All Saints CofE Infant School

Inspection of a good school: All Saints CofE Infant School Dimple Road, Matlock, Derbyshire DE4 3HX

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Outcome

All Saints CofE Infant School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to school because they like being with their friends and they know that the adults in their classrooms will help them to learn. Pupils feel safe in school because ‘the grown-ups look after us’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school grounds are situated on a hill. There are lots of steps. Pupils move around the site sensibly, watched over by the adults who supervise them. Pupils behave well in lessons and around school. They play together sensibly on the playground. They do not think that bullying really happens at their school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy the opportunities that teachers provide to bring their learning to life. For example, during the inspection, pupils in Year 2 excitedly arrived at school dressed in Victorian-style clothes ready to enjoy a trip to Newstead Abbey. They were looking forward to visiting the Victorian Christmas market in Matlock.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff, leaders and governors share the same high expectations for all pupils, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They want them to do well and be prepared for their futures. Pupils who need support, or extra equipment to help them learn, get the support that they need.

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

Leaders have begun to review the curriculum. They have set out what pupils will learn and be able to do in most subjects. Some subjects, such as mathematics, reading, writing and geography, are clearly planned. In geography, for example, leaders have identified the important things that pupils must learn in each year group. However, this level of detail is not clear in all the other subjects. In too many subjects, there is no clear strategy for making sure that pupils remember important information in the long term.

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

In mathematics, pupils use what they know to help them learn new things. For example, pupils were using what they knew about addition and the value of different coins to work 3–4 December 2019

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out how to make up different amounts of money. They used the coins the teacher had provided to help them. In history, pupils explained why they would prefer to be a rich child or a poor child in Victorian times. They drew on their knowledge of Victorian life to explain their reasons sensibly. Pupils listen well to their teachers in class. They get on with their work. For a few pupils, their attention drifts occasionally, but the adults gently bring them back to the task in hand.

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Early reading is taught immediately when children start in the Reception class. Staff teach phonics well. Leaders have made sure that the books they give pupils to read are well- matched to the phonics that pupils have learned. Those who find reading more difficult, including pupils with SEND, are given the support they need to catch up. Pupils enjoy story time. They listen intently to the stories that their teachers read. Pupils in Year 2 spoke with great enthusiasm about listening to their teacher read a version of ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens. Teachers have formed a book club. They discuss newly published children’s books to decide if they should be added to the school’s stock of books. Pupils listen to a range of classic literature during their time at school, such as books by Beatrix Potter or A A Milne.

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Staff provide a range of opportunities to support pupils’ personal development. There are strong links with the local church and with the town of Matlock. All pupils are enrolled at the local library. They can learn to play a musical instrument, raise money for charity and join clubs, such as football or gymnastics.

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Children make a good start in the Reception class. Teachers provide children with a teddy bear, called Bop, before they start school. They are encouraged to ‘teach’ Bop useful skills, such as fastening his own coat. This helps children learn the skills that will help them to be ready to start school. The classroom is filled with opportunities that adults carefully plan so that children can make links in their learning. Children were learning how to use scissors carefully to cut ‘bigger’ and ‘smaller’ pieces of wrapping paper. They used this skill in the ‘Elf Workshop’. Proudly wearing their elf hats, they made presents and wrapped them for Father Christmas.

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Leaders, including governors, know the school’s strengths well and what they want to make better. They are mindful of staff’s workload and the well-being of staff and pupils. They value the views of parents and carers.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders check that adults who work or volunteer at the school are suitable to do so. Staff have regular training. They are clear about the arrangements for keeping pupils safe. Leaders make quick spot checks of staff’s understanding to ensure that safeguarding is at the front of everyone’s mind. Leaders make sure that pupils and families receive the support they need.

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Safeguarding

Pupils learn about stranger danger and how to cross roads safely. They have a growing understanding of the potential risks of using the internet. 3–4 December 2019

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school’s curriculum is not yet sufficiently coherently planned and sequenced in some subjects. Leaders have not made clear the important knowledge that pupils must learn and remember in each year group. However, it is clear from the actions that leaders have already taken to plan the curriculum and train staff that they are in the process of bringing this about. They must now make sure that all subjects have clear, sequential plans.  In some subjects, such as reading and mathematics, pupils use what they have previously learned to help them grasp new concepts. Leaders have not implemented a strategy for making sure that pupils remember important knowledge in the long term in all subjects. This means that pupils are not able to draw on previous learning. Leaders must put in place a clear strategy to ensure that pupils remember the most important things that they learn.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called a section 8 inspection of a good school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second section 8 inspection since we judged the predecessor school, All Saints CofE Infant School, to be good in June 2011.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school. 3–4 December 2019

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In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. 3–4 December 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10121241 Type of school Infant

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School details

Website http://www.allsaintsfed.derbyshire.sch.uk/

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school federated with All Saints CofE Junior School in September 2016.  The school became an academy with Derbyshire Diocesan Academy Trust in April 2017.  The headteacher and deputy headteacher have both taken up their posts since the last inspection.  The school’s most-recent section 48 inspection, which is an inspection of the school’s religious character, took place in October 2016 and the school was judged to be outstanding.

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Information about this inspection

 During the inspection, I spoke with senior leaders, subject leaders, teachers and support staff. I spoke with the chief executive officer of the multi-academy trust and several members of the local governing body. I spoke with pupils informally and more formally with two small groups of pupils.  I looked closely at reading, mathematics and history. I also examined the curriculum plans for a range of other subjects, including writing, geography, design and technology, and art. 3–4 December 2019

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 I reviewed a range of documentation provided by the school, including minutes of governors’ meetings, leaders’ evaluation of the work of the school and their plans for improvement.  I examined a range of documentation relating to the safeguarding of pupils. This included the single central record of vetting checks that take place before adults start to work at the school. I spoke with the leader responsible for safeguarding pupils about the arrangements for keeping pupils safe. I spoke with several staff to check their understanding of their responsibilities in this regard.  I took account of the 62 responses to the online survey, Parent View, and I spoke with parents as they collected their children from school at the end of the day. I spoke with a wide range of staff and pupils and took account of the views they expressed in their respective online surveys.

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Inspection team

Di Mullan, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector 3–4 December 2019

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regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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