Talavera Infant School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Talavera Infant School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Many new pupils arrive during the course of their infant years. A warm welcome awaits every one of them. They very quickly find friends, including pupils who are new to the country.

Relationships between staff and pupils are mutually respectful. The adults understand that, when a parent in the armed service is deployed, pupils often need a little extra support. One parent described the school's inclusive ethos as feeling like 'a home away from home'.

Leaders manage this caring culture while maintaining the very highest ambitions for all pupils to achieve success in learning.
...r/>The school day is constantly purposeful. Pupils like learning.

They often visit exciting places or meet interesting visitors, such as the farm animals who came to see Reception children during the inspection. Pupils learn to be proud of their local community. They celebrate the town's important historic role and their own cultural backgrounds through events, including Armed Forces Day.

Pupils keep to the school's rules. They know that these help to keep everyone happy and safe. Pupils behave well in class and during their breaktimes.

School records confirm that hardly any incidents of bullying occur. If they do, staff quickly make it stop.

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

Leaders have planned the curriculum with their pupils' needs in mind.

Each subject aims to build knowledge as pupils move through the school. There are lots of opportunities to revisit and revise previous learning. This approach is helpful because there is always a proportion of pupils moving in or out of the school.

Learning to read is the top priority. Leaders make sure that all staff are experts in developing pupils' language and vocabulary. Staff are confident to teach phonics and develop fluency.

Pupils work hard at their phonics. It quickly becomes their main strategy when meeting an unfamiliar word. Reception children make strong progress so that by summer the vast majority can read and spell familiar words.

Pupils regularly read books that match the sounds they have learned. This supports them to develop fluency. Pupils enjoy using the well-stocked library, where they choose books to share at home with their family.

In class, pupils enjoy listening to stories.

Teachers go to great lengths to understand each pupil's reading development. Staff assess pupils' skills within their first few weeks at the school.

This ensures that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do not slip through the net. Pupils who have fallen behind have extra teaching to help them catch up. Leaders think carefully about how best to support pupils' learning in each subject.

They reflect upon whether curriculum content needs to be adapted. They also consider if arrangements for support should be changed.

Teachers use assessment effectively in mathematics.

They identify any gaps in knowledge and address these as a priority. Pupils are enthusiastic about working with numbers. Teachers are thorough when modelling new procedures that pupils then try out for themselves.

They use practical apparatus to support their thinking. Teachers support pupils to learn the mathematical vocabulary that will help their later learning. Role play in Reception offers interesting spaces, such as the builders' yard.

Here, children develop their ideas about number and measures. An ice-cream shop has supported pupils to exchange money. Learning builds upon the skills and interests that pupils develop in the Reception classes.

Pupils are interested in the foundation subjects they learn. Inspired by real artists, they enjoy designing and making in their art lessons. Their artwork includes sculpture and printmaking.

In history, pupils find out about important people, such as Florence Nightingale. They discover her close link with their local area.

Subject leaders are knowledgeable and well equipped to share their expertise.

There is a clear rationale for selecting curriculum content. Sometimes there is too much to learn, given the particular nature and needs of most of the school's cohort. Throughout the school, pupils are developing the ability to talk about and explain their learning.

Leaders know this and promote supportive strategies. On occasion, these are not consistently implemented.

The school provides well for pupils' personal development.

Teachers ensure that pupils access opportunities to cooperate well with each other. They help pupils to find out about and appreciate the different cultures that make up the school's community. Participation in clubs and events gives pupils opportunities beyond the school day.

Tailored support from well-trained staff helps vulnerable pupils to manage their feelings.

School leaders, including governors, share a continuing drive to improve the school's provision. Their aspirations are strongly supported by the staff team.

Staff enjoy working at the school. Teachers say that their workloads are manageable. If they encounter difficulties, leaders readily provide them with the support and time they need.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders are alert to the specific safeguarding needs of their school community. Staff throughout the school receive useful training in how to keep children safe.

They know exactly what to do should they have a concern. Leaders act quickly on any concerns. They work effectively with parents, carers and support agencies to identify the support that pupils and families need.

Staff keep an eye on the welfare of any vulnerable pupils.

The curriculum provides pupils with strategies to help them stay safe. They are taught to tell a trusted adult if anything makes them feel uneasy, including when they are online.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Pupils do not find it easy to remember and articulate some important learning. This makes it hard for them to deepen their understanding. Leaders need to be clear about the most important knowledge that pupils need to learn and remember in each subject.

Staff need to implement with consistency supportive pedagogies to develop pupils' talk. This will help pupils to remember more of their learning.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 a section 8 inspection of a good or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in December 2012.

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