Marchwood Church of England Infant School

Inspection of a good school: Marchwood Church of England Infant School Twiggs Lane, Marchwood, Southampton, Hampshire SO40 4ZE

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Outcome

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

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending this school and are proud to be part of this caring community. They understand the school’s values of love, courage and hope and try their best to demonstrate them. Pupils are polite, kind and considerate. At breaktimes, they enjoy playing with their friends on the ‘galleon’ or learning to balance on stilts. Pupils feel safe in school. They know what to do if people are not kind to them and they trust adults to help them to sort things out quickly. Bullying is rare and is always dealt with promptly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils rise to the high expectations of staff. They develop independence because they are always encouraged to have a go at tasks, from doing up their coat to explaining the meaning of challenging words. Pupils are keen to talk about their learning. They work hard in lessons and take pride in their work.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are active members of the village community and delight in visiting the church and being part of ‘army day’ in collaboration with the local military barracks. They welcome new pupils to the school and use the ‘buddy bench’ to ensure that everyone is included in their games.

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

Leaders have developed a curriculum that is broad and ambitious for all pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Since the last inspection, there has been a significant change of leadership. Leaders have made sure that important knowledge has been selected and organised so that pupils’ learning builds over time. Pupils make links between new knowledge and things that they have learned before. This helps them to achieve well. Teachers check how well pupils are doing and use this information to plan and reshape teaching. On the whole, teachers present key ideas and concepts clearly. However, this is not always the case in subjects such as mathematics. Sometimes, teachers do not present new content clearly enough. This means that not all pupils learn important concepts as securely or deeply as they could. 19 and 20 April 2023

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Leaders have prioritised reading and have trained staff to deliver a carefully sequenced phonics curriculum. Children start to learn phonics as soon as they arrive in Reception. Staff are skilled and adept at identifying any pupils who are falling behind with their reading. They provide targeted support to help them catch up quickly. Books match the sounds that pupils know, and pupils read regularly to adults in school. This helps them to read accurately with fluency and confidence. Pupils enjoy reading the books that are available in the playground at breaktimes. This encourages reading for relaxation and pleasure. Story times help pupils to acquire new vocabulary, which they use in conversations. They develop a love of reading and talk enthusiastically about the poems and stories they have read and listened to.

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Pupils behave well because leaders have put in place a very clear system that is applied consistently by all staff. They are keen to be ‘counted in’ by showing their ‘ready, respectful and safe’ behaviour. In Reception, children are taught to take turns, helping them to work together cooperatively from when they start school.

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Teachers and leaders know their pupils well. Families, especially those in the armed forces, appreciate the time and care that all staff take to support their children. Leaders have developed clear systems to help teachers identify quickly if a pupil may have SEND. They guide teachers on how to help pupils and ensure that support is effective. Pupils with SEND access the full curriculum alongside their friends and make progress against their individual targets.

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Governors have set a clear and inclusive vision for the school. As a result, all pupils benefit from activities to develop their character. These range from weekly clubs to theatre productions of classic novels. Pupils learn about the democratic process through voting for the charity of the year and class representatives on the school council. Pupils are proud of these roles of responsibility. Play leaders and ‘redcaps’ organise activities and equipment for their peers. This means that breaktimes are full of a range of interesting games that pupils enjoy.

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Governors are diligent in their roles and have a strong understanding of the school. They are mindful of staff’s workload and ensure that staff’s well-being is considered and promoted. Staff, including those at the start of their careers, value this approach.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have established a strong culture of safeguarding. Their clear and effective training programme means that staff are alert and responsive to the signs of abuse. They report any concerns, no matter how small. Leaders have created robust systems for managing concerns. Records show that they are tenacious in their work with external agencies so that pupils get the help they need. Pupils know how to stay safe both online and offline because safeguarding forms part of the curriculum. 19 and 20 April 2023

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Staff do not always present and explain new concepts well enough when introducing new content in subjects such as mathematics. As a result, pupils’ learning is not as deep as it could be. Leaders should ensure that all teachers receive the training that they need so that the curriculum is implemented as intended 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 October 2013.

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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. 19 and 20 April 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 20 February 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The headteacher took up her post in January 2021.  The school is a Church of England school in the Diocese of Winchester. Its last section 48 inspection, for schools of a religious character, took place in February 2018. The next section 48 inspection will take place within eight years of the date of this inspection.  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 her evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the headteacher and other leaders.  The inspector carried out deep dives in the following subjects: early reading, mathematics and religious education. For each deep dive, the inspector met with curriculum leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to 19 and 20 April 2023

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teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspector met with members of the local governing body.  The inspector spoke to a representative from the local authority. She held a telephone discussion with a representative from the Winchester Diocesan Board of Education.  The inspector explored the school’s safeguarding arrangements through considering safeguarding records and procedures and through discussions with leaders, pupils and staff.  The inspector observed behaviour at lunchtimes and breaktimes.  The inspector considered the 32 responses and 28 free-text responses made by parents to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View. The inspector spoke to parents at the start of the day.  The inspector gathered the views of staff by speaking to groups and individuals and considered the 17 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey.  The inspector gathered pupils’ views by speaking to groups of pupils and speaking to

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pupils during breaktimes and in lessons. There were no responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey.

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Inspection team

Lizzie Jeanes, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 19 and 20 April 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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