Rushton CofE First School

Overview

Pupils ‘flourish in many aspects of school life’ at this small, nurturing academy. The inspection highlights a school where staff know pupils well, resulting in ‘exceptional’ behaviour and high aspirations. While the quality of education and leadership are judged as ‘Good’, the school excels in personal development and early years provision.

Strengths

• Pupils behave ‘exceptionally well’, living by the school’s REACH values of ‘respect, empathy, aspiration, courage and happy’.
• Early years provision is ‘Outstanding’, with staff creating a ‘safe, enriching environment’ where play-based learning builds confidence.
• Staff are ‘adept at meeting the needs of pupils with SEND’, ensuring they ‘catch up quickly and learn as well as their peers’.
• Reading is ‘central to all learning’, supported by a ‘well-established and effective phonics and early reading curriculum’.
• Attendance is ‘extremely positive’, with staff successfully supporting pupils who struggle with emotions or behaviour.

Areas to improve

• In a small number of subjects, the school has not evaluated the impact of revised curriculums on what pupils know and remember.
• The school must ensure it carries out activities to verify pupils are learning as well as possible in all subjects to identify any gaps.

Safeguarding

The report states that ‘the arrangements for safeguarding are effective’.