Cecil Gowing Infant School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 13 June 2023

Cecil Gowing Infant School is a community in which pupils thrive. Pupils are happy. They show courtesy towards visitors and greet them enthusiastically. Staff have high expectations of pupils. As a result, behaviour in the school is exceptional. Pupils listen attentively in class and carefully follow their teachers' instructions. During social times, pupils enjoy playing together. Pupils treat each other with kindness; they are patient when waiting their turn for activities. Pupils comment that bullying is not something they worry about at school, and they describe their friends and peers as 'being kind'. If they have worries, they speak to a trusted adult. Pupils have faith in all adults in school to help them. Pupils say that they feel safe. Staff have the best interests of pupils in mind. The sense of community is very clear. Pupils can take part in outdoor learning every week. The activities inspire their imagination through weather experiments, role play and mud kitchens. At snack time, pupils take part in activities which support their learning. They enjoy the challenge of counting money to 'buy' their fruit.

What the school should improve

• The impact of the new systematic synthetic phonics programme on standards of reading has yet to be realised. For pupils to achieve consistently highly, leaders should ensure that a rigorous analysis of the programme's effectiveness takes place in a timely manner and any remaining areas for development are addressed.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)