Trent Vale Infant School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Trent Vale Infant and Nursery School Trent Road, Beeston Rylands, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire NG9 1LP

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Outcome

Trent Vale Infant School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, staff, and parents and carers are proud to be part of this loving school. Pupils enjoy coming to school and enjoy the learning opportunities that they are given. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. They value the ‘family feel’ and that every pupil is known as an individual. The school is community focused and has a welcoming ethos. It has high expectations for all the pupils and ensures that pupils achieve. Pupils say that they feel very safe and know that there are trusted adults that they can speak to if they need to.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s behaviour systems are very clear, and all pupils know what is expected of them. They follow the school’s routines diligently and want to do their best. As a result, pupils’ behaviour across the school is excellent.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils thoroughly enjoy the opportunities that the school offers. They talk excitedly about the trips to a local farm and wildlife park to find out about nature. Pupils benefit from opportunities to develop their talents and interests, including taking part in singing, archery and dance clubs. There is a range of leadership roles for pupils, such as being on the school council, playground monitors or looking after the school’s guinea pigs, Pancake and Waffle.

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

The school works closely with the junior school in the federation. Together, they have designed a well-sequenced curriculum from the early years to Year 6. Leaders have ensured that the reading, writing and mathematics curriculums are ambitious. The 11 and 12 March 2025

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school’s thoughtful approach to supporting pupils when they move into a new year group also helps to smooth these transitions.

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Reading is prioritised across the school. Staff promote a love of reading from the very start. For instance, the school hosts regular reading mornings for parents to celebrate their children’s reading. Children learn to read from the start of Nursery. They enjoy using picture clues to match sounds and blend words together. Staff skilfully monitor pupils’ progress through the phonics programme and put extra support in place for those who need it. Pupils read books that match the sounds that they know. As a result, pupils learn to read well. They enjoy visiting the school library and can name a range of different authors.

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The curriculum has been designed based around the drivers of ‘responsibility, possibilities and community’. This curriculum builds logically from early years to Year 6. The school ensures that important knowledge is regularly rehearsed and repeated when needed. Key vocabulary is identified across all curriculum areas. However, in some subjects, the curriculum is currently being reviewed and revised. In these cases, the curriculum outcomes for different areas are not yet as clear as they could be. As a result, some pupils cannot confidently show what they have learned.

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Staff address any misconceptions that pupils may have. The school has thought carefully about its lesson structure approach, which is consistently applied in all classes. This enables pupils to make connections with previous learning, such as recalling the events of the Great Fire of London or applying their understanding of multiplication facts. However, in a small number of lessons, pupils are spending too much time on work that they can already do. This means that some pupils are not moving through the curriculum as well as they could. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities have additional adjustments and support put in place so that they can access the curriculum and achieve. The school uses a suitable range of internal and external expertise to identify and meet these pupils’ needs well.

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The school prioritises the personal development of every child. Pupils learn about the importance of staying safe online and offline, including how to stay safe near water and using the trams safely. The school utilises its extensive grounds to further enhance pupils’ experiences. For example, they enjoy exploring nature linked to the curriculum. Pupils are knowledgeable about different faiths and cultures. For instance, they talked excitedly about a recent visit to learn about the festival of Diwali and can describe the key features of Judaism. Pupils model fundamental British values and know that any form of discrimination is wrong. They enjoy learning about role models from the past, such as Mary Seacole.

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Leaders have maintained the high standards identified at the last inspection. They are knowledgeable about areas to improve the school and are aspirational for every child. Governors are united in this vision. They are knowledgeable about their roles and responsibilities and challenge and support leaders equally well. Together, governors and leaders ensure that staff’s workload and well-being are supported well. All staff receive comprehensive professional development and share their expertise across the federation. 11 and 12 March 2025

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Occasionally, pupils spend too much time on work that they can already do. As a result, they do not progress through the curriculum as quickly as they could. The school should ensure that staff are systematically checking pupils’ understanding during lessons so that the learning meets the needs of all the pupils as intended.  In some subjects, where the curriculum is being reviewed or refined, the curriculum does not set out clearly the end points that pupils are expected to know and remember. This means that some pupils cannot recall their knowledge with confidence. The school should ensure that each subject has clear curriculum outcomes for each area to support assessment and inform teaching.

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Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted’s website. From September 2024, graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade. This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

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Background

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school’s work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in April 2019. 11 and 12 March 2025

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How can I feed back my views?

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). 11 and 12 March 2025

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School details

Local authority Nottinghamshire County Council

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Co-chairs of governing body Lisa Griffiths and Sam Williams

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 3 and 4 April 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of a federation with the local junior school, and they work collaboratively on many aspects of the school’s work.  The school does not make use of any alternative provision.  The school provides a breakfast club, after-school club and holiday club on site that is operated by a private company.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation 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 inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in his evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the headteacher and other school leaders. He also met with members of the local governing body and spoke to a representative from the local authority. 11 and 12 March 2025

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 The inspector visited a sample of lessons, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector: 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.  The inspector spoke to parents at the start of the school day.  The inspector scrutinised a range of documents, including leaders’ evaluation of the school and priorities for school improvement and those related to the governance of the school.  The inspector checked the school’s policies and records, including those related to behaviour and pupils’ wider development.  The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour across the school, including as they arrived at and left the school.  The inspector considered the responses to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View, and

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reviewed the responses to Ofsted’s staff and pupil surveys.

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Inspection team

Jon Brown, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 11 and 12 March 2025

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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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