Manor Infant and Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

There has been no change to this school's overall judgement of good as a result of this ungraded (section 8) inspection.

However, the evidence gathered suggests that the inspection grade might not be as high if a graded (section 5) inspection were carried out now. Inspectors are recommending the next inspection to be a graded inspection.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud of their diverse school.

They are welcoming and friendly and uphold the school values by being respectful, resilient and happy. Staff have high expectations for behaviour and set clear routines. They build strong relationships with pupils and promote kindness.

Pupils are thou...ghtful and caring towards each other. At breaktimes, they enjoy playing football and parachute games with their friends. If pupils have any worries or need help with minor friendship disputes, they know adults will help them.

Leaders forge strong links with the local community. Pupils benefit from these links in many ways. They enjoy meeting visitors to the school, including the police, church and the fire service.

They understand how these people help others through the jobs they do. Pupils join in with community groups for their chair-based exercise sessions. They know why a healthy lifestyle is important and how some people need extra help to achieve it.

Pupils show compassion and empathy towards others.

Pupils enjoy their lessons. They work hard and want to succeed.

In many subjects, they achieve well. However, this is not the case in all areas. In particular, the standard of pupils' writing across the curriculum is not high enough.

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

In most subject areas, the curriculum is clearly defined with the knowledge and skills pupils need to learn. This includes how learning builds from Nursery through to Year 2. However, this journey lacks clarity in terms of teaching pupils how to write.

A clear progression of skills and knowledge for writing is not yet in place. In addition, pupils do not have enough opportunities to write across the curriculum. They do not build writing stamina, and too many pupils have poorly formed handwriting.

Leaders prioritise the teaching of reading from the moment children start school. All staff are trained to teach reading using a phonics-based approach. Pupils love the 'monsters' who help them to remember their letter sounds.

Reading books appropriately match the sounds pupils are learning. As pupils progress through the school, they read with increasing fluency. However, pupils are not always supported with their reading in other subjects.

They sometimes have difficulty understanding the texts they are given.

Teaching staff are skilled at supporting pupils with their speech and language development. Starting in Nursery, staff encourage children to speak in whole sentences and express their opinions.

This support continues as pupils progress through the school. Teaching staff demonstrate to pupils how to debate and discuss issues. They model appropriate language and vocabulary.

This helps pupils to articulate their views. For example, in history, pupils talk confidently about the significance of the work by the palaeontologist Mary Anning. In mathematics, pupils describe their reasoning and problem solving by using stem sentences.

Teachers have strong subject knowledge. They clearly identify what pupils need to learn. This information is shared with parents so they can support their children.

In lessons, teachers use ongoing assessment methods to check how well pupils are learning. They help pupils to remember their learning through focused revisits and recaps. Teachers make this explicit.

In mathematics, for example, pupils routinely start their lessons with a number fluency exercise. In history, pupils see the connections between their learning about Nelson Mandela and Rosa Parks. They talk with passion about the equality issues they have learned through studying the lives of these significant people.

Leaders ensure there are clear processes to identify pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Appropriate support allows pupils with SEND to access the whole curriculum. This support includes help from adults, use of physical resources and targeted interventions.

There are extensive systems to support pupils with their emotional resilience and well-being. This includes nurture provision in the 'Rockpool', where pupils are helped to talk about their feelings.

Pupils benefit from a range of wider opportunities.

They enjoy their after-school activities, including the highly popular gardening club. Pupils enthuse about the development of the school gardens through support from community groups. They are excited to see how well their vegetables grow.

Pupils relish their leadership roles. The democratically elected 'Young MPs' are proud of their work to review the school's lunch menu. They take their responsibilities seriously and believe they can make a difference.

Governors know the school well. They support and challenge school leaders appropriately. They share school leaders' desire to provide the best possible opportunities for all pupils.

Staff appreciate the commitment given for their professional development. The subject leader advocacy system is held in high regard by all.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders ensure that there is a strong culture of safeguarding. All staff are well trained and know how to identify and report concerns. Staff and governors engage with the school leaders' weekly safeguarding question.

This results in ongoing reflection, ensuring everyone has the most up-to-date knowledge.

The designated safeguarding leads are diligent in referring concerns to external agencies. They show tenacity in following up these concerns and securing appropriate support for families.

Through the curriculum, pupils learn how to keep themselves safe when using the internet. They know who to tell if they have any worries about anything they see online.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• There is sometimes a mismatch between pupils' reading skills and key information they are given to read in foundation subjects.

This creates a barrier to their learning. Leaders need to ensure that pupils are supported with their reading across the entire curriculum. ? The writing curriculum is not as well thought through as it is in other subjects.

As a result, pupils do not write as well as they should. Leaders need to implement a clear teaching sequence for writing so that pupils build the necessary knowledge and skills.

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 an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

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

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in June 2017.