South Ossett Infant Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils understand the importance of being kind and considerate.

They treat each other with respect. Pupils consider the feelings and opinions of others. They build strong relationships with staff.

Pupils learn to consider the impact of their actions on other pupils in their class and the school community. Staff help pupils to recognise their own emotions. Pupils learn routines that allow them to move around school calmly and with focus.

Staff deliberately teach these routines and give pupils the opportunity to practise them. The teaching of these routines begins in the early years, helping children to develop independence and maturity. They develop learning h...abits that will support them with their future education.

Pupils are polite and well mannered. They enjoy helping each other. For example, Year 2 'lunchtime servers' value the opportunities they are given to help their younger friends during lunchtimes.

When asked what they would do if other pupils forgot to say please or thank you, one Year 2 helper responded, 'We have never had to do that, everybody says please and thank you here.' Pupils are enthusiastic in their lessons. They are keen to learn.

Leaders are alert to supporting families when pupils' attendance is lower than it should be.

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

Leaders have created an ambitious curriculum. They have identified clearly what pupils should learn and the order in which they should learn it.

Leaders have identified the subject specific vocabulary that they want pupils to learn. Leaders have taken recent action to make this clearer for children. Pupils enjoy their learning.

In some subjects, staff do not provide pupils with enough opportunities to practise and apply what they have been taught.

Staff and leaders are alert to pupils who may need support with their learning. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) have any barriers to learning identified accurately.

However, the precise learning adaptations required for these pupils to access the curriculum are not clear. This has an impact on how well some pupils with SEND achieve across the curriculum.

The phonics curriculum is well established.

Pupils build their phonics knowledge over time. They are given books to read that enable them to practise the sounds that they have been taught. Pupils who need help with reading get regular support.

Pupils enjoy reading. They enjoy listening to poetry and stories. In the early years, children have regular opportunities to hear stories and rhymes that help them to understand language and learn new vocabulary.

Pupils learn about the wider world, with regular opportunities to experience the community in which they live. Children in the early years, for example, learn about their local environment by visiting the local church and learning about road safety. Pupils learn to be aware of, and respect, different groups of people in society.

Pupils learn the importance of treating everybody with kindness. Pupils learn about the benefits of eating healthy snacks and drinking water. Children in the early years excitedly tell adults what their favourite fruits and vegetables are.

Pupils learn about how to stay safe online. They use the phrase 'stop, close, tell' to explain what they do if they see anything unsafe or inappropriate online. Children in the early years learn to develop their independence and self-esteem.

Leaders consider the workload and well-being of staff. Staff say that they feel well supported. Governors understand the role that they play in helping the school to develop.

Governors offer challenge to the school leaders about the school's performance. School leaders seek advice from governors and other sources and welcome their challenge and support.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff are alert to pupils who may be at risk of harm. They receive training that keeps them informed about safeguarding issues. Staff know who to report safeguarding concerns to.

Although leaders take prompt action to keep pupils safe, the way that leaders record the actions taken by the school sometimes lack precision. This means that some actions taken by leaders are more difficult to evaluate.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, the curriculum does not provide sufficient opportunities to revisit learning.

Pupils do not have enough occasions to practise and deepen the knowledge they have been taught. This has an impact on all pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND. The school should ensure that the curriculum sequencing in all subjects provides all pupils, with the best chance of building their knowledge over time.

• The school's support strategies for pupils with SEND are not precisely matched to their needs. This has an impact on how well some pupils with SEND achieve. The school should ensure that the information they gather about the needs of pupils with SEND is used to inform the support that they receive to access high-quality learning.

• Although pupils are not at risk of serious harm, the school's recording of the actions it takes to protect them sometimes lack precision. The decisions that the school makes about how to keep pupils safe are not fully analysed to inform future action. The school should ensure that leaders' actions to keep pupils safe are sufficiently detailed to enable leaders to evaluate their impact carefully.