Manor Field Infant School provides pupils with a fine start to their education. Pupils throughout the school are well behaved, polite and kind. They exemplify the school’s STAR values through their actions, celebrating their success, teamwork, aspiration and respect. This behaviour is evident in class, where pupils listen carefully and readily share and discuss ideas. At break, pupils play games and chat, safe in the knowledge that others will respond with kindness. Pupils overcome their disagreements through discussion. Bullying is not a problem here. Pupils enjoy the school’s curriculum as it broadens their horizons and experience. They love to learn and lap up the knowledge that staff present. They learn about unfamiliar topics, helping them to expand their understanding of the world outside the school gates. For example, pupils have learned about the experience of migrants and asylum seekers, reading stories that describe the challenges of their journeys. In recent months, staff have challenged the pupils to do even better through the introduction of the school’s revised curriculum. Pupils have responded to this positively, showing they are up for the challenge. As one pupil explained, ‘I am excited to come to school every day.’ What does the school do well and what does it need to do better? The curriculum builds pupils’ knowledge in a precise and meticulous way. Plans are clearly mapped and refer back to the knowledge that pupils have acquired previously. This helps staff to set tasks that briefly recall what pupils already know before deepening their knowledge. Staff have been well trained by subject leaders to deliver the curriculum. This helps them to provide clear and direct teaching, particularly in subjects outside of their specialism. One example of this was seen in Year 2, where pupils learned about musical ‘texture’, considering how a range of instruments can be played in unison to create a mood. Staff use assessment well to check that pupils have gained the knowledge they require to move on. Staff know what to check and when. In some instances, where the curriculum has been revised significantly, older pupils have not been taught the basics they need to understand new content. When this is the case, pupils’ achievement is not as high, because they are building knowledge on shaky foundations. Pupils across the school read well. Children in Reception begin to learn phonics from the off, and quickly get to grips with the building blocks of words and language. They practise reading daily, moving on to books and texts as they learn to blend sounds and then recognise whole words. Pupils in Years 1 and 2 build on this further, using well-matched books to practise their reading. Staff assess pupils’ knowledge carefully and a skilled team of teaching assistants provide extra support, to give pupils a boost should they fall behind. Pupils behave well because staff notice and reward good behaviour. Teachers ‘sweat the small stuff’, picking up on any off-task behaviour and gently guiding pupils to follow the rules. By addressing the minor issues, staff prevent these from getting out of hand. Classes are productive and calm spaces where pupils can focus and ask questions without distraction. However, pupils do not hold back when they need to applaud achievements or use their ‘big voice’ to share their ideas with the group. Pupils develop a useful knowledge of the world around them. They learn that diversity is a benefit to society. Pupils are respectful and kind to others, regardless of their differences. Leaders are revising the curriculum to include more opportunities for pupils to learn about those who are from a range of ethnicities and religions. This work is at an early stage and its effect has yet to be realised. Staff carefully assess and screen children from Reception onwards to identify any learning needs that need to be addressed. Staff draw up plans to help children to overcome any barriers to learning. The school enjoys close links with specialist colleagues who provide paediatric and speech and language support. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities do well because they are identified quickly and supported well. Leaders have overseen significant change in the school curriculum. This has been managed well, ensuring that staff have received appropriate training, support and resources to enact these improvements. Governors have kept an eye on this throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that staff do not become overloaded. The staff’s workload has been managed well and morale is high.