Falconer's Hill Infant School

Inspection of Falconer’s Hill Infant School Ashby Road, Daventry, Northamptonshire NN11 0QF

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

The executive headteacher of this school is Rachel Edkins. This school is part of the Inspire Multi-Academy Trust (InMAT), which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Helen Williams, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Linda Brooks. 21 and 22 May 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love coming to this school, and their attendance is high. They say that it is a very good place to be, because they know that staff care for them and want them to be ‘safe, loved and happy’. If ever they feel worried, they can sit on the ‘safe chairs’, where they know staff will help them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

They explain to visitors how everybody is kind and gets on well together. There are, they say, ‘no outsiders - everyone’s welcome!’ Lunchtimes and breaktimes are happy times, when pupils enjoy the big outdoor spaces to play games and chat.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children feel secure from the Reception Year onwards. This is because highly trained staff show them how lessons work at Falconer’s Hill, and how everyone must behave.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff want everyone to succeed. Children start learning to read in their very first week. The exciting, well-planned activities in the early years mean that children make good progress there. This is then continued in key stage 1. Pupils love their lessons. They learn to tell the time and discover this relates to fractions. They study Van Gogh and visit the ‘Think Tank’ science museum. They enjoy the many activities and clubs, such as cooking and gardening.

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better?

All staff at this school work closely together to make sure that every pupil can flourish. The school’s well-planned curriculum, and its consistently effective delivery, ensure that pupils leave ready for their next school. The education and care provided meets the needs of all pupils. This includes those who are disadvantaged and/or vulnerable.

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better?

Children enter the early years and make quick gains from their starting points. Routines and expectations are clear, and children are helped to be ready to learn. The school builds children’s language skills and increases their confidence. They respond well to the school’s ‘my turn, your turn’ approach.

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better?

Children make progress across the different areas of learning. They learn to mix primary colours, to control a ball with a hockey stick and why, for example, four and four equals eight. The teaching of early reading, across year groups, is impressive. Staff are highly trained. They know precisely which sounds every pupil knows at any point. Pupils use their ‘special friends’ to read unfamiliar words like ‘settee’. They use ‘pinny time’ to revise their sounds. The school gives any weaker readers rapid support to boost their confidence. They are given well-chosen reading books so that they can catch up. Pupils become accurate and fluent readers because the school has made the effective teaching of reading a priority. 21 and 22 May 2024

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Lessons follow a consistent structure and approach which builds pupils’ independence. The school shows them how to ‘tick or fix’ their own work. Pupils learn to write creative sentences, such as ‘Stars guided her way, shiny and shimmering, white and wonderful.’ In geography, pupils study continents and the capital cities and the United Kingdom. They find out about the Gunpowder Plot and the Great Fire of London. Pupils recap things they have already learned to help them to remember them.

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Across subjects, the education pupils receive is good. A particular strength is how well lessons are adapted for those pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). These pupils receive precisely planned provision that meets their needs. The school’s work has resulted in it being one of the very few in England to receive the Global Inclusion Award.

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Pupils behave consistently well. They know the school’s high expectations, and that they must work hard. They are respectful to others and cooperate happily. They are strong supporters of the school’s approach here. They know, and can explain, the school’s six values, such as responsibility and honesty. They like filling up their class vases with the bottle tops that they receive. They look forward to getting a ‘Superstar’ token and being made a ‘Star of the Week’.

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The programme for pupils’ personal development is excellent. The school provides exceptional pastoral provision, including yoga therapy and nurture. This is complemented by the teaching of relationships. Pupils learn effective strategies to keep themselves safe, including online. They become young citizens who, for example, raise money to help children in Uganda to go to the school that Falconer’s Hill Infants has linked with. The school assists pupils to become moral young people, who help around the school and in their community.

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The trust provides good support and the school’s leadership is effective. Staff feel they are well supported. The leadership of some subjects is still at the early stages of being developed. The school continues to develop these roles so that they can be fully effective.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The leadership of some subjects is still at an early stage of development. In these subjects, leaders are not yet able to perform their duties fully without support. The school should ensure that the leadership of all subjects is highly effective. 21 and 22 May 2024

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View 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.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 21 and 22 May 2024

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School details

Headteacher Rachel Edkins (executive headteacher)

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 13 and 14 July 2022, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school offers both a breakfast club and an after-school club to pupils.  The school does not use any alternative providers.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  In order to judge the quality of education, inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, geography, and art and design. For 21 and 22 May 2024

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each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors heard pupils in different year groups reading to a familiar adult. They also considered other subjects of the curriculum, such as writing.  Inspectors met with members of the local governing body, the leader for the early years, and the special educational needs coordinator. They spoke with representatives of the multi-academy trust. Inspectors read a wide variety of school documents. They also spoke with other members of staff, such as midday supervisors. They checked whether pupils were safe and happy at the school’s breakfast club.  Inspectors took note of the responses to Ofsted Parent View, met with parents at the start of the school day, and considered the results of the Ofsted staff questionnaire. They met pupils from different year groups to ask their views

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about the school.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.

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Inspection team

Roary Pownall, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Peter Gilbride Ofsted Inspector 21 and 22 May 2024

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