St Stephen's Infant School

Overview

St Stephen’s Infant School continues to be a good school, described as “friendly and welcoming” where pupils are happy and feel safe. Leaders and staff maintain high expectations for behaviour and achievement, fostering a calm and orderly environment. The report confirms that the school remains effective in its provision, with strong parental support and positive relationships between staff and pupils.

Strengths

• Pupils demonstrate high levels of independence, politeness, and adherence to the school’s “ready, respectful and safe” rules.
• Leaders prioritise reading, ensuring pupils develop fluency and accuracy through well-supported phonics teaching and regular checks.
• The mathematics curriculum is “designed well,” helping pupils deepen their understanding of number and solve problems effectively.
• Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are quickly identified and receive appropriate academic and emotional support to access the same curriculum as their peers.
• Personal development is a strength, with pupils understanding values such as kindness and their rights, including the right to vote.

Areas to improve

• In some subjects, learning does not consistently build on previous teaching because teachers do not always make clear what pupils should know or check retention effectively.
• Leaders need to ensure teachers check what pupils know and remember across all subjects to inform future learning and prevent slowed progress.
• Leaders must ensure they record safeguarding recruitment checks with accuracy on the single central record.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with leaders ensuring keeping children safe is everyone’s responsibility and staff using training to spot risks quickly.