Aldingbourne Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Aldingbourne Primary School Westergate Street, Westergate, Chichester, West Sussex PO20 3QR

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Outcome

Aldingbourne Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils buzz with excitement to begin their school day. They say that their teachers always make lessons interesting. Parents and carers of Reception children say that their children quickly settle into routines. They are enthusiastic about learning. Throughout the school, pupils concentrate and listen well during their lessons.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff treat pupils with respect and kindness. Pupils demonstrate those same characteristics. They are unfailingly polite. They listen to others’ views without interrupting. Staff model high standards of behaviour. They expect equally high standards in return. Pupils do not disappoint because they behave exceptionally well. Key stage 2 pupils are especially proud of their friendly school. Staff, pupils and parents report very few incidents of bullying. School records confirm this position. If pupils have a concern, they know that they must tell someone. They trust the adults in school to sort it out.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders want all pupils to reach their potential in each of the curriculum subjects. Pupils certainly enjoy their learning. Meaningful experiences, such as visits and visitors, bring subjects alive. As pupils move through the school, there is a wealth of opportunities to take part in after-school clubs, drama productions and sporting events.

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

Learning to read is one of this school’s top priorities. Children in Reception start learning phonics from their first few days in school. Teachers use their assessments extremely well to identify pupils’ next steps. Pupils practise often and they become fluent. As they move into key stage 1, pupils read their well-matched books with increasing independence. As soon as teachers spot a gap in learning, teaching assistants provide extra teaching. Support continues until pupils are successful. Pupils who fall behind achieve well in reading . The school’s strong approaches to reading help teachers to identify any emerging special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff work closely with parents and the school’s coordinator to put helpful strategies in place. 29 and 30 March 2022

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Classrooms are rich with language and vocabulary. Teachers introduce pupils to a wide variety of texts. Key stage 2 pupils say that studying their class book helps them to be better writers. Finding out about how authors write gives pupils ideas to shape their own writing. Following the COVID-19 absences, teachers adapted the English curriculum. They noticed that pupils needed to catch up, particularly in aspects of grammar and spelling. Pupils are confident that they are getting back on track. Their workbooks show this to be the case.

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Reception children learn to be fascinated by numbers. Adults prepare well-resourced activities that help children understand how mathematics work. Pupils build on this learning as they move through the school. Teachers ensure that pupils develop number fluency. They become well placed to solve mathematical problems by the time they are in Year 2.

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Leaders have designed a curriculum that engages pupils well. Pupils with SEND join in all that the school offers . Children’s learning in the Reception class securely paves the way for the varied subjects that they learn in key stage 1. Teachers ignite pupils’ interest through motivating topics. Pupils respond enthusiastically to active learning opportunities, such as the use of role play, and by finding things out for themselves. Some foundation subjects are not planned as thoughtfully as others. Sometimes, topics contain too much information. In these topics, leaders have not decided exactly what knowledge will help pupils most in the future. An example is in key stage 2 history, where pupils find out a lot of information about the Victorians. They remember the information they most enjoyed but are unclear about why historians judge this to be such a significant period.

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In some subjects, teachers do not always choose the right activities to check what pupils know and can remember. This means teachers are not well placed to help pupils deepen their understanding. The disruption caused by COVID-19 has meant that some of the developments of the curriculum have been slowed. Work to make the necessary improvements is now well under way . Governors are working closely with leaders to check the quality of provision.

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Teachers strongly support pupils’ personal development. Their conduct and behaviour are a testament to the quality of the staff’s work. Children’s positive attitudes start to be built in the Reception class, where they learn the benefits of working cooperatively. Pupils become increasingly thoughtful towards others. They learn about diversity and are sensitive towards disabled people. They appreciate why some people need more support than others, including in their school. Teachers ensure that pupils learn about fairness and justice. They take an interest in the communities to which they belong and the contribution they can make, such as by raising funds for charity. Pupils have opportunities to learn a wide range of sports, including athletics. They are proud to represent the school. Pupils’ time at the school culminates in a residential week filled with adventurous activities .

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders and staff understand their responsibilities to keep pupils safe. Appropriate recruitment checks are carried out on all who work at the school. Regular training ensures 29 and 30 March 2022

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that all staff have up-to-date knowledge. As a result, they are aware of the potential risks to pupils. Any safeguarding concerns are reported to the designated leader, who makes an informed decision about the next steps.

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Leaders maintain an overview on pupils they know to be vulnerable. They work closely with parents, carers and external agencies. Pupils and their families get the support they need.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders acknowledge that the school’s curriculum is not yet sufficiently well planned in some subjects. This means that pupils do not build knowledge coherently. For this reason, the transition statements have been applied. Leaders need to monitor their work to strengthen the curriculum carefully so that, in all subjects, it supports pupils to learn more and remember more.  In a few of the foundation subjects, pupils move on to new ideas without fully grasping previous knowledge. Teachers do not assess pupils’ understanding well enough or use this information to adapt the next steps of teaching. Leaders need to ensure that teachers assess what pupils know in all subjects to make any necessary adaptations to planning.

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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 on 15 and 16 March 2017.

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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. 29 and 30 March 2022

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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. 29 and 30 March 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10227658 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.aldingbourneprimaryschool.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 15 and 16 March 2017, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 A new chair of governors was appointed in March 2022.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection of the school since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in her evaluation of the school.  The inspector held meetings with the headteacher, assistant headteachers and other curriculum leaders, and teaching staff.  The inspector met with four governors, including the chair of governors. She talked to a local authority representative.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, English and history. For each deep dive, the inspector met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to pupils about their learning, and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The inspector listened to a sample of pupils read in Years 1 to 3. 29 and 30 March 2022

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 The inspector examined a range of documentation provided by the school, including leaders’ self-evaluation and improvement plans.  The inspector scrutinised safeguarding records, checked staff’s safeguarding awareness, spoke with parents and met with the designated safeguarding leader.  The inspector considered the responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Ofsted Parent View. She also took into consideration the responses to the confidential staff and pupil surveys.

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Inspection team

Linda Jacobs, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 29 and 30 March 2022

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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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