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Waterthorpe Infant School is highly inclusive. A high number of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities attend. All pupils and families are made to feel welcome and a given a sense of belonging.
There is a distinctly nurturing ethos that runs through the school. Staff know pupils very well. This is evident in the strong relationships between staff and pupils.
Pupils feel safe and secure. They are accepted and able to be themselves.
Leaders do not limit their high expectations for any of their pupils.
The curriculum is ambitious. It is adapted so that most pupils, including those with SEND, achieve well and are prepared for their nex...t steps. Those that need additional support make strong progress towards personalised end points.
Pupils value their school roles and responsibilities, such as being part of the school council. Healthy mind champions are proud to choose others who have shown acts of kindness. These pupils are celebrated in assembly.
They are delighted to receive this recognition from their peers. The school offers a wide range of extra-curricular activities such as cooking, football and science clubs.
The school recognises there is even more work to do in partnership with families to improve everyday attendance and punctuality.
Some pupils do not attend regularly enough. They are missing important learning and do not fully benefit from all the school has to offer.
What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?
The school educates and cares for pupils with SEND, both in classrooms alongside their peers, as well as within a more bespoke provision, 'The Rainbow Room'.
Pupils with highly complex needs are supported extremely well by a dedicated staff team who pay meticulous attention to meeting their needs. Staff have a 'can-do' approach to ensuring that pupils make individual steps of progress. Those pupils with SEND who access learning alongside their peers in classrooms, are well supported to do so.
Across school, staff model important language and vocabulary well. They help pupils to communicate their ideas, feelings and thoughts clearly.
Staff use behaviour management strategies consistently.
Effective routines make it clear what pupils need to do and ensure that the school remains a positive place in which to learn. Staff provide effective help to pupils that find managing their emotions more difficult. This supports those pupils to manage their behaviour.
Where needed, staff arrange further professional support for pupils and their families.
The school has developed a curriculum, which they continue to review in light of recent changes to classes. The curriculum is broad and consistent with the national curriculum.
In most subjects, planning is sequenced appropriately, allowing pupils to build on what they already know and understand. In religious education (RE), teachers ensure that this learning is carefully repeated and reinforced. Pupils remember the intended learning exceptionally well.
However, in a small number of subjects such as design and technology (DT), teachers do not check pupils' understanding precisely enough within lessons or when setting tasks for pupils to complete. As a result, pupils' learning is not built on as effectively as it could be, and they do not remember key knowledge.
The school has redesigned the early reading curriculum since the last inspection.
There is now a common approach to teaching phonics across the school. Pupils have been carefully grouped to ensure that they receive teaching that matches their current knowledge. Training has been used well to ensure that staff know how to teach phonics well.
Staff ensure that the large majority of pupils can remember and use the sounds that they have learned. Tailored support is given to any pupils who need help to catch up to their peers.
The mathematics curriculum is well established.
The teaching of mathematics provides pupils with a wide range of opportunities to develop their numerical skills and vocabulary. This starts in Nursery, where children use construction materials and water play to practise using mathematical words in their play. Teachers in key stage 1 continue to use practical resources, pictorial representations and modelled examples to help pupils understand mathematical concepts and processes accurately.
Work in pupils' folders show that basic errors in mathematics are sometimes not identified and addressed. As a result, pupils continue to make these errors for too long and do not learn the improvements needed in a timely way.
From Nursery, staff encourage supportive and nurturing relationships.
Children quickly settle into routines and develop positive learning behaviours. Children in the Nursery and Reception benefit from a learning environment, which allows them to practise and consolidate key learning. The teaching of communication skills is integral to daily life.
Staff know how to promote children's language skills and collaborative play well.
Pupils receive a well-planned programme of additional personal development learning that, for example, deepens their understanding of bullying and how to keep safe, including online safety. Pupils learn about responsibility, resilience and aspirations.
They are respectful to difference and understand that some of their friends in school may need additional support to join in.
Governors are keen to help leaders to achieve their vision for further improvements. Staff are very positive about the school.
They appreciate leaders' efforts to ensure that their well-being is taken into consideration. Leaders have made staff training and development central in ensuring they can effectively support the pupils who attend this caring school.
Safeguarding
The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
What does the school need to do to improve?
(Information for the school and appropriate authority)
• Some groups of pupils do not attend school regularly enough or on time. Consequently, some pupils miss out on the education and wider offer that the school provides. The school should continue to strengthen its work in ensuring pupils get the help they need to attend regularly and promptly.
• The basic errors that pupils make in mathematics are sometimes not identified and addressed in a timely and consistent way. Pupils continue to make these errors for too long. The school should ensure that there is more rigour in the identification and addressing of basic errors and misconceptions so that pupils learn how to make improvements in a timely way.
• In some subjects, such as DT, pupils are unable to draw on what they know and remember over time. This prevents them from deepening their understanding of important concepts. The school should continue to embed the curriculum and develop further strategies, through teaching opportunities and activities, to ensure that pupils successfully retain knowledge in their long-term memory in all subjects.
