Westfield Infant School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Westfield Infant School is a friendly, caring and welcoming school. The school has created an atmosphere where pupils are certainly 'blossoming together through nurture and challenge'.

It has high aspirations for all pupils, as reflected in its vision, where pupils are 'happy, successful and confident, with an enthusiasm for life-long learning'.

Pupils behave well in lessons and during social times. They know and model the school rule of 'be kind'.

They are proud to receive rewards, such as being nominated for the 'brilliant bench' and having afternoon tea with the headteacher. Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe, and they feel safe in school.

P...upils are expected to try their best and produce work of good quality, which they do.

They love learning new things. The school has a purposeful atmosphere and strong shared values. There is a real 'family feel' at Westfield.

This enables everyone to work well together.

Pupils benefit from a wide range of trips and external visitors, which enrich the curriculum. They contribute to their local community, for example by supporting a local hospice.

Parents and carers are overwhelmingly positive about the school. Typical comments include, 'Westfield is a wonderful school where children can really flourish.'

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

The school has ensured that pupils benefit from a broad, balanced and ambitious curriculum.

From the early years to Year 2, the school has identified the important knowledge that it wants pupils to learn and by when. As a result of the well-designed curriculum, children in the early years are suitably prepared for Year 1. By the end of Year 2, pupils are ready for the challenges of the key stage 2 curriculum.

In some subjects, pupils revisit their learning regularly and link this knowledge to new ideas and concepts. This helps them to deepen their knowledge and understanding. Where this is successful, the school uses information about what pupils know and can do.

However, some learning is not adapted quickly enough to enable some pupils to develop a deeper understanding. As a result, these pupils do not build their knowledge as well as they could.

The curriculum is typically well implemented.

In most subjects, assessment is used effectively to check how well pupils are learning. A few subjects are in the early stages of being embedded. The school has recently introduced 'wind-backs' so that pupils can revisit prior learning.

It is too soon to see the impact of this on pupils' knowing and remembering more in these subjects.

Reading is a top priority of the school. The school has implemented an effective reading programme.

This starts in the early years, where children get off to a flying start. Pupils practise reading books that are closely matched to the sounds they know. This means that most pupils become fluent and confident readers.

Regular assessment identifies pupils who may be at risk of falling behind. They receive expert support to help them catch up. Pupils love to read books about significant people, for example Rosa Parks and Marcus Rashford.

This helps them to expand their understanding of the world they live in.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are identified early on. Teachers make appropriate and thoughtful adaptations to enable pupils to access the full curriculum.

All pupils from the early years onwards are well supported to become increasingly independent and to take responsibility for their own learning.

Pupils display positive attitudes to learning. They enjoy school and work productively with adults and each other.

The school places pupils' wider development at the heart of what it does. Pupils learn the importance of values such as respect and tolerance. They gain age-appropriate knowledge about healthy relationships.

The trust works closely with the school. It has played an integral part in supporting the school. Staff are proud to work at the school.

They value the care and consideration that leaders give to their workload and well-being.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Learning is not always adapted quickly enough in lessons to enable some pupils to deepen their knowledge and understanding.

As a result, these pupils do not build their knowledge as well as they could. The school needs to ensure that learning is adapted when necessary, and ensure that any misconceptions are addressed, so that all pupils achieve as well as they could. ? A few foundation subjects are at an earlier stage of implementation than most.

In these instances, pupils have not had sufficient opportunity to revisit and embed important concepts. This means these pupils do not deepen their knowledge as successfully as they could. The school should ensure that the newly implemented retrieval work is fully embedded across each subject area and that pupils are given sufficient opportunity to secure key ideas.

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