Lyndhurst Infant School

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

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Mrs Diane South Headteacher Lyndhurst Infant School Lyndhurst Road Worthing West Sussex BN11 2DG

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Short inspection of Lyndhurst Infant School

Following my visit to the school on 20 February 2018, 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 January 2014.

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Short inspection of Lyndhurst Infant School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Parents, carers and staff value your strong, dynamic leadership. You are supported by hardworking, caring staff and active, knowledgeable, governors. You are all highly reflective, know your pupils individually and are constantly looking to improve learning for the children. You are committed to fostering a love of learning in your pupils through a creative and practical curriculum. Your pupils enjoy learning and find school fun. They are proud to be part of your school.

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Short inspection of Lyndhurst Infant School

Your leadership has encouraged staff to take part in research projects and develop their teaching skills. The new approaches trialled last year have led to improvements in phonics, reading and writing throughout the school and are continuing to have a positive effect on pupils’ learning. Pupils recognise that they are given the opportunity for ‘lots of learning’. They like their teachers and want to do their best for them. A group of pupils agreed when one child said that the teachers are ‘awesome’.

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Short inspection of Lyndhurst Infant School

Parents recognise that the staff are enthusiastic, caring and welcoming to them and their children. They appreciate the confident way that teachers manage their classes and encourage learning. All parents who replied to Ofsted’s survey, Parent View, said that their children are safe and happy at school. They know that the school provides unrivalled pastoral care. Behaviour seen during the inspection was exemplary. Pupils concentrate well in lessons and playtime was a calm and social experience. Pupils enjoy helping each other make friends in the playground. Pupils relish the opportunities they have to take responsibilities as a school councillor or a member of the eco committee. Pupils understand the school values and appreciate the opportunities they have to vote. They enjoy the wide range of clubs available to them. The pupils are rightly proud of the many awards that the school has won.

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Short inspection of Lyndhurst Infant School

At the previous inspection, you were asked to improve spelling. Your renewed focus on teaching phonics has strengthened the pupils’ spelling skills. You make sure that pupils practise spellings and have introduced a 'no excuse' culture for spelling common words. Spelling is consistent in writing completed in English lessons, especially where teachers have provided support. However, pupils’ spelling is less secure in independent work in other subjects.

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Short inspection of Lyndhurst Infant School

You also rightly identified that reading required further development. You have approached this through an increased focus on phonics. Your training for staff and additional support for pupils has resulted in improvement in the standard of reading for all pupils. It has made the most difference to disadvantaged pupils, pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities and pupils who speak English as an additional language. These pupils are now making accelerated progress and are catching up with other pupils.

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Short inspection of Lyndhurst Infant School

Leaders have ensured that systems for safeguarding are thorough. Records are kept meticulously and are of a high quality. All staff receive a wide range of training, which is regularly updated. Governors monitor safeguarding rigorously. Care and welfare for the pupils is a top priority at Lyndhurst. Adults are fully aware how to report any concerns, and you have been relentless in ensuring that other agencies such as social services are responding to the needs of your pupils and their families.

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Short inspection of Lyndhurst Infant School

Staff teach pupils to keep themselves safe. Regular teaching about internet safety ensures pupils can talk confidently about how to keep themselves safe online. The school website provides very clear information for parents on e-safety. Pupils said they feel safe at school. They are confident that adults are there to help them if needed. Both parents and pupils do not think there is any bullying in school. Pupils said that sometimes other children can be physical or rude, but the teachers swiftly resolve any incidents.

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Inspection findings

 The inspection focused on safeguarding and attendance; your actions to provide challenge for the most able; the quality of your curriculum and whether the work you have been doing to improve phonics, reading and spelling is having an impact on the quality of pupils’ writing.  Recognising the need to improve attendance, you have ensured that parents are in no doubt about its importance to their children’s education. One parent said that the pressure for them to ensure their children attend school is ‘full on’. You have introduced certificates and awards for the pupils and letters and meetings for parents. Your family engagement support officer provides help for individual families. You do everything you can to encourage pupils to attend even if they are late. Despite this, a few pupils are persistently absent and this means that your attendance remains lower than you would like it to be. You are very aware

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Inspection findings

of this and working with families regarding their attendance remains a priority for you.  Over the past year you have had a focus on challenging the most able pupils in all areas of the curriculum. You recognised that the proportion achieving greater depth in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 2 was below the national average. You trained your staff, improved the way teachers spoke to pupils about doing well at school, and provided additional workshops for the most able pupils. Some pupils acted as the expert to help other pupils learn in some areas of the curriculum, for example ‘beach school’. Pupils are encouraged to notice their mistakes and edit some of their own work and the work of others. These strategies have resulted in improving sentence construction and punctuation in writing, particularly in the work of the most able pupils. You recognise that the most able disadvantaged pupils are not making fast enough

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Inspection findings

progress. As a result, you are tracking their progress and specifically planning their interventions. Although you have handwriting lessons, presentation and handwriting is not as good as it should be. Some pupils find writing physically difficult and do not enjoy writing and, thus, take less pride in their work.  Many pupils told me how much they enjoy mathematics. Their books show good progress. Your well-designed curriculum leads to good opportunities for learning. Pupils think about their learning, explain their reasoning, and solve problems. Some pupils are challenging themselves further by posing their own questions. The most able pupils are working above age-related standards and show that they are mastering mathematical skills well as they move up through the school.  Teachers and adults in the special support centre encourage good learning habits. Pupils work on an appropriate curriculum for their age. With support, they

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Inspection findings

were finishing their work and were proud of their achievements. Pupils are very effectively integrated into mainstream classes for some lessons. All are making progress in relation to their starting points and their specific needs.  Your curriculum is interesting and creative. Teachers are passionate about the subjects they lead. They provide very clear guidance about the teaching of their subject and carefully check to make sure that secure learning is taking place. Pupils appreciate and enjoy the many outings and visitors arranged for them. These activities provide stimulating starters for writing. I saw some well-written pieces following a trip to Arundel Castle. Teachers make links between subjects where it is appropriate. Where skills and knowledge do not fit well with the topic, some areas are taught discretely. This is particularly effective in science. The standard of pupils’ spelling and grammar in topic work is not as high as it is in

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Inspection findings

English lessons.  The curriculum is further enhanced by enrichment activities such as international day and engineering week. These events have a lasting effect on the pupils. Last year, the whole community came together to celebrate Filipino day. Pupils are still talking about the structures they made in engineering week. During the inspection, one child was using a box as an aeroplane and talking about flying, for example. All value music and the arts, and every child learns to play the ocarina. Pupils have the opportunity to listen to, and join in with, many musical and artistic activities. During the inspection pupils benefitted from a visit from the local high school band.  You have made sure that your classrooms provide good support for phonics and spelling. Teachers and teaching assistants know how to teach phonics effectively. Pupils are making rapid progress. They are using their skills well in their writing.

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Inspection findings

Pupils are enthusiastic about their reading, and many in Year 2 were proud to say that they were reading chapter books. This is having a positive effect on their use of vocabulary in their writing. You are successfully developing a culture of reading and several pupils said that they read at home as well as at 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

 handwriting and presentation improves, so that pupils can write fluently and easily and have more pride in their work  teachers across the curriculum have the same expectation of pupils’ standards in spelling and grammar in writing as they do in English lessons.

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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 West Sussex. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

I met with you, your deputy heads, your team leaders, your SEN coordinator, office staff, four governors and a group of pupils, and telephoned a representative of the local authority. I visited classes across the school with you to observe teaching and learning. I also considered 46 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire and 22 responses to the staff questionnaire. I took into account comments written by parents. I analysed a range of school documents including leaders’ self-evaluation and improvement planning, minutes of governing body meetings, safeguarding checks, policies and procedures.

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