'Warm and caring' Derbyshire infant school wins praise from education inspectors

Inspectors from education watchdog Ofsted said Tibshelf Infant & Nursery School was “a welcoming school with a warm, caring ethos”.

The praise comes in their newly published report, with the school rated ‘good’, following a two-day inspection in November.

The school, on High Street, has almost 190 children on roll, aged three-seven.

The report says: “Pupils thrive here. They say they are happy at school because the teachers are kind and the lessons are interesting.”

Safeguarding was recognised as effective, and the “well-planned support” for pupils with Sspecial educational needs and disabilities was also hailed.

Inspectors recognised the efforts of staff to ensure children understand what they have been taught, and hailed the maths curriculum provision as “strong”.

Ofsted said: “Leaders promote pupils’ wider development very well. Pupils learn about a range of faiths and cultures, through the curriculum and in assemblies. They are learning to appreciate differences and to value equalities.

“Staff say they are proud to work at the school. They are a close, supportive team. They appreciate leaders’ care for their workload and wellbeing.”

Work to revise the reading curriculum was highlighted, with school leaders beginning to improve the teaching of early reading and phones, as “currently, too many pupils do not develop quickly enough as fluent readers”,

To further improve, the school was encouraged to ensure the “curriculum is coherently planned and sequenced so pupils know and remember more, in all subjects” and to “ensure the school’s approach to teaching early reading enables all pupils to develop quickly as fluent, confident readers”.

To read the report in full, see reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/21/112640