Abbey Infant School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 13 March 2023

Leaders are highly ambitious for all pupils at Abbey Infant School. They do all they can to make sure pupils attend school regularly and on time. Reading is well taught. As a result, pupils enjoy learning to read independently. Leaders have prioritised handwriting due to a decline in dexterity skills following the pandemic. Consequently, pupils take great pride in their written work. Leaders set high expectations for how all pupils should behave. Pupils are highly motivated and engage well in their learning. The 'Abbey Promise' helps pupils to learn to take responsibility for their actions by saying sorry meaningfully. Leaders make sure that pupils know what bullying is. They teach pupils to act on bullying concerns using the school's approach: 'STOP! I don't like it. START telling other people'. As a result, Abbey Infant School is a calm, orderly environment where pupils are happy and safe. A 'bucket list' of activities offers pupils the opportunity to broaden their horizons. This includes a beach trip, a theatre visit, learning to play a musical instrument and visiting places of worship such as a Gurdwara. Parents are very positive about the quality of education their children receive. They are particularly positive about the school's approach to reading and ensuring all pupils learn to read well.

What the school should improve

• A few subjects are not planned and sequenced as well as they could be. This means that pupils do not learn the curriculum in these subjects as deeply as they could. Leaders should ensure that the curriculum is embedded consistently across the school by supporting subject leaders to strengthen the sequence of learning and review content so that more pupils learn the curriculum in depth.

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