Great Moor Infant School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, including children in the early years, benefit from a stronger education than they did at the time of the previous inspection. They achieve well due to an improved curriculum and the school's high expectations for their academic success.

Pupils live up to the renewed school values.

These help pupils to make sensible choices and to treat each other with care and respect. Pupils benefit from positive, nurturing relationships with staff. They know that staff will listen to them and offer help if they have any worries.

This makes the school a happy and safe place to be. Pupils said that they enjoy coming to school.

Pupils behave well in and aroun...d the school.

They are keen to learn. Children in the early years follow the routines that staff teach. This helps them to understand how to take turns and share equipment.

This creates a harmonious environment.

Pupils enjoy the range of clubs that they can attend, such as Spanish and singing. They contribute to the life of the school through their leadership responsibilities.

This is particularly true for pupils in Year 2 who can become librarians and lunchtime monitors.

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

The school has designed a curriculum that inspires its pupils to learn well. The knowledge that pupils should acquire has been identified.

This knowledge is carefully ordered starting from the early years and continuing to Year 2.

Teachers value the training opportunities that they receive to deepen their understanding of how to teach the curriculum effectively. Their subject knowledge is strong, and they introduce new learning clearly.

Teachers provide opportunities for pupils to revisit their prior learning. This helps pupils to build up their knowledge securely. Teachers regularly check pupils' understanding in lessons and they address any misconceptions.

Typically, pupils achieve well.

The school identifies the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) quickly. These pupils receive the support that they need to be fully involved in school life.

However, at times, teachers do not adjust their delivery of the curriculum well enough to help pupils with SEND learn all that they should.

The school has prioritised the reading curriculum. In the early years, children experience a range of stories and rhymes.

They are encouraged to explore and find out about the world around them. Staff encourage children to talk and extend their vocabulary. Highly trained staff teach the phonics programme well.

Reading books are carefully matched to the sounds that children in the early years and pupils in key stage 1 know. Pupils at risk of not keeping up with the phonics programme are identified quickly. They receive timely support to develop their reading knowledge.

Most pupils become fluent and confident readers by the time they leave Year 2.Children in the early years settle into school life smoothly. They quickly learn how to behave and how to treat others.

Pupils in key stage 1 build on this strong start. They work hard in lessons and conduct themselves well around the school. Pupils are very welcoming to visitors.

The school has a sharp focus on pupils' attendance. It ensures that pupils and their families understand the importance of attending school regularly. The school takes swift and effective action to ensure that parents and carers receive the support that they need to improve their children's attendance.

In the early years, children's personal development is fostered well. Rich opportunities, including trips and visitors to school, help children in the Nursery and Reception classes to find out about the world around them. Recent improvements in key stage 1 mean that pupils in Years 1 and 2 can build on this strong start.

For example, pupils can access a broader range of clubs that meet their interests. Pupils also gain an age-appropriate understanding of fundamental British values. However, pupils in key stage 1 do not have access to the same wealth of experiences outside of school that they enjoyed when they were in the early years.

At times, this limits their knowledge of the wider world.

Governors fulfil their statutory duties well. They have contributed to the school's improvement.

Although there have been many changes since the previous inspection, the school has remained mindful of staff's well-being. Their workload has been considered carefully when introducing change.

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 few subjects, teachers do not adapt the delivery of the curriculum well enough to meet the needs of pupils with SEND. This hinders the progress of this group through the curriculum. The school should ensure that staff are suitably equipped to design learning that enables pupils with SEND to learn all that they should.

• There are fewer opportunities for pupils to experience life beyond the classroom in key stage 1 than there are in the early years. At times, this limits older pupils from deepening their knowledge of the wider world. The school should ensure that pupils have greater opportunities to enhance their understanding of the world around them.

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