Infant school praised by Ofsted inspectors for '˜tenacious' focus on safeguarding

Padnell Infants School, in Cowplain, was commended for being ‘tenacious’ in regard to safeguarding.

The report said that parents were very supportive of the school and children were happy.

Ofsted inspector Phil Minns rated the school as ‘continuing to be good for overall effectiveness’ and said that ‘the leadership team had maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection’.

The school had addressed areas that required improvement and the team was praised for ‘getting things right’ for its pupils.

Headteacher Mandy Grayson said: ‘We don’t dress the children up in cotton wool. We provide them with opportunities to take risks in a safe way.’

Deputy headteacher Lara Tripp added: ‘The NSPCC come in and talk to them about how to stay safe.

‘In terms of internet safety we show the children the story of Smartie the Penguin and a local PCSO comes in to talk about stranger danger.’

The report also mentioned teachers’ high expectations of pupils and said that ‘outcomes for pupils remained good’.

The school did well in phonics teaching and pupils were encouraged to be brave and resilient. Achievements were in line with the national average, or better, and pupils looked after one another.

Mr Minns said: ‘Provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities has been strengthened since the last inspection.’

He also noted that ‘sometimes aspects of teaching that needed to be improved were not identified quickly enough’.

The report went on to mention that the governing body was ambitious for the school and would like to see it in the Ofsted ‘premier league’.

Mrs Grayson said: ‘The chairman of the board of governors is a football fanatic. The governors want the school to be an outstanding school.

‘We are not too far away from this. The inspection was an opportunity to showcase the hard work of the Padnell community. The line in the report that I am proudest of is that the parents are overwhelmingly supportive of the school.’

Fiona Saunders, a parent at the school added: ‘I think that the school goes over and above to ensure that disadvantaged children are given as much of a chance with their education as possible.

‘The teachers do a fantastic job with an ever-changing curriculum. ‘