Catherington Church of England Infant School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The school's ethos of 'Respect the past, love our world and face the future with courage' is understood deeply by staff and pupils. Pupils make an exceptional start to their school lives in Reception, developing caring relationships for each other and for their environment.

Children in the early years develop knowledge and skills exceptionally effectively. They respond well to tasks which develop pupils' creativity when designing and making. Across the school, staff have high expectations for what pupils can achieve.

Pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve well in reading and mathematics by th...e end of key stage 1.

Pupils have very positive relationships with staff and each other. Pupils value their school roles and responsibilities, such as being part of the pupil well-being team, school councillors or 'buddies' who offer help and support to each other on the playground.

The school offers a wide range of extra-curricular activities such as choir, cooking, football and drama clubs. These support pupils in building confidence and independence. Leaders are meticulous in their approach to supporting good attendance and punctuality.

Close relationships between staff and parents helps to ensure that pupils attend school regularly.

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

Phonics and early reading provision is a strength of the school. From the beginning of Reception, pupils learn to read well.

If pupils need extra help, they are given close support and catch up to their peers quickly. Reading books are matched closely to the sounds that pupils have learned. Staff have excellent phonics knowledge which leads to very positive learning for all pupils.

Staff choose texts thoughtfully. They use culturally rich, diverse prose texts and poetry to help pupils develop a love of reading. In mathematics, lessons help pupils to build knowledge cumulatively.

Pupils are increasingly confident with arithmetic and mathematical fluency. In core subjects, staff check pupils' learning constantly and further adapt the curriculum in response to pupils' strengths and weaknesses. Pupils with SEND have their needs identified quickly.

The school works effectively with external agencies, where necessary, to ensure that pupils with SEND access the curriculum successfully. Disadvantaged pupils, including pupils with SEND, achieve well.

In subjects in the wider curriculum, such as history and computing, the school has identified the precise knowledge and vocabulary that pupils need to remember.

Many aspects of the curriculum contribute to pupils' learning successfully, including trips and visits. This helps pupils to build their core knowledge. However, some pupils are not learning as much as they could because activities that teachers use do not always promote deeper understanding.

Pupils' work is not of a consistently high standard, and staff do not check pupils' learning as effectively as in other areas of the curriculum. This means some pupils do not achieve as highly as they could.

Pupils feel very safe in school.

Staff use behaviour management strategies consistently and maintain a very positive atmosphere, particularly in the early years. Pupils feel empowered to help each other with managing their behaviour, for example by using the school's 'trick box' approaches which give pupils help to manage their own emotions positively. Behaviour around the school, as well as at breaktimes and lunchtimes, is calm and purposeful.

There is no low-level disruption in lessons and pupils generally have very positive attitudes to their learning.

Pupils appreciate their teachers and the opportunities they receive for wider development. For example, community visits, spirituality days and visiting theatre performances are all used to support pupils' learning.

Pupils have thoughtful opportunities to promote broader understanding and learn to navigate the world around them respectfully. Pupils enjoy the school's programme of assemblies and celebrations, such as 'Golden Ticket' awards which recognise pupils' efforts both in school work and in fostering positive relationships with each other.

Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school.

They appreciate the hard work of the whole staff team. Many parents shared positive comments such as, 'Our child has flourished..

.it is such a happy, welcoming community with so much to offer.' Staff feel incredibly well supported with their workload and benefit from the strong sense of teamwork and mutual support for each other.

Governors recognise the school's strengths and are committed to the continued journey of improvement. They understand their statutory functions and responsibilities and promote the highly inclusive, thoughtful and caring practice which defines the school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, activities to deepen and strengthen learning are not as effective as they could be. This means that some pupils are not building on their prior knowledge as securely as they could, and this is reflected in the written work that pupils produce. The school should ensure that pedagogical approaches are developed consistently well across the staff team and across all subjects to help pupils build on their successes in the early years and progress to achieve highly.

• Assessment information in the wider curriculum is not always precise enough to inform teachers about what pupils know and understand. This means that some pupils have gaps in their subject-specific knowledge. The school needs to ensure that teachers check what pupils know and can do in efficient and effective ways.

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