Setting

Mrs Lesley Clark Headteacher Cupernham Infant School Bransley Close Woodley Lane Romsey Hampshire SO51 7JT

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Short inspection of Cupernham Infant School

Following my visit to the school on 17 November 2015 I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in March 2011.

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Short inspection of Cupernham Infant School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have carefully developed new leaders across the school and engaged them fully in driving forward a shared vision for outstanding education in the future. Staff are well motivated and skilled. They have responded quickly and effectively to all aspects of improvement. Parents recognise your high expectations and value your credible leadership. They deeply appreciate your high ambition for each and every pupil.

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Short inspection of Cupernham Infant School

This school nurtures and cares for all pupils extremely well. You and your senior leaders give close attention to the progress pupils make, detailing accurately any barriers to learning which may prevent pupils making the progress they should. All deployment of resources and additional support is well considered and regularly evaluated. As a result, overall outcomes for pupils, including those for disadvantaged pupils and those that are disabled or who have special educational needs, are good. Pupils leave the school well placed to succeed. Pupils’ care and concern for others is exemplary. Values, such as kindness and friendship, are reinforced regularly by staff and are evident in pupils’ learning and play. Consequently, pupils enjoy school and are able to take full advantage of the full range of experiences on offer. Ofsted

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Short inspection of Cupernham Infant School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk When the school was last inspected, leaders were praised for strengths in the curriculum and in pupils’ excellent knowledge of healthy lifestyles and ways in which they can keep themselves safe. Inspectors also identified the need to involve pupils more regularly in considering the next steps in their learning and develop subject leaders’ analysis of performance information to drive improvements. Leaders have addressed these effectively so that:  pupils have more regular opportunities to talk to teachers about what they need to do next and make improvements to their work  a wider team of leaders, including subject leaders, are involved in analysing performance information and using it to shape the action they take.

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Short inspection of Cupernham Infant School

You, your leadership team and governors continue to strive towards excellence in all aspects of the school’s provision. You pinpoint accurately the right areas for improvement and put effective plans in place to address these. Senior leaders know, for example, that disadvantaged pupils and those with additional needs will make more rapid progress if teaching becomes more finely tuned to their individual needs. In addition, they recognise that some additional support programmes trialled last year were not fully successful. You have the right actions in place to address this quickly. You have made sure the newly invigorated curriculum provides increased opportunities for pupils to experience a range of cultures, faiths and traditions. However, leaders know that there is more work to do so that pupils’ understanding of these aspects matches their social and moral awareness, which continues to be excellent.

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Short inspection of Cupernham Infant School

Leaders take a rigorous and proactive approach to safety. This ensures that all staff are vigilant and alert to any signs of risk. Parents appreciate and commend this aspect of the school’s work. Recent workshops to alert parents to the importance of e-safety were well attended and, as a consequence, pupils’ understanding of risks online has improved. Pupils’ behaviour is excellent across the school. They consistently show their enthusiasm for learning during lessons and demonstrate very high levels of cooperation and respect for others during playtimes.

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Short inspection of Cupernham Infant School

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of high quality. Staff know how to keep pupils safe from harm because they receive regular, relevant training. All current policies reflect the most recent legislation appropriately and leaders ensure that new duties, such as keeping pupils safe from the dangers of radicalisation, are understood well. Equally, staff recognise the crucial importance of following up any absence from school meticulously. Staff have been successful in increasing pupils’ attendance. The school works tenaciously with external agencies to ensure that prompt and effective actions are taken to support vulnerable children and families. Governors undertake their statutory responsibilities for safeguarding conscientiously and ensure all arrangements are robust.

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Inspection findings

 Since the previous inspection of the school in March 2011, you have maintained a strong and committed focus on improving pupils’ outcomes and the quality of the curriculum. Your personal drive ignites other leaders’ determination to succeed in further improving the school so that it becomes outstanding.  You lead by example, providing clear direction in future planning and vision for the school community. Developing a wider team of leaders to support your work has increased further the pace and success of actions that are taken. Together with governors, you have a clear view of how effective the school is and what you need to do next to achieve your shared goals.  Parents praise the school highly and value the contribution you make to their children’s personal and academic development. You ensure that communication is regular, open and transparent and parents feel confident that all staff know their children very well and have high ambitions for them.

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Inspection findings

 Leaders make very regular checks on the impact of any actions they take to develop teaching. Teachers are well supported by senior leaders to develop their practice continuously, and feel highly valued. They know clearly the aspects of teaching that they are seeking to improve further and follow leaders’ guidance and advice closely.  Accurate performance information is understood across the wider team of leaders. Teachers regularly attend meetings with leaders which focus carefully on those pupils who need to accelerate their progress further. Teachers are therefore held to account well for pupils’ achievement.  Governors are committed and enthusiastic in their roles. They make regular checks on aspects of provision within the school through the visits they make and are excellent ambassadors for the school within the local community. While they know the improvements that leaders plan to make, governors’ evaluation of the

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Inspection findings

impact of this work on pupils’ achievement is not yet sufficiently systematic.  Pupils make good progress across subjects in all year groups. Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 is consistently above that found nationally in reading, writing and mathematics.  In the past, disadvantaged pupils attained more highly than other pupils nationally because they made rapid progress. In 2015, while they made good progress, they did not attain as highly in reading, writing and mathematics. Some pupils who were disadvantaged joined the school in Year 2.  Additional support and teaching for disadvantaged pupils does not always forensically target key gaps in pupils’ skills. Leaders have reflected quickly and know that focused support for disadvantaged pupils, and also disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, can be strengthened further so that their progress is consistently rapid.  The proportions of pupils achieving a good level of development have risen over

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Inspection findings

the last three years and are above national proportions. The numbers of pupils reaching the expected level in the Year 1 phonics check are above national averages.  Pupils attend school regularly as a result of successful improvements to reduce the numbers of pupils who miss school.  Teachers work diligently to support all pupils. They continuously develop their subject knowledge so that they are well equipped to enhance pupils’ learning. Additional adults are knowledgeable about individual pupils and provide sensitive support to meet their needs.  Pupils’ work is careful and tidy because teachers have high expectations and value the work in pupils’ books. There is good dialogue about pupils’ next steps in learning and this helps pupils to be clear about how they can improve their work.  Teachers are developing their teaching to focus on providing more opportunities to stretch pupils’ mathematical thinking and support rapid progress of the more-

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Inspection findings

able pupils in mathematics. More-able pupils have not yet had enough opportunities to really grapple with mathematics that fully challenges them.  The curriculum captures pupils’ imagination and inspires pupils to learn because it stems from pupils’ interests.  The curriculum fully develops pupils’ social and moral knowledge and understanding, resulting in excellent attitudes and personal development. However, opportunities for pupils to explore and develop a deep understanding of other faiths, cultures and traditions are not fully exploited across the curriculum so pupils’ spiritual and cultural understanding is not as strong.  Pupils are proud to be members of this school and show a deep sense of belonging to a happy and caring school community. They want to learn and to be successful learners. Behaviour is excellent because pupils are considerate and cooperate with one another.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and governors should ensure that:  support for disadvantaged pupils, disabled pupils and those with special educational needs targets the most significant gaps in pupils’ skills so that they consistently make rapid progress  teachers provide regular opportunities for more-able pupils to stretch their mathematical thinking and grapple with more difficult tasks  opportunities to develop pupils’ spiritual and cultural understanding are fully exploited across the curriculum so that pupils develop excellent knowledge of these areas  governors’ checks focus on the impact of leaders’ actions on pupils’ achievement. I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for Hampshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

I met with you, other leaders, teachers, pupils, the acting Chair of the Governing Body and five other governors. I also met with a representative of Hampshire local authority. We visited sections of nine lessons and small group sessions and scrutinised pupils’ work in writing and mathematics. I took account of 28 staff surveys and 43 responses by parents to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. In addition, I considered 35 parent responses by free text or letter. I also spoke with a small number of parents at the start of the school day and with pupils during lunchtime. I analysed a range of the school’s documentation, including leaders’ checks on pupils’ progress and the impact of the actions they have taken, the school improvement plan, curriculum planning and safeguarding policies and procedures. We discussed your own evaluation of the school’s effectiveness.

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