Setting

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

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Mr Shane Morton Executive Headteacher Bishop Tufnell CofE Infant School Pennyfields Felpham Bognor Regis West Sussex PO22 6BN

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Infant School, Felpham

Following my visit to your school on 12 June 2017, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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Infant School, Felpham

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in March 2016. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Infant School, Felpham

Senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection in order to become a good school.

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Infant School, Felpham

The school should take further action to ensure that:

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Infant School, Felpham

 there is greater clarity between roles and responsibilities of the executive headteacher and the head of school  governors use their time in school to look more closely at what leaders are telling them about school improvement  all middle leaders are having a positive impact on pupils’ learning  more disadvantaged pupils come to school regularly.

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Evidence

During the inspection, meetings were held with the executive headteacher, other senior leaders, middle leaders, representatives of the governing body and a representative of the local authority to discuss the actions taken since the last inspection. The school improvement plans were evaluated. Documents were scrutinised, including governing body visit reports, minutes of governor meetings and local authority visit reports. Work in pupils’ books was reviewed with leaders and time was spent in the early years classrooms. Discussions took place with parents at the beginning of the day and pupils spoken to at breaktime.

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Context

The federation between Bishop Tufnell CofE Infant School and Bishop Tufnell CofE Junior School will become permanent in September 2017. The middle leader with responsibility for pupil premium joined the school in September 2016 and became lead teacher for inclusion in January 2017. The middle leaders with the responsibilities for the early years and Year 2 began their roles in September 2016. The chair of the governing body took up post shortly after the last inspection.

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Main findings

The executive headteacher, governors and the local authority value the drive and ambition of the head of school. Leaders have an accurate view of what improvements have been made since the last inspection and where there is still work to do. Plans to improve the school are sharply focused and explicit about what success will look like. However, there is not enough clarity between the roles of the executive headteacher and the head of school. As a result, messages to middle leaders and staff are not always as precise as they need to be. Governors, the local authority and senior leaders themselves recognise this.

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Main findings

Governance has improved since the last inspection. The review of the work of the governing body after the last inspection was quickly undertaken and welcomed by those who remained as governors. The new chair is focused, determined and ambitious. Governors are very clear about what improvements have been made since the last inspection but are also accurate in their view about the effectiveness of executive leadership. Governors have diligently sought external advice regarding the management of leaders’ performance.

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Main findings

Governors have good information about the progress that groups of pupils are making. However, the executive headteacher’s reports to governors over time have not concentrated enough on other aspects of the school’s performance, such as groups of pupils’ attendance. As a result, the attendance levels of disadvantaged pupils are neither good nor improving quickly enough.

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Main findings

Governors’ visits to school to monitor and review the work of leaders are not as focused or helpful as they should be. Improvement plans do not yet have a well- defined role for governors to check first-hand what leaders are reporting to them. Some governor visit reports stray too close to governors making judgements about teaching and learning and others do not really tell governors or senior leaders anything helpful. Governors have identified their monitoring work as a development point and have already visited other schools to see more effective ways of working.

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Main findings

The teaching of phonics has improved since the last inspection. Leaders provided a range of training for teachers and support staff. As a result, the proportion of pupils meeting the expected standard at the end of Year 1 in 2016 was above the national average for the first time in four years.

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Main findings

Leaders have made significant improvements in the early years. Reception classes now provide children with rich and exciting opportunities to learn. Adults think carefully about planned learning and the activities that children can access independently. Staff have created a culture in the early years where children see themselves as writers, including the youngest boys who joined Reception with knowledge and skills below those one would typically find elsewhere. As a result, all children make good progress from their starting points, including those who are not on track to reach a good level of development at the end of the Reception Year. In 2016, a far greater proportion of children reached a good level of development than in previous years and were ready to start Year 1.

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Main findings

Additional support and planned interventions to improve the progress of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are now systematically reviewed by leaders. Consequently, leaders know that the progress of Year 2 pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is not a good as it could be.

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Main findings

The most able pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, are making good progress in English and mathematics in Year 1. Leaders know that pupils’ progress in Year 2 is currently not consistent. Some planned learning in English is not as challenging for the most able pupils as it needs to be. The inclusion lead is also perceptive about the need for teachers in Year 2 to break learning into smaller steps for pupils who are not yet working at age-related expectations, so they can learn the basic skills they need to become effective writers.

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Main findings

Some middle leaders are having a significant impact on the quality of teaching and learning. However, this is not consistent.

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External support

The local authority is having a positive impact on the work of the school. Senior leaders value the adviser visits that focus on what is going well and highlight clearly where further work is required. Advisers look closely at teaching and learning, and their reports support leaders’ evaluation of the school. Leaders have welcomed the opportunities to look at the work of other schools. The local authority is both supportive and challenging.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Chichester and the director of children’s services for West Sussex. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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