Padnell Infant School

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

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Mrs Mandy Grayson Headteacher Padnell Infant School Padnell Avenue Cowplain Waterlooville Hampshire PO8 8DS

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Short inspection of Padnell Infant School

Following my visit to the school on 28 November 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 July 2013.

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Short inspection of Padnell Infant School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Together with your team, you have addressed the areas that needed to improve and ensured that strengths in the school are preserved. You have a track record of successfully addressing problems by accurately identifying what needs to improve. A good example of this is the action you took to address the dip in phonics. The changes you made to the way that phonics was being taught quickly and successfully tackled the issues. As a result, pupils do well in phonics.

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Short inspection of Padnell Infant School

Parents are overwhelmingly supportive of the school. They describe it as a very good school that is making a big difference for their children. Parents value the additional help on offer to them and to their children. They are particularly pleased that the school is now working more closely with the neighbouring pre-school and junior school. They say that this is making it easier for their children to do well.

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Short inspection of Padnell Infant School

Pupils behave well around the school and are encouraged to be brave and resilient. They like their school and are keen to further improve aspects of it. This was evident in the pupil council meeting seen during my visit. Pupils enjoy the wide range of activities on offer to them. These experiences help the pupils to develop a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe.

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Short inspection of Padnell Infant School

You and your team are committed to getting things right for your pupils. Alongside governors and other leaders, you have taken effective action to maintain and build on the strengths identified in the last inspection. You have addressed the recommendations to ensure that teachers have high expectations of all pupils and that the role of middle leaders is developed. As a result, outcomes for pupils remain good.

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Short inspection of Padnell Infant School

Pupils achieve in line with national averages and sometimes better. In addition, an increasing number of pupils are making rapid progress. As we discussed, it is important that you analyse carefully the progress that groups of pupils make. This will enable you to further refine your teaching so that all groups of pupils make good progress from their starting points.

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Short inspection of Padnell Infant School

Parents say that their children are safe, happy and well cared for. Pupils behave well and look after each other. They respect the staff and their school.

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Short inspection of Padnell Infant School

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Leaders are tenacious when keeping children safe. They work well with partner agencies and will challenge them if necessary. Systems within the school are very effective so that all expected protocols and training are completed. For example, paediatric first-aid training is monitored closely to ensure that trained staff are always available. Governors take their responsibilities very seriously and thoroughly monitor all aspects of safeguarding. They ensure that systems operate effectively and that staff understand what they need to do to keep pupils safe.

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Inspection findings

 At the start of the inspection, we agreed to look in particular at the following aspects of the school’s work: – the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements – how well leaders have continued to improve the quality of teaching – how effectively leaders ensure that pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities do as well as other pupils in the school – how successfully mathematics is taught.  Provision for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities has been strengthened since the last inspection. The very effective leadership of the inclusion coordinator is leading to well-planned improvement based on accurate assessment information. Speech and language support has been increased as the result of increasingly accurate early assessments. As a result, most pupils who have additional learning needs are making good progress.  The governing body is ambitious for the school and wants it to be in the ‘premier

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Inspection findings

league’. In meetings, governors challenge leaders and hold them to account. Governors have a good understanding of the current performance of the school. They use a range of information to inform their judgements about the success of improvement activities. However, governors do not rigorously monitor the progress of different groups of pupils in the school. As a result, they are not able to ensure that all groups of pupils make enough progress.  Since the last inspection, the assessment of what pupils know and can do has been significantly improved. Leaders use assessment data well to set aspirational targets for all pupils. Teachers regularly consider what pupils know and understand. This leads to daily adjustments to lessons that identify pupils who need further support to make good progress. Regular pupil progress meetings consider the progress that all pupils make. Governors regularly attend these

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Inspection findings

meetings and have a good understanding of their effectiveness. Leaders’ analysis of the progress that pupils make does not consider the impact of the quality of teaching. Consequently, aspects of teaching that need to be improved are not always identified quickly enough.  Leaders have successfully improved the teaching of mathematics. The strong subject leader has been well supported by senior leaders in the school. Changes to the way that mathematics is taught have been thoughtfully introduced. As a result, all staff understand what they need to do. The subject leader has a good understanding of the quality of teaching in mathematics and can accurately identify areas that require more work. A good example of this is the introduction of guided reasoning activities to ensure that pupils can talk confidently about their work. Developments have been well supported and monitored by the governor linked to this subject. Leaders have made good use of specialist support

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Inspection findings

from the local authority. As a result, pupils are making good progress in mathematics across the school.  Middle leaders are developing well in the school. They make a good contribution to the success of the school. This can be seen in the impact of the work of the mathematics subject leader. Middle leaders report that they are encouraged to take risks and try new things. They feel well supported to undertake a range of activities that help them understand the quality of teaching, learning and assessment in their areas of responsibility. They meet with other middle leaders from other schools to support their development.

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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

 leaders use information about the progress that pupils make to identify precisely where teaching can be improved  governors closely monitor the impact of actions to improve outcomes for pupils, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and those who have SEN and/or disabilities.

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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 this inspection, I held meetings with you and your assistant headteacher to discuss a range of issues including safeguarding and pupils’ progress. Together, we visited classrooms and looked at pupils’ work. I spoke to parents as they arrived at school and talked to children during the day. I met with three of your other leaders, one of whom was responsible for mathematics. I met with three members of the governing body and had a telephone conversation with a representative from Hampshire local authority. I reviewed school documentation, including the school’s policies and procedures for safeguarding. I took account of 78 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, including 14 written comments. I also considered 23 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey.

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