INSPECTORS have praised the values at the heart of Christ Church C of E Infant School in Downend.
A team from regulator Ofsted visited the school in Christchurch Avenue at the end of last year.
Their report said the school was ‘good’ overall, with ‘outstanding’ personal development of pupils.
The inspectors said: “The school’s values, which include friendship, courage and thankfulness, are at the heart of everything that happens.
“As a result, pupils are eager to share their learning and understand how to treat one another with respect.
“Parents are overwhelmingly positive. They feel that the school is a caring community where every pupil is valued as an individual.”
The inspectors praised the teaching of maths and reading, support for children with special educational needs and disabilities, and help given to pupils who need it to catch up.
They said: “The school has high expectations for what all pupils can achieve.
“An ambitious curriculum has been designed well to include all pupils’ needs.”
The inspectors said pupils “enjoy their learning”, persevering when they find things difficult, and praised the school’s focus on ensuring attendance, with consistent management and support for families where it is an issue.
Highlighting children’s “exemplary” personal development, the report said: “The school provides pupils with a wide range of opportunities which align closely to the school’s values.
“Pupils talk confidently about fundamental British values such as democracy. They have a mature understanding of how people are different and why it is important to treat everyone equally.
“Pupils develop their character by raising money for charities or by creating planters in the local community.
“Pupils are very well prepared for life in modern Britain.”
The report said staff “enjoy working at the school and work well together”, praising work to prioritise their workload and well-being, and high-quality training which develops their subject knowledge and expertise.
To further improve, the inspectors recommended the school, which has 224 pupils aged from four to seven, ensure that checks on children’s understanding were effective across all subjects, to find gaps in their knowledge and adapt future learning to fill them.
Head teacher Anna Martin said: “As a Church of England school, the vision and values of the school underpin everything that we do and I was delighted that this was seen by inspectors.
“The school works very hard to make sure that every child has a rich and varied experience at CCI, and as a result the staff really enjoy teaching the exciting curriculum and enrichment activities.
“Well-being for staff and pupils is a big priority for the school, so seeing this recognised in this way is excellent.
“We want children to fall in love with school, so that they leave us wanting to attend school and then work in later life.
“We hope that children feel that learning is enjoyable, exciting and rewarding, setting them up with a great mindset going forwards.”