Queenswell Infant & Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a welcoming and happy school community. Pupils love coming to this school because their friends are kind and adults are caring. Pupils are polite and considerate towards others.

Leaders and teachers encourage pupils to do their best and help to keep them safe. Pupils focus well during lessons and are enthusiastic about learning.

Pupils behave well in lessons and when moving around the school.

This is because staff have high expectations of them. Pupils feel happy and safe here because they know that adults will help them if they have a worry or concern.

Staff encourage pupils to value and celebrate difference.

For example, pupils vis...it different places of worship. Visiting speakers share their knowledge of their own faith with pupils. These opportunities help pupils to understand and respect people with differing beliefs and customs.

Leaders listen to pupils and value their opinions. For example, members of the school parliament met with leaders to consider new playground equipment to make their playtimes even better. Leaders provide a range of clubs, including dance, football and gymnastics.

These activities support pupils to develop their talents and pursue their interests.

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

Reading is a priority here. Teachers prioritise daily story time sessions, which pupils enjoy.

Pupils talk about the books they have read with enthusiasm. They have regular opportunities to visit the school library. This develops a love for reading.

Staff teach children to read as soon as they join in Reception. This is because leaders want every pupil to learn to read fluently and without delay. Staff are well trained in the teaching of phonics.

They check the sounds that pupils know regularly and systematically. Pupils who find reading difficult or who start to fall behind get the help they need to catch up. Pupils read books that match the sounds that they know.

This means that they read with developing fluency and enthusiasm.

Leaders want all pupils to achieve well. They have put a well-structured curriculum in place.

Leaders' curricular thinking is ambitious. They have identified what they want pupils to learn and remember. Leaders break down key content that pupils need to learn into logical steps, starting from the early years.

For example, in computing, pupils in Year 2 understand what algorithms are. This is because they have previously been taught how to follow and sequence simple instructions.

Teachers address misconceptions and explain ideas clearly within lessons.

However, in a few subjects, teachers do not consistently check that pupils can remember what they have been taught previously before moving on to the next stage of learning.This means that sometimes, pupils do not apply what they have been taught before to their current learning, and develop gaps in their knowledge.

Children in the early years get off to a good start.

Adults question children effectively, including those in the two-year-old provision. This helps children to explain their thinking. Leaders make sure that staff have the knowledge and skills they need to teach subjects well, including in the early years.

Adults demonstrate the use of mathematical language effectively. They encourage pupils to use words such as 'taller', 'shorter' and 'wider'. On occasions, however, activities given to pupils do not align closely to the knowledge and skills leaders want pupils to gain.

In these cases, teaching does not deepen pupils' subject-specific knowledge and understanding.

Leaders identify the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) quickly. Pupils with SEND receive effective support to access learning alongside their peers.

Leaders work closely with external professionals to meet the needs of pupils with SEND. Leaders and teachers adapt their teaching methods and resources effectively. This enables pupils with SEND to learn well and develop their independence.

Pupils behave well in lessons. Staff motivate them so that they want to do well. Learning is not interrupted by silly behaviour.

Pupils are taught how to regulate and manage their feelings, to share and to collaborate.

Pupils understand why it is important to learn about people's differences. They speak with sensitivity and care when discussing different places of worship and prayer.

Pupils have an age-appropriate understanding of how to keep safe online.

Leaders have created a caring, happy environment for both pupils and staff. Staff are proud of the school and value the support they receive from leaders to fulfil their roles.

Governors are ambitious for the school. They want every pupil to do as well as they can. Governors understand what the school does well and what it needs to do to be even better.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders make sure that safeguarding is everyone's responsibility. Staff are well trained in identifying concerns.

This means that they report any concerns quickly if they are worried about a child's welfare. Leaders respond swiftly to concerns raised so that pupils receive the help and support they need. Leaders work effectively with external agencies to support pupils and their families.

Leaders provide opportunities for pupils to learn about possible risks within and beyond the school. Pupils are encouraged to keep safe, including online. They are taught about the importance of personal boundaries in an age-appropriate manner.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, leaders have not established systems to check that key knowledge and skills that pupils need to know and remember are embedded in their long-term memory. As a result, pupils develop gaps in their knowledge. Leaders should make sure that staff check pupils' learning in these subjects so that any gaps can be identified and addressed before moving on to new learning.

• Sometimes, activities given to pupils do not align closely to the knowledge and skills leaders want pupils to know and remember. This means that teaching does not deepen pupils' subject-specific knowledge and understanding. Leaders need to ensure that teaching activities are consistently designed to develop the knowledge and skills that they want pupils to secure.

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