Oakwood Infant School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils flourish at this happy and welcoming school.

Children get off to an excellent start in Reception with their learning and personal development. This sets a secure foundation for pupils to build on as they move through the school.

Leaders and staff are ambitious for every pupil to do well in their learning and wider development.

Pupils are inspired to work hard to meet their teachers' high expectations. They are resilient and recognise that mistakes are a part of learning. As one pupil commented, 'It is fine to make mistakes because we learn from them.'



Pupils demonstrate the school values of respect, equality, self-belief, perseveran...ce, excellence, creativity and teamwork. They are proud to wear their respect badges for demonstrating these qualities at home and at school.

Pupils feel cared for because of the positive and warm relationships with staff.

This helps pupils to feel safe. Staff use the clear school rules of 'respect, learn, safe' to support pupils to understand how they are expected to behave. From the start of Reception, pupils learn to be kind to others.

Bullying is rare and staff listen and support pupils with any worries they have.

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

All staff share the strong ambition to ensure that children have the best possible start in Reception. Staff prioritise developing children's communication skills and broadening their vocabulary.

They adapt a well-considered curriculum to the needs of individuals. Children are highly engaged in their learning and keep trying hard, even when they find things tricky. They speak confidently about their learning.

For example, children can proudly describe the life cycle of a butterfly. This ensures that all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), learn exceptionally well.

Leaders have made reading a strong focus.

They have provided staff with high-quality training that helps them to follow the well-sequenced phonics programme. Pupils read books that match the sounds they have learned. Struggling readers, including those with SEND, are provided with effective support to help them keep up.

Leaders keep a close check on how well pupils are learning to read and work with staff to help them refine their practice. Pupils enjoy listening to a wide range of stories read to them by adults. This includes books they might not usually read.

Consequently, pupils learn to read fluently and with confidence.

Curriculum thinking in other subjects, including mathematics, is well developed. In most subjects, leaders have identified the precise knowledge and skills they want pupils to learn.

This helps staff to recap previous learning to develop pupils' fluent recall and confidence. Staff have strong subject knowledge and this helps them to provide clear examples that help pupils to understand. Staff are supported by the special educational needs coordinator to quickly identify the needs of pupils with SEND.

This helps staff to adapt their teaching for pupils with SEND effectively, which helps them to learn well. Leaders acknowledge that in a few subjects they need to refine what content they intend pupils to learn and remember.

In most subjects, including mathematics, teachers carefully check that pupils have understood the key learning before moving on.

Staff use this information to accurately inform their future teaching so that gaps in learning are promptly addressed. Leaders have identified that in some wider subjects, staff are not as consistent with checking what pupils have learned and remembered. This reduces the effectiveness of subsequent activities.

Pupils' personal development is a top priority. Those pupils who are disadvantaged directly benefit from the school's work. Staff explicitly teach pupils the school values through carefully planned sessions.

This helps pupils to understand the importance of and to make contributions to their school and wider community. Their lessons and the active school council provide all pupils with opportunities to solve problems and debate important issues. They thrive on the responsibility this gives them to help others.

Equality and diversity are deliberately and thoughtfully promoted in assemblies and lessons. This is also reflected in leaders' work to run support sessions for different groups of vulnerable families.

Pupils behave consistently well.

They are polite and well-mannered. They enjoy the range of activities at playtimes. Most staff are skilled at managing pupils' behaviour.

They provide effective support for pupils with more challenging behaviour.

Governors are knowledgeable and effective. They remain sharply focused on ensuring that support for vulnerable pupils is helping them to learn well.

Governors work with leaders to make sure that all staff receive the training they need to further improve the school. This ensures that staff feel valued.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders provide high-quality training to help staff understand their safeguarding responsibilities. This supports staff to notice when pupils may be at risk of harm. They report concerns swiftly.

Leaders act promptly so that pupils get the help that they may need.

Pupils learn to keep themselves safe. This includes developing an understanding of road, sun and fire safety.

They also learn how to keep themselves safe online.

Governors systematically assure themselves that safeguarding procedures are followed closely. They work with leaders to ensure that safer recruitment guidance is adhered to so that only suitable staff are employed.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school's curriculum is not yet sufficiently well planned and sequenced in a few subjects. However, it is clear from leaders' actions that they are in the process of bringing this about. Leaders need to complete the process of reviewing the curriculum in all subjects within their identified timescale.

For this reason, the transitional arrangements have been applied ? In some foundation subjects, staff do not accurately check pupils' learning. Consequently, in these subjects, pupils do not secure their learning well enough. Leaders should ensure that staff consistently check that pupils have learned and remembered the most important knowledge and skills.

Also at this postcode