Millom Infant School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and relaxed at Millom Infant School. They enjoy coming to school.

Pupils feel safe. If bullying happens, leaders take appropriate action. Parents and carers who shared their views with inspectors said that they appreciate the care that their children receive.

All staff want the best for pupils. However, this aim is not realised. Leaders' efforts to improve the curriculum have been too slow.

Pupils do not achieve well. This includes children in the early years, who are not well prepared for their next steps. Leaders, including governors, have not spotted, or addressed, the shortcomings in the school.

Pupils generally behave well. They... are kind to one another, and most play cooperatively together. However, some staff are not consistent in what they expect in terms of pupils' behaviour.

They do not support pupils to behave as well as they should. This means that, at times, some pupils lose interest and distract one another in lessons.

Pupils enjoy a range of experiences that enrich their time at school.

They take part in outdoor activities that help them to learn more about the natural world. For example, pupils grow potatoes to eat at lunchtime and visit the local woodland to make campfires and broomsticks.

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

Since the previous inspection, leaders, including governors, have not taken the action needed to improve the quality of education that pupils receive.

As a result, pupils, including children in the early years, do not have the chance to flourish academically. Leaders at all levels lack the capacity to bring about much needed change.

Many of the curriculums for subjects other than phonics and mathematics are poorly designed.

This includes the curriculum for the early years. Subject leaders lack the expertise or knowledge to improve these curriculums.

Leaders are unclear about the essential knowledge that pupils need to learn and the order in which this should be taught.

Consequently, teachers do not understand how to shape their teaching so that pupils build their knowledge well over time. Pupils receive a jumbled learning experience. Many pupils remember little of what they have been taught.

Their achievement in many subjects is limited. Added to this, many pupils are persistently absent from school. They miss out on learning.

This limits their achievement even further.

Teachers do not use assessment strategies effectively to check what pupils know and can do. This means that some pupils develop misconceptions, which are not addressed.

Some pupils have gaps in their learning. This makes it difficult for them to remember new information.

Leaders ensure that staff are trained to deliver the reading curriculum.

Despite this, some children in the early years get off to a slow start with learning to read. Staff do not deliver the phonics programme consistently well. This continues to be a problem in key stage 1.

Teachers do not make sure that pupils read books that match their reading knowledge. This means that some pupils are held back in their reading, while others read books that are too difficult for them.

Leaders have introduced a programme to promote pupils' personal development.

However, this is not followed closely enough by staff. As a result, some pupils do not know what makes a healthy and happy life. Pupils are taught about the different faiths, cultures and families that make up modern Britain.

However, many pupils struggle to remember what they have learned.

Leaders and teachers accurately identify pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, the support for these pupils is variable.

While pupils with SEND are well cared for, many do not get the help and support they need to achieve as well as they should. Some staff are not trained sufficiently well to use the information they receive about pupils with SEND to inform how they adapt the delivery of lessons.

Most pupils behave well in lessons.

However, weaknesses in the curriculum mean that pupils lose interest in their learning. They distract themselves or others. This interrupts learning.

Some staff do not address low-level behaviour consistently well.

The governing body has experienced considerable instability. Governors are either new to post or are still developing in their roles.

As a result, the level of challenge that governors currently offer does not hold school leaders fully to account. While governors understand their role in overseeing safeguarding, some of their checks lack rigour. For example, they do not seek reassurance on how well leaders record and analyse patterns relating to attendance and behaviour incidents.

Most of the staff who spoke to inspectors said that they are proud to work at the school. They appreciate the steps that leaders take to reduce their workload and to support their well-being.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders place a high priority on safeguarding. They ensure that staff have the knowledge and skills they need to keep pupils safe. Staff are well trained.

They are vigilant. Staff know how to report any concerns they may have about a pupil's welfare. Leaders work with a variety of external partners to support vulnerable pupils and their families.

They make sure that timely support is available for those who need it.Pupils learn about different ways they can keep themselves safe. This includes when they are online or crossing the road.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The curriculum in several subjects does not set out clearly what pupils need to learn. As a result, pupils receive a disconnected series of lessons that do not build their knowledge and understanding. They do not achieve well.

Leaders must rapidly clarify their curriculum thinking so that teachers know what should be taught and when this should happen. ? Teachers lack the expertise to meet the needs of pupils with SEND. Consequently, these pupils do not achieve well.

Leaders must ensure that teachers are suitably trained to provide the right support for pupils with SEND so that they learn all that they should. ? Leaders and teachers do not check on pupils' learning well enough. Mistakes and misconceptions sometimes go unchecked.

This causes gaps in pupils' knowledge. Pupils struggle to recall what they have learned. Leaders should ensure that teachers use assessment information more effectively so that pupils know and remember more of the curriculum over time.

• Leaders' capacity to improve the school is weak. Their efforts to bring about much needed improvement have been slow. Subject leaders do not have the curriculum expertise to design well-ordered curriculums.

Consequently, pupils do not learn well across the curriculum. Governors must ensure that they strengthen the leadership capacity within the school to bring about rapid and sustained improvement. ? Too many pupils are persistently absent from school.

Their learning is frequently disrupted as a result. Leaders should work with parents and other agencies to ensure that all pupils attend school regularly so that they achieve as well as they can. ? The governing body does not have the expertise or knowledge of its roles to challenge leaders on their actions to improve the school.

This contributes to the lack of leadership capacity. Governors must ensure that they are well equipped to hold leaders to account for pupils' achievement, behaviour and personal development. ? Some staff do not follow the programme that leaders have put in place to promote pupils' personal development.

As a result, pupils do not learn all that they should in readiness for their life in modern Britain. Leaders should ensure that staff deliver the content of the agreed programme so that pupils remember important information for the next stage of their lives.Leaders and those responsible for governance may not appoint early career teachers before the next monitoring inspection.