Winterbourne Nursery and Infants’ School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a welcoming school community. Staff help pupils to settle in quickly and make new friends when they join the school. Staff and pupils build up warm and trusting professional relationships.

Pupils are happy and safe as a result.

Leaders have made lots of changes to improve the school in recent times. For example, they have developed the reading programme and the curriculum in all subjects.

High expectations for the academic success of all pupils are at the heart of every decision the school makes. When pupils leave the school after Year 2, they are well prepared for their next steps in education.

The school is a calm and orderly environment....r/>
From early years upwards, children learn school routines and how to behave well. The school council set up and operates a 'buddy bench' in the playground where anyone can sit and find someone to talk to. They know, for example, to line up quietly and to take turns and share any equipment.

Pupils like getting rewards such as 'star of the week' or an invitation to the 'Winterbourne Café' for a special lunch in recognition of their positive attitudes.

Pupils are encouraged to be proud of their cultural heritage, and to respect everyone and to treat them equally. This is an essential part of what it means to be 'The Winterbourne Child'.

Events such as 'Culture Day' help pupils to explore their own backgrounds and learn about those of other people.

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

The school has an ambitious curriculum for all pupils. Leaders have taken account of how pupils' knowledge and skills develop over time, from Nursery to Year 2.

For example, children in early years start learning about the concept of numbers. They liked counting different-sized ducks in the water, for example. Pupils build on this in Year 1 as they learn more about adding and subtracting.

Where curriculum thinking is not as carefully thought through, the school's curriculum thinking has not identified as clearly what pupils need to know and the order in which they should learn it. This means that pupils are sometimes set tasks to do that focus more on an activity than on the essential knowledge that pupils need to learn from it. The school typically checks regularly what pupils know and remember, but where key knowledge is less clearly sequenced gaps in pupils' knowledge are not picked up routinely and addressed.

Staff work hard to help pupils catch up on any learning they have missed when they join the school. Overall, pupils achieve well. Reading attainment at the end of Year 2 was, however, below average in the 2022 national assessments.

The school has focused on improving this. Daily phonics lessons for children in Reception and Years 1 and 2 follow a clear structure and sequence, and staff make careful checks on what pupils have learned and remember. Targeted support is given to pupils who are at the early stages of learning to speak English as an additional language, and those who struggle with reading, to help them catch up quickly.

The school identifies pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) at an early stage. In the specially resourced provision, children benefit from the focus on their communication and language skills. Staff use adapted teaching strategies and resources to help pupils with SEND to access the same curriculum as their peers.

In lessons, pupils are generally attentive and well behaved. Pupils are taught explicitly to listen to each other and respect the points of view of others. Attendance is treated as a high priority by the school.

The school works closely with parents and carers to promote regular attendance. Classes compete to win attendance awards for the highest weekly attendance. They are motivated by the school's 'HERO' bear, who reminds them to arrive on time in the morning and to come to school every day.

The school aims to give pupils wider experiences than they may have outside of school to promote their personal and social skills. For example, pupils learn to ride a bike and go on various outings. Pupils enjoy the range of extra-curricular clubs that the school organises and take part in local sports events.

Staff help pupils to make healthy choices and to look after their mental health. Pupils enjoy visits to the school's 'secret garden' to check on the vegetables they grow there. The school encourages pupils to help others, such as collecting produce for food parcels for the school's community foodbank and raising money for charity.

Leaders have created a strong sense of teamwork in the school. Staff feel well supported and valued in their roles. They appreciate strategies that the school has introduced to reduce workload and promote well-being.

The school ensures that all staff have continuous professional development. However, where some support staff have taken on increased teaching responsibilities, the school has not fully ensured that all staff receive personalised and tailored support to help them to fulfil their roles.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some foundation subjects, including in early years, curriculum thinking is not as well developed as in others. Where this is the case, the school has not identified clearly all the specific subject knowledge that pupils need to know and remember. As a result, lesson activities do not support pupils in building up the cumulative knowledge that they need to know as effectively as they could.

Leaders should identify the essential subject knowledge that pupils need to know and remember and plan activities that will fully support the intended learning. ? Due to challenges in recruiting teaching staff, the school has given some support staff additional teaching responsibilities. Leaders should ensure that staff receive all the support and development that they need to fulfil their teaching roles.

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