Cheadle Catholic Infant School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, including children in the early years, said that they feel happy and safe at Cheadle Catholic Infant School.

They arrive each day excited to begin their learning.

The school is ambitious for what all pupils can achieve. Pupils grow in resilience and confidence with the care and nurturing support that staff provide.

Staff help pupils to learn from their mistakes and to develop a 'can-do' attitude.

Pupils look after each other and are keen to make sure that everyone has a friend at playtimes. Those pupils who act as 'bully busters' look out for any rare signs of bullying.

They are eager to provide help and support to their peers.
<...br/>Starting in the early years, children respond positively to the expectations that staff have for their behaviour and attitudes to learning. For example, children in the Nursery Year learn to listen to each other and take turns.

In key stage 1, pupils also behave well.

Pupils benefit from a well-thought-out offer to enhance their personal development. For example, the 'time-to-shine' curriculum expands the range of opportunities that pupils have to help and make a difference to others.

Many parents and carers shared their immense pride with inspectors at how well their children are learning. Pupils are equally proud to attend this school.

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

Pupils follow an ambitious curriculum.

The school has given careful consideration to the most important knowledge that pupils need to know and remember. In most subjects, the curriculum design helps pupils to build securely on what they already know. Teachers have the subject expertise that they need to design learning that enables pupils to acquire new knowledge.

The curriculum sparks pupils' curiosity to learn well.

Pupils have many opportunities to revisit previous learning. This helps them to consolidate and deepen their understanding of key ideas.

The school makes regular checks on what pupils know and remember. However, from time to time, staff do not identify pupils' misconceptions quickly enough. Where this is the case, some pupils develop gaps in their knowledge.

This prevents these pupils from learning as deeply as they could.

The school has effective systems in place to identify the additional needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) quickly and accurately. The school ensures that staff understand the barriers to learning for pupils with SEND.

Staff provide support for pupils with SEND to enable them to learn successfully. The school makes regular checks to ensure that the support for these pupils remains appropriate.Reading lies at the heart of the school's curriculum.

As soon as children join the school in the Nursery Year, they are immersed in stories, songs and rhymes. Children in the Reception Year quickly learn to recognise the sounds that letters make. They use their phonics knowledge to write with increasing accuracy.

Staff have an expert knowledge of how to deliver the phonics programme. Staff make sure that pupils read books that contain the sounds they know. This helps pupils to read with increasing accuracy and fluency.

The school quickly identifies those pupils who fall behind with the pace of the phonics programme. These pupils receive the support they need to catch up quickly.

Parents said that they appreciate the clear information they receive about the school's approach to teaching reading.

This helps parents to encourage their children to read more regularly at home. Added to this, the school provides reading areas to encourage pupils to want to read for pleasure. These reading areas reflect pupils' favourite authors and interests.

Pupils are exposed to a range of authors and genres.

Pupils' learning is rarely disrupted by poor behaviour. Respectful attitudes feature throughout the school.

For example, pupils listen and consider the views and opinions of others, even when they differ from their own. Pupils understand that everyone should be treated fairly.

The school celebrates the differences and diversity within the community.

It provides a range of opportunities within the curriculum for pupils to learn about how different people live. That said, some pupils do not have sufficient understanding of some religions, faiths and cultures different to their own. As a result, pupils are not fully prepared to be active participants in multicultural Britain.

The school provides staff with the support they need to embed new ideas. Staff appreciate the sensitivity that the school shows for their well-being.

Governors have a secure understanding of the school's strengths and areas for development.

They ask the right questions to check that the school's actions have the desired impact on the quality of education that pupils receive. This includes checking on the culture of safeguarding and how pupils are protected from harm.

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, staff do not identify pupils' misconceptions quickly enough. Consequently, some pupils develop gaps in their knowledge, and this prevents them from learning to the depth that they could. The school should ensure that staff use the information they gain from assessments to adapt future learning and to remedy the gaps in pupils' knowledge.

• Some pupils do not have a sufficient understanding of some religions, faiths and cultures that may differ to their own. As a result, pupils are not as prepared as they could be to take their place in a modern and diverse society. The school should ensure that the curriculum enables pupils to build a secure and age-appropriate understanding of how different people live in modern Britain.

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