Talavera Infant School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Mrs A Wilson Headteacher Talavera Infant School Gun Hill Aldershot Hampshire GU11 1RG

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Short inspection of Talavera Infant School

Following my visit to the school on 18 January 2017, 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 December 2012.

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Short inspection of Talavera Infant School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

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Short inspection of Talavera Infant School

Your school is a welcoming, friendly and hard-working place for pupils to play and learn. Strong relationships throughout the school ensure that pupils feel safe and secure. You and your team expect pupils to do their very best. Pupils are keen to learn and behave well. They enjoy receiving ‘good citizenship’ awards for being kind and responsible.

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Short inspection of Talavera Infant School

You and your team are committed to securing the best outcomes for all pupils, regardless of their ability or background and no matter how long they are in the school. Many pupils join the school mid-year or part-way through a key stage, and some are with you for a very short period of time. You make sure these pupils are well supported when they arrive, quickly assessing their needs and making sure that teaching plugs any gaps in their learning.

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Short inspection of Talavera Infant School

In the past year, you and your colleagues have renewed the focus on securing further improvements in teaching. Recent changes to the way you check the quality of teaching through more in-depth visits to classrooms have given teachers opportunities to discuss their practice with senior leaders in greater detail. This approach also gives you a clear overview of teaching across key stages, year groups and subjects. You and your leadership team have taken effective action to tackle the areas for improvement identified at the time of the previous inspection. You have secured important improvements in the quality of teaching, raising teachers’ expectations of pupils’ learning and making them more accountable for pupils’ achievement. You have rightly identified the need to increase teachers’ expectations even further to ensure that the most able pupils achieve their full potential. You and your team closely check the progress that pupils who have special educational needs and/or

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Short inspection of Talavera Infant School

disabilities make and you provide good-quality support for pupils who need extra help.

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Short inspection of Talavera Infant School

Following the national tests in 2016, you recognised the need to amend subject plans to reflect changes in the national curriculum and to strengthen pupils’ English and mathematics skills. For example, you noted that pupils were often unsure about how to use mathematical knowledge to solve practical number problems, such as those involving money. You have amended the curriculum, giving pupils more opportunities to tackle challenging mathematics tasks and so become more confident about mathematics. In addition, pupils of all abilities have learned how to use a wider range of practical equipment during lessons and this has strengthened their understanding of mathematical concepts. Meanwhile, in English, you have introduced a more consistent and effective approach to teaching spelling and grammar across the school.

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Short inspection of Talavera Infant School

Parents are pleased with the school. They appreciate the considerable improvements you have made in the school over the past few years, particularly in the quality of teaching. Parents say that teachers are always happy to talk to them and are very approachable. However, while you and your team regularly keep in touch personally with parents, you have not updated the school website well enough. Consequently, some of the information provided for parents is partial or out of date. For example, you do not provide sufficient information on the website about what pupils are learning in different subjects or about the difference that additional funding, such as the pupil premium, is making to disadvantaged pupils’ achievement.

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Short inspection of Talavera Infant School

You and your leadership team make certain that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. You make sure that all staff are confident about ensuring pupils’ safety. You use training well to update governors and staff, including members of staff who join the school part-way through the school year, about safeguarding issues. This ensures a consistent and effective approach across the school. You and your team take suitable and timely action when any safeguarding concerns arise, working closely and constructively with agencies and parents wherever appropriate. You effectively maintain and use high-quality records to monitor pupils’ well-being and to identify any further support needed.

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Short inspection of Talavera Infant School

Policies and procedures are regularly revised in line with national guidance. This ensures that all members of staff know how to ensure pupils’ safety. However, while the child protection policy reflects current guidelines and meets requirements, you have not yet put this document on the school’s website. This is something which you can easily and quickly remedy so that parents can access accurate guidance if they are worried or anxious about a child’s safety.

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Inspection findings

 Effective teaching is supported by reliable assessments of pupils’ needs. The whole-school curriculum plans are followed consistently to ensure that teaching in Year 1 builds well on pupils’ starting points. Leaders work tirelessly with other schools and providers to ensure that teachers have the information they need to plan learning for pupils new to the school. This is directed particularly towards those who join the school part-way through a key stage, so that no learning time is lost.  Pupils’ progress improved and standards at the end of the early years and key stage 1 increased steadily in the three years following the previous inspection. However, you were understandably disappointed by outcomes at the end of Year 2 in 2016, as they were much lower than the provisional national average. You and your team lost no time in looking carefully at why outcomes were lower than anticipated, quickly making changes to the curriculum and putting in extra

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Inspection findings

support for pupils who need additional help.  Information about pupils’ current progress, including the work in their books, indicates that your prompt response has brought rapid improvements in pupils’ learning. Pupils in Year 2 are now better equipped to tackle the national tests and more are on track to achieve at least expected standards in all three subjects in 2017. You have rightly identified the need to focus on making sure that the most able pupils now achieve their full potential in reading, writing and mathematics.  The broad, balanced and engaging curriculum supports pupils’ achievement very well. Whole-school curriculum plans ensure that teaching builds consistently on pupils’ learning. The use of exciting events at the start of a topic, such as the recent opportunity for pupils in Year 2 to meet a range of nocturnal animals in school, motivates pupils to find out more. However, leaders recognise that more

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Inspection findings

detailed information on the school’s website about what pupils are learning in different subjects would help parents to support their children’s learning at home more effectively.  Leaders have established rigorous, systematic and reliable procedures for tracking pupils’ progress. They work regularly with governors to check how well pupils are learning, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. However, while leaders and governors check individual pupils’ progress, they do not analyse and report on the progress of groups sharply enough. This makes it more difficult for them to compare pupils’ achievement with others nationally and to check that funds such as the pupil premium are making a difference to pupils’ progress.  Leaders make the importance of regular attendance an appropriately high priority, and most pupils attend well. Overall attendance is consistently in line

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Inspection findings

with the national average or above, and rates of persistent absenteeism are low. A small number of pupils attend less well. However, leaders are relentless in their determination to ensure that all pupils attend regularly.  A small number of pupils have severe complex needs, including emotional and behavioural difficulties. Leaders have secured expert advice from specialists, including outreach support provided by a special school, to help them and class teachers to support pupils effectively. Skilful adult support in the nurture group makes a significant contribution to developing pupils’ personal skills and positive attitudes to school.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 the most able pupils achieve their full potential in reading, writing and mathematics  they pay more attention to the difference additional funds make to pupils’ achievement, particularly disadvantaged pupils, and report this clearly to governors and parents  the school’s website complies with requirements and gives parents key information about the school’s work.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner 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

During the inspection, you and I visited eight classes and the ‘sparkle room’. I reviewed pupils’ books in the classrooms as well as looking separately at a range of pupils’ workbooks with you, your deputy headteacher and your English subject leader. I talked with pupils in the classrooms about their learning and also talked with some pupils during playtime. I took account of 12 responses to Ofsted’s online Parent View questionnaire and spoke with parents informally at the start of the school day. I reviewed the school’s website and considered a range of documents, including your summary of the school’s effectiveness, the school’s improvement plan, a local authority report, and documents relating to safeguarding. I also reviewed information about pupils’ learning and progress and records relating to safeguarding and attendance. During the visit, I met with you, your deputy headteacher, your special educational needs coordinator and the chair and vice-

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Information about the inspection

chair of the governing body. I also had a telephone conversation with a local authority representative.

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