Elson Infant School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Elson Infant School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a highly inclusive school. All pupils are welcomed. Pupils arrive to the school and are greeted by smiling staff and music that builds excitement for the day ahead.

The school's learning superheroes are a golden thread that runs through the school. Pupils embody 'Can do Connie' by trying their best and living up to teachers' high expectations for their learning. Pupils are enthusiastic about discovering different subjects.

One pupil reflected the views of many when they said, 'The best thing about school is learning.'

Pupils feel safe. Most behave very well.

...>In lessons, pupils sit in their 'strong gorilla' pose, showing they are paying attention. Pupils enjoy being rewarded for being like 'Respectful Rubin'. They are proud of the badges and certificates they receive in recognition of their kind behaviour and achievements.

Pupils acknowledge that sometimes bullying might happen. However, they know that adults will help them. During lunchtime, pupils play sociably together.

The range of experiences pupils have while attending this school is impressive. Local visits, live performances and frequent visitors provide numerous opportunities to learn beyond the curriculum. Pupils have enjoyed working with the local community to design allotment boxes.

These broad experiences significantly enhance pupils' cultural understanding.

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

The school is ambitious for all pupils to learn well. The curriculum is broad and interesting.

It is well sequenced, ensuring that understanding builds over time. Teachers revisit previous topics and provide regular opportunities for pupils to practise what has been learned. For example, in early years, time is devoted to learning and rehearsing number bonds.

This helps children to be able to recall these important mathematical facts automatically. In many subjects, the school has set out the knowledge and skills it wants pupils to know. However, in some areas of the wider curriculum, the school is still refining exactly what should be taught and when.

This means that teachers are not always clear on the precise knowledge that pupils should learn and when they should learn it.

The curriculum is taught well by expert staff. The activities that pupils complete are carefully selected.

In early years, the purposeful nature of planned activities helps children to secure new learning. Lessons are resourced with high-quality materials. For example, in mathematics, pupils make effective use of learning aids when solving more complex problems.

Staff have a good understanding of what pupils know and can do. They intervene to ensure any gaps in understanding are addressed rapidly. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) have precise targets.

Staff know these targets well and adapt learning appropriately to meet pupils' needs. Those pupils who need more bespoke help benefit from targeted intervention and work with specialist teachers and services to support their learning.

Reading is a priority in the school.

High-quality texts have been carefully identified for each year group to learn from. These include a variety of fictional genres and poetry. From the start, children in the early years receive effective phonics teaching.

This helps children to recognise sounds and blend these into words. The books that pupils have are well matched to the sounds they know. Through practice, this helps pupils to become increasingly confident readers.

Pupils who fall behind have daily additional support to help them catch up.

Staff have high expectations for pupils' behaviour. Classroom routines are well established.

Pupils move between the carpet and their tables quickly and quietly. Most pupils behave in a calm and orderly fashion. In early years, children confidently make use of all the inside and outside spaces available to them.

Those who lose focus are quickly redirected by their teachers. The school carefully tracks pupils' behaviour and attendance, putting in place further support where needed.

The school supports pupils' personal development very successfully.

An appreciation for equalities and diversity is threaded through the curriculum. Pupils know that everybody should be included. Key learning opportunities have been carefully identified that provide exposure to modern British culture.

Opportunities to develop an understanding of the local area are well considered and inspire a love of learning in pupils. The school thoughtfully prepares pupils for the future. It ensures that pupils learn about healthy relationships and respectful attitudes at the right time.

Leaders have driven improvement at the school with determination. They carefully check how well the curriculum is taught and put in place training and support where needed to maintain high standards. Staff are proud to work at the school.

They appreciate the way in which leaders support them and consider their workload. This ensures staff are motivated to do their best for the pupils in their care. Governors have a secure understanding of the strengths and areas to continue to develop.

They hold school leaders to account appropriately to support the school improvements that are being made.

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, leaders have not yet precisely identified and sequenced the detailed knowledge that they want pupils to learn.

This means that teachers do not always know exactly what knowledge and skills need to be taught and in what order. The school needs to ensure that the curriculum is coherently planned and sequenced across all subjects.

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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in June 2018.

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