Orchard Lea Infant School

Inspection of Orchard Lea Infant School Kennedy Avenue, Fareham, Hampshire PO15 6BJ

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Good 7 and 8 June 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a kind and welcoming school. Adults know every pupil and care for them well. Pupils feel safe. They know adults will help and support them. The school motto of ‘growing together to achieve and succeed’ is at the heart of all that the school does.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know and try their best to follow the school rules of ‘ready, respectful, safe’. They can explain the importance of being respectful to everyone. At times, pupils, including the youngest children, struggle to remember how to behave. Pupils say that bullying occurs sometimes but that adults listen and sort out any issues quickly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy to be able to choose to attend the many clubs the school has. They enjoy their school trips.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders and governors are ambitious for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Following leaders’ recent review, pupils now benefit from a broad and challenging curriculum. However, leaders know pupils, across the school, are not achieving as well as they should. Leaders have a clear understanding of what pupils need to know as they move through the school.

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better?

The school has experienced a number of staffing challenges this year. The acting executive headteacher has acted quickly to address key issues. However, there is still work to do to ensure that pupils benefit from a good-quality education.

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better?

Teachers do not have high enough expectations of pupils’ behaviour in class. Too often, pupils, including the youngest children, are distracted from their learning. They are slow to respond to instructions. At times, they struggle to listen to adults and each other.

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better?

Procedures to identify pupils with barriers to learning, particularly for those pupils with SEND, are in place. However, the identification of need is not clear enough and is taking too long. As a result, pupils with SEND are not receiving the support that is required early enough to enable them to make progress in line with their peers.

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better?

Reading is the number one priority for all leaders. Staff are experts in the teaching of phonics and reading. This is because of the training they have received. Children in the Reception Year get off to a strong start in reading. They have daily phonics lessons as soon as they begin school. Leaders regularly check to ensure that the books pupils are reading match the phonics sounds they know. This develops their confidence and fluency. However, pupils with SEND and pupils who are disadvantaged are not keeping up with their peers. New support strategies have recently been put in place but have yet to have a real impact.

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better?

Leaders develop pupils’ love for reading through daily story times. Teachers select high-quality texts to expand pupils’ vocabulary. Children in the Reception Year 7 and 8 June 2023

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enthusiastically share their version of the story of the ‘superworm’. The ‘snuggle and read’ monthly sessions, in which parents come in and read with their children, is a highlight for many.

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Leaders and staff are committed to providing pupils with interesting learning experiences. In all subjects, leaders have ensured that learning is sequenced and progressive. This is particularly effective in mathematics. For example, children in the Reception Year use their knowledge of making 10 to support their learning when making 20. The school’s curriculum overviews start from the Reception Year and build on through to Year 2. These set out the key knowledge and skills leaders expect pupils to learn. They also make explicit the expectations of what pupils will know and remember at the end of a topic.

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Teachers use the curriculum overviews and start lessons by revisiting prior learning and try to address any gaps before they introduce new content. They check pupils’ understanding throughout the lesson before moving on. However, the curriculum is not yet embedded or having the intended impact. Consequently, some pupils have gaps in their knowledge in many subjects. They struggle to remember what they have learned before.

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Leaders ensure that pupils learn about respect, kindness, commitment, healthy eating, and physical health. This is to enable pupils to make good decisions about relationships and to care for themselves.

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Governance has significantly improved since the last inspection. They now hold leaders and staff to account for the outcomes of all pupils. They regularly visit to check on the effectiveness of leaders’ actions. Staff are motivated and know they are valued. They feel well supported to manage their workload.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have made sure that all staff are well trained. There is an ongoing programme of training which enables staff to be vigilant and report any concerns. The members of the safeguarding team make sure that every support is given to children and their families. They are prompt to action and seek external support to ensure that vulnerable families receive the help and advice they need. A linked governor visits half termly to ensure that recruitment checks are fully compliant. Pupils know how to keep safe online. They know not to go on sites or talk to people they do not know.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The review of the curriculum has shown that there is limited impact on pupils’ outcomes. As a result, the essential knowledge pupils must learn in all subjects is 7 and 8 June 2023

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not yet fully embedded. This means that pupils have gaps in their learning. Leaders should ensure that all pupils can build on their knowledge and make sure that they are knowing and remembering more.  Pupils with barriers to their learning are not identified promptly. This means that support is not as effective as it should be. Pupils with SEND, and those who are disadvantaged, do not catch up quickly enough. Leaders should ensure that staff have the expertise to identify needs and put in support that improves pupils’ outcomes.  Staff expectations of behaviour are not yet consistent across the school. Pupils struggle to concentrate and listen and respond to adults. This slows learning. Leaders need to ensure that routines and procedures are embedded, understood and applied consistently so that lessons are not disrupted and pupils’ attitudes to learning are positive.

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How can I feed back my views?

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. 7 and 8 June 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10256273 Type of school Infant

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 25 and 26 January 2022, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The substantive executive headteacher left the school in April 2023, following a period of absence due to illness.  The acting executive headteacher took up post in February 2023.  The school is part of the Orchard Lea Federation.  The school does not currently use alternative provision.

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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.  Deep dives were carried out in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, art and design, religious education and history. For each deep dive, the inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited lessons, spoke to teachers, 7 and 8 June 2023

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looked at samples of work and spoke to pupils about their learning. The lead inspector observed pupils reading to a familiar adult and talked to them about their reading.  Inspectors scrutinised a selection of mathematics and topic books.  Meetings were held with the special educational needs coordinator to discuss the provision for pupils with SEND.  The lead inspector met with members of the governing body and spoke to a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors considered how well the school protects pupils and keeps them safe. The lead inspector met with the safeguarding team to evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding. Inspectors talked to staff about their safeguarding training and spoke to pupils about the support they have in understanding how to keep safe.  The views of parents were considered through the online survey for parents, Ofsted Parent View, and parents’ free-text comments to inspectors. An inspector

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also spoke with some parents at the end of the first day of the inspection.  Inspectors took account of staff’s views during meetings with them and considered their responses to the staff survey.

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Inspection team

Becky Greenhalgh, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Diane Charman Ofsted Inspector 7 and 8 June 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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