Whittington Moor Nursery and Infant Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 8 June 2022

Pupils enjoy attending this school. This is reflected in their positive attendance rates. One pupil told an inspector, 'This is the best school ever. We like spending time with our friends. All the teachers are nice.' Pupils are proud of the roles they play in the life of the school, including play leaders and 'ivengers' computing leaders. They make a positive contribution through the school council. The school council has helped to plan a new outdoor space and has brought about improvements in recycling. Relationships between pupils and adults are positive. Pupils are well cared for and nurtured. Staff expect pupils to work hard and to follow the school's rules. They do. Behaviour is good in classes and around school. Pupils understand how characters such as the careful caterpillar, the kind kingfisher and the working woodpecker help them to behave and work hard. Pupils enjoy earning the wide variety of awards that are on offer, including dojos, stickers, house points and badges. The weekly hot chocolate event with the headteacher is prized highly. The school's '20 things to do before eight' ensure that pupils experience a wide variety of activities. These include working on an allotment, going to the theatre, visiting the seaside and building a den.

What the school should improve

• The school's curriculum is well planned and sequenced, across the full range of subjects. However, in some subjects, the curriculum does not set out precisely enough the most important information that pupils should know and remember. This means that leaders cannot check closely enough on how well pupils systematically build their knowledge over time. Leaders should ensure that the curriculum makes clear the most important content pupils are expected to know and remember, at each stage of their education, across all subjects.
• There are some minor inconsistencies in how well teachers deliver the curriculum. In a small number of cases, teachers do not plan activities that help pupils build effectively on what they already know and can do. This means that some pupils do not master important knowledge and skills as well as they could. Leaders should ensure that teachers consistently plan learning that helps pupils to build incrementally on what they know and can do over time.
• The curriculum is well planned and sequenced for children in the Nursery and Reception Years. However, the curriculum has not been thought about as thoroughly for children who join the setting from the age of two years. It does not set out the specific milestones that children are expected to reach before nursery age. Leaders should ensure that the early years curriculum identifies precisely what children should know and be able to do as soon as they begin to attend the setting.

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