The Crescent Primary School

Inspection of a good school: The Crescent Primary School The Crescent Primary School, Toynbee Road, Eastleigh, Hampshire SO50 9DH

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Outcome

The Crescent Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love their school. Happy faces fill classrooms and corridors. In the words of the school song that staff and pupils perform together during assemblies, ‘everybody’s proud to call this school our school’. Pupils achieve well across an exciting and interesting curriculum. This is because leaders have high expectations for their learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are highly respectful and tolerant of each other. They ensure everyone feels welcome. Pupils know they are expected to behave well. They know the importance of being ‘ready, respectful and safe’. Pupils do not feel concerned by bullying. They know there are caring adults who look out for them and will help them to deal with any challenges they face.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils thoroughly enjoy their ‘Happy Lunchtimes’. This initiative ensures pupils have something exciting and engaging to do with friends during their break. Dancing to music and popping bubbles are particular favourites. Pupils are appreciative of the wide range of enrichment activities on offer. Many pupils benefit from frequently taking part in the variety of sporting and creative clubs. Pupils’ interests in music are fostered from a young age and they enjoy performing to the residents of the nearby care home.

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

Leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum. It is well planned and thoughtfully organised, outlining the order in which pupils should learn key knowledge. This helps pupils build their understanding progressively over time. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are skilfully supported to access the same learning as their peers. Teachers successfully adapt tasks to meet individual needs. Additional adults provide valuable support. This means that all pupils are able to learn well. 11 and 12 July 2023

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Teachers have the expertise to deliver the planned curriculum effectively. Teachers’ break down learning into manageable chunks. They clearly model the skills and methods that they want pupils to learn. Teachers regularly recap what pupils have recently learned. This helps pupils to commit learning to long-term memory. In subjects such as English and mathematics, teachers carefully check what pupils have understood. They use this information to adapt future plans. Leaders are continuing to support teachers to ensure that they are able to do this successfully in all subjects.

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In early years, teachers plan stimulating activities that make use of carefully designed indoor and outdoor spaces. Children develop artistic skills by making creative characters, linked to the books they are reading, with a range of high-quality materials. However, not all activities are as purposeful as they could be. Leaders recognise that some areas of the curriculum need to be more clearly defined and planned in Reception Year.

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Leaders ensure that learning to read is a high priority. From Reception Year, pupils regularly read in school and at home. Pupils and their parents enjoy stories together in the ‘reading cafés’. Leaders have recently introduced a new phonics programme that sets out the sounds and words that pupils should learn. It is taught effectively by well-trained staff. Pupils learn helpful strategies to be able to sound out and blend longer words. Consequently, pupils, including those with SEND, learn to read well.

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Staff have high expectations for pupils’ behaviour. Pupils behave consistently well in class and around the school site. They have positive relationships with staff and listen attentively to their teachers in lessons. Pupils enjoy the ‘always awesome’ rewards they get for consistently doing the right thing. Staff closely monitor pupils’ behaviour, constantly looking for ways to raise standards. Well-trained staff who work in the ‘Nurture’ provision help pupils who find it more difficult to manage their behaviour. Here, pupils get help to develop effective strategies to regulate their emotions.

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Leaders provide a thoughtful wider development programme for pupils that extends beyond the academic curriculum. Pupils benefit from a variety of stimulating experiences that leaders have carefully planned. This includes a range of exciting trips to the farm in Reception Year, and to the beach, museums and theatres as pupils move through the school. Well-considered assemblies develop pupils spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding. Pupils build this through frequent opportunities to debate and explore the views of others. This features prominently during ‘parliament week’, during which pupils hear from local politicians and develop an understanding of democracy.

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Governors take their responsibilities very seriously. They robustly hold leaders to account for the performance of the school. Staff are highly positive about the leadership of the school and the vision for continued improvement. They feel their workload is well managed and that leaders are always on hand to support them in their roles.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 11 and 12 July 2023

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Staff are well trained in knowing how to spot possible signs of harm and neglect. Leaders have established rigorous procedures to ensure that safeguarding concerns are raised quickly and recorded. Leaders review safeguarding documentation frequently. They hold each other to account for their actions in order to keep pupils safe. Leaders work well with external agencies if they have concerns about a pupil.

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Pupils feel safe in school. If something troubles them, they let their teachers know through the ‘worry monsters’ in classrooms. They are well equipped to keep themselves safe in the community and when online.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have not yet ensured that the planning of the curriculum in early years prepares children for future learning in all areas. This means that children are not always as well prepared for key stage 1 as they could be. Leaders need to ensure that curriculum planning identifies the key knowledge that children need to learn in readiness for year 1.  In some subjects, teachers do not always check precisely the knowledge and skills that pupils have learned. This means that they are not always able to adapt planning to address gaps in knowledge. Leaders should make sure that teachers consistently check pupils’ understanding in order to make the right adaptations to help pupils achieve well.

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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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in February 2018.

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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. 11 and 12 July 2023

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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. 11 and 12 July 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10269126 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Headteacher Mark Wartnaby (interim headteacher)

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 27 and 28 February 2018, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 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 lead inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and has taken that into account in his evaluation of the school.  The inspectors met with the interim headteacher, senior leaders, subject leaders, the leader responsible for pupils with SEND, many teachers and support staff.  The lead inspector met with governors and with a school improvement adviser from the local authority.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, history, and design and technology. To do this, they met with subject leaders, visited lessons and spoke to teachers. They looked at curriculum plans and pupils’ work. They met with pupils to discuss their learning.  The inspectors scrutinised safeguarding arrangements, including the school’s central record of recruitment checks. They sampled a range of safeguarding documentation.

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The inspector also spoke to a variety of staff to check how well safeguarding referrals and systems work.  The inspectors observed pupils around the school site during break times.  Meetings were held with groups of pupils and staff to hear their views.  The inspectors considered the responses to the confidential Ofsted surveys for staff, pupils and Ofsted Parent View.

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Inspection team

Martin Smith, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Paul Shaughnessy Ofsted Inspector 11 and 12 July 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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