Heatherside Infant School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy their time at this school. They learn alongside each other happily in lessons and have positive relationships with adults. The culture of respect and tolerance permeates all activities.

Pupils are supported to make an exceptional contribution to the school community. The school ensures that all pupils benefit from excellent opportunities to develop their character. Pupils enjoy each other's company and play together amicably.

Pupils are safe in the school and know that trusted adults will address any concerns they may have.

The school expects all pupils to achieve as well as possible, both in and out of lessons. The school takes deliberate action... to make sure that this is realised.

For example, in several subjects, the curriculum has recently been redesigned to reflect the local context of the school. This has resulted in an engaging curriculum that motivates pupils to achieve well.

Pupils' behaviour at the school is exceptional.

In lessons, pupils are focused on their learning, and when they are asked to contribute, they do so with enthusiasm. Parents and carers are overwhelmingly positive about the school. They explain how their children love coming to school and typically use words like 'fantastic' and 'amazing' to describe it.

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

Staff have strong subject knowledge across all subjects from early years onwards. The school has thoughtfully designed the curriculum to ensure that there is clear progression for all pupils from early years to the end of Year 2. Staff design engaging learning activities that help to ensure pupils are motivated to learn.

Pupils remember important learning over time and can recall what they have previously learned with enthusiasm.

Staff are trained to identify where pupils may have additional learning needs and how to meet the needs of all pupils. This means that learning resources are adapted to ensure that pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, learn the school's full curriculum.

Children begin learning to read from their first week in school. The school checks pupils' progress in reading carefully and regularly. It precisely identifies where pupils need additional help to keep up with the rest of the class and carefully designs support for pupils to help them do so.

The impact of this work is effective in helping pupils to keep up with their peers.

In some subjects, other than mathematics and English, pupils' learning is not checked as carefully. Therefore, staff are not consistently clear about what pupils need to improve before moving on to the next stage of learning.

This means that pupils sometimes start new learning in these subjects when prior learning is uneven.

Staff take decisive action to ensure the highest possible standards of behaviour across the school. Staff understand their role in modelling behaviour.

They make sure that pupils understand the school's expectations from the moment that they join the school. This starts in early years, when children are shown how to manage their belongings at the start of the school day and how they are expected to behave at playtimes and lunchtimes.

The school is a calm and orderly learning environment.

Pupils' behaviour is excellent. They move quietly and sensibly to lessons and transition smoothly from activity to activity. Pupils are highly attentive when adults or other pupils are speaking in class.

They fully engage with their learning and work well on their own or in groups. They show resilience when they encounter difficulties, and adults teach them how to work through these to succeed.

The school offers an impressive range of opportunities for pupils to develop beyond the taught curriculum.

This work is underpinned by the school's values of respect, kindness, integrity, togetherness, resilience and creativity. Pupils understand the school's values and their significance to their time in school. Assemblies, circle time, visits and activities are carefully crafted to ensure that pupils have plentiful opportunities to reflect on these values.

The school is highly inclusive and works closely with parents to ensure that all pupils can engage with the full range of extra-curricular activities, trips and visits.

Leaders at all levels have an accurate understanding of what the school does well and where it needs to improve. Recently, leaders have rightly focused on curriculum design to ensure that pupils enjoy a knowledge-rich curriculum alongside a comprehensive offer of wider development opportunities.

Staff enjoy working here. They are appreciative of leaders' recognition of and support for their workload and well-being.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some foundation subjects, staff do not check pupils' learning precisely enough to identify pupils' next steps in their learning. This means that in some subjects, pupils begin to study new content without first securing their prior learning. The school should ensure that staff check pupils' learning carefully in these subjects and identify where there are gaps in knowledge, so that these can be addressed.

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