Sefton Park Infant School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Children who attend Sefton Park Infants receive an education that enables them to become curious, confident and successful young learners. Experienced leaders have stood firm over the years in their belief that every child can shine when learning is interesting and relevant.

Leaders create a strong, united workforce. They recruit like-minded staff who plan exciting and compelling learning experiences. They help children to develop a real love of learning.

Staff spot, nurture and develop pupils' talents. Beautiful artwork created by pupils is celebrated all around the school. Adults listen to children.

They take notice of their ideas. Staff show high levels of... trust and confidence in pupils to behave well and to help one another. This works very well.

Many children learn to think for themselves. They learn to manage risks and to manage their own behaviour. There are few incidences of poor behaviour or bullying.

There have been no exclusions for several years.

Staff in the early years classes have a deep understanding of how to plan learning that match children's needs and interests. Unique and innovative resources spark interest.

Children cannot wait to explore their environments. They become absorbed in learning. Children in the early years, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve exceptionally well.

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

Children have an excellent start to their learning in the early years classes. Three-year-olds play happily and comfortably alongside their Reception-age peers. Staff have a solid understanding of the early years curriculum.

They use this to create exciting learning environments in which children thrive. We saw children learning about sounds as they sang funny songs. We saw them learning about reading by playing with words using the 'ed-ending' box.

We also discussed with children their understanding about the world around them, as they observed and talked about real eggs.

Positive learning experiences continue in Year 1 and Year 2. During assemblies, children learn about values such as respect and tolerance.

Topic include 'essential questions'. These help children to think about important moral issues such as how we should care for and protect nature. Children are thoughtful, caring and polite.

The art curriculum is well thought out. Children observe and draw objects. They paint in bright colours on large canvas.

Around the school there are pieces of art work created by children. Techniques such as mark-making are revisited so that by the time they leave, children have well-developed skills.

Some other subjects are not quite as well thought through.

Improving the curriculum in key stage 1 has been a key priority for leaders and governors this year. Staff have a strong understanding of the knowledge that children need. But in some subjects, the different parts of the curriculum have not been logically planned out across Year 1 and 2.

When this is the case, the details needed to make sure that children have the knowledge they should are sometimes missed. In history, for example, children learn only about the Victorians. This means that children do not learn as much as they should about what is the same and what is different about ways of life at different times in history.

After a reorganisation of leadership roles in recent months, leaders are now developing these plans.

Teachers make sure that children gain the basic skills of reading, writing and mathematics. They are quick to notice anyone who starts to fall behind.

For example, resources to support understanding of different sounds help children to catch up. Interesting reading areas encourage children to read. These areas bring stories such as 'The Three Bears' to life.

Teachers know and understand the needs of children in their care. They plan activities that help children with SEND to meet their individual targets for improvement. Children, including those with SEND, achieve well.

The headteacher and deputy headteacher have a solid grasp of the school's strengths and the next steps needed to improve it even further. This strength in leadership contributes to the success of the school. For example, leaders have, quite rightly, been working to improve attendance.

This is because for some time, attendance has been below that of other similar schools. Because of this focus, school attendance looks more positive this year. But a few pupils still do not attend school well enough.

Although leaders check attendance during the year, lapses in pupils' attendance or punctuality are sometimes not acted on well. School attendance continues to be an improvement priority for leaders.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

There is a strong culture of safeguarding. The designated safeguarding leader organises safeguarding training for staff and checks that they understand key messages. As a result, staff are vigilant and make sure that any concerns they have are reported quickly.

The safeguarding lead works alongside a range of outside support agencies to make sure that families have all the support they need. She is not afraid to challenge and escalate concerns. Recruitment processes are secure.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

Due to recent changes in the organisation of leadership roles, subject leader roles are still developing. Therefore, while it is true that children achieve well by the time they leave the school, the exceptional start made by children in the early years classes is not consistently continued across Years 1 and 2. Subject leaders need to ensure that the intended curriculum is implemented well across the school and across all subjects.

. In some subjects in key stage 1 such as mathematics, science and art, the curriculum is well sequenced. This ensures that all aspects of the national curriculum are covered.

Leaders need to review curriculum plans across all subjects to check that the intended curriculum is coherently sequenced. . Although leaders check attendance information at times through the year, they do not check frequently.

Therefore a few pupils have low attendance and/or punctuality. Leaders need to develop a system to ensure that attendance and punctuality are tracked carefully. This will help leaders to identify attendance issues and to act on them.

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