Lorraine Infant School & Nursery

Inspection of a good school: Lorraine Infant School Highland Road, Camberley, Surrey GU15 4EX

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Outcome

Lorraine Infant School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

School leaders and staff know each pupil through and through in this happy, welcoming school. Staff form strong bonds with pupils and families and make sure that pupils feel safe. With warmth and firm but gentle guidance, pupils blossom. Pupils make healthy friendships and are well prepared for junior school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils care for each other and love working together. They copy staff’s good manners, consideration and kindness. The school’s atmosphere is calm and secure. It is a place where children can be children and enjoy learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well in this school. It is rare for them to be deliberately unkind to each other. They want to help and are keen to get involved in school life. Pupils who need a few extra reminders to keep concentrating try hard to remember and follow instructions.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff expect pupils to listen carefully, take part in activities and do their best. Pupils rise to the occasion. They are lively and enthusiastic about learning and thrive on the well- deserved praise they receive for taking part and trying.

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What is it like to attend this school?

No pupils are left out or left behind in this school. The school does all it can to provide extra support for pupils and families in difficulties .

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

An exciting world of knowledge opens up for children in this school. Teachers make sure that pupils link what they are learning to previous topics. They broaden pupils’ horizons and build up their store of knowledge. For example, Year 2 pupils study Captain Cook and pirates as part of geography. They explore island maps and the Jolly Roger flag. Later, they learn about what national flags signify and how to create their own maps.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Reading is taught effectively. Many pupils arrive at the school unable to communicate well. Nursery and Reception staff encourage children to talk and listen to others. Children 25 September 2019

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enjoy handling books, listening to stories and rhymes and telling their own tales. They are taught phonics (letters and the sounds they represent) effectively right from the start of Reception. As a result, standards in pupils’ reading are rising.

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Pupils throughout the school gladly talk about the books they love. They know that reading is an essential and natural part of their daily lives. Pupils are avid readers of non- fiction. When studying dinosaurs in Year 1, some pupils brought their own books into school to share their fascination. Reading undoubtedly adds to pupils’ knowledge, for example, about history and the animal kingdom.

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Pupils enjoy putting their ideas on paper and there are examples of their lively writing on display throughout the school. Teachers make sure that pupils hold their pencils properly, form their letters carefully and use correct spelling and grammar. Storytelling is part of every school day. Entertaining and moving stories capture pupils’ imaginations and spark their writing. Pupils in Year 2 learn about Grace Darling. They write accurate accounts of her inspiring rescues and talk about whether they could ever be so brave.

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The school welcomes parents into the school to help support their children’s reading. For example, the school’s reading café is a place where parents enjoy time with their children, learning from teachers’ expertise.

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Teachers set up consistent routines. No time is wasted when pupils move from one activity to another. Only gentle reminders are needed when pupils take too long to settle down. Staff treat pupils fairly when they fall out or misbehave.

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The school is proud of all it offers outside lessons. All pupils attend clubs, trips and special events, not as ‘extras’ but as part of their entitlement. The school provides excellent support for pupils who have emotional difficulties. Specialist staff are on hand to help pupils manage their anxieties and get back on track.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) achieve well. Expert staff work well with other professionals to quickly identify when children from the early years onwards need support. Extra help for pupils with SEND helps them catch up but not miss out on any class activities.

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Leaders act with integrity. They are ambitious for children to have the best start to their education, from Nursery right up to secondary school. The executive headteacher and her team have transformed the atmosphere in the school. They have revised the curriculum and raised expectations of pupils’ behaviour. The school looks outwards, to try to involve parents more fully in their children’s education.

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School leaders take care of pupils and staff. Teachers’ workloads are not unreasonable. Helping staff to be the best they can be is a clear priority for leaders. They are rightly working on building up teachers’ subject knowledge in all areas of the curriculum. The school’s strategic board of governors and trustees monitor the school effectively. 25 September 2019

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

A team of well-trained designated safeguarding leaders (DSLs) across the federation of schools carry out their child protection duties meticulously. They work closely with other professionals and are not afraid to insist upon support from the local authority if needed. All staff are up to date with their training. They understand their duties to keep children safe. They are watchful for signs of harm or neglect and diligent about reporting concerns. The school works hard to help pupils to understand how to keep themselves and each other safe. The school’s records of safeguarding concerns are thorough, professional and held securely. All checks on adults working in the school have been carried out in line with statutory guidance.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school’s curriculum is well planned to support pupils’ needs and build up their knowledge and skills. Leaders provide staff with helpful guidance and support. However, leaders need to further develop teachers’ and teaching assistants’ subject knowledge and confidence in all areas of the curriculum.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called a section 8 inspection of a good school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the predecessor school, Lorraine Infant School, to be good on 12 May 2015.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school. 25 September 2019

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. 25 September 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10111236 Type of school Infant

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School details

Headteacher Claire-Louise West (Executive Headteacher)

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Lorraine Infant School is a smaller than the average infant school. It is part of a federation with Pine Ridge Infant School and Cordwalles Junior School.  The school is led by an executive leadership team, which leads all three schools in the federation. The team comprises an executive headteacher, a head of school, a special educational needs coordinator and DSL who also oversees inclusion.  The federation of schools is operated by the GLF Schools multi-academy trust.  The schools strategy board (SSB) oversees the work of all three schools and takes responsibility for governance.  The school converted to academy status in February 2017. The predecessor school’s last inspection was in May 2015, when its overall effectiveness was judged to be good.  A higher-than-average proportion of pupils in the school have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).  The Nursery is part of the school’s provision and caters for two-year-old children.

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 Inspectors met with the executive headteacher, head of school and other senior leaders from the federation.  We also met with the chair of the SSB, the school’s education partner and the chief executive officer of the GLF Schools trust.  Meetings were held with teachers from the school and Nursery.  Inspectors met with pupils, reviewed their work and spoke to them about their experience in school.  An inspector spoke to parents collecting children at the end of the day.  We focused on reading, writing and geography during the inspection. We met with the subject leaders. We visited pupils in lessons, including geography and phonics. We spoke to pupils and their teachers from these lessons and reviewed pupils’ work.  Inspectors reviewed the school’s arrangements for safeguarding, including the checks made on adults working in the school.  We considered the school’s provision for pupils with SEND and what the school offers

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to pupils outside the timetabled curriculum.

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Inspection team

Janet Pearce, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Clementina Aina Ofsted Inspector 25 September 2019

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regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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