Weyford Infant School

Weyford Infant School Mill Chase Road, Bordon, Hampshire GU35 0EP

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Pupils enjoy their time in the school and grow in confidence, knowledge and understanding.  Weyford is extremely well led by a new headteacher who has raised standards quickly.  The headteacher is ambitious for the school and the community it serves. She has raised pupils’ expectations about what they can achieve.  The headteacher challenges staff to get the best from their pupils. She provides appropriate support and training to help teachers in their work.  Disadvantaged pupils do increasingly well, especially in the early years. Adults identify their needs accurately and support their learning effectively.  Pupils’ work in the wider curriculum supports lessons learned in mathematics and English.  Pupils behave well. They are polite, cheerful and welcoming to visitors.  The school provides many opportunities for pupils to develop appropriate attitudes to themselves and others. Pupils are suitably prepared for life in modern Britain.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The school makes a positive contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  Pupils’ attendance is constantly improving. Leaders work closely with families to reduce the persistent absence of a few pupils.  Governors play an increasingly important role in the development of the school.  The school’s rapid improvement recently has halted the decline shown in publicly held information.  Leaders have a clear understanding of the remaining aspects of the school’s work that still need to improve. For example, some groups of pupils could do even better.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that recent improvements to boys’ performance continues, so that all thrive and achieve the standards of which they are capable.  Improve outcomes for pupils capable of working at greater depth, especially those who speak English as an additional language, and those who join the school at levels higher than typical for their age or who do well in the early years.  Further develop leadership, including governance, so that responsibility for broader aspects of the school’s work can be shared more widely.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

 Weyford is led impressively by the recently appointed headteacher. Governors worked closely in partnership with the local authority to secure her services.  The headteacher has very high aspirations for the pupils. She expects them all to do well. She is ambitious for the community as well as for the school. Her drive and commitment are clear to see.  The headteacher oversees successfully the work of the next door junior school and is leading the work on the proposed merger of the two schools with effect from September 2017.  The headteacher is supported skilfully by the deputy headteacher. Since September 2016, leadership capacity has been strengthened further by the appointment of an experienced and effective practitioner to lead the school’s work on teaching and learning. All leaders are able to judge the quality of teaching and learning accurately.  Leaders are able to provide clear models of what works to teachers. Leaders are

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

committed to ensuring that all teachers benefit from good-quality training. Those who need specific help are provided with good-quality coaching and mentoring.  Leaders use a robust system to manage teachers’ performance. They set clear targets for teachers, including assessments of the impact of teachers’ work on pupils’ progress.  Although the headteacher, who started in January 2016, has changed many aspects of the school’s work already, she remains popular with staff. All staff say that the school is managed well. The vast majority of parents agree, though many say they would like even more timely communication. They would like to know earlier about payments for trips or donations for charitable activities.  The school’s curriculum is one of its most important strengths. Inspectors saw really powerful examples of pupils working at higher levels in subjects like geography and history. Pupils have opportunities to explore their creativity in art and to develop their

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

health and physical fitness through physical education.  Leaders use the primary school sports funding imaginatively by employing a local expert with appropriate experience. An inclusive approach to physical education means that even those pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities can join in and experience the benefits of exercise.  Leaders make good use of all the resources available, including the school’s extensive grounds. There are outside spaces for all the early years classes and Years 1 and 2. During the inspection, Year 2 pupils were controlling small robots on the playground with simple computer codes.  The headteacher is working closely with the local authority to extend the number of members of staff trained to carry out leadership activities. The subject leaders for English and mathematics work cooperatively with all teachers to build confidence across the staff.  The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) makes an extremely positive

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

contribution to the school’s work. Although she only works part time, she has exemplary records of each pupil’s needs and any support that they have received. The SENCo is able to show the wide range of interactions she has had with professionals representing other agencies. She is also able to account for even the smallest gains made by pupils with significant barriers to learning. As a result, the progress of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities compares favourably with pupils with similar starting points nationally. Some pupils who enter the school up to two years behind their classmates catch up by the time they complete key stage 1.  The headteacher has galvanised the whole work force. Currently there are no vacancies. However, recruitment locally is challenging, especially for qualified teachers, so the headteacher is rightly committed to helping all staff to continuously improve

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

rather than look for other staff elsewhere.  The local authority has been influential in enabling the school to retain its good grading. The school’s improvement adviser accurately judged its performance in the autumn of 2015. Senior leaders within the authority supported the governors to take effective action and to begin the process of improving outcomes for learners. The local authority has provided good-quality advice and ample support and resources, as required, for improvements to teaching.

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Governance of the school

 Governance is strengthening constantly. The school has historically found it difficult to recruit, select or elect governors with both the necessary skills and the time to carry out their duties fully.  Governors know their roles and responsibilities and hold senior leaders to account. They have become more able to do this recently since the new headteacher has provided them with much greater information about the school’s performance than they had previously. Governors have visited the school regularly to review its work in progress.  Governors ensure that the school has the resources it needs to function efficiently. The governing body has managed the finances carefully, in the past year, so as to avoid crucial reductions in the levels of staffing. Governors also oversee the way in which additional funding, such as the pupil premium, is used so that relevant pupils benefit appropriately.  Governors fully support the new headteacher, the proposed merger of the infant and

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Governance of the school

junior schools and all the efforts required to maintain Weyford as a good school.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  The checks the school makes on adults wishing to volunteer or work at the school are thorough. The checks are recorded in a simple and easy-to-read system. Governors check that these records are updated regularly. This helps to contribute to the positive safeguarding climate fostered by the new leadership team.  Leaders ensure that staff are regularly trained for their safeguarding duties. Senior leaders involved in recruitment work have been trained suitably to make sure only appropriate persons are appointed.  The site is secure, well maintained and difficult to access without permission. Pupils told inspectors that they feel safe and secure in school. Parents reported unanimously that their children are safe.  Pupils told inspectors in great detail about all the learning they have done to ensure they keep themselves safe online. This aspect of the school’s work is impressive.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 Teaching is now having a positive effect on pupils’ outcomes. Published information shows that this was not always the case. Teaching had not kept pace with recent developments. The teaching of phonics, for example, lacked coherence and consistency.  Good-quality teaching is spreading through the school because teachers share their practice and planning regularly. The deputy headteacher works with learning support assistants weekly to give them the necessary skills and tools to deliver a sharply focused session on handwriting to pupils in each class. This frees time for teachers to plan together. Teachers like this and talk enthusiastically about how it helps them improve their practice.  Teachers use a wide range of activities and methods to engage and excite pupils. Sometimes, teachers divide up their classes into different ability or age groups so that they work closely with focused groups of pupils while learning support assistants lead

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

other pupils through well-planned tasks. In the middle of any session, there is a buzz of learning that runs right the way up the school’s lengthy central corridor.  Pupils know where they are supposed to be for every session and move to each location without fuss. Adults settle them into work quickly. Time is used well. Effective teaching means that pupils make increasingly quick progress and only a few drift off task. Often these are the most able pupils who do not find some of the lessons stretching or challenging enough.  Teachers ensure that the broad curriculum provides ample opportunities for pupils to practise their writing. They create activities which enable pupils to write at length. Teachers also ensure that work in science enables pupils to apply some of the skills they have learned in mathematics.  Reading is taught well so that pupils generally read fluently by the time they are in

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

Year 2. This includes disadvantaged pupils who are given support for reading at home. All pupils are expected to do some purposeful learning at home in a good range of subjects.  Pupils who speak English as an additional language are effectively supported in lessons. Their progress and attainment are frequently better than those of their classmates.  The SENCo ensures that pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities have their learning needs met. Usually, this is in the form of one-to-one time in lessons with trained learning support assistants. Pupils are only withdrawn from lessons if there is more to be gained by additional intervention outside the classroom. This means that sometimes there are several adults in a class at any one time. Consequently, the vast majority of pupils have quick access to helpful advice and guidance.  All classrooms are adorned with a rich variety of stimuli such as word walls, working

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

walls, relevant vocabulary, number lines, number squares and cheerful displays. Pupils know where resources are stored and frequently go in search of tools which can support their learning. Teachers encourage this self-directed approach to learning.  Teachers are also adept at managing their classrooms so that they can call all the pupils together instantly. This means they can check pupils’ learning as each lesson develops or intervene quickly if any misconceptions begin to emerge.  Teachers follow the school’s simple assessment policy well. Pupils like the feedback they receive on their work as it helps them identify aspects they still need to improve. They particularly like the positive rewards which teachers are increasingly giving them for work completed to a high standard.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Pupils join the school from a diverse range of backgrounds. Some face significant challenges in their home lives. The school aims to reduce the impact of these challenges on pupils’ learning.  Leaders get to know pupils’ families so they can provide parents with support if necessary. This helps to reduce any barriers pupils may have to learning. Leaders encourage teachers to work closely with parents as well, so that an effective partnership is growing through the community.  Many parents speak highly of the work the school has done for their children. Pupils are generally articulate, bright, cheerful and enthusiastic. Pupils speak confidently when asked to give an opinion or share an idea. Many are inquisitive and engaging with visitors.  Pupils talk positively about how the school encourages them to look out for, and after,

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Personal development and welfare

each other. Pupils say there is no bullying in the school. They say that sometimes they fall out but that they soon become friends again. They also say that teachers help them sort out silly arguments before they get out of hand.  Leaders ensure that there is a good supply of healthy food and snacks available for pupils. Pupils can select fruit at playtimes and children in the early years can pick up snacks as they move from activity to activity.  Pupils acknowledge that the ‘rights respecting responsibilities’ approach helps them check the right thing to do in certain situations.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Inspectors saw no poor behaviour. A few of the most able pupils sometimes got distracted when the work was not challenging enough or they had done it before. None of them disrupted other pupils’ learning.  Pupils’ attendance is rising. Pupils’ attendance was not good enough previously. In 2014 and 2015, levels of attendance were below national averages. Levels of persistent absence were above the national averages.  In 2016, the levels of attendance across all year groups were closer to acceptable standards. Similarly, the levels of persistent absence reduced to levels closer to the national average. In the current year, these patterns are being sustained.  Teachers manage behaviour well. They are patient and compassionate. Teachers provide good models of how to speak nicely to each other. They also supervise play and breaktimes carefully. This means that pupils play sensibly and considerately in

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Behaviour

each of the playgrounds. Pupils make good use of the play equipment and supervised games that are available.  Pupils know exactly the expectations for their behaviour. Only a handful of pupils challenge the reasonable boundaries set by leaders.  The most challenging behaviour, displayed by a small minority of pupils, is managed effectively – often by endlessly caring learning support assistants. These vulnerable pupils are helped to remain in school, a place of reduced risk and greater security and safety.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 Pupils currently in the school make good progress. Well over half of each year group is on track to reach the standards expected for their age in reading, writing and mathematics.  The rates of progress and the standards pupils are working at currently are much better than in the past. The local authority recognised in 2015 that standards were not good enough and acted quickly to ensure improvement. Since joining the school, the headteacher has made it a priority to raise further the levels of pupils’ outcomes.  Leaders’ effective actions have resulted, for example, in a rapid rise in the number of children leaving the early years having attained a good level of development. These actions have also resulted in girls exceeding the national average for expected levels at key stage 1 in reading, writing and mathematics, in 2016.  Disadvantaged pupils achieve as well as their classmates and a majority achieve higher

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Outcomes for pupils Good

standards than other pupils nationally in the Year 1 phonics check. The progress of disadvantaged pupils is sometimes masked by the lower standards of pupils who are not identified as disadvantaged. Some of these pupils face considerable challenges in their home lives.  Pupils who speak English as an additional language generally exceed the performance of their classmates and do better than other pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics in key stage 1. However, none of these pupils go on to work at greater depth in either writing or mathematics.  Leaders, especially the SENCo, ensure that any pupil noted to be behind standards expected for their age is provided with additional support. This highly effective work results in some pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities catching up quickly with their classmates. Many of these pupils make rapid progress and leave the school, therefore, broadly in line with other pupils of the same age.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 Boys do not do as well as girls. The differences between boys’ and girls’ performance are diminishing in the phonics check and in reading, writing and mathematics over time. The standards which boys attain currently are broadly in line now with boys in other schools nationally. Boys still need to catch up with girls in school.  Most-able pupils, who join the school above average, do not continue to make equally strong progress and thus attain high standards. Similarly, not enough of the children who do well in the early years go on to work at greater depth in writing. Too few of these children go on to develop mastery in mathematics. Leaders recognise that pupils need to develop further their reasoning skills.  Pupils generally read well. The consistent and strengthening teaching of phonics means that most pupils are able to make sense of texts they are reading even when they come across unfamiliar words.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 Pupils leave the school ready for key stage 2. Nearly all pupils transfer to the junior school on the same site. Leaders work carefully across the two schools to ensure that the transition to Year 3 is as smooth as possible.

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Early years provision Good

 Standards in the early years have risen steadily since the previous inspection.  Most children enter the early years at levels typical for their age. Some children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities arrive needing to catch up. Leaders ensure that teachers focus on helping them to make rapid progress. As a result, all children make at least expected progress. Some do very well.  Leadership of the early years has been strengthened with the appointment of the headteacher who has subject-specialist knowledge in the early years. The number of specialist early years teachers in the school means that the provision for all year groups is strengthening all the time.  There are no breaches to the statutory welfare requirements as set out in the early years foundation stage framework.  The learning environment for pupils in the Nursery is strong and enables effective learning through play. Similarly, children in the mixed Nursery and Reception class

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Early years provision Good

have access to a wide range of equipment which helps them develop in the prime areas of learning. Many need focused work to meet age expectations in their personal, social and emotional development.  Teaching is effective in all year groups in the early years. The engaging teaching of phonics results in children who are able to sound out words correctly, join letters to form words and, for many of the older children, make marks which are clearly recognisable as words and sentences. A few can write meaningful paragraphs.  Teaching supports the development of counting skills. Children learn to recognise numbers and put them in sequence. Towards the end of the Reception Year the vast majority of pupils can use numbers with confidence.  Disadvantaged children are supported increasingly well. Adults identify any needs they may have and tailor learning activities in ways that enable strong progress.  The outside spaces provide excellent settings for children to explore the natural world.

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Early years provision Good

Children like to hunt through the bug hotel, looking for mini beasts. Children are also able to develop gross and fine motor skills, using a rich array of resources.  All adults contribute well to learning in the early years. Teachers lead planning for learning but the learning support assistants are skilled at taking the plans and making the most of them with the children they support. Adults generally use questioning well to probe children’s understanding or to help them make the most of their activities. Occasionally, adults do not give children enough time to think about the answer to a question or to express themselves fully.  Parents are provided with good information about how well their children are doing. Most contribute evidence to the school’s early assessment of what each child knows, understands and is able to do. Some parents continue to support the assessment of their child’s progress towards the early learning goals by adding information into an

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Early years provision Good

online system.  Adults in the early years also contribute to the assessment of children’s development by recording the outcomes of their observations in this system. Teachers do not comment frequently enough, currently, on the development of pupils’ writing or use of number.  Senior leaders hold teachers to account rigorously and are increasingly making sure that every opportunity is taken to record even small steps in children’s development.

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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

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Email address d.lawry@weyfordinfants.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 10–11 November 2011

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Information about this school

 The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.  Weyford Infants is a smaller than average school. It caters only for children in the foundation stage and key stage 1.  There are more boys than girls at the school.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is broadly in line with the national average.  The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is just below the national average.  The majority of pupils are from White British households. The single largest minority ethnic group is Asian.  The proportion of pupils who receive support for special educational needs and/or disabilities is broadly in line with the national average.  The proportion of pupils who have a statement of special educational needs and/or disabilities or an education, health and care plan is about half the national average.  The school serves a community with a very stable population.

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Information about this school

 The school’s work is not eligible for comparison with the government’s current floor standards as it does not have children in Year 6 or Year 11.  The school has applied to Hampshire County Council and the Department for Education to merge formally with Weyford Junior School, which is located next door. The proposed merger is to take effect from September 2017.  The current headteacher is also the executive headteacher of Weyford Junior School.

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Information about this inspection

 This inspection began as an inspection under section 8 of the Education Act, 2005. On the first day of the inspection, the lead inspector judged it necessary to convert the inspection to a full inspection under section 5 of the same Education Act. On the second day of the inspection, the lead inspector was joined by two further Ofsted inspectors.  Inspectors observed learning formally in 13 parts of lessons. This was in addition to two extensive learning walks conducted by the lead inspector on the first day of the inspection. Senior leaders accompanied the lead inspector on both these learning walks to observe pupils’ learning.  Inspectors spoke with many pupils informally. Inspectors met with two groups of pupils and the lead inspector listened to four Year 2 readers. Pupils were not able to complete Ofsted’s confidential online pupil survey.  Inspectors spoke with several parents informally at the school gate. The lead inspector

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Information about this inspection

met a group of eight parents and considered 20 responses to Ofsted’s confidential online survey Parent View.  Inspectors met with the headteacher and other leaders frequently during the inspection. The lead inspector also met a group of four teachers and considered 23 responses to Ofsted’s confidential online staff survey.  Inspectors held meetings with members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors examined a wide range of the school’s information, including its own evaluation of its performance and development plan. Inspectors looked at information relating to the work of governors and external visitors. Inspectors also looked carefully at a sample of pupils’ work.

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Inspection team

Dr Simon Hughes, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Jo McSherrie Ofsted Inspector guidance 'Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . 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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Inspection team

In the report, 'disadvantaged pupils' refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. www.gov.uk/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and- alternative-provision-settings .

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Inspection team

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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Inspection team

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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted .

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Inspection team

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, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children's services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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

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