South Wonston Primary School

South Wonston Primary School Downs Road, South Wonston, Winchester, SO21 3EH

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Requires improvement 3 This inspection: Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Early years provision Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Very good improvements made since the last inspection mean that the school’s overall effectiveness is now good.  The school is led and managed well by an extremely competent headteacher and strong leadership team.  Skilled and well-informed governors regularly challenge and support the school in its efforts to improve.  Standards have risen rapidly as a result of leaders' concentrated and rigorous endeavours to improve the quality of teaching.  All groups of pupils make good progress from their various starting points because teaching is consistently good and sometimes outstanding.  Pupils now reach standards in reading, writing and mathematics that are above average. Writing is a particular strength. These skills stand them in good stead as they move to secondary education.  Good support for pupils who find learning difficult and those who are disadvantaged ensures that they make the best progress they can.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage make good progress and, as a result, they are well prepared for Year 1.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils are well behaved and polite and get along very well together. They were particularly keen to tell inspectors that there is no bullying in the school.  Pupils are proud of their school and enjoy learning and the many extra activities on offer. They demonstrate this attitude by their excellent attendance.  The partnership between the school and parents is strong. Parents express extremely positive views about the school.  Pupils’ well-developed social skills and secure sense of right and wrong are a consequence of the school’s good provision for their spiritual, moral and social development.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Some teachers do not have all the skills they need to enable them to adjust learning activities, when necessary as lessons progress, so that all pupils can achieve the very best they can.  Pupils do not have sufficient opportunities to develop a strong understanding of the different cultures that exist today in the wider world and in modern Britain.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors visited 19 lessons and observed 12 teachers including some observed with the headteacher. Teaching assistants were also observed working with individual pupils and small groups. The inspectors also talked to pupils about their work and heard individual pupils from Years 2, 4 and 6 read.  A wide range of documents was scrutinised, including systems for checking progress, records relating to behaviour and attendance, safeguarding procedures and the school’s analysis of how well it is doing and how it plans to improve. Records of monitoring the quality of teaching and the minutes of the governing body meetings were also examined.  The inspectors looked at samples of pupils’ work across a range of subjects and classes.  Meetings were held with members of the governing body, school staff and groups of pupils. Individual pupils were spoken to in lessons and around the school. A meeting took place with a school adviser from

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Information about this inspection

the local authority.  Questionnaires from 23 members of staff were analysed. The inspector took account of the views expressed in the 75 online responses from Parent View and informal meetings at the school during the inspection.

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Inspection team

Anna Sketchley, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 South Wonston Primary School is slightly larger than the average-sized primary school. Most pupils attend from the village and the surrounding area. Approximately one third of pupils are from families serving in the armed forces.  Almost all children in the Early Years Foundation Stage attend school full time. A very small minority of children with complex needs are currently part-time. Early Years children are taught in two single-age classes. All other pupils are taught in mixed-age classes.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is similar to the national average.  The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium is below that found in most schools. This is additional government funding provided to give extra support to those pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and to children who are looked after. Very few pupils in the current Year 6 are eligible for

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Information about this school

this funding.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is below average. None is in the early stages of learning English.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 6.  A privately run breakfast and after-school club is located on the site and was not included in this inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Develop teachers' skills further so that teaching moves from good to outstanding by:  using the excellent practice that exists in the school to show teachers how to remodel tasks during lessons so that pupils make the best possible progress.  Extend pupils’ experience and appreciation of difference by providing more opportunities for them to develop a deeper understanding of the diverse cultures that exist in modern Britain and in the wider world.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school is very well led through the exceptionally clear direction of the headteacher. This has enabled it to make very good progress in tackling issues from the last inspection and to demonstrate that it has the capacity to improve further in the future. Leaders have ensured that teaching, achievement and pupils' behaviour are all good.  The headteacher is ably supported by knowledgeable senior and middle leaders and governors, all of who have high expectations and aspirations for the school. Together they are a formidable team and are driving it forward quickly with help from the local authority which offers a medium level of support.  A clear idea of what needs to be done to secure improvement and promptly implemented action plans and training have secured a rapid rise in standards over the last two years.  The key to this has been the relentless drive to improve the quality of teaching. Robust procedures are in

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The leadership and management are good

place, and have been used, to eradicate inadequate teaching. Teachers’ performance is rigorously monitored and training needs quickly identified. This has led to swiftly securing valuable help from local authority consultants in developing teachers’ skills in the teaching of writing and mathematics.  Middle leaders have benefitted significantly from this local authority expertise. They are now very knowledgeable about how best to lead their subjects and what needs to be done to ensure that pupils make the quickest progress possible.  Good systems are in place for collecting information about how well pupils are doing. Regular checking of their progress ensures that the next steps in their learning are begun without delay, especially interventions for pupils identified as not doing as well as they should. Pupil premium funding is appropriately used to ensure that disadvantaged pupils achieve as well as all other pupils.

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The leadership and management are good

 Exciting learning opportunities exist in the way subjects are organised and taught. A topic-based approach enables pupils to enhance their learning in other subjects as well as practising their literacy, numeracy and computer skills. For example pupils’ books, examined during the inspection, showed how they enhanced their geographical skills through the topic ‘Frozen Planet’ when writing a diary as penguin parents. Where knowledge and skills do not fit themes they are taught discretely.  A focus on writing, using a book pupils are reading together, has had a successful impact on raising writing standards. For example, in Years 1 and 2 this term, pupils were enthralled when a grandfather clock appeared in the classroom while studying the book Tom’s Midnight Garden.  Provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral and social development is strong and is woven carefully through other subjects alongside of, and broadening, the requirements of the new National Curriculum. Provision for

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The leadership and management are good

pupils’ cultural development is less strong. There are limited opportunities for them to learn about cultures other than their own that exist in the wider world and especially of the diversity of cultures in Great Britain today. There is little evidence within the curriculum, or in the lessons observed during the inspection, to suggest that themes are specifically chosen to provide pupils with chances to develop these reflective skills.  A strong partnership has been forged with parents. Results of questionnaires show how highly parents value the school. Opportunities to come to the school for informal coffee mornings all make an important contribution to the support parents receive. Many parents told inspectors how they felt the school has improved recently. They feel fully involved when invited to assemblies and when joining their children afterwards in their classrooms to look at their work.  Extensive partnerships with local schools, the local community and external agencies support pupils’

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The leadership and management are good

learning and development especially well.  Pupils' personal and social skills develop well through such activities as links with a local home for the elderly.  The innovative use of additional school sports funding is making a significant contribution to raising pupils’ fitness levels and their enjoyment of the variety of different sports on offer. One pupil commented that doing more sport had helped him to address his feelings of anger.  Equal opportunities for different groups of pupils are promoted well and the school does not tolerate any form of discrimination. Strong leadership of the school’s provision for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs and the small number of disadvantaged pupils ensures that these groups of pupils are very well supported. They are fully included in all that the school offers.  Safeguarding procedures are rigorously adhered to by both staff and governors ensuring that statutory

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The leadership and management are good

requirements are met.  The governance of the school:  Governors are very well organised and undertake their responsibilities very seriously. They are extremely knowledgeable about the school’s strengths and areas for development.

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The leadership and management are good

 Being fully committed, governors regularly attend specific training and bring useful skills from the different fields in which they work. They are particularly proficient in understanding the information provided about the school’s performance.  Governors regularly check how well initiatives are succeeding because individual governors are linked to particular developments. Governing body minutes of meetings show an extensive list of visits to the school in a wide range of contexts.  As a result, they are able to ask challenging questions about pupils’ progress and about the impact of additional funding, making sure that it is used to maximum benefit.  Governors receive comprehensive reports about teachers’ pay and progression and consider this carefully in relation to the progress pupils are making. Teachers are rewarded where pupils’ progress is seen to be consistently good and underperformance is tackled quickly to ensure good value for money.

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The leadership and management are good

 With the help of advice from the local authority governors set rigorous targets for the headteacher and review them annually.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Keeping a check on incidents of misbehaviour and putting in effective support have resulted in a sharp reduction in exclusions since the last inspection. There have been no exclusions this academic year.  Respect for everyone in the school community and good manners and courtesy characterise the very good relationships between pupils and adults. Pupils move exceptionally well around the building, behave impeccably in assembly and were delightful to talk to during the inspection.  Highly successful, rigorous procedures for dealing with absence have resulted in a dramatic rise in attendance and it is now excellent. Pupils are eager to come to school, punctual and keen to start learning at the beginning of lessons.  Although very occasionally in a few lessons a small minority of pupils lose concentration and motivation because tasks do not engage them sufficiently in their learning, their behaviour does not disrupt the

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Behaviour

learning of others.  Teachers and teaching assistants manage behaviour very well, developing in pupils a very positive attitude to school life. Pupils especially enjoy all the responsibilities they have through being members of the school council, Junior Road Safety Officers, and part of SWAT (South Wonston Activity Team) at lunchtimes when they run activities for other pupils. They are justly proud of their school.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. The vast majority of parents fully support this view and pupils told inspectors, ‘We feel very safe and well cared for in school.’  Successful training, including from the police, means that pupils are knowledgeable about cyber bullying and know exactly what to do if they feel unsafe online. They recognise inappropriate language, and although it is very occasionally heard on the playground, pupils say that teachers deal with it immediately.  Training in being ‘peer mentors’ ensures that pupils take an important role in helping everyone to enjoy school life and get along well together, especially at playtimes. Pupils were very keen to make it clear to inspectors that there is no bullying in the school and school records confirm that this is the case. However, pupils know exactly what to do if they were to find themselves in need of help, including using peer

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Safety

mentors, the ‘worry box’ system and talking to an adult.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching and learning over time are good. Pupils make good progress and achieve well in most lessons because of effective teaching strategies and very good relationships that encourage pupils to develop their understanding and deepen their knowledge.  Tidy classrooms and the use of high-quality resources support learning well and pupils are able to access these resources for themselves if they need them.  Teachers present learning imaginatively and engage pupils immediately so that pupils say ‘learning is fun’. A very good example of this was seen in a class of Years 1 and 2 pupils as they acted out going through the secret door into Tom’s Midnight Garden. After creeping around the classroom and ducking down when an intruder entered pupils were encouraged to talk about their experience, thus developing their ideas and vocabulary before producing high-quality writing.  Pupils know exactly what they are expected to learn because this is clearly shared with them and they are

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The quality of teaching is good

able to check their own progress as they work at their tasks.  As a result of expert training teachers demonstrate very good subject knowledge; consequently, reading, writing and mathematics are well taught. Reading is taught particularly well and this enables pupils to access learning easily in all subjects.  The good quality of pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills seen in their books during the inspection demonstrates the improvement in the way these subjects are now taught.  Teachers use questioning skilfully, checking pupils’ progress and probing their understanding. Teachers are quick to address any misconceptions that pupils may have and offer them good opportunities to explain and clarify their ideas.  Pupils make the best progress where teachers have the skill to adjust tasks during the lesson when necessary, making sure that the tasks are neither too easy nor too hard. In a mathematics lesson in Years

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The quality of teaching is good

3 and 4, while learning how to investigate a mathematical statement, more able pupils were challenged by the introduction of ‘multiples’ into the task. By asking carefully phrased questions and giving clues the teacher helped pupils to rise to a further challenge, taking them on to new learning.  Although all teachers reflect on their teaching and analyse its impact upon pupils’ learning, some do not yet have the skills they need to adapt teaching or lesson content during the lesson when it is appropriate to do so. This results in a few pupils not making the rapid progress of which they are capable. For example, in a mathematics lesson observed during the inspection the teacher did not visit the different groups often enough to check on their learning. This resulted in missed opportunities to question pupils and discover that the tasks set were too easy, so pupils were not challenged and did not make the

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The quality of teaching is good

progress of which they were capable.  Pupils’ behaviour is very well managed by both teachers and teaching assistants. Where, very occasionally, pupils stray from their learning and lose concentration, they are quickly noticed and set back to the task in hand.  The teaching of the least able pupils is an area of strength in the school. Teachers and teaching assistants support pupils very well in lessons. Teaching assistants are highly skilled at delivering individual and small group programmes so that these pupils make good progress from their starting points.  Scrutiny of pupils’ books during the inspection showed that thorough marking, explaining to pupils how to improve their work, is consistently used across the school. This is being further developed to include a response from pupils so that teachers can be sure that pupils are learning from the comments they make but this is not yet fully embedded.

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The quality of teaching is good

 A good range of home learning activities are set for pupils including an ‘online’, subscribed website which pupils say they enjoy using.

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is good

 Reception children make a confident start to school. Some have weaknesses in communication and language on entry but all children make good progress from their starting points. By the end of the Reception year the percentage of children who have achieved a good level of development is above average.  The teaching of sounds that letters make (phonics) was observed during the inspection and found to be very effective. This is confirmed by the results of the national screening check for phonics that show the attainment of Year 1 pupils to be above the national average.  Pupils use their skills successfully to tackle unfamiliar words when reading. Most read fluently and with expression, often self-correcting occasional mistakes. They enjoy reading, use both the local and school libraries and feel confident about finding books and authors they like. By Year 6 they discuss favourite types of books and authors with enthusiasm.

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is good

 National information shows that by Year 6 all groups of pupils make at least expected progress in reading, writing and mathematics. A higher percentage of pupils make more than expected progress in writing and mathematics. The proportion of pupils making more than expected progress in reading was similar to that nationally.  Information about the progress of the most able pupils shows that all pupils who achieved a higher level in reading, writing and mathematics in Year 2 achieved a similar higher level at Year 6.  Standards have risen substantially in all three subjects over the last two years. They are high in writing and above average in reading and mathematics.  During the inspection the most able pupils in Years 5 and 6 were observed being very successfully challenged when learning about percentages. They were all working at a level higher than would be expected and some were working beyond that level. Pupils had very high expectations of themselves,

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is good

supported each other well and remained focused throughout the lesson.  Pupils’ books examined during the inspection show that they are making good progress in developing skills in other subjects. For example, pupils used their literacy skills to write recounts in history, and to record their experiments in the correct way when describing a fair test in science. The group of pupils from services families make the same good progress and achieve the similar above average standards as all other pupils.  A very small proportion of disadvantaged pupils are well supported by extra funds and there are no gaps between their attainment and that of other pupils. These pupils are now making similar good progress and reaching standards in reading, writing and mathematics that are above average and in line with all other pupils in the school by the end of Year 6. Where occasionally an individual pupil does not reach the

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is good

expected standard it is because they have complex learning needs.  Effective links with outside agencies and specific training are ensuring that the school is offering good provision for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. They are very well included in all that the school has to offer. Effective support by teaching assistants and close tracking of the progress these pupils are making, with specially tailored programmes of work, result in good progress. Where pupils’ progress slows this is immediately identified and strategies put into place to address the issue.

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is good

 Home visits, Stay and Play sessions and meetings with pre-school settings and parents all make a significant contribution to the well-organised transition into school for early years children. As a result, the school is able to quickly establish children’s individual needs so that they make a seamless and confident start to their Reception year.  The Early Years Foundation Stage is well led and managed. The classrooms and outdoor area are welcoming and safe places to learn. Carefully planned and stimulating activities across all areas of learning ensure that children are always engaged and busy so behaviour is very good.  An appropriate balance exists of activities planned by adults and those chosen by the children. During times when children are following their own learning choices adults join in sensitively, asking questions and extending children’s language and communication and thinking skills.

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is good

 Teaching is consistently good. Children demonstrated good listening and concentration skills and learned quickly during a short adult-led mathematics lesson using number fans. Children worked very well in pairs, eagerly holding up their fans, allowing the teacher to see who had the correct answer. Two less able children were very well supported by the teaching assistant using colourful, practical counting equipment.  Adults check children’s progress very regularly, collating observations and photographs to help them plan the next steps in learning for each individual child. As a result, a valuable record of each child’s achievement is compiled throughout the year. The Early Years Foundation Stage prepares pupils well for Year 1.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is failing

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Grade Judgement Description

to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 116034 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 442448

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 293 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Julie Amies Headteacher Jane Bundy Date of previous school inspection 12–13 February 2013 Telephone number 01962 881311 Fax number 01962 882506 Email address admin@southwonston.hants.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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School details

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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School details

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk, or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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School details

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please

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School details

telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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