Monkton Infants’ School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The school is a nurturing and caring environment where pupils feel safe, happy and are keen to learn. There are high expectations for all pupils' achievement. Pupils meet the high expectations set by staff.

They work hard and behave well. Pupils show respect and consider the feelings of others. Pupils cheerfully work together in collaboration and help others wherever they can.

They know the importance of being a good friend.

Pupils know that staff care about them. They respect their teachers and appreciate that they make learning fun.

Professional relationships between staff and pupils are highly positive. Well-trained staff keep pupils safe. Pupils ...know how to keep themselves safe.

They learn about potential local dangers, such as staying safe when using public transport.

A free breakfast club allows pupils to have a healthy breakfast in a calm and relaxed environment. Pupils appreciate the 'soft start' to the school day, where some pupils arrive early.

They particularly enjoy meeting Rosie, the school dog. These initiatives help pupils to settle and be ready to learn.

Pupils are proud to take on extra responsibilities such as playground buddies, milk monitors and school council members.

Pupils learn how to care for and support their friends.

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

The school provides a curriculum that is purposeful and ambitious. It identifies the knowledge, skills and vocabulary pupils need to know and remember.

There are opportunities to revisit learning regularly. This helps pupils to build securely on important skills and knowledge over time. As a result, pupils can talk about their learning with confidence.

The school aims to foster a life-long love of reading. This begins from the moment children start school in the two-year-olds provision. Children enjoy listening to stories, songs and rhymes.

The school's early reading programme has strengthened in recent years. Children have many opportunities to recognise and practise the sounds that they need to learn. The books children read match the sounds that they know.

As a result, children master phonics and go on to become successful readers. The school provides children who fall behind in reading with appropriate and timely support. This is effective in enabling them to develop their reading fluency and catch up quickly.

There is a well-sequenced and progressive mathematics curriculum. The early years provision is number rich. There are regular opportunities for children to practise their number skills independently.

Adults support pupils with practising their number skills through the thoughtful questions they ask them. As pupils progress through the school's curriculum, they continue to strongly develop their number and calculation skills. The school gives pupils lots of opportunities to apply their arithmetic to help them solve problems.

This helps pupils to become confident mathematicians.The school has helpful systems in place to check what pupils know and to identify any gaps in their knowledge. The school uses this information well to secure pupils' understanding across the curriculum.

It is also used to identify pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, on occasions, identification is not as swift or accurate as it could be. At times, the targets for some pupils with SEND are not precise enough.

This hampers the timeliness of support for these pupils.

Children get off to a strong start in the early years. The school has an expert understanding of how young children learn.

There are well-established induction arrangements that help children to settle quickly. The school has thoughtfully planned and sequenced the early years curriculum. Classrooms are well-resourced.

The school encourages children to manage their emotions and to become independent learners. This ensures that children are ready for Year 1.

The school places a high priority on pupils' personal development.

Pastoral support is a strength. The school successfully supports pupils to build their resilience, independence and confidence. Pupils are taught to value difference and know the importance of mutual respect.

Pupils respect others and say that everyone is welcome at their school. The school curriculum ensures that pupils have a range of opportunities to understand the world around them. Regular visits enhance the curriculum.

Across school, pupils behave well. They have a positive attitude to learning and work hard in order to succeed.

The school acts with determination to improve attendance.

It is valued and celebrated. The school supports families to promote good attendance. However, persistent absence remains high.

Some pupils do not attend school regularly enough. These pupils continue to miss out on essential learning.

Those responsible for governance provide effective support and challenge for the school.

They fulfil their statutory duties diligently. Leaders are considerate of staff well-being. Staff are proud to work at the school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• There are sometimes delays in identifying pupils with SEND. At times, targets within support plans do not align with enough precision to identified needs.

This means that, on a few occasions, the tailored support for some pupils with SEND does not give them the help they need to achieve as well as they could. The school should ensure that pupils with additional needs are always swiftly identified and that their targets are precisely matched to their needs. ? The proportion of pupils who are persistently absent is higher than the national average.

This means that some pupils regularly miss out on essential learning. This is restricting some pupils from achieving well. The school should ensure its work with families successfully helps pupils to improve their attendance.