Durrington Infant School

Inspection of good school: Durrington Infant School Salvington Road, Worthing, West Sussex BN13 2JD

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Inspection dates: 23 and 24 November 2021

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Outcome

There has been no change to this school’s overall judgement of good as a result of this initial (section 8) inspection. However, the evidence gathered suggests that the inspection grade might not be as high if a full inspection were carried out now. The next inspection will therefore be a full (section 5) inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at the school love helping others and learning new things. They like the chance to work in the school bank and earn ‘Durrington dosh’ to spend in their shop for following the school rules. Pupils greet friends with cheerful faces, reflecting the warmth and care they are shown by adults at the school. When they are worried or sad, they trust their teachers to help them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff care about the pupils and their families and put them at the heart of all they do. They show pupils how to think of others by working with local charities. When learning is hard, pupils keep trying and show the school value of ‘never give up’. One pupil said, ‘I told my friend to keep going and he did.’ Everyone plays together, and pupils quickly make room for others who want to join in. They know that this kindness means no one is left out.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are not picking up all the important skills and knowledge they need. Leaders are helping staff to bring about important changes for pupils at the school. They know which areas of the school’s work are not good enough and are taking steps to put that right.

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

Over the last few years, change has been slower than leaders planned. Leaders and governors are clear now about what needs to happen next and are determined to make a difference. Staff are working together to make the curriculum better for pupils by focusing on what and how pupils learn. They appreciate the changes leaders are making because it allows them to focus on what is important for pupils. Leaders are sourcing the right training to strengthen expertise across a range of subjects. This is at an early stage of development and has not had time to embed. 23 and 24 November 2021

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Mathematics learning is well planned, sequenced and resourced. There are high expectations of children in nearly all classrooms. Most staff have good subject knowledge and make mathematics fun. Pupils enjoy mathematics and want to get better at it. In early years, adults find different ways for children to practise counting with objects that are familiar. A small group of children let out gasps of horror when an adult added five ‘legs’ to a hedgehog marked with the numeral four, and they said, ‘That’s not right.’ They quickly took a peg away to correct it.

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Phonics sessions develop pupils’ knowledge of sounds and letters. Pupils enjoy learning to read new sounds such a ‘j’ in jelly, jug and jog. However, some pupils struggle to read fluently by blending sounds together. These pupils lose confidence and look for adult help. The books they use to practise reading on their own are not helping them to get better. Pupils like choosing other books from the library and from their class book boxes. Class books that teachers read aloud are not selected for the quality of their language or author. This means that pupils have fewer models of high-quality text read to them than they need.

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The quality of education pupils receive in other subjects is not as good as it should be. Some of the curriculum design stops pupils developing really secure understanding. This is the case in geography, for example. After local visits, pupils can find physical features such as a river or a hill, but they cannot explain why these features might have been important. This is because ideas such as ‘settlement’ are not explained clearly enough, or pupils’ understanding checked carefully.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) learn to write and use numbers well. Teachers break their learning into small steps and make time for pupils to practise. In other subjects, these pupils struggle to read information, record their thinking and remember new ideas.

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Children listen carefully to teachers and one another in class. They take care of their own and others’ belongings and know that if they are too rough in their play or boisterous when they are moving about, they could hurt others. Pupils have the skills to deal with positive and negative feelings and can talk to their trusted adults and their peers with confidence.

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There are a range of opportunities to develop pupils’ talents and interests. However, leaders have not yet checked whether the most disadvantaged pupils are benefiting as fully as they intend, for example through their participation in pupil leadership roles.

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In discussion with the co-headteachers, the inspector agreed that the teaching of reading, curriculum planning and progression in the foundation subjects and teachers’ expertise to adapt teaching for pupils with SEND in subjects other than English or mathematics may usefully serve as a focus for the next inspection.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 23 and 24 November 2021

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Staff act quickly when they have a concern. Families receive the support they need because leaders know the early help available and how to access it. Adults throughout the school know when pupils are at risk and how to share their worries with the people who need to know. Leaders have adapted their curriculum to respond to Ofsted’s latest findings about harmful sexual behaviour. This is giving children the tools and language they need to ask for help, say yes or no, and know when keeping secrets might be harmful to them.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Teachers do not have the expertise or resources they need to teach reading well. Pupils struggle to read fluently on their own when their reading books do not match the sounds they have learned. Leaders and governors should secure training in a rigorous and sequential phonics programme and make sure that pupils can practise blending to become fluent by using suitable books. They should also widen the selection of high- quality literature that pupils hear read out loud by adults.  Leaders have not designed a curriculum that helps pupils to remember the most important concepts and ideas across a wide range of subjects. Planning focuses on the activity, an experience or a product, rather than learning. Leaders should ensure that planning identifies essential knowledge and guides teachers to focus on the most important ideas that they need pupils to remember.  Teachers are not adapting learning successfully for pupils with SEND in subjects other

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

than English or mathematics. They are less certain how to support these pupils during lessons when there is not another adult in the room. This affects pupils’ success and ability to work independently. Leaders should provide training to widen the range of approaches teachers use to help pupils with SEND access learning independently, make progress and achieve regular success.

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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 school to be good in September 2016.

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

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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.

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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. 23 and 24 November 2021

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School details

Inspection number 10200132 Type of school Infant

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Headteacher Sara Ensor and Zoe Wilby (co- headteachers) Website www.durringtoninfantjunior.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 30 September 2016, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is led by co-headteachers. Durrington Infant and Junior Schools were federated in April 2011. The two schools share the same governing body.  There is a Nursery class which takes children from the age of three years.  There are new subject leaders for mathematics and writing.  The school does not currently use any 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 her evaluation.  The inspector met with the co-headteachers, deputy headteacher, assistant headteacher, special educational needs coordinator, the early years leader, subject leaders and a group of governors, including the chair of governors. The inspector also held an online meeting with a local authority adviser. 23 and 24 November 2021

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 The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and geography. For each deep dive, the inspector spoke to school leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, met with staff, spoke to pupils and looked at their work. The inspector observed pupils reading to a familiar adult, toured the school with pupils and observed phonics sessions in all year groups.  The inspector also reviewed the school’s improvement plans.  A meeting was held to discuss safeguarding with the safeguarding team, which included the co-headteachers as designated safeguarding leads. Records of safeguarding incidents were discussed and scrutinised. The inspector also spoke to staff and pupils about safeguarding in the school.  The inspector spoke to staff about their workload and well-being. She also met with pupils to discuss the school’s values, look at the school bank and reward shop, and talk

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about pupils’ personal development. She considered responses to Ofsted’s online surveys for staff, pupils and parents.  The inspector observed pupils at lunchtime and spoke to them about behaviour and bullying.

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Inspection team

Abbie Wilkinson, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 23 and 24 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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