Dronfield Infant School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Dronfield Infant School aims for everyone to 'learn together, believe and achieve.'

This aim is realised. Pupils work hard, grow in confidence and achieve well. They are helped to do this by a strong team of staff who are united in their ambition.

The school is a cohesive community.

Pupils behave well. They are polite and courteous.

They enjoy the wide range of rewards on offer. For example, 'Hot Choc Fridays' with the headteacher, 'wow moments', earning tokens and special awards. These all motivate pupils to behave well and to work hard.

Pupils know that the school expects them to be 'ready, respectful and safe'. They live up to these expe...ctations.

Pupils are proud to represent their school in the many sporting tournaments, events and competitions that the school enters.

They take great pride in the positive contribution that they make to their community, including through the roles of school councillors, 'Eco Green Team' and mindfulness ambassadors. The mini play leaders make sure that no one is left out at playtimes. They wear their caps with pride!

Pupils are well looked after.

They know who to go to if they have a worry or concern. They have an impressive understanding of how to stay safe online.

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

Due to a change in the number of pupils on the school's roll, the school is in the process of reorganising its curriculum.

It is doing this well. The curriculum continues to take full account of what pupils have learned before and prepares them well for what will come next. However, this work is at an early stage.

While the first year of the curriculum is well organised and fit for purpose, the school has yet to complete this work ready for its second year of implementation.

In the majority of subjects, and across the early years, pupils remember what they have been taught. In some cases, this is to an impressive degree.

For example, in geography, a group of Year 2 pupils talked confidently about what they had learned the previous year. They were able to recall the names of the countries that make up the United Kingdom and name the seas that surround them. However, this is not consistent.

In a small number of subjects, the curriculum does not make clear the content that pupils are expected to learn and remember. In these cases, pupils' recall is inconsistent.

Pupils at an early stage of learning to read get on well.

The school's phonics programme is taught consistently well. Phonics lessons are fast paced and energetic. Pupils enjoy them.

Children in the early years pay close attention and are eager to practise new sounds. The school uses a wide range of strategies to promote a love of reading. These have the desired effect as pupils quickly develop a love of books.

They read widely and often. However, the reading curriculum, beyond the phonics programme, does not make clear how pupils will build their knowledge over time. Although it sets out the books that pupils will study, it is not always clear what pupils are expected to learn from them.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive expert help and support. This enables them to learn the same curriculum as their peers. The school identifies these pupils' needs well.

In classrooms, staff know when to step in and when to step back, allowing pupils to develop independence and to grow in confidence. Pupils with SEND achieve well.

The school provides many enriching experiences, including a wide range of educational trips, visits and visitors, to enhance pupils' personal development.

This is underpinned by a well-designed curriculum for personal, social and health education. Pupils enjoy the daily 'mindfulness' sessions. They said that these help them to concentrate.

Children in the early years have an impressive concentration span. Pupils have an age-appropriate understanding of the protected characteristics. They recognise that relationships can take many different forms.

At all levels, including governance, leadership is strong. The school has a committed and talented team of staff. Staff share a determined ambition for all pupils to achieve highly.

Staff report that the school is considerate of their workload. Leaders know their school, its pupils and families well. Subject leaders have a good understanding of what is working well in their subjects and what can be improved.

Pupils, staff and the vast majority of parents and carers hold the school in high esteem. One parent summed up the view of many when they said: 'Every child is treated as an individual, and staff really take time to recognise each pupil. My child skips into school every day and cannot wait to tell me everything that they have done.'



Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school has not completed its revised curriculum. While the first year, 'Cycle A', is well designed and ordered, the work on 'Cycle B' is at an early stage of development.

This means that the school cannot be sure that pupils' knowledge builds cumulatively over time. The school should ensure that, across both cycles, its curriculum is fully planned and sequenced. ? In a small number of subjects, the curriculum does not make clear the content that pupils are expected to know and remember longer term.

In these cases, pupils' recall is inconsistent. The school should ensure that its curriculum, across all subjects, makes explicitly clear the content that pupils are expected to commit to their long-term memory. ? Beyond the phonics programme, the school's reading curriculum does not make clear how pupils will build their knowledge over time.

Although it sets out the books that pupils will study, it is not always clear what pupils are expected to learn from them. This means that the school cannot be sure that content is taught in the best possible order. The school should ensure that its reading curriculum, beyond phonics, makes clear what pupils are expected to know at each stage of their education.

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