Bursledon Church of England Infant School

Inspection of a good school: Bursledon Church of England Infant School Long Lane, Bursledon, Southampton, Hampshire SO31 8BZ

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Outcome

Bursledon Church of England Infant School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe in school. They say their teachers are kind and care for them. The school values, ‘love, respect, aspire’, teach pupils to be kind to one another and to be the best they can be. Pupils learn to embrace diversity and make sure to include everyone. As one child said, ‘It does not matter if you are different, everyone is happy here.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils learn how to be a good friend. Bullying is rare. Leaders and staff have high expectations about how all pupils behave. Pupils understand these expectations and behave well. They make sure they make ‘green choices’ and avoid making ‘red choices’. Classrooms buzz with eager learning. Staff deal with any low-level disruption quickly, with no fuss. Leaders investigate any behaviour incidents well. They quickly spot any pupil who needs extra help in learning how to behave and manage their emotions. Staff understand pupils’ triggers and give the right support.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The vast majority of parents and carers are positive about the school. They appreciate the workshops that help them understand how their children are learning. One parent wrote, summing up the views of many, ‘The school is a wonderfully nurturing, warm, kind environment.’

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

Leaders make sure that pupils ‘learn to read’ and ‘love to read’. Daily story time captivates pupils. Reception children love joining in with repeated words and phrases in known stories. Teachers support children’s language development well. Children flourish in the early years. They learn to think for themselves and ask the right questions.

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

As soon as children join Reception, they learn the sounds letters make. Very quickly children learn to blend these sounds together to make words. Staff are well trained and confident in teaching phonics. Pupils read books that are well matched to the sounds that 5 and 6 July 2022

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they know. Teachers make good use of information from pupils’ phonics assessments. Pupils get the extra help they need to keep up as staff know exactly what to focus on.

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Pupils enjoy mathematics. Their work shows that teachers know the steps in learning that pupils need to understand. Teachers explain new ideas clearly. They know what misconceptions pupils may have and look out for them. Following national lockdowns due to COVID-19, teachers considered carefully any gaps in pupils’ understanding. Teachers ensure that pupils have the foundations secure, ready for the next stage in their education.

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Leaders are working on clarifying what teachers must teach in some foundation subjects for early years to Year 2. They have not finished yet. Leaders have not yet fully identified the core concepts that pupils need to learn. This means that sometimes teachers are not precisely sure what to focus on. Pupils do not always develop and remember their learning fully. For example, in geography, pupils can only recall limited details of some locations that they have studied. Sometimes, assessment does not tie closely enough to the curriculum to check the depth of pupils’ understanding. Leaders have a clear vision and effective plans in place to improve this.

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Staff identify swiftly those pupils who may have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Leaders have recently reviewed the provision these pupils receive. They have raised teachers’ expectations of pupils with SEND and coached staff into better understanding how to adapt learning for this group of pupils. In English and mathematics, this has worked effectively and pupils with SEND learn well. This is not as consistently successful in the foundation subjects.

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Leaders make sure they broaden pupils’ experiences and deepen learning through an extensive range of trips, visitors and enrichment days. Pupils cherish these memories. They love recording them in their ‘Burlesdon passport’.

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Pupils like helping their community, such as through fundraising for local charities. They enjoy the leadership roles they have in the federation. Currently, school council are working with their Member of Parliament to improve road safety in the local area.

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The current leadership team have a drive and determination that pupils will achieve well. There have been many changes recently to improve teaching and learning in a short space of time. These changes are successful and making a difference to pupils. Pupils achieve well in English and mathematics. Staff appreciate the professional development they get to improve their skill set. A small number of teachers voiced concerns about workload. Leaders and governors know that there is more to do to support teachers further.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 5 and 6 July 2022

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Staff take their safeguarding responsibilities seriously. They are well trained. Leaders make sure that staff receive regular safeguarding updates. This keeps their knowledge current.

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Staff are vigilant. They know how to log any worries they have. Leaders follow up on any concerns swiftly and thoroughly. There is strong communication between the staff responsible for safeguarding.

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Leaders make sure that pupils learn about keeping safe. For example, pupils know not to share their name, address and date of birth online.

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At the start of the inspection, some safeguarding checks on staff and governors were missing. This was quickly rectified during the inspection.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school’s curriculum is not yet sufficiently well planned and sequenced in some foundation subjects. This hinders teachers from focusing on the right concepts to make sure that pupils learn and remember key content over time. It is clear from leaders’ actions that they are in the process of bringing this about. For this reason, the transitional arrangements have been applied. Leaders should continue with their plans to ensure that pupils’ learning, from early years to Year 2, is coherently sequenced, with key knowledge identified.  Not all staff consistently use their recent training to take account of the needs of pupils with SEND in foundation subjects. This means that these pupils do not always learn as well as they could. Leaders should ensure that teachers always have high expectations for these pupils and the expertise to best deliver their learning.

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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 second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in January 2013. 5 and 6 July 2022

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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.

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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. 5 and 6 July 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10227214 Type of school Infant

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Headteacher Kerry Stamp (Executive Headteacher) Richard Partridge (Head of School) Website www.bursledonschools.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 14 March 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school runs as a federation with Bursledon CE Junior School. They share a governing body.  Since the last inspection, the school was without an executive headteacher for a period of 15 months. The current executive headteacher joined the federation in January 2021.  The head of school is retiring in July 2022.  This is a school with a religious character. The school is designated as a Church of England infant school. The school’s last section 48 inspection took place in June 2016.  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 leaders and has taken that into account in the evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with senior leaders, staff and pupils. 5 and 6 July 2022

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 The inspector carried out deep dives into these subjects: early reading, mathematics and geography. For each deep dive, they met with subject leaders to discuss the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at a sample of pupils’ work. The inspector heard some pupils read. They also looked at work and considered the curriculum in some other subjects.  The inspector met with six members of the local governing body including the chair and spoke to a representative from the local authority on the telephone.  To inspect safeguarding, the inspector met with the designated leaders for safeguarding. They reviewed a wide range of documents and records including the school’s record of recruitment checks and records of concerns. The inspector also spoke to staff, governors and pupils about safeguarding.  The inspector met with a range of leaders, teachers and support staff to discuss the

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wider development of pupils, behaviour, professional development, well-being and workload.  The inspector considered parents’ responses to Ofsted Parent View, and parents’ free- text comments. They also took into account the responses to Ofsted’s online surveys for staff and pupils.

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Inspection team

Lea Hannam, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 5 and 6 July 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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