Monkton Infants’ School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Main findings

Monkton Infants is a good school. The welcoming environment provides a positive place in which pupils play and learn. This is demonstrated in the good quality care, guidance and support provided, especially for those whose circumstances have made them vulnerable or those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Relationships with parents and carers are developing well and are beginning to contribute to improved attendance. Parents and carers are very happy with their children's experiences at school and how it keeps them safe. They know that attainment is above average and their children are encouraged to be polite and show respect.

The well-developed understanding pupils have of r...ight and wrong underpins their good behaviour and positive attitudes to each other. Pupils achieve outstandingly well. They get off to a good start in the Early Years Foundation Stage and make outstanding progress overall during their time in the school from their well-below expected skills on entry so that by the end of Year 2 attainment is above average.

This is because of good quality teaching and the school's relentless focus on developing pupils' basic skills. School systems to track pupils' learning are effective and recently refined to add even greater rigour to the tracking progress. Teachers are beginning to use this information to greater effect to provide better individual challenge, and to inform pupils of what they need to learn next.

Occasionally, opportunities for pupils to investigate and learn through practical activities are more limited because teachers dominate the lesson with long explanations. Good relationships support positive attitudes to learning. Pupils work hard and try their best to achieve what is asked of them.

The curriculum is good. Pupils immensely enjoy and benefit greatly from going out on visits and learning from visitors. The school's promotion of community cohesion is satisfactory.

Opportunities for pupils to engage with other children from different cultures and backgrounds are at an early stage of development. A strong programme of professional development enhances staff knowledge and their understanding of new strategies and how to implement them. The strong senior leaders effectively guide middle managers in their roles and responsibilities, which has increased their involvement in monitoring and evaluation.

Self-evaluation is effective and there is a very clear programme of improvement to address areas of weakness. Noted improvements since the last inspection include, raised attainment in writing and better communication with parents and carers. The school has worked successfully to improve attendance to average through reducing persistent absenteeism but knows there is more to do to increase the levels to above average.

Overall, the school demonstrates good capacity to improve.

Information about the school

This is a smaller than average-sized primary school. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is almost three times the national average.

The vast majority of pupils are White British. The proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is below average. Currently, there are no pupils with a statement of special educational needs.

The nursery site is situated about half a mile away from the main school building. Awards gained by the school over the last three years include Activemark, Eco-schools Bronze and the Financial Management of Systems in Schools (FMSiS). The school holds Healthy School Status.