Queen's Inclosure Primary School

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

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Mrs Jo Allen Headteacher Queen’s Inclosure Primary School Cornelius Drive Waterlooville Hampshire PO7 8NT

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Short inspection of Queen’s Inclosure Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 24 April 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 June 2014.

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Short inspection of Queen’s Inclosure Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Together with senior leaders and governors, you have a very clear vision for the school of enabling pupils to achieve well and become happy, responsible people. Leaders have designed a rich, exciting curriculum that sparks pupils’ interest and builds their knowledge, skills and understanding. One parent commented: ‘The whole curriculum is valued, with a positive emphasis on the foundation subjects so that children have opportunities to become well-rounded individuals.’ Sport, also, has a high profile in the school, and pupils talked keenly about the successes that Queen’s Inclosure’s various sports teams have had in recent competitions.

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Short inspection of Queen’s Inclosure Primary School

Pupils enjoy coming to school and behave impeccably. They said that teachers make learning enjoyable and challenging, which helps pupils to develop very positive attitudes to learning from a young age. Pupils take great pride in their school and their work. They are keen to do well and they celebrate their achievements enthusiastically. Leaders provide many opportunities in school for pupils to take responsibility. For example, pupils take their duties in the library, during assemblies and outside, looking after the school’s grounds, very seriously.

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Short inspection of Queen’s Inclosure Primary School

Parents and carers are overwhelmingly positive about the school. They are happy with the way that staff know pupils personally, teach them well and help prepare them for the next stage of their education. One parent commented: ‘The teachers are passionate about what they do, and work towards ensuring that my child is equipped for a life-long journey.’ You have made sure that there is a strong focus on reading that permeates all aspects of learning. As a result, pupils across the school achieve well in reading and, in recent years, at the end of key stage 2, pupils’ rates of progress have been in line with those seen nationally. Attainment in reading at the end of key stage 2 was well above the national average in 2016 and 2017. However, leaders recognise that there is still work to be done to ensure that pupils achieve as well in writing and mathematics as they do in reading. However, you have ensured that the curriculum

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Short inspection of Queen’s Inclosure Primary School

provides opportunities to write across a range of different subjects.

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Short inspection of Queen’s Inclosure Primary School

Senior leaders have successfully addressed the areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection. Leaders have ensured that teaching continues to improve, by providing professional development that supports teachers’ awareness of their impact on progress and improves their skills. For example, staff observe successful teachers from Queen’s Inclosure and other schools, and undertake carefully selected training courses.

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Short inspection of Queen’s Inclosure Primary School

You have rightly placed the well-being of pupils at the heart of the school so there is a strong culture of safeguarding that staff and pupils embrace. Leaders ensure that all staff and governors are trained to recognise signs that a pupil might be at risk. All understand and follow the clear procedures in place for recording any concerns. When the need arises, senior leaders engage the support and expertise of external agencies to secure pupils’ well-being.

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Short inspection of Queen’s Inclosure Primary School

Pupil feel entirely safe in school and know that there is always a trusted adult to speak to about any concerns. Bullying is extremely rare and is quickly dealt with when it does happen. Parents praised the way that all staff take care of pupils. One parent said, ‘I have been not only impressed, but sometimes moved by [staff’s] care and understanding.’ The curriculum provides well for pupils to learn about how to be safe in a range of situations, including when on the road, around strangers and online. Pupils have an age-appropriate understanding of the risks they face when using technology and how to avoid them.

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Short inspection of Queen’s Inclosure Primary School

Leaders ensure that staff carry out all the suitability checks on people who apply to work in the school. The school’s single central record of this recruitment screening is compliant, but there was a minor administrative omission that leaders and governors must keep a check on. In addition, the safeguarding policy on the school’s website was an old version. These errors were both corrected before the end of the inspection.

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Inspection findings

 During the inspection, I focused on three key areas of the school’s work. The first concerned pupils’ achievement in writing and mathematics in key stage 2. In recent years, pupils have made less progress and attained less well in these subjects than they have done in reading. Leaders reacted strongly to the sharp decline in standards in 2016, and attainment improved sharply last year, especially in writing and mathematics. Rates of progress also improved, although they were still below the national figures.  Leaders have implemented changes to the teaching of writing and mathematics throughout the school. In writing, teachers plan carefully structured sequences of lessons, which are based on accurate assessment of pupils’ learning. Lessons ensure that pupils build their knowledge and understanding of spelling, grammar and punctuation while also learning how to apply them in their writing across the

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Inspection findings

curriculum. Beautifully presented work in pupils’ books provides clear evidence that they are making good progress.  Leaders recognised that pupils’ mathematical reasoning skills had slowed pupils’ progress in previous years. Teachers now ensure that pupils have a very secure understanding of the key mathematical concepts and are able to clearly explain their thinking before they move on. All pupils are appropriately supported and challenged in their learning. This focus on building a strong foundation of understanding was seen in all year groups. For example, pupils in Year 3 were consolidating their knowledge of a range of different methods for tackling addition and subtraction problems so that, in Year 4, pupils can use the formal column method confidently.  The second line of enquiry considered how well teaching enables pupils in key stage 1 to make the most of the strong start they receive in early years. There

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Inspection findings

has been an unsettled period in key stage 1 staffing during the last year, and outcomes in writing and mathematics dipped to well below those seen nationally. Leaders have ensured that current teaching enables pupils to make good progress from their different starting points. The new approaches that have brought about improvements in writing and mathematics in key stage 2 are now having the same impact in key stage 1.  Pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities are making much stronger progress across the school in both writing and mathematics. The proportions of pupils on track to achieve both the expected and the higher standards are close to national averages.  The third line of enquiry looked at the work of governors, particularly their rigour in supporting and challenging leaders to ensure that all pupils achieve well. The governing body has recruited new members to achieve the right balance of skills,

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Inspection findings

including expertise in education, finance and safeguarding. Regular training has ensured that all governors understand their roles clearly. They are enthusiastic and determined that the school should be the best it can be. They have a strong strategic grasp of the strengths and areas for improvement in the school. This has been reached by considering evidence from a wide range of sources, including the visits they make to talk to pupils and observe various aspects of the school’s work for themselves.  Governors are rigorous in holding the leaders to account for such aspects as the performance management of teachers, the attendance of staff and pupils and the impact of spending on disadvantaged pupils’ progress. However, they have not been sufficiently diligent in ensuring that the school’s single central record is appropriately detailed, accurate and up to date, and that all required information is on the school’s website. Where deficiencies have been found, governors have

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Inspection findings

not always been firm enough in insisting that senior leaders put things right.

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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 progress made by pupils in writing and mathematics improves further so that the proportions of pupils achieving the expected and higher standards at the end of each key stage are at least in line with national averages  the school’s single central record of suitability checks on all adults who work with pupils is closely monitored  the school’s website is compliant and remains so.

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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

I met with you, the two assistant headteachers, other leaders and eight members of the governing body. I spoke with a representative of the local authority on the telephone. I visited classes in all year groups with you to look at teaching and learning. Together, we looked at pupils’ work. I observed pupils’ behaviour around the school and had a meeting with a group of 10 pupils from Years 2 to 6. I considered 30 responses to the staff survey and 82 responses from parents to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, including 50 free-text comments. I spoke to several parents at the beginning of the day. I evaluated a range of documents, including the school’s self-evaluation documents, the ‘Moving forward plan’ and information about pupils’ attainment in all year groups. I examined the safeguarding policies, procedures and checks.

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