yet questioning leaders about the effectiveness of the school's curriculum.

As a result, governors are not fully equipped to challenge leaders. Further training is needed so that governors have a better understanding of what leaders are trying to achieve.

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 a section 8 inspection of a good school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged Canvey Island Infant School to be good on 3–4 March 2016.

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