Stanley Park Infants School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and proud members of Stanley Park Infants. The school motto of 'It is fun to learn and grow together' is realised in this friendly and nurturing school.

Parents and carers, pupils and staff spoke warmly of the school's family feel. Staff and pupils have caring and respectful working relationships, and this is one of the reasons why pupils feel safe and valued.

Leaders and staff have designed an ambitious curriculum for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Pupils enjoy their learning and achieve well in a range of subjects. They value the support and encouragement that they receive from staff. ...In early years, children become keen learners.

They develop knowledge in all areas of learning exceptionally well.

Pupils understand what bullying is. They know that it is not acceptable.

Pupils appreciate that adults will sort out any issues for them if these arise. Pupils are taught to use the mantra 'my body, my choice'. They know to speak up if they feel uncomfortable in any situation.

Pupils enjoy break and lunchtimes, when they play together happily. In lessons and when moving around the school, the majority of pupils behave well. Off-task behaviour and low-level disruption are dealt with quickly.

Pupils respond to reminders and instructions from adults to keep to behaviour expectations.

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

Leaders' curriculum thinking for all subjects starts from early years. The important knowledge and skills that leaders want pupils to understand and remember have been clearly mapped out.

Leaders have also thought carefully about the progression in each subject, including the key vocabulary they want pupils to know and use at each stage of the curriculum.

In classrooms, teachers plan learning that reflects leaders' curriculum thinking. They provide pupils with opportunities to recall and recap prior learning.

They also check pupils' understanding and use this information to address gaps and misconceptions. All pupils learn a broad and balanced curriculum and achieve well.

Children in early years get off to a great start.

They are prepared very well for the next stage of their education. Staff understand how young children learn. Children settle quickly into well-understood routines and have positive attitudes towards their learning.

The curriculum prioritises the important knowledge that children need to be taught in each area of learning, including early reading and mathematics. Early years classrooms are set up to help children grasp ideas securely. Children revisit and practise ideas in different contexts and using different resources.

Particular emphasis is placed on supporting children's language and their emotional development.Pupils learn to read well because leaders and staff make phonics teaching a priority. Pupils are also supported to become enthusiastic about reading.

They particularly enjoy the daily story-time sessions. All staff have received training in the teaching of phonics. They teach pupils sounds in a logical order.

Pupils use the sounds that they know to read books with confidence and increasing fluency. They read books that match their phonics knowledge. They also take home books to practise reading.

In Years 1 and 2, some of these books are not fully phonetically decodable. When this happens, it can be confusing for pupils, particularly weaker readers. This is because pupils are unable to use their developing phonics knowledge to read the book accurately.

Additional support is put in place for pupils who are falling behind in their reading. They are given regular extra reading practice, for example. Pupils also practise and apply their phonics knowledge in planned daily early reading sessions.

However, some of the activities set for pupils in Years 1 and 2 are not helpful in developing reading fluency and accuracy. Leaders plan to change how the early reading curriculum is delivered so that all pupils benefit from meaningful reading practice in these lessons.

Leaders and staff are ambitious for pupils with SEND.

Staff quickly identify whether a pupil needs additional support. They liaise with parents and external agencies to put the right support in place.

The exceptional provision for pupils' personal development is woven through all aspects of school life.

Pupils are keen to follow and remind each other about the school's 'Busy Bee Code'. This teaches them to 'be kind, be helpful and be the best they can be'. In assemblies, pupils are taught about 'super learner heroes' who display character traits that can help with learning.

During and after school, pupils take part in a wide range of extracurricular clubs. Leaders think carefully about what is provided because they want to help pupils to develop their talents and interests. Pupils relish opportunities for responsibilities such as being a school council member, an eco-star or helping out with jobs such as taking the register to the office.

Members of the governing body and multi-academy trust provide effective support and challenge to school leaders.

Staff are proud to work here and feel that leaders take their workload and well-being into account.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders, including governors and trustees, prioritise safeguarding. They ensure that robust systems are in place to manage concerns, and that staff have relevant and up-to-date training. This means that staff know how to identify any signs of abuse or harm and how to report their concerns.

Leaders make appropriate pre-employment checks on the suitability of adults working at the school.

Pupils learn about keeping safe in an age-appropriate way. For example, leaders have created child-friendly safeguarding and behaviour policies.

These aim to help pupils understand the systems adults have put in place to keep them safe, including when online.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Leaders have put in place a systematic, synthetic phonics scheme, and staff implement this consistently. However, a few aspects of the early reading curriculum are not supporting weaker readers as well as they could.

In a few instances, pupils practise reading with books that are not precisely matched to their stage in the phonics programme. Some of the activities in early reading lessons are not selected carefully to help pupils strengthen their reading fluency and accuracy. Leaders need to implement their planned changes to the early reading curriculum, and ensure that, when pupils are learning to read, they routinely practise with books that are closely matched to their phonic knowledge.

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