a school not in a category of concern of Frodingham Infant School

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

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Christina Mallender Headteacher Frodingham Infant School Rowland Road Scunthorpe Lincolnshire DN16 1ST

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Infant School

This letter sets out the findings from the monitoring inspection that took place on 23 September 2025, 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 took place because the school meets the monitoring threshold as set out in the Monitoring Inspection Handbook .

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Infant School

The purpose of a monitoring inspection is not to grade the school’s key and (where applicable) provision judgements, 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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Infant School

During the inspection, I discussed with you and other senior leaders, governors and 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 visited lessons, looked at pupils’ work, met with a group of pupils and met with a group of subject leaders. I also reviewed the school’s improvement strategy. I have considered all this in coming to my judgement.

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Leaders have made progress to improve the school, but some aspects of the

The school should take further action to:  Review the approach to the teaching of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) to ensure that activities support pupils to develop new knowledge in line with their starting points.  Provide additional training for staff in the early years to ensure that all planned activities are clearly aligned with the new curriculum goals.

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Main findings

Since the last inspection, there have been some changes to the leadership of the school. You recently appointed a new early years leader. Changes in the governing body have caused some unforeseen instability. However, this has now settled, and leaders are focused on bringing about improvement.

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Main findings

There has been a continued focus on the curriculum and its delivery. The resources given to teachers now provide more clarity on the best pedagogical strategies to support pupil retention. This is in the early stages, and you recognise that some aspects of teaching need further development. A new assessment system is enabling leaders to track how well pupils are achieving across all subjects. This is supporting teachers to identify gaps in learning. Professional development has previously been focused on formative assessment. However, this is not embedded consistently across all classrooms.

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Main findings

Pupils with complex special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported. During the visit, these pupils were calm and settled. Pupils enjoy the activities provided and working with familiar adults. Collaboration with a local school has enabled you to create an effective provision to cater for these pupils. For other pupils with SEND in the wider school, their needs are identified, and some adaptations are evident. However, for some pupils with SEND with lower starting points, work is not always matched in line with their level of understanding. This means that they are not achieving as well as they could. Plans are in place to address this.

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Main findings

You have recently rightly identified that the curriculum in the early years does not provide teachers with enough detail to ensure that activity choices support learning well. You are refining this to ensure that the curriculum carefully identifies the steps of knowledge pupils should learn. Some pupils in the early years do not practise their transcription skills enough. This leads to poor pencil control and letter formation in later years. You have begun to identify those pupils who need additional practice and are providing extra support for these individuals.

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Main findings

The school has improved the provision for pupils to learn to read. Greater consistency in the application of the phonics programme has supported pupils’ fluency skills positively. Pupils are more confident in reading letters and blending them into words. Pupils who need to catch up are receiving additional support, although you recognise that this has been inconsistent due to some staff absence. You intend to further develop staff’s knowledge of the school’s phonics assessment tracker to ensure that all pupils are able to secure the letter sounds they do not know before moving on. A newly refurbished library is warmly welcomed by pupils, who speak excitedly about the range of books they have on offer.

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Main findings

Leaders, including governors, have an accurate view of the right priorities to improve the school further. You have identified the key areas that will accelerate this improvement. We discussed how the school could refine its systems to ensure that all staff are clear what the priorities are, in order to maximise impact. You recognised the need to ensure that there is greater consistency in monitoring and evaluating the curriculum. Work with an external partner is enabling you to use your recently introduced monitoring systems to support teachers and leaders when inconsistencies are identified. This is helping with the overall rate of improvement. Many subject leaders are more confident to be able to evaluate the achievement of pupils in their subject. However, some require more training to evaluate clearly the impact of their actions.

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Main findings

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

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