Rosegrove Infant School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to attend this warm and friendly school. They enjoy strong relationships with nurturing staff.

Staff work in partnership with parents and carers to ensure that pupils are happy and enjoy their learning. Parents and carers, who shared their view with inspectors, are highly positive about the school.

Pupils are supported to understand and follow the school's values and expectations.

For example, the school's 'branches of responsibility' help pupils to understand the importance of developing their independence skills. Pupils behave well. They are kind to each other and are keen to help other pupils.

For instance, they proudly undertake ...their roles as 'well-being wizards' in the playground.

The school has high expectations for pupils' achievement. Their learning is enriched with experiences throughout the curriculum.

For example, pupils visit the local cotton mills as part of their learning in history. They also take part in music and dance workshops led by professionals who visit the school. Pupils, including children in the early years, learn and achieve well.

Pupils are taught about how they can contribute to the school and to the local community. They spoke enthusiastically about their achievements as school councillors and eco warriors, including raising money for charities.

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

The curriculum, including for the early years, is broad, balanced and ambitious.

The key knowledge, skills and vocabulary that pupils should learn are clearly identified and build coherently over time. The school ensures that pupils have opportunities to revisit prior learning. Staff present information clearly.

Pupils typically achieve well across a wide range of subjects.

In most subjects, the school has a secure understanding of how well pupils are learning the curriculum from the early years to Year 2. However, in a small number of subjects, the checks on pupils' learning do not fully identify if pupils have remembered prior knowledge.

This means that, at times, the school is not aware of some gaps in pupils' understanding. The earlier learning in these subjects, for some pupils, is not secure.

The school is robust in its approach to quickly and accurately identifying the additional needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Effective communication and partnership working is in place between staff, parents and external professionals. This helps to ensure that the needs of pupils with SEND are consistently understood and met effectively. The delivery of the curriculum is adapted to ensure that pupils with SEND can successfully learn alongside their peers.

Pupils with SEND achieve well from their starting points.

In recent years, the school has developed the teaching of phonics to ensure that pupils become confident, fluent readers. This is prioritised from the moment that children start in the Reception class.

Staff deliver the phonics programme consistently. Pupils have many opportunities to apply their phonics knowledge through reading books that match the sounds that they know. The school checks pupils' knowledge and provides effective support for less confident readers.

The 2023 published outcomes shows that the proportion of pupils who met the expected standard for reading in key stage 1, was low. This data does not reflect the quality of the revised reading curriculum, which previous cohorts had not accessed from the start of the Reception class. The recently implemented reading curriculum is helping current pupils to achieve well.

The school understands the importance of pupils' attendance. Thorough processes are in place to identify any barriers to pupils attending school. The school engages well with parents and takes effective action to improve the attendance of pupils.

This is having a positive impact over time.

The school's embedded behaviour routines and consistent expectations for pupils' conduct, help to create a calm and purposeful atmosphere. Well-trained staff provide effective support to pupils who need additional help to maintain focus.

In lessons, pupils are keen to learn and take part in their lessons enthusiastically.

The school promotes pupils' broader development well. Starting from the early years, pupils learn to respect differences between themselves and others.

They are certain that everyone is welcome at this school. Pupils understand how to keep themselves physically and mentally healthy. They have opportunities to develop their talents and interests through attending activities such as cricket and maths clubs.

Pupils are well prepared for life beyond the school.

Governors provide effective support and challenge to the school. They use information that they receive to effectively check on the impact of the school's work.

Staff are proud to work at the school and feel supported with their workload and well-being. For example, the impact on workload of any changes being introduced by the school is reviewed and discussed with staff.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a small number of subjects, the school's use of assessment information to identify what pupils know and remember is not as effective as it could be. As a result, some pupils do not build on their knowledge in these subjects over time. The school should ensure that, in these curriculums, assessment strategies are effective in checking that pupils understand key knowledge securely in the longer term.

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