Fairway Infant School, Copthorne

Inspection of a good school: Fairway Infant School, Copthorne Fairway, Copthorne, Crawley, West Sussex RH10 3QD

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Outcome

Fairway Infant School, Copthorne continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy school a lot. One parent said, ‘My son is so happy here, he loves going to school.’ Pupils say that they really enjoy learning and are happy at school because teachers make lessons ‘fun’ and ‘exciting’. Pupils feel that they are cared for well, listened to and valued. Staff know the pupils well and have very good relationships with them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are extremely courteous and behave exceptionally well. Consequently, there is a calm atmosphere around the school. Pupils listen carefully to the staff and each other in lessons. As a result, lessons flow smoothly and without interruption. Pupils move around the school sensibly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe in school. They know who they can talk to if they have a worry. Pupils confirm that if there is any bad behaviour or bullying the staff will sort it out quickly. They know that the adults in school care about them and their families.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff and governors have high expectations. Because of this, pupils are keen to succeed. They benefit from clubs and additional activities such as karate, gym and dance. These opportunities develop their personal qualities such as teamwork, as well as their academic skills.

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

Leaders have designed a curriculum that is ambitious for children and pupils. It enables them to achieve highly overall. Teaching mostly introduces topics in a logical order well. Teachers demand much of and meet the needs of all pupils. In early years, staff provide interesting tasks that make the children think hard. This encourages the children to use different skills at the same time. In most areas, teachers’ subject knowledge is well developed. Where it is not quite as strong, it is developing.

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

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) also learn effectively. 16–17 October 2019

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Teachers adapt work skilfully to meet their needs. Staff across the school provide extra help so that SEND pupils are fully involved in lessons.

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Pupils’ reading skills are particularly good. Teachers help pupils in the early stages of reading well. Over time, they develop pupils’ knowledge and skills in phonics. Staff are skilled at checking that pupils use the right sound for each letter. This is reinforced continually during lessons other than phonics. This means that pupils can apply this knowledge fluently when reading aloud. They enjoy reading and listening to stories. Children in the early years develop a good understanding of phonics because single letter sounds are taught well.

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The curriculum provides a wide range of opportunities for pupils to learn away from the classroom. For example, in the early years children practise their mathematical skills when cooking different foods. These events are mostly placed at just the right time to enhance pupils’ knowledge and understanding of the topic. However, there are times when learning is not always organised well enough, such as in history. This means that pupils do not achieve as well as they could in this subject.

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Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is effective. It helps them to become responsible and thoughtful of others. Pupils also develop skills that help them to engage in society. For example, pupils learn how to speak for others, when acting as a school councillor. Pupils’ social skills are very good. They are polite, respectful and thoughtful towards each other throughout the school day.

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Pupils are very well behaved, responding to guidance and help from staff immediately. There is very little low-level disruption during lessons. Pupils say that bullying is very rare and if it does happen, it is dealt with well. This enables pupils to learn many new things in a highly positive environment.

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Children in the early years do well. They learn to write letters and use their knowledge of numbers accurately. This sets them up well for the next steps in their well-planned curriculum. Children behave well in the inside and outside areas. Staff and leaders work closely and effectively with parents to get to know the children quickly and well.

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Leaders and governors have moved the school forward. The headteacher leads a dedicated team of staff well. Leaders understand the main pressures on staff as they carry out their duties. They take this into account carefully when considering the workload of staff. Subject leadership is strong but needs to be enhanced further to make sure that the curriculum is planned more systematically. Governors use their wide range of skills well to support and challenge leaders. They visit the school to check that planned improvements are happening.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

School leaders and governors ensure that there is a strong culture of keeping children safe. Pupils know that the staff will always look out for them. One parent expressing the 16–17 October 2019

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views of many commented, ‘It is a lovely, safe school which has a good, strong leadership team.’ All staff receive effective training and are updated regularly so that they know precisely what to do if they are worried about a pupil. They report concerns quickly and appropriately. Leaders then take any necessary action. They work well with other agencies to ensure that pupils get the right support.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Subject leaders generally have strong expertise in the areas they manage. As a result, the school’s curriculum in most subjects is strong. However, in some non-core subject areas, leaders’ expertise in ensuring that learning is planned methodically is not as well developed as it is in other subjects. Senior leaders and governors are aware of this. They should ensure that plans to develop leaders’ expertise further are put into action and evaluated.

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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 section 8 inspection since we judged Fairway Infant School, Copthorne to be good on 4–5 February 2016.

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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.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school. 16–17 October 2019

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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. 16–17 October 2019

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 4–5 February 2016

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Information about this school

 Since the last inspection the governing body has appointed a number of new governors, including the chair of the governing body.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector held meetings with the headteacher, curriculum leaders and the special educational needs coordinator (SENCo).  The inspector met with five members of the governing body, including the chair of governors. He also met with a representative from the local authority.  The inspector met with groups of pupils, senior leaders, curriculum leaders and teachers to talk about the quality of education at the school.  The inspector made visits to classrooms. Some of these visits were with the headteacher and some were with the deputy headteacher.  The inspector listened to pupils read and spoke to pupils formally and informally about their learning and experiences at school.  The inspector focused on reading, mathematics and history. He talked with pupils about their work and discussed the subject with the teacher in charge of the curriculum 16–17 October 2019

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area. He looked at other subjects on the second day.  The views of parents were gathered as the inspector talked to parents at the end of the school day.  The inspector considered the 45 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, and the 45 free-text responses received during the inspection.  The inspector considered a range of documentation including the school’s self- evaluation, the school’s key priorities, school policies and curriculum documents.  Documents relating to safeguarding were reviewed, including the checks that leaders make on staff prior to employment.

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Inspection team

Richard Blackmore, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 16–17 October 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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