Lound Infant School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Lound Infant School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to this positive, purposeful, and cheerful school. They are well behaved, polite, and eager to talk about what they like about their school.

They are engaged in their lessons. At social times, they play actively and benefit from the activities that are provided for them.

Pupils are kind to each other.

Bullying is a rare event. They feel confident that if they have a problem, staff will support them. There are a wide range of sports clubs that pupils can enjoy after school and leaders are planning to reintroduce further activities.

Pupils enjoy the...ir lessons and talk confidently about what they are learning. They enjoy the books and stories that are read to them. On the day of the inspection the story in assembly was 'The Mole who Knew it was None of His Business', which was a great hit with all the pupils.

Leaders have created a positive relationship between the school and its community. Staff and pupils have welcomed several new families to the school community over recent months. Almost all parents and carers who completed an inspection survey said they would recommend the school to others.

One parent said, 'I find the teachers go above and beyond to make the curriculum exciting and engaging.' Staff are also positive and committed to their work at the school.

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

Leaders have created a broad and rich curriculum which they keep under constant review.

It is designed carefully to ensure pupils can progress seamlessly to key stage 2. Leaders are reflective and always open to ways that could make things even better. Assessment across the curriculum is not always helpful in identifying the gaps in pupils' knowledge and skills and to allow teachers to plan next steps in learning precisely.

Leaders have identified this and are working to improve assessment across all subjects.

Reading is a priority at the school. Staff have benefited from extensive training and are very confident in their ability to teach pupils to read.

Pupils are taught phonics with a carefully sequenced programme, which starts in the Reception classes. Children and pupils progress at their own pace through the programme to make sure that they gain a secure knowledge of the letters and sounds they need. Leaders think carefully about the books and stories that are read to children and pupils.

This gives children and pupils exposure to a wide variety of texts and develops their love of reading. There is a good deal of thought put into the best ways of helping parents support their children in learning to read.

The mathematics curriculum is carefully planned, and it is ambitious.

Children in the Reception classes have a daily input on the mathematics table as well as opportunities to develop their mathematical knowledge through a range of other activities. Teachers all have good subject knowledge and think carefully how to present mathematical ideas so that pupils will understand them. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported well.

There is a real emphasis on teaching the correct vocabulary and pupils were heard correcting each other so that the right term was used. In key stage 1 there are termly assessments which are carefully analysed by leaders at school and trust level. However, leaders and teachers were less clear as to how teachers checked regularly to see if pupils had gaps in their knowledge or were finding a particular operation difficult.

The geography programme is also very well sequenced and benefits from being planned across both key stage 1 and 2. The plans identify the important knowledge and geographical vocabulary that pupils need to learn and when they need to learn it. Pupils in Year 2 were comparing physical and human features of a location in Kenya with their locality.

This was well supported by using information technology so that they could see the places they were studying. What was less consistent was how teachers followed up the work pupils had completed to check that they were understanding it fully. The programme in the Reception classes prepares pupils for geography well.

There are opportunities for children to explore maps, use directional language and explore rocks and fossils.

The personal development of pupils is a priority for leaders. There is a well-planned curriculum for personal, social and health education, supported by the assembly programme.

Trips are used to enhance what pupils study, for example Year 2 pupils are visiting the Conisbrough Castle later in the month. The emphasis on pupils' personal development also supports the positive behaviour of pupils, seen both in lessons and around the school. Reception Year children have already learned the routines and expectations that make Lound Infants such a positive place to learn.

Staff are proud to work at the school, which they say is well led by the headteacher. They say that they are well supported in managing their workload. The school moved to a new multi-academy trust in September 2021.

The transition to the new trust has been handled well. The school now benefits from the support of the trust and an effective governing body.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

There is a strong culture of safeguarding. Leaders ensure that the correct procedures are followed when appointing staff. Thorough records are kept of any concerns.

Prompt referrals are made if they are required. Action is taken in a timely manner. Staff receive regular training and understand their responsibilities in keeping pupils safe.

Staff ensure that pupils know how to keep themselves safe. This work is well supported by the trust and governing body.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Assessment practice has not been developed fully in all subjects.

This means that teachers do not always have useful information to enable them to identify gaps in knowledge and plan next steps in learning with precision so that pupils can all build their learning on knowledge which is secure. Leaders should ensure that assessment practice is developed that allows teachers to plan next steps in learning precisely, while being mindful of teachers' workload.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 May 2017.