Nevill Road Infant School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, including children in the early years, feel happy and safe at this infant school. They enjoy welcoming visitors, and they are enthusiastic when talking about their learning. Staff encourage pupils to be curious and inquisitive about the topics that they study.

Pupils behave well, and they treat each other with care and respect. Staff build strong, positive relationships with pupils. Pupils are confident that staff will listen to them and help them if they have any concerns or worries.

Pupils have a strong view about what it means to be a good friend, and they are keen to look after each other.

The school has high expectations of what pupils should ach...ieve. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), typically learn and achieve well across the curriculum.

Pupils have a strong awareness of how their emotions can affect the way in which they behave. This helps pupils to understand the impact that events can have on their readiness to learn. Staff support pupils well to manage their feelings.

Pupils spoke animatedly about the experiences that they have enjoyed at school, especially trips such as a recent visit to a local art museum. They are appreciative of the clubs that are available to them. Pupils were particularly eager to show inspectors the sign language that they have learned, including the sign for chocolate cake.

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

The school has carefully designed an engaging and ambitious curriculum which meets the needs of children in the early years and pupils in Years 1 and 2. For the most part, pupils, including those with SEND, learn the curriculum successfully. They are well prepared for their move into junior school.

The school has identified the most important knowledge that children in the early years, including those in the provision for two-year-olds, and pupils in key stage 1 will learn. This supports pupils to build securely on what they already know. In many subjects, pupils progress well through the curriculum and, with ease, they link new learning to their prior knowledge.

However, in a few subjects, the school has only recently finalised what pupils should know. In these subjects, pupils' knowledge of earlier learning is not as secure as it could be. This hinders some pupils when staff introduce new concepts.

In the main, the school has ensured that staff are well supported to deliver the curriculum with expertise and confidence. Staff have a secure knowledge of the subjects that they teach. They use assessment strategies well to check that pupils, including children in the early years, have learned and understood earlier content.

The school prioritises reading. Stories, poems, rhymes and non-fiction texts are carefully chosen by staff for children and pupils to enjoy. Staff read to pupils regularly.

This helps pupils to develop further their vocabulary, language comprehension and their love of reading.

Children in the two-year-old provision and in the Nursery Year thoroughly enjoy joining in with stories, rhymes and songs. This prepares them well to link a wider range of sounds and letters when they enter the Reception Year.

The school ensures that staff access appropriate training so that they can deliver the early reading programme effectively. Mostly, pupils are fluent, confident readers by the end of Year 2. However, a small number of pupils who struggle with reading do not receive effective enough support to help them catch up as quickly as they should.

The school has improved its systems to identify the additional needs of pupils with SEND. Staff work closely with a range of professionals, parents and carers to ensure that pupils with SEND receive the help that they need. Teachers successfully adapt their delivery of the curriculum for pupils with SEND so that these pupils can learn well alongside their peers.

There is a caring and nurturing culture across the school. Everyone is clear on the expectations for pupils' behaviour. Pupils adhere closely to the school rules.

Children in the early years follow clear routines, learning how to take turns and manage their emotions. Those children who attend the provision for two-year-olds settle in quickly and they are ready to learn.

The school has designed a comprehensive programme to support pupils' wider development.

For example, pupils learn about healthy lifestyles and how to look after their mental health. Pupils understand the importance of tolerance, and they respect the differences that exist between people. They are particularly proud of the opportunities that they receive to make choices through democratic processes.

For instance, pupils enjoy voting for the stories that their teachers will read to them.

The school works in partnership with parents to make sure that pupils are supported well. For example, parents and carers join in with reading sessions with their children.

This helps parents to become well informed about how to better support their children with reading. Governors are well equipped to provide an appropriate balance of challenge and support to the school.

Staff said that they feel well supported by leaders and that they appreciate the guidance that they receive to carry out their roles effectively.

Leaders carefully consider how their decisions about the curriculum impact on staff's workload. Staff feel valued, and they enjoy working 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)

• Pupils who find reading difficult do not receive effective enough support to help them catch up. This hinders their reading fluency and confidence. The school should ensure that staff are equipped well to help these pupils to catch up quickly in reading.

• In a few subjects, pupils' knowledge of earlier learning is not as secure as it is in those areas where the curriculum is more embedded. This means that some pupils are not fully prepared for the new learning. The school should ensure that pupils have the chance to revisit what they have been taught so that they remember it over time.

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