Grange First School

Overview

Grange First School is described as an “extremely vibrant, caring and nurturing place to learn” where pupils feel safe and speak highly of their teachers. The inspection confirms the school continues to be good, noting strong staff morale and effective leadership following recent changes.

Strengths

• Early reading is a “particular strength,” with staff using a new phonics programme to good effect and pupils making strong progress.
• Pupils demonstrate “exceptional” understanding of tolerance, diversity, and equality, supported by a strong personal, social, health and economic education curriculum.
• Staff morale is “very high,” with leaders praised for being considerate of workload and promoting well-being through activities like mindfulness coaching.
• The school offers rich opportunities beyond the classroom, including forest school and various after-school clubs, which pupils speak about animatedly.

Areas to improve

• Leaders must ensure curriculum plans in foundation subjects, such as history and geography, are “appropriately sequenced” so content builds logically on prior learning rather than being “jumbled.”
• Systems to identify, assess, and meet the needs of all pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) require further embedding to ensure the most vulnerable are fully supported.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with staff described as “hands-on, curious and protective” who quickly spot pupils with emerging needs and work closely with leaders to ensure they receive necessary care.