South Walney Infant and Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

South Walney Infant and Nursery School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils thrive in this welcoming school at the heart of this island community.

They arrive each day smiling and happy. Children in the early years settle quickly. They flourish in the nurturing environment that the school provides.

They settle into well-structured routines. This helps them to gain confidence and independence.

Pupils feel safe in the school.

They know that staff care about them. They play harmoniously together at playtimes. Pupils understand the importance of treating each other with kindness and respect.

Pupils explain that... it is easy to make friends at the school.

Pupils demonstrate positive behaviour and attitudes towards their learning. They work hard to meet the school's high expectations of their academic success.

They strive to follow the school motto: 'learn together, achieve forever'. Most pupils achieve well in a broad range of subjects.

Pupils enjoy the many clubs that they can be part of, including yoga, singing and craft club.

The opportunity to learn outdoors helps to build pupils' resilience and confidence further. Pupils are proud of the work that they do to protect the environment. This helps to foster their strong sense of pride in their community.

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

The school's carefully constructed curriculum is ambitious for all pupils, including those with SEND and children in the early years. The knowledge and vocabulary that pupils need to learn are carefully arranged. Pupils practise what they are learning during well-designed activities.

They have access to the resources and equipment that they need to be successful learners. For example, in mathematics, they use equipment confidently to tackle challenging calculations effectively.

Staff have the knowledge and understanding that they need to teach the agreed curriculum effectively.

In most subjects, pupils' knowledge deepens gradually over time. This helps them to apply what they know when they are learning something new. However, in a small number of subjects, teachers do not use assessment information effectively and do not identify misconceptions and gaps in pupils' knowledge quickly enough.

When this happens, some pupils move on to new learning before they are ready.

Staff foster a love of reading from the early years. The well-resourced library is at the heart of the school.

Pupils talk avidly about all their favourite stories. They enjoy listening to the carefully chosen books that their teachers read to them each day. They explain confidently how they also use books to find out about different countries and how things work.

The youngest children enjoy joining in with familiar rhymes. Staff are skilled at teaching phonics. In the Reception class, children begin to learn the sounds that letters represent.

This helps them when reading new and unfamiliar words. Staff give pupils who struggle with reading the help that they need to catch up and keep up with their peers. Most pupils are confident, fluent readers by the end of key stage 1.

Skilled staff identify the additional needs of children with SEND early. Teachers use a suitable range of resources and specialised equipment to help pupils with SEND to learn the same curriculum content as their classmates. They support pupils with SEND effectively, enabling them to be successful in a broad range of subjects.

Pupils with SEND enjoy all that the school has to offer, including a range of clubs and after-school activities.

Pupils enjoy school and most pupils attend well. The school works closely with the families of pupils who need to improve their attendance.

Pupils are polite and well mannered. They enjoy learning new things and work hard in lessons. Children in the early years listen to their teachers and respond quickly to guidance.

Children share and take turns when playing and learning alongside their friends.

The school provides many opportunities to enhance pupils' personal development. As members of committees, pupils make a positive contribution to the life of the school.

Older pupils act as positive role models, helping the younger children to follow the school code: 'look after yourself, look after each other and look after the environment'. Pupils talk enthusiastically about keeping the playground tidy, visits to the beach and clearing litter in the local area. Visits to places of interest beyond the island help to enhance the curriculum further and to broaden pupils' horizons for the future.

Governors know the school well. The training that they receive helps them to hold the school to account for the quality of education that it provides for all pupils. Governors are mindful of the workload and well-being of staff.

Staff appreciate that governors consider this when making decisions about the school.

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, checks on what pupils remember do not accurately identify gaps or misconceptions in their knowledge.

As a result, at times, teachers move pupils on too quickly and some pupils struggle to understand and apply new learning. The school should ensure that teachers' checks on learning give them enough information to adapt future teaching so that pupils achieve well in all subjects.

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 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 would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which 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 in July 2018.