Springfield Infant School and Nursery

School report Springfield First School Sackville Road, Worthing, West Sussex, BN14 8BQ

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Outstanding 1 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

 The headteacher and other leaders provide strong leadership and work well as a team to ensure the school continues to improve.  Leaders make sure teaching is good and pupils do well. They provide useful feedback so that teachers know how they can be even better.  Lessons are well planned, interesting and engaging for pupils, so pupils make good progress in lessons and over time.  Teachers and teaching assistants support learning well, working with individuals and groups of pupils to develop their understanding.  By the time pupils leave in Year 3, most pupils make more progress than expected. Attainment for most groups of pupils is above average, and improving.  Provision in the early years is effective. From their starting points, which are often below what is typical, the children make good progress and enjoy school.  Transition between classes and when pupils leave the school is a particular strength; Year 3 pupils

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

speak confidently about their move to the next school.  The curriculum provides a wide range of opportunities and learning which supports pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well.  All staff ensure pupils are safe and behave well. Pupils and parents speak very positively about the school. They state that there is no bullying and that pupils feel safe.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 In a few lessons the needs of specific groups of pupils are not met well enough, including in the early years. Staff do not always identify this quickly and take action.  Leaders’ checks on the progress of different groups of pupils are not quite as rigorous as they need to be. This is particularly the case for those pupils who are disadvantaged or most able.  Records of meetings involving leaders and governors are not always recorded as well as they should be. This means that sometimes decisions and actions are not recorded or followed up.  Governors’ systems for checking the information they are given are not always rigorous enough.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed nine lessons, four of which were joint observations with the headteacher and deputy headteacher. The inspectors also made some shorter visits to classes, listened to pupils reading and scrutinised pupils’ work.  Meetings were held with staff, members of the governing body, groups of pupils and a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors took account of parents’ comments, including informal discussions and 56 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire Parent View. Questionnaires completed by 32 staff were also considered.  Inspectors scrutinised a range of school documentation, including the school’s information on pupils’ progress, the school improvement plan, minutes of governors’ meetings and documents related to safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Louise Adams, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Information about this school

 Springfield is larger than average, with two classes in each year group, from Reception to Year 3.  The proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium (government funding to support disadvantaged pupils) is average.  The proportion of pupils who are disabled or have special educational needs is broadly average.  The children in the Reception classes attend full time.  The school meets the current government floor standards for pupils’ achievement.  The headteacher joined the school in April 2013.  Building work was undertaken to provide additional classroom space; this finished in readiness for the beginning of this academic year.  In September 2015, the school will become an infant school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching and achievement by making sure that all teachers check pupils’ understanding during lessons and take action where necessary, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and the most able pupils.  Improve leadership and governance so that they are even more effective by:  checking the progress of all groups more rigorously to identify and tackle any underachievement  recording meetings about school improvement so leaders and governors are clear why decisions have been made and can check action has been taken  making sure governors’ systems for checking information are robust.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher is positive, enthusiastic and determined to improve the school. In the two years she has been in role, she has developed a cohesive team of teachers and support staff who work effectively together to bring about improvements.  Leaders at all levels have a clear understanding of their subject areas. They have been empowered by the headteacher to take ownership of their areas of responsibility, and their actions to drive improvements have been effective. A good example of this is the way in which phonics has been developed by the English leaders, resulting in improvements in pupils’ achievement.  Leaders’ regular checks on teaching provide useful feedback to staff to help them to know how to improve their practice. This has resulted in improvements to teaching across the school.  Leaders hold regular meetings to discuss the progress of individual pupils. Where pupils are not making

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The leadership and management are good

enough progress, appropriate support is quickly put in place. However, systems for checking the progress of specific groups of pupils are not as rigorous as they need to be. This means that, when some groups of pupils are not as successful as others, action is not always taken quickly enough.  The curriculum provides good opportunities for pupils to learn about all subjects. There are good links between subjects so that time is used well. The new National Curriculum is being taught well across the school.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is a particular strength of the school. In many lessons, pupils are encouraged to consider other people’s perspectives or reflect on current national and international issues. Pupils’ awareness and consideration for others are evident in the way pupils behave and in their work.  The school’s work to promote British values is strong. In one Year 2 class, the pupils spoke confidently

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The leadership and management are good

and articulately about democracy and gave the example of the ‘junior governors’, which is a pupil group that contributes ideas about how the school can be improved.  The school manages transition between years and key stages very well. In early years, the routines and systems develop well over the year so that the children are able to cope with the additional expectations of Year 1. The communication between teachers helps to ensure that all pupils settle positively in their new classes. The same good communication supports the Year 3 pupils in their move to their next schools, along with regular visits.  Leaders make sure all pupils have equal opportunities. They track how well pupils are doing, use this information to predict what they can achieve, and make sure they do so by providing additional, relevant support.  Pupil premium funding is used effectively to enable disadvantaged pupils to improve their rates of

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The leadership and management are good

progress. The school involves parents well in deciding the best way to provide support for individual pupils.  The school uses the sport funding in a range of ways which has resulted in improvements in many areas. Greater number of pupils now participate in sports activities out of school, and pupils have recently won competitions in which they had previously never been placed, such as gymnastics.  There is an effective process in place for staff appraisals. Teachers are held to account for the progress of their pupils and there are good links between performance and pay.  The local authority has provided regular and appropriate support for the school, such as guidance, feedback and, when required, funding to help the school to improve pupils’ achievement.  The school ensures that all statutory safeguarding arrangements are met. Increased rigour in record keeping would enhance this further.  The governance of the school:

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The leadership and management are good

 Governors in key roles, such as the Chair of the Governing Body, know the school well. They ask challenging questions and hold the headteacher effectively to account. At times, the records of their meetings are not detailed enough to clarify why decisions are made, exactly what is to be done, or the impact expected.  Governors make regular visits to school and record what they have seen to help them verify the information they are given from the headteacher. They make good use of performance data to check how well pupils are achieving overall, although they do not always focus closely enough on checking rigorously and independently how well different groups are doing.  Governors are appropriately involved in checking that teachers’ pay links well to performance.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. At times, inspectors saw outstanding behaviour, such as when pupils were gathered together as a whole school for singing. When not supervised by a member of staff, pupils’ behaviour is occasionally a bit silly; this was most noticeable when pupils were working with older pupils at the adjacent secondary school.  Pupils demonstrate respect for all adults and for their environment. They appreciate their new classrooms and feel fortunate to have the attractive new spaces to work in.  Pupils know what bullying is and are adamant that there is no bullying in the school. School records confirm that this is the case.  The school promotes attendance well through effective strategies, such as reporting in the newsletter and classes winning the ‘attendance bear’ in assembly. As a result, behaviour is above average and shows

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Behaviour

signs of continuing improvement.  The overwhelming majority of parents who responded to the on-line survey agree that the school makes sure pupils behave well.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. All staff know their roles and responsibilities for safety and safeguarding.  Pupils feel safe and are taught well about safety. A good example of this was the song they sang about keeping safe online when using computers in school or at home.  Almost all pupils arrive on time. Leaders check this regularly and contact parents when this is not the case.  Parents who responded to the online survey agree that their children feel safe.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is usually good, and sometimes outstanding. Teachers plan interesting lessons, which engage pupils’ interest. The learning is clear and the activities help the pupils to learn well. As a result, most pupils make good progress in lessons, and over time.  In most lessons, teachers check all pupils’ understanding throughout the lesson and adapt their lessons effectively to tackle misconceptions, so that pupils make good progress. In a few lessons this is not the case and teachers are not quick enough to intervene and ensure rapid progress is made.  The support provided by teaching assistants is consistently good. They demonstrate initiative and confidence to adapt what they planned to do, so that they meet the needs of the pupils they are helping.  Teaching of phonics has been an area of recent focus and is improving. The new scheme and focused strategies being used in Reception classes and Year 1 are particularly evident in pupils’ confidence to

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The quality of teaching is good

decode words while reading.  Reading is taught well through class lessons, reading to adults in a group and answering questions about texts. Some adults are not quite as effective at developing reading skills, so sometimes opportunities to develop pupils’ understanding are missed. Nevertheless, most pupils make good progress in reading.  Writing is taught well on its own and through other subjects. Pupils have regular opportunities to write longer pieces, which are evident in books and on display around the school. The progress and achievement in writing are consistently good.  Teaching of mathematics is good. Teachers have strong subject knowledge and plan relevant activities for pupils at different levels, which usually meet the needs of all pupils. As a result, pupils demonstrate good skills and confidence to tackle a range of problems.  Teaching of the most able pupils is good. Most teachers plan useful activities to extend learning. However,

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The quality of teaching is good

this is more consistent in mathematics than in other subjects.  Support for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is very effective. The school acts quickly to put additional and relevant support in place when pupils’ learning slows. This frequently results in pupils catching up.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Attainment in reading, writing and mathematics is consistently above average and most pupils achieve well across the school because teaching is good and leaders check pupils’ progress regularly.  Pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium do not achieve as well as other pupils nationally or their peers. In 2014 national assessments in reading, writing and mathematics, pupils in Year 2 were approximately two terms behind their peers nationally and in school. However, the school’s current information on progress, and the work seen in pupils’ books, indicate that the gap is narrowing and that almost all of the Year 2 pupils will achieve the expected levels this year.  Pupils’ progress is good from their different starting points. A large proportion of pupils enter the school at lower levels than is typical. The school takes swift action to tackle this so many children catch up in Reception. Most of the other pupils catch up over the next two years because the school checks their

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The achievement of pupils is good

individual progress well and provides useful support when required.  More pupils than in most schools achieve well and reach levels higher than those expected in reading and writing by the time they leave. Things are improving in mathematics, because work is tailored more effectively to pupils’ needs, so more are on track to exceed national expectations.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make the same good progress from their starting points as other pupils. There is some variability in the levels they attain, due to their particular learning needs.  Teachers make good use of cross-curricular links to teach subjects such as history and science, linked to writing, reading and information and communication technology; so, pupils’ achievement in other subjects is similarly good.

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The early years provision is good

 All adults in the early years provide good quality care and education for the children, under the effective guidance of the early years leader.  From their various starting points, almost all children make good progress and the percentage of pupils who achieve a good level of development is higher than average.  Children are safe and their behaviour is good.  Activities are usually well planned and structured effectively to support learning. A good example of this was the mathematics activity to develop subtraction sums. By the end of the session the children in the group were able to subtract using a range of resources. However, on some occasions, when activities are less well organised, some children do not make as much progress as they could.  Relationships with parents are developed well through opportunities for parents to come into school to look at learning journals. Parents contribute to the children’s learning journals through useful, two-way

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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 125967 Local authority West Sussex Inspection number 443794

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 4−8 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 232 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Antony Collard Headteacher Rebecca Wycherley Date of previous school inspection 6 October 2009 Telephone number 01903 219243 Fax number 01903 219102 Email address head@springfield.w-sussex.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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