Combs Infant School

Overview

Combs Infant School is described as a “nurturing village school” where “pupils thrive” and feel safe. The inspection confirms that staff know pupils and families “incredibly well,” fostering respectful relationships and high expectations for behaviour. Pupils achieve well, particularly in reading, and demonstrate positive attitudes towards their learning and personal development.

Strengths

• Reading is a priority, with a strong phonics programme ensuring pupils become “confident, fluent readers.”
• Early years provision gives children a “great start,” with staff skilfully supporting communication through imaginative play and outdoor exploration.
• Personal development is a strength, offering a breadth of opportunities including community roles, clubs, and trips that enhance pupils’ well-being.
• Behaviour is excellent; pupils behave “very well,” work in a “calm and orderly environment,” and support one another.
• Staff are proud of their workplace, praising leaders for considering their “well-being and workload.”

Areas to improve

• In some subjects, the curriculum is “too broad” and does not clearly identify key knowledge, meaning pupils do not remember important information as well as they could.
• Governance is not yet fully effective; governors do not consistently monitor policy effectiveness or hold leaders to account across all areas of school life.
• Incidents of inappropriate behaviour are not recorded, preventing the school from analysing patterns and providing governors with necessary information.

Safeguarding

The report states that “the arrangements for safeguarding are effective.”