Padnell Infant School

Overview

Padnell Infant School continues to be a good school, where pupils speak with "great enthusiasm and affection." Leaders maintain high expectations, fostering a calm atmosphere where children behave well and follow the school’s ‘GROW’ values. The curriculum is delivered with care, enabling effective teaching and a strong sense of pride in pupils’ work.

Strengths

• Pupils are "inquisitive" and enjoy learning, benefiting from rich opportunities such as forest school and local history trips.
• Teachers deliver lessons effectively, with adults checking learning throughout; pupils show resilience, persisting until they are confident in their work.
• There is "strong provision for pupils with SEND," who receive clear targets and daily support that they can articulate.
• Leaders prioritise reading, using consistent methods like the ‘phonics arm’ to help most pupils read fluently.
• Governors monitor staff impact with diligence, and leaders keep a close eye on the well-being of both staff and pupils.

Areas to improve

• Leaders must ensure all teachers implement the intended curriculum effectively, as some subject curriculums are new and not yet fully embedded, leading to inconsistencies in achievement.
• Leaders need to routinely check how well pupils are learning essential knowledge, including specific subject vocabulary, particularly for pupils with SEND who are sometimes set tasks that do not enable them to learn as well as they could.
• Some pupils need to read more frequently to improve their fluency, a gap leaders are addressing by recruiting volunteers.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with a strong culture where staff understand procedures thoroughly and act swiftly to keep pupils safe.