Eckington CofE First School

Overview

Eckington CofE First School continues to be a good school, described as having a ‘family feel’ where pupils are happy and learning is fun. Leaders maintain high expectations that pupils rise to, resulting in polite, respectful behaviour and exemplary attitudes to learning. The school provides a rich variety of opportunities to develop pupils’ character and interests.

Strengths

• Leaders have developed an ‘ambitious curriculum’ with precise knowledge, skills, and vocabulary identified for all subjects.
• Children in the early years get off to a ‘strong start’, particularly in reading and mathematics.
• Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are ‘fully included’ and achieve well alongside their classmates.
• Most pupils become ‘confident and fluent readers’ due to well-trained staff and high-quality texts.
• Staff morale is ‘extremely high’, with leaders ensuring reasonable workloads and strong support for well-being.

Areas to improve

• Leaders should further develop systems to check how well pupils learn and retain crucial information in foundation subjects, as current assessments are not fully developed.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with a strong culture established where staff receive regular training to recognise and report signs that a pupil may be at risk of harm.