Nun Monkton Primary Foundation School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Nun Monkton Primary Foundation School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are very proud of their school. They enjoy school. Pupils have confidence and trust in staff.

They know that staff care for them. There is a culture of openness and mutual respect that ensures pupils are kept safe.

Leaders and teachers have high expectations for all pupils.

They plan lessons that encourage pupils to enjoy their learning and work hard. Pupils say that learning is fun. They are very proud of their artwork, especially the painted moulds they have made of their hands.

Pupils' excellent behaviour contributes to a very calm environ...ment and focused learning. Pupils play well together in the very small playground. Older pupils enjoy looking after younger children.

Pupils say there is no bullying and are confident staff would not tolerate it. Pupils are very positive about the support for their well-being. They can share concerns with adults through worry jars or by talking to 'just be' counsellors.

This is a school at the heart of its community. Parents describe staff and the headteacher as energetic and enthusiastic, going the extra mile to help their children. They say a great education continued during lockdown.

Parents appreciate the support that staff provide during periods of home learning.

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

Leaders have designed a well-sequenced curriculum which links well from early years to Year 6. They are ambitious about the range of knowledge and skills they want all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, to develop.

Teachers break down complex ideas into smaller steps. This helps pupils to build their new learning on secure long-term knowledge.

Teachers plan interesting activities for reading.

For example, they read stories from large computer screens while children pick out the sounds that they are learning. Children put the sounds together to make words accurately. Pupils are keen to read.

Some pupils said their teacher's love of reading is infectious and that is why they are enthusiastic readers. Books are well matched for early readers and for older pupils. Adults make sure children recall sounds well and become fluent readers.

They provide extra support to pupils when needed. However, teachers do not check pupils' understanding of what they read consistently well.

Children in the early years cooperate well together.

They enjoy learning in an inspiring environment. Adults' skilful questioning helps children to develop good speaking skills. Children in nursery enjoy talking about farm animals and making the animals' sounds.

Adults make sure sounds are accurate. This prepares children well for phonics and reading. Children enjoy singing.

They are looking forward to the school production, Wriggly Nativity.

In mathematics, teachers' clear explanations help pupils to develop the vocabulary and knowledge they need for future learning. Younger children benefit from hands-on activities to develop their understanding, such as making hexagons, rectangles and other shapes.

Teachers ensure that pupils' mathematical understanding is accurate. This helps older pupils to problem solve successfully.

Pupils have regular teaching about art and artists.

Teachers have prioritised the knowledge pupils need to make their own artistic choices. This is bearing fruit as pupils are able to discuss choices between materials and techniques. Teachers recap key subject-specific vocabulary and pupils are confident in using it.

Pupils are highly engaged and excited to learn. For example, Year 1 pupils gasped with excitement as they were shown ways to blend colours.

Generally, assessment is used well in all subjects.

Teachers do not move learning on until pupils have demonstrated a secure knowledge of what they have been taught. Teachers give pupils useful feedback to help them improve. However, there are times when assessment does not identify errors or misconceptions quickly.

This leads to some variations in pupils' knowledge, with some mistakes repeated.

Pupils have excellent attitudes to learning. They learn about equality, including disabilities and race.

They are pleased that they have opportunities to read about different kinds of people. Pupils support charity work and take part in local community activities. They enjoy sport, especially hockey and karate.

Staff and governors are exceptionally positive about leadership. All staff enjoy working in the school. They say the headteacher has realistic expectations of their workload.

Staff know they are treated fairly and their well-being is taken into account.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders and governors have established a strong culture of safeguarding.

Staff are vigilant and well trained in how to keep pupils safe. Scripts of potential safeguarding incidents are used during training. This gives staff experience in deciding what should be done if incidents occur.

Leaders work with parents and external agencies to make sure children are safe. Thorough checks are made on the suitability of the adults who work with pupils.

Pupils learn about how to keep themselves safe and respect others' personal space.

They have excellent knowledge of the risks they may face online and how to manage these.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Sometimes, teachers' assessment of pupils learning does not identify errors or misconceptions. This results in some of these going unchecked in the basic components of learning.

This means some pupils' gains in knowledge and the support they receive can vary. Leaders should ensure that teachers use regular and accurate assessments to ensure that gaps in pupils' understanding are identified quickly.

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 a section 8 inspection of a good or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in June 2016.