Setting

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Scott Imison Acting Headteacher Lapstone Road Millom Infant School Millom Cumbria LA18 4LP

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Millom Infant School

This letter sets out the findings from the monitoring inspection that took place on 11 and 12 July 2024, on behalf of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills. The monitoring inspection was carried out under section 8(2) of the Education Act 2005 and was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require special measures following the graded (section 5) inspection that took place in June 2023.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Millom Infant School

The purpose of a monitoring inspection is not to grade the school’s overall effectiveness, but to identify and report on the school’s progress. It is to highlight to the school and parents any improvements that school leaders have made since the school’s previous graded inspection.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Millom Infant School

During the inspection, I discussed with you and other senior leaders, staff, governors and a representative of the local authority the actions that have been taken to improve the school since the most recent graded inspection. We discussed the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. I also made visits to some lessons, observed some pupils read to staff, met with a group of pupils and considered some of the school’s documentation. I have considered all this in coming to my judgement. I also met with the executive headteacher (designate).

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Millom Infant School

Millom Infant School remains inadequate and requires special measures. Leaders have made insufficient progress to improve the school.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Since the previous inspection, the headteacher has left the school. Two new governors have recently joined the governing body. An acting headteacher joined the school in September 2023 and leaves in July 2024. An executive headteacher and acting head of school have been appointed to lead the school from September 2024.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

The school has started on its journey of improvement. It has helped staff and governors to understand the reasons for the judgements made at the previous inspection. The school now recognises the need for the substantial transformation of many aspects of its work. It has developed a positive attitude; it wants to provide a better education for pupils. However, the school has made a very slow start to making the necessary improvements. The amount of work that remains for the school to undertake on each of the recommendations made at the previous inspection is significant and challenging.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

The school does not understand how to make effective changes to its work. This has meant that improvements, such as in its leadership of subjects, have not gone far enough. The school is overreliant on external help and is not well placed to improve further.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

The school introduced new subject curriculums as a stopgap for this current academic year. These curriculums have not been carefully thought out to meet the needs of pupils at the school. Despite some staff attending much recent training, the school lacks the expertise that it needs to understand and implement subject curriculums well, including in the early years. Staff do not teach some key information in a logical order. Pupils have large gaps in their knowledge. They do not remember what they have been taught, including through the school’s personal development programme.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

The school has selected new subject curriculums to introduce from September 2024. However, it has misunderstood the challenging scale of its intentions. As a result, it has not worked carefully to build its expertise towards the establishment of these new curriculums. The school is ill-prepared for such significant curriculum change.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

The school has made too few strides forward in identifying and supporting pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff expertise is considerably underdeveloped. Pupils with SEND continue to struggle in their learning of the curriculum. A recent review of SEND identified that wide-ranging weaknesses remain in the school’s work. In recent weeks, the school has started to collaborate with an external expert on SEND. However, it is too soon to see the impact of this work.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

The school has successfully established a new school library, as well attractive book areas in classrooms. Staff are starting to make better use of fiction books in implementing the school’s English curriculum. However, the school’s actions to improve pupils’ love of reading remain ineffective. For example, the school does not think carefully enough about how it uses fiction books for the regular story times that it provides for pupils. The joy of books, stories and rhymes is not front and centre of the school’s work. This weakness has a negative impact on pupils’ learning.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Too much variability remains in staff’s implementation of the school’s chosen phonics programme. Pupils lack enough knowledge and fluency in their phonics. They remain poorly prepared for the next stage of their development as readers.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

The school has set out a new, positively worded behaviour policy. However, the school has made little progress in resolving the issues in some pupils’ behaviour. It has given insufficient thought to how it will sharpen staff’s skills in managing pupils’ behaviour. Some pupils continue to misbehave in lessons; others do so at lunchtime. This negatively affects pupils’ attitudes and learning.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

The school has improved its focus on pupils’ attendance. For instance, it acts on the absences of vulnerable pupils speedily. However, too many pupils continue to miss time at school. This has a negative impact on their learning of the curriculum.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

The governing body has started to improve its expertise. It is beginning to understand its role. It is starting to ask the right types of questions of the school. However, governors do not check the work of the school rigorously enough to aid its improvement.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

The school’s use of external support has brought about some improvement in its work but has not gone far enough. While some staff have completed lots of training, others have not, even though they need equal access to such help. Too often, the school has not used external support effectively to meet its needs. The school has not established improvements, such as in its curriculum, in the depth or clarity that is necessary. The school lacks the capacity that it needs to improve further.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

I am copying this letter to the chair of the board of governors, the Department for Education’s regional director and the director of children’s services for Cumberland. This letter will be published on the Ofsted reports website.

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