Swanmore Church of England Aided Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Swanmore Church of England Aided Primary School Church Road, Swanmore, Southampton, Hampshire SO32 2PA

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Outcome

Swanmore Church of England Aided Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders ensure that the school’s values of honesty, charity and respect are simple, understood and followed by everyone. Leaders encourage pupils to reflect on their own lives and how to make a positive impact on others and the world around them. This deeper spiritual reflection develops through pupils’ learning. For example, the librarian wants pupils ‘to see the joy of reading and the doors it opens, as opposed to it simply being a thing you have to learn.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

All members of staff expect pupils to behave and make the school a great place to learn. To encourage a sense of calmness and to foster taking responsibility, pupils look after guinea pigs, chickens, a therapy dog and fish with affection. Pupils rightly show a fondness for the education and experience they receive. They enjoy a variety of clubs, and everyone gets a chance to take part. Pupils appreciate the support that staff members give them. They also appreciate activities such as the thoughtfully planned ‘hook days’ at the start of a unit of learning and residential trips where pupils overcome challenges and fears. This ensures that, by the time they leave the school, pupils are ready for the next stage of their education.

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

Leaders have constructed a curriculum that is well sequenced and structured. It is engaging and ambitious for all, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Leaders have recognised and responded proactively to the previously lower performance of disadvantaged pupils. They sought external support and have implemented a rigorous plan to increase the academic achievement of these pupils. As a result, disadvantaged pupils are learning more and engaging more in school life.

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

Staff implement robust processes to ensure that pupils in infant classes learn early reading skills as quickly as possible. The early reading scheme is well embedded. Appropriate support is in place for pupils who find learning to read more difficult. As a 10 and 11 May 2023

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result, leaders ensure that staff teach pupils according to their current needs and that all pupils have the best chance to learn to read well. This love of reading continues through the school.

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Leaders provide teachers with documents that detail the key knowledge, skills and vocabulary pupils need to learn. Teachers organise pupils’ learning well and use practical resources, when appropriate, in, for example, mathematics. In geography, leaders provide excellent opportunities for pupils to develop their fieldwork skills. Well-chosen residential trips to the New Forest, Swanage and the Brecon Beacons enhance the work in the classroom. These visits enable pupils to have first-hand experiences of using more complex geographical concepts. They get to see and understand a range of different types of erosion and read more complex maps with success. To ensure that pupils with SEND can benefit from this engaging learning, teachers usually provide tasks that have been thoughtfully modified to enable all pupils to demonstrate their understanding.

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Leaders have created a process to check how well pupils have learned the key points in each unit of work. However, this needs some further refinement to make pupils’ learning even stronger. This is because not all the useful information subject leaders and teachers have about previous learning is being used to focus future lessons. This means pupils do not currently learn as well as they could in some subject areas.

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Leaders have embedded behaviour systems, including ‘house points’ and ‘star of the week’, to encourage pupils’ positive behaviour across the school. These result in strong standards of pupils’ behaviour in and out of the classroom. This is supported through a personal, social and health education curriculum that prepares all pupils for life in modern Britain. All this leads to a very calm school, where pupils’ respect for others is thoughtful and mature.

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Pupils’ wider development is strong. All pupils have the chance to develop interests through a range of clubs and trips. Pupils learn a range of musical instruments, and the school choir performs in locations such as the O2, the local village hall and in church. Many pupils take part in various sporting fixtures against other schools, and they enjoy sports day.

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Leaders, including governors, consider staff workload and well-being with care. This helps to generate a strong community spirit, which parents appreciate. The vast majority of parents hold the school in high regard. This is reflected in many of the comments parents made about the school’s values, ethos and staff.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

All staff ensure that a clear, strong safeguarding culture is in place. Governors fulfil their safeguarding duties and responsibilities effectively. Leaders’ regular training of staff is thorough. When a member of staff or leader identifies a possible concern, they take appropriate action, keeping clear and comprehensive records. This ensures that pupils get the support they need, including access to wider services. 10 and 11 May 2023

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Pupils appreciate the support teachers provide when they have a problem, including online. The curriculum is designed to support the online safety of pupils, with lessons on topics such as fake profiles and fake news.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, staff do not systematically use the information about how well pupils have learned the curriculum to plan what to teach next. As a result, not all pupils achieve as well as they could. Leaders should ensure that teachers use the assessment information they gather to plan future learning opportunities more precisely.

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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 May 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. 10 and 11 May 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10256461 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 31 October 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is designated as having a religious character. Its last Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools took place in March 2018, at which time it received a good judgement overall.  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 have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher and six members of the governing body, including the chair of the governing body. The inspector also met with a representative of the local authority, the diocese 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 10 and 11 May 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.  In addition, the inspector also looked at other curriculum areas, including physical education and art and design.  The inspector reviewed the arrangements for safeguarding by scrutinising safeguarding records, 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 interviews and discussions conducted during 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 10 and 11 May 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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