St John’s Church of England Voluntary Controlled Infants School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a caring and welcoming school, where pupils are happy and safe.

Pupils receive effective pastoral support. Staff build positive relationships with them. They trust adults to help them.

Pupils learn the importance of the school rules of being 'kind, safe and ready'. Most pupils follow these and respond well to routines and expectations. Pupils enjoy their playtimes and they play well together.

The school has high expectations of what pupils can achieve. This starts in the Nursery Year, where adults help children to follow classroom routines. This prepares them well for the Reception Year.

The school checks that pupils are building their knowle...dge as they learn the curriculum. This means most pupils achieve well.

Pupils are proud of the contribution they make to their community.'

Legacy leaders' take an active role by developing gardens, which receive recognition from a national horticultural society. They visit a dementia ward to read to patients. They shop at the local supermarket to donate items to the foodbank, and attend Remembrance Day services.

This work helps pupils to reflect on the lives of others. It builds their character and gives them social responsibility.

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

The school has improved the teaching of early reading.

It identified that pupils were not learning phonics with enough precision. It has introduced a clear structure to help pupils make good progress. Staff check for misconceptions and emphasise the importance of accuracy.

Pupils receive effective support to become confident and fluent readers. The impact of these changes is now clear in what pupils know and can do. Published outcomes do not yet reflect how well prepared current pupils are for the next stage in their education.

There is a sharp focus on developing language and vocabulary, and staff model the language they want children to use from when they start in the Nursery and Reception Year. They support all pupils to use precise vocabulary and in full sentences. This helps pupils to communicate their ideas.

The school has designed and implemented an ambitious curriculum. This starts in the early years foundation stage. Pupils build knowledge and skills in small steps as they move through the school.

Adults check that pupils are building their knowledge, and they provide extra help to those pupils who need this. This means most pupils secure their knowledge and can recall their learning.

Most staff have high expectations of pupil's learning behaviour.

They remind pupils of expectations, and most pupils respond well to this. However, sometimes staff do not insist on these expectations and this means some pupils lose their focus and they do not engage well with their learning. As a result, they do not learn as well as they could.

Pupils who need help to regulate their behaviour get support, which is helping them to begin to develop the resilience they need to learn.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) get the support they need to be successful. The school has a clear process for identifying their needs.

This guidance enables the school to give pupils effective support in class.

The school has implemented a sequenced curriculum for personal, social and health education (PSHE). This supports pupils to develop their knowledge of keeping themselves safe and valuing differences.

The curriculum starts in the Nursery and Reception Years, where children learn to manage their feelings and build relationships with each other. Pupils can talk about ways to stay healthy and how to stay safe, including when they are online. They describe personal information as being like a toothbrush, and something that they would not share with anyone else.

The school has robust procedures to check and improve pupil absence and punctuality. This work is having a positive impact on attendance and for many pupils their attendance is improving.

Staff feel well supported to carry out their work.

They value the training they receive, which helps them to develop their subject knowledge. Governors have an accurate understanding of the school's strengths and next steps. They visit the school regularly to check the education the school provides has a positive impact on pupils.

The school works in close partnership with parents and carers. It provides information sessions and workshops that support parents to understand the curriculum and how pupils can continue to build their knowledge at home.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Sometimes, expectations of behaviour are not consistent. As a result, a small number of pupils do not follow routines as well as they should, and they do not learn as well as they could. The school must ensure that expectations are applied consistently.