Frodingham Infant School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Frodingham Infant School take care of each other. Adults foster a positive and safe environment for pupils.

Pupils understand the school's behaviour policy and that they will go to the time-out square if they break the three rules: be responsible, keep safe, show respect.

Most pupils think this is fair. Pupils tell an adult if they have a problem. Pupils know what bullying is and say that an adult will sort it out for them if it happens.

Pupils' challenging behaviour is managed with de-escalation techniques. These pupils have a pen portrait that outlines the ways adults can support them to manage their behaviour.

Children in early years enj...oy a newly renovated indoor and outdoor space.

Children can access a range of resources in the provision such as the construction, painting and busy fingers areas. Reception children have an opportunity to be a role model in the nursery room. They wear the 'top explorer' badge with pride.

Leaders have high ambitions for pupils in English and mathematics, but this is not being achieved in the wider curriculum. This is because pupils from different year groups and with varying attainment levels access the same activity. Sometimes tasks are too easy for some pupils in these subjects and sometimes they are too hard.

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

Leaders have created a two-year rolling programme of topics across the wider curriculum in key stage 1 to meet the needs of the mixed-age classes. However, leaders have not considered how the wider curriculum builds progressively on what pupils already know from Year 1 into Year 2. Subject leaders have not identified the small steps of learning linked to the knowledge and skills they want pupils to remember for each unit of the curriculum.

This means it is not clear what the essential knowledge is pupils must remember. As a result, pupils cannot always recall what they have learned. Subject leaders have not had an opportunity to check that the intended curriculum and work are appropriate.

Leaders have a system for gathering information on pupils' progress. Leaders are still developing this to ensure that it gives them the right information to adapt and inform their curriculum thinking.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) have individual learning plans that include targets to meet their specific need.

Staff support pupils to practise and achieve these targets. However, ambition for all is not clear in the work pupils produce in their books. For example, in the mixed-age classes, Years 1 and 2 pupils often complete the same task irrespective of their attainment level or year group.

As a result, some pupils are not making the progress that they might.

Leaders have recently introduced a new phonics scheme to help ensure that there is consistency from early years to Year 2. Teachers check the sounds pupils know every six weeks.

They use this information to plan daily catch-up sessions. Pupils who speak English as an additional language have extra phonics sessions to help them rapidly catch up. Teachers read stories to pupils at least once a day.

These books are age appropriate and chosen to develop language acquisition. Each classroom has a 'magpie wall' to display vocabulary from the storybooks that pupils can then use in their own writing.

The mathematics curriculum is sequenced.

Pupils develop mathematical skills by revisiting concepts that build on prior learning. Teachers use their subject knowledge to skilfully question pupils. The use of apparatus enables pupils with SEND to grasp concepts at an early stage before developing their problem-solving skills.

In early years, adults plan and design an ambitious curriculum that engages children in stimulating learning activities. This helps to develop children's independence and resilience. Adults establish clear routines which enable children to play cooperatively in the large indoor and outdoor spaces.

Children in the early years are calm and quickly settle to learn. However, in key stage 1, when the activity is not well matched to the needs of the pupils, they become restless and fidgety, which disrupts the flow of learning.

Relationship and sex education (RSE) and health education is taught each summer term.

This is part of the school's personal, social and health education. Leaders have not followed the Department for Education (DfE) statutory guidance to ensure that the RSE curriculum meets the needs of the pupils. They have not consulted with parents to ensure policy and practice reflects the community they serve.

Governors hold leaders to account through their termly monitoring days. They require leaders to explain the impact of their actions. This ensures that there is challenge and support for leaders at all levels.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff have annual training on how to identify indicators of harm. Leaders recognise pupils with SEND or those who speak English as an additional language can have other vulnerabilities, often linked to communication.

Leaders use pictures to help these pupils convey their worries.

Records are kept of incidents such as poor behaviour or the use of inappropriate language. However, the records do not always show the follow-up actions leaders have taken in response to the incident.

This means some records are incomplete and do not record the views of parents and pupils.

Pupils are clear on how to stay safe when online. They know not to talk to strangers when they are playing a game on the internet as the stranger might trick them.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In the wider curriculum, leaders have not planned out the small steps of content pupils need to learn. Teachers are clear on the end points from the national curriculum, but they have not broken down the content into small enough steps for pupils to be successful. This means that pupils cannot remember some of the key knowledge they have been taught.

Leaders should ensure that the sequences of learning in each subject are clear. ? There is not enough ambition for all pupils in the mixed-age classes. Teachers do not ensure that each year group has work at their appropriate level.

As a result, tasks can be too easy for some pupils and too hard for others. This can then lead to low-level disruption, as well as pupils not making the progress they could. Leaders should ensure that teachers prepare an ambitious curriculum for mixed-age groups.

• Some subject leaders have not had an opportunity to monitor their subjects. This hampers their ability to know if the intended curriculum and activities are being taught and how well pupils are learning their subject. Leaders should ensure subject leaders have time to effectively monitor their area of responsibility.

• Leaders have failed to consult with parents on their RSE curriculum. Parents do not know what is being taught in RSE. Leaders should ensure that they consult with parents and use the statutory DfE guidance to inform the school's policy.

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