Newhall Infant School

Overview

Newhall Infant School continues to be a good school, where pupils are happy and feel safe. The new leadership team has brought stability, with staff appreciating the support provided to manage workload and develop the curriculum.

Strengths

• Pupils are described as ‘happy to attend’ and observe the rule to ‘show kindness in all we do’.
• Reading is a priority, with a new phonics programme ensuring pupils ‘enthusiastically practise reading’.
• In art, pupils learn skills in drawing and painting, producing work ‘that they are proud of’.
• English lessons help pupils become ‘confident writers’ through regular practice and feedback.
• Staff have ‘high expectations for behaviour’, resulting in very rare incidents of poor behaviour.

Areas to improve

• In mathematics, teachers do not always focus sharply enough on key knowledge, hindering pupils’ ability to solve problems or explain reasoning.
• In some subjects, teachers do not systematically give pupils opportunities to recall previous learning, meaning pupils ‘cannot always remember what they have learned’.
• Leaders must ensure attendance improves further, particularly for disadvantaged pupils who ‘do not attend school as well as they should’.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with leaders making appropriate checks and acting quickly when concerns are raised.