Celebrations at Southwell school after glowing Ofsted report

Lowe’s Wong Infant School in Queen Street, Southwell received the ‘expected standard’ in all seven judgement areas including attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, leadership and governance, personal development and wellbeing.

The report states “Lowe’s Wong Infant School lives up to its vision for everyone to ‘learn happily together’. Pupils arrive at school with smiles on their faces each morning. They attend school regularly and say they enjoy having great fun while they learn.”

Headteacher Aly Speed said: “As a school, we are delighted with our Ofsted result, and are pleased that the Ofsted Inspectors recognised the hard work done by staff at the school and at MITRE Trust since the previous inspection.

"We were also very proud of how well our children engaged with the process. We are also very grateful to our parents and carers who took the time to speak to the Inspectors and also complete the Parent View survey.”

Leaders at the school was praised with inspectors stating “Leaders see their close working relationships with parents and carers as fundamental in ensuring that pupils thrive. They proactively communicate the school’s work and rationale. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school.”

Behaviour at the school was praised with inspectors noting “since the last inspection, leaders have worked methodically to ensure that pupils behave well.”

The report added: “Staff are consistent in their support and in addressing any poor behaviour. Consequently, the school is a calm and purposeful environment.”

Inspectors said improvements could be made when it comes to staff making adaptions for pupils with special education needs.

The report added: “Largely, staff make appropriate adaptations for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They check pupils’ learning regularly and generally have a sound understanding of pupils’ knowledge. However, staff do not use this information consistently to ensure that learning activities are suitable or to adapt their teaching to address pupils’ misconceptions. This sometimes means that pupils are moved on to complex writing or mathematical problems too quickly.”

The school was inspected under Ofsted’s new inspection framework, which no longer results in a single overall grade. Instead, schools receive a detailed report card with separate judgements across key areas of school life.

Inspectors said next steps should include leaders ensuring staff use assessment information and their knowledge of pupils’ needs consistently well to adapt their teaching and ensure that staff address gaps in pupils' handwriting and number formation.