Paddock Junior Infant and Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Paddock Junior Infant and Nursery School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending Paddock Junior, Infant and Nursery School. They value the positive relationships that they have with staff.

Pupils are supportive of one another and behave well in classrooms and around the school. They recognise that helping others makes them feel good too. The school environment is well organised and welcoming.

Displays showcase the pride that pupils take in their work.

The school supports pupils to do their best. As a result, pupils' performance in national tests in bot...h key stages 1 and 2 improved in 2023 and are now in line with national averages in reading, writing and mathematics.

Pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve well. They have positive attitudes to learning.

Pupils are respectful of people's differences.

They enjoy learning about people who may have different beliefs to their own. Pupils enjoy celebrating festivals from different faiths. They recognise that it is acceptable to have different views.

Pupils feel safe in school. Bullying is rare. Pupils know that a trusted adult will help them if they have any concerns.

The school provides a range of ways for pupils to report concerns confidentially.

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

The school has sustained its performance since the last inspection. It is ambitious and has ensured that outcomes for pupils have continued to improve.

The school provides a range of opportunities for staff to develop their skills. The school has established a strong team culture. Care is taken to consider the workload of staff.

Staff feel valued and are proud to work at the school. Members of the governing body have specific roles and responsibilities and are keen to provide support for leaders.

The school establishes strong relationships with parents as soon as their children join the early years class.

The early years environment, including in the two-year-old provision, provides rich opportunities for children to develop early language skills. There are a wide range of opportunities for children to learn about the world around them. For example, children in the Reception class learn how to make Diva lamps for Diwali.

The school ensures that learning to read is a priority. Children start to learn to read as soon as they enter the Reception Year. The school makes sure that children and pupils practise their reading using books that match the sounds they know.

In lessons, teachers introduce new sounds to pupils clearly. If pupils fall behind the pace of the phonics programme, they receive extra support to help them catch up. The school has introduced a wide range of activities to promote a love of reading.

For example, older pupils sit with pupils from younger age groups to read books together. Authors visit the school to talk about their work and to inspire pupils to read.

In mathematics, pupils build logically on what they learn each year.

They have frequent opportunities to develop their problem-solving abilities and apply their knowledge and skills. The school has taken effective action to review and improve the curriculum in other subjects. Curriculum leaders have begun to identify the important knowledge they want pupils to know and remember.

The school has identified the challenging vocabulary that they want pupils to understand and use. The school carries out regular checks to ensure that the curriculum is being delivered well. However, it does not use assessment information carefully enough in subjects other than English and mathematics.

This means that some leaders do not know how well pupils are learning in their subject.

The school has ensured that pupils with SEND are well supported. The school has effective approaches to identify pupils with SEND.

Staff work closely with professionals from external agencies to ensure that these pupils receive the help that they need. Support plans help teachers to meet the needs of these pupils well.

Pupils' attendance was below the national average last year.

The attendance of disadvantaged pupils was lower than that of their peers. The school has suitable plans in place to improve this. This includes clear systems to identify pupils with low attendance.

The school acts to ensure that these pupils are at school more often. Attendance has improved this year. However, too many pupils remain absent from school too often.

Behaviour in classrooms and around the school is calm. There are lots of opportunities for pupils to take on responsibilities. For example, pupils apply to be part of the Paddock Parliament.

Members visit the Houses of Parliament to learn about democracy. The school also provides many opportunities for pupils to broaden their experiences. For example, some pupils enjoyed being part of the school choir and singing with other choirs at Manchester Arena.

Year 6 visit the seaside to carry out fieldwork as part of the geography curriculum.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

• The school does not use assessment information effectively in a small number of subjects.

This means that the school does not have a well-informed understanding of how well pupils are learning the intended curriculum in these subjects. The school should ensure that assessment information is used strategically to further develop the school's curriculum. ? Some pupils do not attend school regularly enough.

This is particularly the case for disadvantaged pupils. When not at school, pupils are missing out on important learning. The school should continue to implement the plan in place to improve rates of attendance.

(Information for the school and the appropriate authority)

Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted's website. From September 2024 graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade.

This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school's work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

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

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in March 2019.