Featherstone Purston Infant School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

There is a strong sense of community at Featherstone Purston Infants School. Pupils, parents, carers and staff are proud to be part of this community and work in partnership together. Leaders and staff are caring and nurturing.

These qualities spread throughout the school.

Pupils feel safe and enjoy coming to school. They are keen to take part in their lessons and enjoy their learning.

All staff maintain high expectations for pupils in lessons and around the school. Pupils get on well together and care about each other. Pupils take part in a range of extra-curricular visits and clubs and often participate in charity fundraising activities.

Pupils kno...w what bullying is. They say it does not happen at school but are sure that adults would act quickly if it did. Staff model healthy relationships and this supports pupils in being kind and in showing respect for one another.

Parents have highly positive views of the school. One parent reflected the views of many in saying: 'I can't possibly give enough praise to this school. It really is amazing.

The teachers are all lovely and really go above and beyond for the children.'

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

Leaders have developed an effective curriculum. Pupils benefit from this.

Leaders have developed the expertise of staff. Staff are given responsibility to lead the curriculum. They value the trust placed in them.

Despite this, systems for checking the curriculum are not strong enough. At times, leaders do not have a clear enough picture of what is working well and what could continue to improve.

Pupils start learning to read in the early years.

Leaders make sure there is a consistent approach to teaching reading across the school. Books are well matched to the sounds that pupils learn. Pupils take these books home to practise reading.

Teachers encourage pupils to read regularly. This is helping pupils to become fluent and independent readers. Leaders have revitalised the school library and pupils take books home that interest and excite them.

This further develops reading for pleasure. Parents are encouraged to read to their children to develop their interest and their vocabulary.

The mathematics curriculum is well established and carefully mapped out.

This begins from the start of Nursery and is tailored to pupils' learning needs. Leaders have identified the essential knowledge that pupils should understand and apply. They have made sure that content is taught in a well-sequenced way.

This helps pupils to build on what they already know. By Year 2, pupils are able to explain why certain mathematical strategies are the most effective for them.

Leaders ensure that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported.

Leaders engage with outside agencies to make sure that pupils receive support that is specific to their learning needs. Teachers help pupils to access the curriculum by adapting the way they teach. They use scaffolds and 'knowledge organisers' to help pupils to build knowledge.

These approaches are effective in ensuring that pupils can access learning and succeed. Staff regularly check that this support helps pupils with SEND in their learning.

In some subjects, leaders have clearly identified and set out the knowledge and skills pupils need to learn.

In these subjects, such as mathematics and science, pupils are confident, excited by the learning and do well. However, this is not the same for all subjects. In subjects such as computing and history, key skills and knowledge have not been defined precisely enough.

As a result, pupils are not learning as much as they could.

The early years provision is well structured and focuses on establishing routines and the key areas of learning. Staff are aware of specific needs and focus on the development of communication and language.

Staff use questions and prompts skilfully to encourage children to explain their thinking. This prepares the children well for their move into key stage 1.

Leaders provide opportunities for pupils' wider development.

They are committed to providing a range of experiences and activities for all pupils. For example, when a trip to the seaside was unable to go ahead due to COVID-19, leaders brought the seaside to the school. They put on seaside activities and organised for an ice cream van to visit the school.

Pupils take on positions of responsibility that help to develop their character and self-confidence. This includes roles such as playtime buddies and school council members.

Governance is strong.

Governors have expertise across a range of areas, which enables them to work effectively in supporting leaders and holding them to account. Governors understand their statutory responsibilities, have a clear understanding of the school and know what they need to do to help it improve further.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

There is a strong culture of safeguarding at the school. Leaders provide staff with important safeguarding training and they check that they have understood important messages. Leaders build positive relationships with pupils and families.

This supports their safeguarding work. Staff know pupils well and parents trust the school and hold open conversations to support pupils' welfare.

While leaders act effectively to address any concerns over pupils' welfare, their written records do not fully reflect the actions they have taken to keep pupils safe.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The processes that leaders use to check the quality of the school's work, including the quality of education, are not strong enough. This means that leaders are not able to identify strengths and areas for improvement as effectively as they could. Leaders should develop better ways to check how well the curriculum is being implemented in order to sustain ongoing improvement.

• Leaders have not identified the sequence of knowledge that pupils must learn in sufficient detail in some subjects. Consequently, pupils do not learn consistently well across all subjects. Leaders should continue to develop the curriculum in detail across all subjects.