Dogsthorpe Infant School

Overview

Dogsthorpe Infant School continues to be a good school, where pupils are "very positive about coming to this school" and feel "comfortable and secure." The report highlights a warm environment where children learn and play happily, respecting school values and benefiting from clear routines and effective leadership.

Strengths

• Pupils are "keen to do well," particularly enjoying reading, mathematics, and sports, while feeling part of a supportive "class family."
• Leaders have developed an "ambitious curriculum" for core subjects, with teachers providing "clear instructions" and addressing misconceptions effectively.
• Reading is "prioritised throughout the school," with a new phonics programme taught effectively so most pupils can recall sounds well.
• Staff provide "effective pastoral support," ensuring pupils are at ease and feel able to share concerns, which are acted on "swiftly by leaders."
• Governors and trustees provide "effective challenge and support," sharing the school’s determination to deliver a strong education.

Areas to improve

• Activities are not always "precisely adapted to meet the specific needs of some pupils," causing some, including those with SEND, to fall behind due to unfilled knowledge gaps.
• Some pupils finding reading tricky are "not catching up rapidly enough" because support is not always tailored to specific barriers and home reading books are not always matched to learned sounds.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, though leaders need to ensure record-keeping is more thoroughly reviewed so that "additional follow-up actions and monitoring are always recorded robustly."