Village Infants' School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Village Infants’ School Ford Road, Dagenham, Essex RM10 9JS

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Outcome

Village Infants’ 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?

This school is caring of and ambitious for all its pupils. It enables pupils to feel safe and happy. The staff work hard to help pupils achieve success. Pupils have many trusted adults to discuss any concerns. The school’s values of perseverance, resilience, kindness and curiosity underpin all its work. Pupils learn to respect and be kind to everyone. They are happy. Children in the early years embrace school routines quickly. During playtimes, pupils take responsibility for their time, organising their own games like ‘Duck, Duck, Goose’. They behave well. The school deals with rare incidences of bullying appropriately. It helps pupils mend friendships quickly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The staff set high expectations. Most pupils meet these goals and recognise their teachers want them to succeed. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive appropriate support. Parents and carers appreciate the strong connection between home and school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy the clubs offered to them. They take part in exciting activities that enrich their learning and broaden their horizons. For example, they visit London to explore ‘The Great Fire’, a nature reserve to experience Julia Donaldson’s ‘The Gruffalo’ and a gurdwara to learn more about Sikhism. Local artists, an orchestra and skipping workshops also enhance pupils’ education.

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

Since the last inspection, the school has improved the wider curriculum. It is now ambitious and well structured. Each subject outlines the essential knowledge pupils should learn in each topic. In the early years, the objectives for some activities are clear, and children learn the required knowledge. For instance, children use the book ‘We’re 4 and 5 March 2025

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Going on a Bear Hunt’ to create maps and describe their routes around the playground. In some areas in the early years, the essential knowledge for certain activities is not always well defined. This can mean concepts are not always learned.

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The school has a strong focus on early reading and mathematics, ensuring pupils are ready for Year 1. Staff teach the chosen phonics programme effectively. The school provides good support for pupils who need extra help with reading. Pupils catch up quickly, so they become fluent and confident readers. Parents appreciate the support they receive. This allows them to help their children read at home. Pupils enjoy listening to adults read. They say they love reading books and hearing stories from authors like Colin McNaughton, David McKee and Roald Dahl.

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The school has started checking pupils understanding in different subjects. Staff use this information to identify pupils who need extra support to embed their knowledge. These checks are not used regularly in some subjects. As a result, the curriculum is not being learned as well as it should be. Some pupils do not always grasp the essential knowledge they need. For example, they might remember learning about Mary Seacole but have difficulty explaining why she is important. In art, pupils can name artists like Mondrian and Monet. They struggle to describe or use the styles of art those artists created.

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The school quickly identifies the needs of pupils with SEND. The internal resource base ‘Sunshine’ supports these pupils effectively in developing essential communication and interaction skills. The school adapts learning and resources to meet their needs. Adults are deployed effectively to support these pupils. Most pupils with SEND learn successfully alongside their peers.

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Pupils try their best in lessons and maintain positive attitudes toward their learning. The school’s behaviour management strategies work well. Pupils aim to earn marbles for their class to enjoy collective rewards. This year, the school has implemented strict attendance management. Leaders keep a close eye on pupils’ absence, analysing individual cases. Most pupils attend school regularly. The school has effective strategies to improve attendance for those who do not.

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Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe and develop healthy relationships. They enthusiastically discuss how to befriend new pupils at the school. Pupils enjoy learning about healthy eating. They grow, harvest and cook various fruits and vegetables from the school allotment. Investment in outdoor equipment supports pupils’ physical development, which older pupils appreciate. Pupils understand cultures and lifestyles that are different from their own. They learn about democratic principles through elections to various leadership positions. Elected school councillors enjoy listening to their peers’ perspectives. Pupils enjoy visits from various professionals. This develops their understanding of the world of work. Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

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Staff feel valued. They appreciate the support they receive for their well-being and workload. They are pleased to be involved in planning when new approaches are introduced. Leaders and governors take swift action to improve pupil outcomes. They prioritise the best interests of the pupils in their decision-making. 4 and 5 March 2025

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The checks staff make in some subjects do not routinely identify whether pupils are embedding and building their knowledge securely over time. This means that gaps in pupils’ knowledge are not identified, and pupils do not achieve in some curriculum areas as well as they could. Staff should ensure that all checks on pupils’ learning provide them with the assurances they need about the depth of pupil’s knowledge so that any gaps in recall or misunderstanding are addressed.  In the early years, activities provided during continuous provision sometimes leave children’s learning to chance. This limits their opportunities to develop the key knowledge and skills the school has identified for them to learn. The school needs to ensure that the important knowledge and skills children must know securely are clearly identified and evident within activities in all areas of learning.

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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 second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in June 2014. 4 and 5 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). 4 and 5 March 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 26 and 27 February 2020, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Since the last inspection, there has been a change of headteacher and a change of chair of governors.  The school does not make use of any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’ 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 their evaluation of the school.  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 senior leaders, including the headteacher and members of the 4 and 5 March 2025

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governing body. She spoke with the special educational needs and disabilities coordinator and a representative from the local authority.  The inspector visited a sample of lessons, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour during lessons and breaktimes. She also spoke with pupils about their views of school life.  The inspector met with staff and considered responses that staff made to Ofsted’s online surveys.  The inspector talked to parents at the beginning of the school day and evaluated responses from parents to Ofsted’s online survey, including free-text comments.

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Inspection team

Rebekah Iiyambo, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 4 and 5 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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