Our Ofsted Report

Below are some extracts from our most recent OFSTED inspection carried out in February 2010. For a full copy of our report please follow this link:

Ofsted Report

"This good school provides an extremely purposeful environment for learning. Pupils hasten into school eager to learn because teachers make every effort to engage them in activities they enjoy. They behave in an exemplary manner and develop skills that ensure they are well prepared for the challenges and opportunities in their future education and beyond. Typical of the parents' comments was, 'The school has a calm and welcoming atmosphere and is very happy to involve parents. My child loves school'. The school's success is a reflection of the excellent leadership of the headteacher who is very well supported by senior managers, staff and governors, and is popular and valued by pupils and their parents."

"The sense of security and belonging that is engendered by all staff contributes to pupils' thoughtful support of one another and their enthusiasm to engage positively and with great enjoyment in their learning."

"The positive and caring ethos of the school is built on a foundation of trust and respect for oneself and others, and this culture is embedded at all levels. High levels of care are evident across all aspects of the school's work."

The letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection:

Dear Children,

Inspection of Waltham Holy Cross Infant School, Waltham Abbey, EN9 1LG

Thank you for making my colleagues and me welcome when we visited your school. We agree with you that it is a good school and saw for ourselves how much you enjoy life at Waltham Holy Cross. You are all making good progress because your teachers are really good at finding exciting ways for you to learn. We were really pleased to see how well you behave and how everyone gets on so well together.

Many of you benefit from the extra support you receive in class and from working outside the classroom with the teaching assistants. They do a great job. We have suggested that they could work more often with small groups from the start of lessons, so that you all get a good chance to ask questions; and at the end of lessons, so that more of you can report back on what you have learned. It was good to see how well teachers mark your work. They often point out what you need to concentrate on next. When you start a new piece of work, we think it would be a good idea for you to look back at these comments so you can think about them as you work. See if you can remember to do this.

You told us how much you enjoyed the special events, like the art, science and book weeks and you obviously have a great time and learn a lot during trips to places like the Museum of Childhood.

You are really well looked after by all the adults. Not only that, but you take good care of one another too. It was interesting to find out how much the school council and the eco-warriors contribute and we know the adults appreciate the many other ways that children help the school to run smoothly. Small things, like tidying up after messy work show how much you care about your school.

We are sure you will keep enjoying school and trying hard. We wish you all the best for the future.

Yours sincerely

Rob Crompton

Lead inspector