Livingstone Road Infant School

Inspection of a good school: Livingstone Road Infant School Livingstone Road, Parkstone, Poole, Dorset, BH12 3DT

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Inspection dates: 16 and 17 November 2021

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Outcome

Livingstone Road Infant School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to this happy and safe school where they feel valued. They appreciate the wide range of opportunities the school provides for them, both in and out of the classroom. This helps support their personal development.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff have high expectations of pupils. Staff work as a united team to create an ambitious curriculum that engages and inspires pupils. Staff want all pupils to succeed. Pupils enjoy their learning. They want to learn new things and share their successes with others.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well. They are courteous, polite and care for each other. Pupils say that sometimes they get distracted, which can interrupt learning, but this does not happen often. Pupils understand what bullying is. They say that it sometimes happens and when it does, adults deal with it quickly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils develop a positive understanding of respect and tolerance. They know that people should be kind. Pupils have developed strong, trusting relationships with staff. Parents talk positively about the work of the school. One parent wrote that staff are, ‘all very friendly and passionate about what they are doing. My child loves coming to school’.

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

Leaders, including governors, and staff are ambitious for all pupils. Staff value the teamwork approach that exists in school. They appreciate and recognise the importance placed on everyone’s well-being. Staff unanimously agree that they are effectively supported and guided by leaders.

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

As soon as children start in Reception, they develop a love of reading. There is a consistent approach to the teaching of phonics. Books match the sounds pupils are learning. Well-trained staff are quick to spot pupils who may be falling behind. These pupils receive helpful extra support and catch up quickly. The school environment inspires 16 and 17 November 2021

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pupils to read. The Narnia room and reading train excite pupils. They listen intently to stories and rhymes that adults read to them. They say that ‘reading is for everyone’.

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The mathematics curriculum is well organised and resourced. This leads to a high level of pupil engagement. Staff ensure that there is a strong focus on pupils using mathematical vocabulary to explain their thinking, including in the early years. Adults engage in purposeful talk to deepen children’s understanding of number. Teachers use questioning effectively to check pupils’ understanding. Pupils enjoy mathematics. They can recall important knowledge from their learning over time. Staff have strong subject knowledge and deal with any misconceptions quickly.

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Leaders have worked systematically to identify key content that they want pupils to learn in the wider curriculum. For example, in design technology, the curriculum plan is clear in what pupils are to learn and when they will learn it. However, in some subjects, teachers do not always make this key learning clear enough to pupils. As a result, pupils do not recall knowledge well enough in some subjects.

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Staff know pupils well. They provide the right support and resources to engage pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities in their learning. Staff carefully break learning down into small, manageable steps that help pupils to succeed.

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Pupils conduct themselves well around the school. The school is a calm and purposeful place to learn. Low-level disruption is rare. Pupils have positive attitudes to their learning and want to do well. For those few pupils who require support, clear plans are in place to meet their needs. These plans are well communicated to staff.

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Leaders have a clear understanding of the needs of their community. High-quality pastoral support and increased positive engagement with parents has enabled the whole community to work together for all pupils. The school provides opportunities for pupils to be house captains and access a variety of sporting opportunities. Pupils talk enthusiastically about forest school and physical education activities they receive. This supports their mental health and well-being well. External visits to different places of worship support pupils’ cultural understanding.

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Governors know the school well. They understand the school’s work to strengthen the curriculum. Governors are keen to both challenge and support school leaders to ensure all pupils receive as many educational opportunities as possible.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff act in the best interests of keeping pupils safe. Effective policies and procedures are in place. Leaders ensure that staff receive frequent, up-to-date safeguarding training. As a result, staff understand exactly what to do if they are worried about vulnerable pupils. Staff are fully aware of the potential risks within the community. 16 and 17 November 2021

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Pupils say they feel safe ‘every single second’ in school. This is because they trust adults and know who to go to if they have a concern. Pupils understand that they need to stay safe online. Leaders have ensured the safety curriculum supports pupils’ understanding of risk.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have put in place a clearly sequenced and planned curriculum. However, in a few subjects, pupils are not always clear about what the teachers expect them to learn and why. As a result, pupils cannot explain their learning well enough. Teachers need to be explicit with pupils about what subject-specific content they need, so they know more and remember more over time.

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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 or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, 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 deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the predecessor school, Sylvan Infant School, to be good on 3 and 4 December 2013.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View 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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How can I feed back my views?

If you are the school and you are not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school. 16 and 17 November 2021

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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 and 17 November 2021

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School details

Local authority Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole

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School details

Inspection number 10200922 Type of school Infant

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School details

Website www.livingstoneroadinfant.org.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school joined the Hamwic Education Trust in June 2017.

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Information about this school

 The school is federated with Livingstone Junior School. The schools have worked as part of a federation since 2015. Both share a senior leadership team and local governing board.

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Information about this school

 The school does not use alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders and has taken that into account in their evaluation.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector met with the executive headteacher, deputy headteacher, assistant headteacher, special educational needs coordinator, a representative from the multi- academy trust, groups of staff and representatives from the governing body. 16 and 17 November 2021

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 The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and design technology. For each deep dive, the inspector met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers and pupils and looked at samples of pupils’ work. An adult was present when the inspector met with a group of pupils about their learning.

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 The inspector listened to pupils in Years 1 and 2 read to an adult.

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 The inspector considered how the school keeps pupils safe. The inspector reviewed the school’s safeguarding procedures and talked to pupils, staff and governors about safe working practices. The inspector also checked considered the school’s single central record.

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 The inspector considered 38 responses to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View, including 16 free-text responses, eight responses to the pupil online survey and 17 responses to the staff survey.

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Inspection team

Heather Barraclough, lead inspector Her Majesty's Inspector 16 and 17 November 2021

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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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