Emscote Infant School

Inspection of Emscote Infant School All Saints Road, Warwick, Warwickshire CV34 5NH

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Overall effectiveness Good

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

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Overall effectiveness Good

This school was last inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005 11 years ago and judged ‘Outstanding’ under a previous framework. This reflected the school’s overall effectiveness under the inspection framework in use at the time.

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Overall effectiveness Good

From then until November 2020, the school was exempted by law from routine inspection, so there has been a longer gap than usual between graded inspections under section 5 of the Act. Judgements in this report are based on the current inspection framework and also reflect changes that may have happened at any point since the last graded inspection. 18 and 19 June 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Emscote Infant School is at the heart of its community. Leaders and staff care deeply for every child and want the very best for all. Everyone is accepted and celebrated.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There is a strong focus on pupils’ safety and well-being. Warm, positive relationships between staff and pupils help pupils to feel safe and settled. Pupils enjoy attending school and learning and playing together.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are polite and friendly. They hold doors open for visitors and look after each other. They understand when some of their friends need an extra helping hand, and they quickly step in. Pupils learn to value difference and show respect. The ‘friendship stop’ means that pupils always have someone to play with. Most pupils behave very well. They know that staff help them to understand if things go wrong.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There is a range of experiences on offer. From singing in the local care home to visiting local castles or the Houses of Parliament, there is something for everyone. Pupils enjoy attending after-school clubs such as choir, drama, or dance. They benefit from learning practical skills, such as building campfires at ‘life skills for kids’ club.

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better?

Pupils at Emscote enjoy learning to read. The school has ensured that there is a phonics programme in place which identifies the order in which sounds are taught. Reading challenges and ‘reading for pleasure diaries’ help pupils to develop a love of books and stories. Pupils who find reading more challenging receive extra support to catch up. However, infrequent checks on their progress and some lack of precision in the support they receive means that these pupils do not always catch up quickly enough.

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better?

The curriculum is ambitious. The school has identified what pupils are to learn, including the important vocabulary for each subject. For example, in physical education (PE), there is a focus on the specific skills that pupils need to learn so that they are well prepared for playing the sports they will encounter in their next stages of education. Pupils learn the importance of physical activity, saying ‘it keeps our hearts going.’ In maths lessons, a focus on number helps most pupils to gain the understanding that they need for later learning. However, in some subjects, the precise, subject-specific skills and knowledge pupils need are not made clear enough. Some activities and experiences such as trips, which are intended to enhance learning, do not always help pupils to learn and remember the most important things.

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better?

Once children are attending full time in early years, they get off to a good start. They quickly learn the routines and settle into the enriching learning environment. They learn independence and are keen to show visitors their learning, both indoors 18 and 19 June 2024

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and out. For example, they delight in mixing ‘potions’ in the mud kitchen area and writing stories and making books using their knowledge of sounds and letters.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are particularly well cared for. The school quickly gets to know individual pupils and their families. Pupils with SEND are fully included in everything the school has to offer. Leaders are ambitious for pupils with SEND and intend them to learn the same curriculum as their classmates. However, sometimes, they do not receive the precise help they need to benefit from this ambition. On occasion, they complete work which has not been adapted to meet their needs. As a result, some pupils with SEND do not make as much progress as they could.

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The school provides a range of opportunities for pupils’ wider development. Pupils from early years up experience different places of worship and raise money for charities and good causes. Voting their peers onto the school council or eco-council helps pupils to learn about how life in modern Britain works. Pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe, including online. They know how to keep themselves healthy, including through diet, exercise and cleaning their teeth.

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The relatively new leadership team have made improvements to the school. They are very mindful of staff well-being. Staff value this and feel well supported. However, in some aspects of school life, including how the curriculum is implemented and academic provision for pupils with SEND, leaders, including those responsible for governance, do not have a clear enough picture to help them evaluate what is working well or what needs further improvement.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The help that some pupils receive when they are falling behind in reading is not always sharply focused enough. This slows their learning and hampers them from catching up quickly. The school should ensure that there is sufficient focus on ensuring that pupils who are falling behind with reading receive the precise support they need to catch up quickly.  In a few subjects, subject-specific skills and knowledge are not clear enough. This means that pupils sometimes remember activities they have done rather than the intended skills and knowledge. The school should make sure that, in these subjects, the identified key skills and knowledge are explicitly taught so that pupils know more and remember more.  Sometimes, pupils with SEND do not receive the precise support that they need. This means that these pupils do not achieve as well as they could. The school 18 and 19 June 2024

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should ensure that teaching approaches and support are precisely adapted to meet the needs of pupils with SEND.

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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). 18 and 19 June 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.allsaintsemscotefederation.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection April 2013 under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of a federation with All Saints CofE Junior School. The executive headteacher, Jon Queralt, works across both schools.  The school does not use alternative provision.

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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.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The lead inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  During the inspection, the inspectors carried out deep dives into these subjects: reading, mathematics, PE and history. For each deep dive, the inspector met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans where they were available, visited a 18 and 19 June 2024

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sample of lessons, spoke to some teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors also looked at samples of pupils’ work, spoke to school leaders and looked at curriculum documentation for some other subjects. The lead inspector also listened to pupils read to a familiar adult.  The inspectors held meetings with the executive headteacher, head of school, special educational needs coordinator and other leaders, including a representative from the local authority monitoring office.  The lead inspector met with the chair and representatives of the local governing body.  The inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour during lessons, around the school and at lunchtime. The inspectors spoke to pupils about pupils’ behaviour.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and

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considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspectors considered responses to Ofsted Parent View, including parent free- text responses. The inspectors also took account of responses to Ofsted’s staff survey. There were no responses to the pupil survey.  An inspector talked to parents and families at the school gate.

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Inspection team

Rachel Henrick, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Mel Davies Ofsted Inspector 18 and 19 June 2024

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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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