Drapers' Brookside Infant School

Overview

The report describes a school where “pupils are happy and enjoy school” and are supported by staff with “high” expectations. Leaders have established a “broad, well organised and ambitious” curriculum that prioritises language development and reading fluency. While the overall effectiveness is rated as Good, the inspection identifies specific areas where curriculum design needs further refinement to ensure consistent long-term retention of knowledge.

Strengths

• Pupils demonstrate “calm and orderly” behaviour, treating each other with respect and participating in lessons with “enthusiasm”.
• Leaders prioritise reading, ensuring pupils learn to read fluently through “consistently well” taught phonics and access to a “well-stocked school library”.
• Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are “supported well” with timely identification of needs and appropriate curriculum adaptations.
• Staff feel “supported by leaders” who value workload management and invest in professional development, particularly for new subject leaders.
• The curriculum enriches learning through “first-hand experiences” such as workshops and visits, helping pupils understand global issues and British values.

Areas to improve

• In a small number of subjects, curriculum design does not fully account for pupils’ starting points, meaning new ideas are not always introduced in a “meaningful” way.
• Opportunities for pupils to retrieve and practise knowledge are not always prioritised in these subjects, affecting how well they remember learning “over the long term”.
• Leaders need to continue developing the expertise of new subject leaders through training to refine curriculum thinking and support teachers in implementing planned learning sequences.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are “effective”, with a “strong culture” supported by regular training, robust reporting systems, and close partnership with external agencies.