Dronfield Infant School

Overview

Dronfield Infant School is described as a “cohesive community” where pupils “work hard, grow in confidence and achieve well.” The report highlights a “strong team of staff” united in their ambition, noting that pupils are “polite and courteous” and hold the school in “high esteem.”

Strengths

• Pupils demonstrate excellent behaviour, being “ready, respectful and safe,” and are motivated by rewards such as ‘Hot Choc Fridays’ and special awards.
• The phonics programme is “taught consistently well,” with lessons that are “fast paced and energetic,” helping pupils quickly develop a “love of books.”
• Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive “expert help and support,” enabling them to learn the same curriculum as their peers and “achieve well.”
• Leadership is “strong” at all levels, with staff who are “considerate of their workload” and share a “determined ambition for all pupils to achieve highly.”
• Personal development is enhanced by enriching experiences, including educational trips and daily “mindfulness” sessions that help pupils concentrate.

Areas to improve

• The school must complete its revised curriculum for ‘Cycle B’ to ensure pupils’ knowledge builds “cumulatively over time.”
• The curriculum in a small number of subjects must make “explicitly clear the content that pupils are expected to commit to their long-term memory” to improve inconsistent recall.
• The reading curriculum beyond phonics needs to clarify “what pupils are expected to know at each stage” to ensure content is taught in the best possible order.

Safeguarding

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