Waterthorpe Infant School

Overview

Waterthorpe Infant School is described as "highly inclusive" with a "distinctly nurturing ethos" where pupils feel safe and secure. The inspection found that leaders maintain high expectations for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, who are supported effectively to make progress.

Strengths

• Staff know pupils very well, fostering "strong relationships" and ensuring all families feel a "sense of belonging".
• The curriculum is "ambitious" and adapted so that most pupils, including those with SEND, "achieve well" and are prepared for their next steps.
• Early reading has been redesigned with a "common approach to teaching phonics," ensuring the large majority of pupils can remember and use sounds.
• Mathematics teaching provides opportunities to develop numerical skills, starting from Nursery through practical play and continuing with "pictorial representations" in Key Stage 1.
• Pupils value their responsibilities, such as being "healthy mind champions," and benefit from a wide range of extra-curricular activities.

Areas to improve

• The school must strengthen work with families to improve "everyday attendance and punctuality," as some pupils miss important learning.
• Basic errors in mathematics are "sometimes not identified and addressed," causing pupils to continue making mistakes for too long.
• In subjects like design and technology, teachers do not check understanding precisely enough, preventing pupils from "deepening their understanding" and retaining key knowledge.

Safeguarding

The report states that "the arrangements for safeguarding are effective."