Parsonage Farm Nursery and Infant School

Inspection of Parsonage Farm Nursery and Infant School Cherry Tree Close, Farnborough, Hampshire GU14 9TT

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

This school was last inspected 14 years ago and judged ‘Outstanding’ under a previous inspection framework. This reflected the school’s overall effectiveness under the inspection framework in use at the time.

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

From then until November 2020, the school was exempted by law from routine inspection, so there has been a longer gap than usual between inspections. Judgements in this report are based on the current inspection framework and reflect the changes that may have happened at any point since the last inspection. 24 and 25 May 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parsonage Farm is a caring school where staff know every pupil well. Pupils enjoy coming to school to learn new things with their friends. They describe it as a welcoming place where they feel safe and listened to. This is because staff work together as a team to care for them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well because adults have high expectations and model what they want pupils to learn. If bullying happens, leaders deal with it effectively. Pupils talk enthusiastically about the school’s values and how they can demonstrate these through how they behave. Pupils socialise happily together and delight in the wide range of activities outside. They enjoy exploring their talents and interests through a growing range of sports clubs and special events to enrich the curriculum.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to belong, and are kind to each other. There are well-considered opportunities for pupils to take responsibility and make a difference in school and in the community. Pupils relish serving on the school council, helping as lunchtime buddies or learning as part of the ‘wilder team’. Pupils value their relationships with their teachers. One pupil said, ‘They are kind and help us learn more words.’

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better?

Leaders have made reading a priority for improvement. Children in Reception Year learn to blend sounds quickly so they can read words. However, reading is not as well developed as it should be. This is because the teaching of reading is inconsistent. Not all staff have enough expertise in how to teach phonics well. Pupils’ reading books do not always help them to practise the sounds they know. Some of the books that pupils use to read are too hard for them and hinder fluency, especially for Year 1. Pupils speak warmly about their favourite books and authors.

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better?

Leaders have designed a broad and ambitious curriculum. Teachers plan work that pupils often find interesting and demanding. In most subjects, lessons clearly build on prior learning. Pupils remember what they have been taught and use this to help them learn new things. However, in some subjects, such as history, this is not yet the case. This is because teachers do not use assessment consistently or well enough. For example, assessment is not used to help pupils use knowledge fluently, check for understanding or inform future teaching. Leaders are aware of this and have plans to address it.

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better?

Leaders deliberately structure the curriculum so that what children learn in Nursery and Reception Year prepares them effectively for what they are taught in key stage 1. Children in the early years settle in well to the routines and high expectations of the early years classes. They get off to a secure start because they learn to be focused, resilient and more independent, ready for Year 1.

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better?

Staff identify the support required for all pupils to achieve well. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Leaders have a sound 24 and 25 May 2022

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knowledge of the differing needs of pupils with SEND as they move through the school. These leaders are skilled in identifying individual needs and supporting teachers to adapt their teaching. This enables pupils with SEND to learn effectively alongside their peers.

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Staff have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. The foundations of the positive culture are firmly laid down in the early years. Pupils respond well to the modelling and praise they receive from adults. They want to behave and choose to do so, both in the classroom and outside. Teachers develop strong classroom routines right from the start so that most lessons are both focused and purposeful. If anyone becomes distracted, staff calmly remind them of what they should be focusing on. Pupils react well, showing an eagerness to learn.

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Pupils’ personal development is well considered. The curriculum supports pupils to recognise and respect others’ differences. As a result, pupils show empathy and care for others. Character development is prioritised, which enables pupils to become more confident and gain more independence. Leaders provide meaningful opportunities for pupils to learn about responsibility and become active citizens, for example by supporting local charities. Opportunities to develop pupils’ interests and further enrich the curriculum have been affected by COVID-19. The impact of the pandemic has restricted the school’s capacity to offer the range of clubs, assemblies and workshops previously in place. However, leaders are now addressing this.

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Governors work well alongside leaders to develop strategic plans and check that these are working as intended. Governors offer useful support and challenge to help leaders achieve their goals. Staff are proud to be part of the team. They appreciate and value the way that leaders are considerate of their workload and well-being.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Pupils feel safe here, and their parents confirm this. Appropriate safeguarding training enables staff to recognise signs that may suggest a pupil is at risk of harm. They know what to do if they are concerned. Leaders work well with external agencies to ensure that pupils get the help they need quickly. Leaders make sure that they share relevant information with the other schools and professionals in the community. Governors monitor and challenge the school’s safeguarding work but there is more to be done. The school’s safeguarding records were not well organised and contained inaccuracies. When this was pointed out, leaders addressed issues quickly.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have not ensured that the teaching of phonics is effective enough. Some staff do not have the knowledge they need to teach phonics with accuracy and 24 and 25 May 2022

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precision. In addition, the books pupils are given do not match the sounds they know. Leaders must provide training to staff involved in early reading. They should assure themselves that the phonics programme is fully resourced and that teaching is effective so that pupils learn to read fluently by the time they leave Year 2.  Teachers in key stage 1 do not consistently incorporate effective assessment opportunities into their foundation lesson designs. Nor do they always utilise opportunities within the lesson to check that all pupils are developing the intended understanding. This means that some pupils do not acquire the knowledge that they need to make secure progress across the curriculum. Leaders need to develop assessments in the foundation subjects so that teachers are systematically checking pupils’ understanding and that all pupils are supported to embed knowledge and use it fluently.  Leaders have not followed their own policies consistently when dealing with

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safeguarding concerns. For example, centralised record-keeping is incomplete and does not correspond with other records held elsewhere. This means that individual pupil records are not fully collated to share with external partners or monitor in an appropriate way. Leaders must ensure that all record-keeping is complete and that all designated safeguarding leads follow the school policies and local authority arrangements.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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.

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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. 24 and 25 May 2022

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 11 June 2008

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Information about this school

 There is a nursery provision at the school for children aged from three years old.  The school does not currently use any alternative provision.  The school hosts a breakfast and after-school club and sports clubs are run by an external provider (SCL), separately registered with Ofsted.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher and the special educational needs coordinator. The lead inspector met with five governors, including the chair of the governing body. The lead inspector also spoke with a representative from the local authority. 24 and 25 May 2022

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 Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed curriculum plans with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The lead inspector also heard pupils read.  To inspect safeguarding, inspectors reviewed a range of safeguarding documentation, including the school’s recruitment checks and records of concerns about child protection. The lead inspector met with the designated safeguarding lead and one deputy designated safeguarding lead. Inspectors also spoke with staff and pupils about safety and child protection.  Inspectors took account of parents’ responses to Ofsted’s survey, Ofsted Parent View, and parents’ written comments. An inspector also talked with parents on the morning of the first day of inspection.  Inspectors gathered pupils’ views about their learning, what behaviour is like at

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the school and whether they felt safe. Inspectors also talked to pupils about their views on personal development.  Inspectors met with a range of staff to gather their views about the school and took account of responses to Ofsted’s confidential staff survey.  Information about pupils’ behaviour, attendance and incidents of bullying was reviewed.

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Inspection team

Gareth Flemington, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Andy Platt Ofsted Inspector 24 and 25 May 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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