St Alphege Church of England Infant School

Overview

St Alphege Church of England Infant School is rated as ‘Good’ overall, with ‘Outstanding’ judgements for behaviour, personal development, leadership, and early years provision. The report describes a school where pupils are “welcome” and “integrated fully into every aspect of school life,” resulting in “superb” behaviour and “exceptionally strong attitudes to school.” Leaders demonstrate an “unswerving ambition for inclusivity,” ensuring that disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) achieve positive outcomes through a “detailed and ambitious curriculum.”

Strengths

• Early years provision is ‘Outstanding’, with staff who are “expertly trained” and provide interactions of the “highest quality” that promote excellent learning.
• Pupils display “superb” behaviour and are “notably thoughtful and considerate,” fostering a close community feel rooted in “open acceptance.”
• The reading curriculum is taught “effectively and consistently,” with staff strongly promoting a love of reading and ensuring weaker readers are “strongly supported.”
• Support for pupils with SEND is “steadfastly strong,” with timely staff training ensuring lessons match the planned curriculum and activities are “well designed.”
• Leaders and governors work effectively together, with staff workload and welfare “well considered” and parents working “superbly together” for pupils’ benefit.

Areas to improve

• In some subjects, staff do not “precisely check pupils’ understanding,” leading to misconceptions or gaps in learning.
• The school should ensure staff “routinely check that pupils’ understanding of the key content across the curriculum is secure” to improve recall of knowledge.

Safeguarding

The report states that “the arrangements for safeguarding are effective.”