Petersfield Infant School

Inspection of Petersfield Infant School St Peter’s Road, Petersfield, Hampshire GU32 3HX

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Inspection dates: 18 and 19 October 2022

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good 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 also reflect changes that may have happened at any point since the last inspection. 18 and 19 October 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Petersfield Infant School learn in a stimulating and happy environment. They are cared for by staff who know them well and treat them fairly. Pupils are polite and courteous. They demonstrate self-confidence and enthusiasm when talking to adults.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, including those in the early years, enjoy playing together using a wide range of interesting play equipment. They know and follow the rules when eating in the canteen at lunchtime. Bullying is rare because pupils demonstrate the school values of kindness, compassion and respect.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils try to do their best in lessons. They want to live up to the high expectations leaders have for them to do well. Teachers are quick to re-engage any pupils who become distracted. However, pupils do not always achieve as well as they should in some subjects because important knowledge that they must know is not always identified. Pupils have not made as much progress as they should in reading and phonics. At times, connections between what is learned in the early years and in key stage 1 are not well considered.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children have opportunities to show leadership, for example as ‘new arrivals ambassadors’. They take care of their school environment and learn to be active citizens in the local community by litter picking throughout the year.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents are happy to send their children to this school. They comment on the supportive staff and the positive changes that have been brought about by the new headteacher.

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better?

The new headteacher has had a sharp focus on improving the curriculum. There is a broad and interesting range of subjects on offer for all pupils. Those pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported effectively to access the same curriculum as their peers. The curriculum in mathematics is well sequenced so that pupils can build on their knowledge from the early years. However, in subjects such as art and science, leaders do not consider what children in Reception must know so that they are ready for learning in Year 1. In several subjects, leaders have not precisely identified the core knowledge that pupils must learn. This means that teachers cannot effectively check that pupils know and can do more.

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better?

Teachers create many opportunities for pupils to apply their learning. For example, in art, Year 2 pupils make clear comparisons between the works of Kandinsky and Mondrian. In mathematics, Year 1 pupils use their understanding of the part-whole model to explore the relationship between numbers. In most subjects, teachers use 18 and 19 October 2022

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their expert subject knowledge to develop pupils’ understanding of key concepts and vocabulary.

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The newly introduced validated phonics scheme is well sequenced. However, this has taken too long to embed. This means that pupils have not learned to read well as quickly as they should. Leaders have put robust plans in place to help pupils catch up, although it is too soon to know what impact these have had. Children in Reception benefit from learning phonics as soon as they start the school. Wider reading books are thoughtfully chosen so that pupils explore culture and diversity.

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Children and adults enjoy positive relationships in the early years. Staff care for the children and are ambitious for them to succeed. Leaders prioritise language and vocabulary development in Reception. Children develop their language skills when working alongside adults and their peers during independent learning time. The environment has been designed to ensure that children can explore their interests by accessing resources independently.

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Pupils develop a sense of responsibility as part of the school council. For example, they vote to decide which charities they would like to raise money for. Leaders plan visits to a local museum and gardens to enrich pupils’ learning experiences. Pupils take part in a wide range of clubs, including yoga and running, to keep fit and healthy. However, leaders do not currently track whether those who would benefit the most attend. Assemblies and acts of worship ensure that pupils develop an understanding of tolerance and respect for others. Pupils learn about personal care and relationships in an age-appropriate way through the personal, social and health education curriculum.

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Governors know the school well and ask challenging questions so that leaders are held to account. They work closely with the headteacher to ensure that she has the support she needs to make improvements. The headteacher has worked hard to bring about significant positive change in the school. However, there is still work to be done to strengthen the quality of education. The headteacher has plans in place to ensure that the curriculum is developed further. Staff say that leaders are supportive and consider their well-being. They are committed to improving the school under the headteacher’s leadership.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that staff receive effective safeguarding training. Staff know how to identify pupils who might be at risk of harm, and report their concerns quickly. Leaders take appropriate actions so that pupils and their families get the support that they might need from external agencies. Governors assure themselves that leaders take the right steps to check that adults are safe to work in the school. 18 and 19 October 2022

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Pupils know that there is an adult they can talk to if they are worried. They learn about water safety and how to identify the potential dangers they may face online through the curriculum.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Curriculum plans do not begin from Reception in several subjects. This means that leaders cannot be sure that children in the early years have the secure knowledge that they need for the next stage of their learning. Leaders need to develop subject leaders’ expertise so that well-sequenced plans allow children to build on their knowledge from the early years into Year 1.  Leaders do not explicitly identify the key knowledge that pupils must know to achieve success in several subjects. This means that teachers do not always take a consistent approach to identifying what pupils know and can do. Leaders should refine their plans so that staff have a clear understanding of the specific knowledge that must be learned, and assessed, so that pupils can improve.  Implementation of the new reading programme has been too slow. As a result, too many children have fallen behind in learning to read and developing fluency.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

Leaders need to ensure that they monitor and review their plans to help pupils catch up quickly, so that pupils make the rapid progress they need to meet the age-related reading expectations.

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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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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. 18 and 19 October 2022

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School details

Appropriate authority The local authority

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School details

Website www.petersfieldinfantschool.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 27 November 2008, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not use alternative provision.  There is a breakfast club run by an external provider on the school site.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded 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.  The inspectors completed deep dives in the following subjects: reading, mathematics, computing and art. This included meeting with subject leaders and talking with staff and pupils. The inspectors also visited lessons and looked at pupils’ work. Inspectors also reviewed curriculum plans with the leaders of science and history. 18 and 19 October 2022

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 Inspectors scrutinised a range of documents, including leaders’ evaluation of the school and priorities for improvement. They met with senior leaders, a selection of subject leaders, teachers and support staff.  During the inspection, the lead inspector spoke with the local authority’s school improvement adviser and met with members of the governing body, including the chair.  The arrangements for safeguarding were reviewed by scrutinising records and through discussions with staff and pupils.  The inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in class and at other times of the day.  The views of pupils, parents and staff were considered through discussions and a review of Ofsted’s surveys.

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Inspection team

Zoë Harris, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Emma Law Ofsted Inspector 18 and 19 October 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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