Badshot Lea Village Infant School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

This school is at the heart of its community.

Staff know the pupils and their families well. It is a very happy, friendly and safe place in which to learn. Pupils enjoy attending school, and there is a strong sense of belonging.

Parents and carers are overwhelmingly happy with the schooling their children receive.

The school has high expectations for pupils' achievement. Pupils live up to these.

They enjoy the subjects they study and the opportunities that the school provides. In lessons, pupils work hard, achieve well and reach the school's high expectations. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Pu...pils with more complex SEND are expertly considered to enable them to thrive.

In lessons and around school, pupils behave well. They greet each other and their teachers warmly.

Movement around the school is very orderly. Pupils are polite and respectful towards each other, school staff and visitors.

Pupils experience many opportunities to develop their understanding of the world around them.

A range of educational trips, visitors to school, clubs and events helps to bring learning to life and expand pupils' cultural experiences. Pupils learn about keeping safe, including road safety and when they are online.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school provides a rich, exciting curriculum.

The curriculum identifies what pupils are expected to learn in each subject by the end of Year 2. It takes into account the mixture of single-age and mixed-age classes very well. In reading, writing and mathematics, the curriculum is particularly well sequenced.

However, in some other subjects, the precise knowledge the school expects pupils to learn is not always as clearly defined. This means pupils do not build their knowledge, skills and vocabulary as well as they could.

The school fosters a love of reading.

Children become rapidly familiar with the language and routines of the phonics programme in the Reception Year. They are excited to learn new sounds and become confident and enthusiastic readers. The school diligently tracks the progress pupils make as they learn their phonics.

As a result, staff ensure that the books given to pupils to read match their reading ability very well. If a pupil is at risk of falling behind with their phonics, staff ensure they get extra help to catch up swiftly.

Across the school, there is a broad and balanced curriculum that enables pupils to develop their knowledge and skills.

In mathematics, teachers model concepts clearly using appropriate resources. This helps pupils to understand number and other areas of mathematics. Pupils in Year 1, for example, understand how to find odd and even numbers.

The school has created a highly inclusive and nurturing environment where every pupil is welcome. Pupils with SEND are supported in their learning and achieve very well. The school has robust systems to identify pupils' needs promptly and accurately.

It sets important milestones to track how well pupils with SEND progress through the curriculum. Teachers adapt lessons to ensure pupils with SEND have their individual needs met. Additionally, the school provides high-quality and well-focused pastoral support.

Pupils understand and typically follow the school's high expectations for behaviour. While some pupils call out unnecessarily or are disengaged from their learning for short periods, staff typically deal very effectively with this. Pupils play happily together on the playground.

They say that other children are very kind and caring. Attendance is a high priority. The school has effective systems in place to check attendance.

Staff engage with families to provide constructive support when needed.

The personal development programme is very carefully considered. The school carefully ensures that all pupils access the school's wider offer.

The school ensures that pupils gain a secure understanding of healthy and respectful relationships. Pupils learn about the different faiths, cultures and families in modern Britain. They know about the importance of understanding the needs of others and that everyone should be treated fairly.

One pupil maturely reflected on how pupils feel by saying, 'Wouldn't it be boring if we were all the same?'

School leaders and governors are resourceful and reflective in moving the school forward. They provide effective staff training that supports school improvement. The processes and policies that governors expect staff to implement are enacted well typically.

Staff are incredibly happy and proud to work at the school. They feel very valued and appreciated.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects in the wider curriculum, the school has not identified the precise knowledge, skills and vocabulary it wants pupils to learn at each stage. As a result, pupils do not learn and remember important information as well as they could in these subjects. The school needs to identify the most important knowledge that all pupils need to know and remember in each subject and put these into a logical sequence to meet the curriculum's ambitious endpoints.

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