Mowden Infant School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 17 January 2023

Pupils at Mowden Infant School enjoy school life and their learning. Pupils have positive behaviour in their lessons and towards each other. Their attitudes to school, supported by a caring staff team, bring to life the school ethos of 'Learning in Partnership'. Leaders have high expectations for pupils. These expectations reflect both the curriculum and the behaviour and attitudes of pupils in school. The curriculum on offer is broad. Pupils talk excitedly about the range of learning that they do at school. Around school pupils show high levels of motivation in the activities and learning they take part in. They talk about the good behaviour they see. Pupils are clear they feel safe and have trusted adults to help them with worries. Pupils know what bullying is. Pupils say bullying does not happen very often but if it did it would be sorted out by adults in school. Pupils are passionate about equality and believe that each person is unique and they should be valued the same. The majority of parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. One parent said, 'This is a wonderful school with caring staff.'

What the school should improve

• In some wider curriculum subjects, teaching is not as tightly focused on the learning intentions of the lesson and the curriculum as it is in other subjects. As a result, pupils are not building sufficient subject and disciplinary knowledge as effectively as they could over time. Leaders must further refine the curriculum in these subjects to ensure that teachers are clear about what pupils need to know and remember in order to help plan teaching more effectively.

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