St Giles' CofE (Aided) Infant School

Overview

St Giles’ CofE (Aided) Infant School is rated as ‘Good’ overall, with ‘Outstanding’ personal development. The report describes a school where “pupils are proud of what they learn and achieve” and where leaders have designed an “ambitious curriculum.” Staff maintain high expectations, ensuring every pupil is known as an individual and supported to succeed.

Strengths

• Personal development is ‘Outstanding’, with pupils learning to be “kind and considerate” and developing “determination and resilience” through a coherent programme.
• The curriculum is well-organised, with teachers using “strong subject knowledge to break down the learning content clearly,” leading to enthusiastic pupil engagement.
• Reading is a clear priority, supported by “high-quality phonics teaching” in early years and targeted support for weaker readers.
• Safeguarding arrangements are “effective,” characterised by a “culture of vigilance” where staff are alert to warning signs and tenacious in securing external help.
• Leaders provide effective training and are “mindful of the workload pressures that staff face,” while governors actively support strategic development.

Areas to improve

• In some subjects, teachers do not always identify misconceptions accurately, leading to “gaps in the knowledge and understanding of some pupils.”
• Too many pupils are persistently absent, which “limits their opportunities to learn as well as they could,” despite leaders’ efforts to reduce absence.

Safeguarding

The report states that “the arrangements for safeguarding are effective,” noting that leaders and governors adopt an approach that “it could happen here” and keep records up to date.