Netley Abbey Infant School

Inspection of a good school: Netley Abbey Infant School Westwood Road, Netley Abbey, Southampton, Hampshire SO31 5EL

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Inspection dates: 17 and 18 January 2023

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Outcome

Netley Abbey Infant School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils arrive happily at school, looking forward to their day ahead. They communicate with each other positively and develop a love for learning. Pupils understand the importance of healthy lifestyles. They also take an active part in the local community.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents are very positive about the school and the education it provides. Their children have dedicated and caring adults who support them throughout the school day. This is reflected in pupils’ positive attitudes. Adults work with skill, compassion and consistency to enable all pupils to succeed. They encourage pupils to be independent. Pupils talk positively about how adults help and support them as individuals.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils really enjoy coming to school. Classrooms are hubs of learning, active children fill the playground and pupils are sociable at lunchtime. All pupils show politeness and respect for adults and classmates. They behave in a calm and orderly way and are keen to get on with their work in class. Pupils learn how to identify bullying and know what to do if they see someone being unkind. This helps them to feel safe at school.

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

Leaders have high aspirations for all pupils at the school. The curriculum has been carefully designed, with a clear priority on reading. Leaders have taken decisive action to put in place a new reading scheme. Leaders want pupils to enjoy reading, which they do. The school has invested heavily in high-quality texts for pupils to both read and listen to. The ‘Reading Treasure Trail’ has caught the imagination of the pupils, and this incentive is encouraging a genuine love of reading.

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

In other subjects, leaders support staff to know what to teach and when. They have created curriculums that ensure pupils learn progressively. However, this is stronger in some subjects than it is in others. Where this is most effective, leaders have identified the knowledge pupils need to learn with great precision. Lessons are well organised and pupils use practical resources appropriately. Pupils’ work shows that they build on their 17 and 18 January 2023

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previous learning. Staff check pupils’ understanding of what they have learned diligently. This process is purposeful in helping teachers to identify what pupils need to learn next.

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Staff support pupils with specific needs well, giving careful consideration to make the learning accessible to all. Some pupils need extra support to access the curriculum, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities or those with particular behavioural needs. The school supports these pupils effectively, in collaboration with their families.

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Pupils’ behaviour is strong. Leaders ensure that there is a consistent approach to managing behaviour well across the school. Leaders have high expectations for pupils’ behaviour and model this in their own conduct. Pupils’ behaviour and conduct in all lessons and around the school are calm and orderly. ‘Bucket Filling’ celebrates pupils’ everyday acts of good behaviour. Celebration assemblies are a treasured opportunity to highlight all pupils’ talents and successes.

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Leaders develop pupils’ wider experiences well. The personal, social, health and economic education programme comprehensively identifies what pupils should learn. Opportunities for music, choir and sports are frequent. Cultural visitors include artists, authors and theatre performers, while the school choir performs at the local care home.

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Supporting the local community is a key focus of the school. Pupils consider the needs of others. This includes providing jumpers and coats to families in need, donating items to the local food bank throughout the year and making shoebox donations at Christmas. Early work on understanding future employment is in place, with a ‘Careers Week’, where a variety of parents or members of the local community come to school to talk to pupils about their jobs.

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Governors know their responsibilities, and carry these out effectively. The dedicated staff are very supportive of one another. Elements of their own well-being influence the ethos of the school’s work. For example, ‘Appreciation Aardvark’ is when someone recognises the work of a colleague who has gone above and beyond to improve the learning experience of pupils.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is a robust system in place to support pupils. Pupils say they are safe and comfortable talking to a trusted adult. Staff maintain clear and detailed records when there are safeguarding concerns. Leaders are also able to show where the school’s actions or advice have made the right difference.

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Safeguarding

Leaders make sure that all adults receive appropriate training. Staff are knowledgeable, as a result. Governors understand their responsibilities for safeguarding, and recruitment processes are robust. They assure themselves that what is happening is effective. The curriculum includes important safeguarding elements that pupils learn, including online safety. 17 and 18 January 2023

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, leaders have not yet fully identified the precise knowledge and skills that pupils will learn. This means pupils’ understanding does not consistently build over time as well as it could. Leaders need to continue developing the whole curriculum so it provides the key knowledge, skills and vocabulary for pupils to learn and remember consistently well in all subjects.

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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 an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in December 2011.

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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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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. 17 and 18 January 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Headteacher Shirley Nicholas-Bond (Executive Headteacher) Gemma Cutler (Head of School) Website www.netleyabbeyschools.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 11 July 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school federated with Netley Abbey Junior School in November 2020.  The executive headteacher was appointed to post in December 2020.  The head of school joined in September 2022.  The school currently uses one registered alternative provider.

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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 their evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the executive headteacher, the head of school and four members of the governing body, including the chair of governors. The inspector also met with a representative from the local authority and other leaders within the school.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and geography. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with subject 17 and 18 January 2023

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leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspector reviewed the arrangements for safeguarding by scrutinising safeguarding records, by interviewing staff, and through discussions with pupils.  The inspector considered the views of parents shared through Ofsted Parent View. They gathered the views of pupils and staff through surveys, interviews and discussions conducted throughout the inspection.  The inspector reviewed a range of the school’s documentation, including self- evaluation reports, minutes of governing body meetings and behaviour incident logs.

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Inspection team

Chris Parker, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 17 and 18 January 2023

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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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