Lee-On-the-Solent Infant and Nursery School

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

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Mrs Julie Roche Headteacher Lee-On-the-Solent Infant and Nursery School Elmore Road Lee-on-the-Solent Hampshire PO13 9DY

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Short inspection of Lee-On-the-Solent Infant and Nursery School

Following my visit to the school on 27 November 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 2015.

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Short inspection of Lee-On-the-Solent Infant and Nursery School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Based on the evidence gathered during this short inspection, I am of the opinion that the school has demonstrated strong practice and marked improvement in specific areas. This may indicate that the school has improved significantly overall. Therefore, I am recommending that the school’s next inspection be a section 5 inspection.

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Short inspection of Lee-On-the-Solent Infant and Nursery School

Since becoming headteacher in January 2018, you have led with an unwavering ambition for all pupils to succeed at Lee-On-the-Solent Infant and Nursery School. Your vision, to ensure outstanding progress for all, while enabling the children to hold onto their childhood, is clear for the whole community to see. The school’s ‘leap’ values are embedded throughout the culture and ethos of the school. As a result, pupils are enthusiastic learners, showing resilience and strong critical- thinking skills. Leaders ensure that pupils receive high-quality teaching within a supportive and nurturing environment. You have very high expectations, and your staff team has risen to meet them. Staff morale is high.

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Short inspection of Lee-On-the-Solent Infant and Nursery School

Pupils love many aspects of school life, including yoga, playing football, and the wide range of trips they go on. They say their lessons are fun. Behaviour is calm and focused on learning, as a result of their exciting learning tasks. During my visits to classes, I saw how creative the pupils are in their approach to learning and how well they work together. For example, in a Year 2 lesson, pupils were deciding where to visit in the time vortex they had built. They were using atlases and information books to write clear reasons why they had chosen to visit the Arctic, listening well to each other’s ideas. Pupils told me that their teachers are kind and helpful. As one pupil said, ‘If you are stuck, teachers will help you figure it out.’

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Short inspection of Lee-On-the-Solent Infant and Nursery School

Leaders have built excellent relationships with parents and carers. Parents appreciate the many opportunities they have to be involved in their children’s learning. One parent wrote, summing up the views of many: ‘This school has an excellent senior management team. The headteacher leads a cohort of motivated, passionate and caring staff who have the best interests of the children at the centre of all they do.’

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Short inspection of Lee-On-the-Solent Infant and Nursery School

Following recommendations from the previous inspection, you have worked successfully to raise the proportion of pupils reaching the higher standards in writing. Attainment is consistently high at Lee-On-the-Solent Infant and Nursery School. In 2018, at the end of key stage 1, a greater proportion of pupils than seen nationally reached both the expected and the higher standards in reading, writing and mathematics. You recently received a ministerial letter congratulating the school on high attainment in the Year 1 phonics screening check in 2018. These high results put Lee-On-the-Solent Infant and Nursery School in the top 7% of schools in the country for phonics attainment. During my visits to lessons, I observed how well pupils write. They write with confidence and stamina, with a high regard for punctuation, spelling and sentence construction. The recently introduced handwriting scheme ensures that pupils have efficient and automatic letter

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Short inspection of Lee-On-the-Solent Infant and Nursery School

formation. As a result, presentation is of a high quality. A significant strength is the emphasis on children’s acquisition of language skills. Every opportunity is taken to model the correct use of language, and to reinforce and introduce new vocabulary. Pupils, therefore, express themselves well in their writing.

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Short inspection of Lee-On-the-Solent Infant and Nursery School

The previous inspection report also asked leaders to close the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils in the school. Leaders are highly ambitious for disadvantaged pupils to make strong progress in the school. However, leaders acknowledge that too few disadvantaged pupils reach the higher standards.

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Short inspection of Lee-On-the-Solent Infant and Nursery School

Since the last inspection, leaders and governors have taken over the running of the on-site Nursery and this is now very much part of the school. Children get off to a flying start in the Nursery, and transition into Reception is smooth. Staff have created a vibrant and positive environment which fosters independence, and which taps in to the children’s interests. As a result, children feel valued and are confident, making excellent progress.

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Short inspection of Lee-On-the-Solent Infant and Nursery School

School leaders and governors fulfil their statutory safeguarding duties well. Policies and procedures are fit for purpose, and day-to-day routines are secure. Pre- employment checks to ensure the suitability of all adults who work or volunteer in the school are fully in place. Safeguarding records are very detailed, and communication between staff is strong. An electronic system ensures that any information is shared promptly with the leaders responsible for safeguarding matters. Any safeguarding concerns are followed up swiftly. Relationships across the school are extremely positive. The newly created ‘family hub’ offers a space for families to work closely with the school and other agencies, such as the recent workshops on anxiety and anger run by the school nursing team. Vulnerable pupils and their families are supported well.

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Short inspection of Lee-On-the-Solent Infant and Nursery School

Pupils say that they feel safe in school. They are confident that there is always an adult to talk to if they have any concerns or worries. Pupils told me that the behaviour of other children is good. They have a very secure understanding of the behaviour policy and what would happen if they made a ‘bad choice’. Parents too think that their children are safe and well looked after. As one parent commented, ‘I feel thankful that my children are able to attend such a caring school.’

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Inspection findings

 Leaders have created a vibrant curriculum which builds upon the pupils’ interests and aims to create life-long learners. Leaders ensure that teaching allows time to revisit learning, so that new knowledge is securely learned. The curriculum is enriched through theme weeks, high-quality sports provision, educational visits and a wide range of after-school clubs. As a result, pupils learn very well across the wider curriculum and attain standards in other subjects in line with their very high attainment in English and mathematics. The quality of pupils’ writing in subjects other than English is also of a high quality.  Assessment is used well to ensure that teachers take pupils’ starting points into consideration. As a result, I could see many examples where the most able pupils were challenged in a wide range of subjects. Pupils are given regular opportunities to think deeply. Teaching skilfully links areas of the curriculum

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Inspection findings

together, so that pupils learn to apply their knowledge and subject-specific skills to different contexts. For example, in a Year 2 lesson, pupils displayed a high level of geographical knowledge and understanding while designing a new role- play area.  Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) achieve well. This is because the school has good procedures in place to identify and support pupils at an early stage. Staff, including teaching assistants, are well trained, highly skilled and very knowledgeable about individual pupils’ needs. Pupils’ workbooks and the school’s internal tracking show that these pupils make strong progress across the school.  Leaders allocate pupil premium funding to agreed priorities. They have a good understanding of the barriers to learning faced by disadvantaged pupils and have put in place a wide range of support. As a result, disadvantaged pupils make

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Inspection findings

excellent progress in line with, and sometimes better than, other pupils with similar starting points. However, leaders acknowledge that they do not make the best use of the evaluative information they have collated to ensure that more disadvantaged pupils reach the higher standards.  Leadership at all levels is excellent. Staff are part of a cohesive team which is constantly improving and developing the already strong practice. They are ambitious to continue to provide their community with the very best. Leaders provide staff with high-quality training and, as a result, teaching and leadership skills are highly effective. More-experienced teachers provide very good support, through a well-established coaching model, for those who are newer to the profession.  Governors have a thorough understanding of the strengths and areas of development of the school. They bring a wide range of skills to their role.

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Inspection findings

Governors use the detailed information provided by the headteacher and other senior leaders to ask pertinent and challenging questions, holding leaders to account for their actions. For example, governors robustly challenge spending decisions to ensure that funding has a positive impact on pupils’ outcomes and well-being. However, the evaluation given to governors regarding the success of the additional funding for disadvantaged pupils is not specific enough. This means that governors cannot fully hold leaders to account for the impact of this funding, especially for the most able disadvantaged pupils.

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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

 they sharpen up the recording of the evaluation of the pupil premium strategy so that more disadvantaged pupils reach the higher standards.

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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, I met with you, the deputy headteacher and the school business manager to discuss the school’s effectiveness. We visited classrooms to observe pupils’ learning, and to talk to pupils about their work and their attitudes to learning. We looked at the quality of work in pupils’ books and online learning journals. I considered 117 responses from parents to the online questionnaire, Parent View, including free-text comments. I also spoke to parents at the beginning of the school day. Responses to Ofsted’s pupil questionnaire and staff questionnaire were considered. I had a meeting with a group of pupils to discuss their views about the school.

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Information about the inspection

I met with four governors and spoke to a representative from the local authority on the telephone. In addition, I met with three middle leaders. A wide range of documents was examined, including: school improvement planning; attendance information; information about pupils’ progress; and various policies. I also examined the school’s website.

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