Hazel Wood Infant School

Inspection of Hazel Wood Infant School Hazel Farm Road, Totton, Southampton, Hampshire SO40 8WU

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Overall effectiveness Outstanding

The quality of education Outstanding Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Outstanding Early years provision Outstanding Previous inspection grade Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness Outstanding

Until November 2020, the school was exempt from routine inspection because it was judged as outstanding at its previous inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. The school has not been inspected under section 5 of the Act since June 2011. 5 and 6 December 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s determination for pupils to experience a ‘journey of opportunities’ means that they thrive and flourish. The values of independence, creativity, resilience, and teamwork thread through the curriculum themes. These form the basis for consistently high expectations for pupils’ learning and behaviour. Pupils are highly motivated in their lessons and achieve extremely well. Their behaviour is exemplary at all times.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school listens and responds to pupils, giving them a strong voice in shaping systems and procedures. At breaktimes, activities and equipment such as chalk and boards are available, following pupils’ requests. Pupils take an active part in organising and running games for their friends, such as ‘What’s the time, Mr Wolf?’ Members of the school council are proud of their contributions to the sensory garden and to restoring the pond.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers are overwhelmingly positive in their feedback about the school. From the moment their children start in early years, they feel part of the school family. They receive helpful information to allow them to support learning at home. This offer includes opportunities to attend reading and mathematics workshops and lessons, working alongside their children. Families value how the school helps them to feel connected with the local community, including participation in Totton’s Christmas lantern parade.

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better?

The school has designed a curriculum that enables all pupils to be successful. Barriers to learning are examined carefully and addressed for all pupils. This means that disadvantaged pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are extremely well supported and, as a result, achieve very well. Teaching staff are highly skilled because they embrace all training opportunities made available to them. Consequently, they are clear about how the curriculum, in every subject, builds from early years to Year 2. Subject leaders are experts and share this expertise through a strong culture of support and coaching. The governing body is thorough in the way it examines the school’s strategic plan and is unwavering in its high ambition for all pupils. Every decision is evaluated in terms of its impact on pupils’ learning and enjoyment.

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better?

Children get off to a really strong start in early years. They access a well-thought- through environment with an appropriate balance of teacher-led activities and their own ‘discovery time’. The effective development of children’s communication and language sits at the heart of this provision. Teaching staff promote conversation very well, and this widens children’s vocabulary successfully. Children are emotionally secure. They show they can share and take turns when using equipment in the mud kitchen and sand pit. They demonstrate high levels of resilience and teamwork when completing their learning challenges. The environment is rich with numbers and letters and children refer to them in their mark making. During the inspection, many 5 and 6 December 2023

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were writing celebration cards to their families and enjoying a Christmas-themed treasure hunt. Children showed that they could use their growing knowledge of letter sounds when writing or solving clues.

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Reading is taught exceptionally well. From the start of early years, children learn their letter sounds and use them to read with increasing fluency and enjoyment. Pupils who need extra help are supported well, through a highly personalised approach, which allows them to catch up quickly. The school’s many motivational reading rewards, including the ‘ready, steady, read marathon’ are highly effective at encouraging pupils to read a wide range of text types. Pupils enjoy hearing their teaching staff read to them. These include books from the diverse ‘windows and mirrors’ collection which allow pupils to learn about differing cultures and discuss moral dilemmas.

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Teaching ensures that pupils successfully accumulate and apply their learning across the curriculum. This is particularly evident in the teaching of mathematics. Pupils become extremely confident and skilled mathematicians because they have strong recall of their prior learning and then apply it in mathematical investigations and problem-solving. This expertise is also evident in the high standard of pupils’ writing. Pupils show they can apply their knowledge from English lessons in other subjects. For example, in history, pupils write letters to Queen Victoria describing the nursing conditions that Florence Nightingale experiences. This writing clearly shows how pupils apply their grammar and persuasive writing skills from recent English lessons to their learning in other subjects.

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The school places high emphasis on pupils’ personal development. Pupils show empathy and kindness and know the value in making others feel happy. They sing at local care homes as part of the choir and make pictures to be displayed in hospital wards. Pupils have meaningful opportunities to develop their entrepreneurial skills through charity work and running stalls at the school’s fundraising events. They enjoy their after-school clubs and the weekly ‘Rise and Shine’ event.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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How can I feed back my views?

or 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. 5 and 6 December 2023

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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’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 5 and 6 December 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.federationofhazelwoodandlydlynch. co.uk Date of previous inspection 15 and 16 June 2011, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of The Federation of Hazel Wood Infant School and Lydlynch Infant School.  The school does not currently use any 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

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, history and religious education. For each deep dive, the inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to 5 and 6 December 2023

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teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The lead inspector had meetings with senior school leaders, and representatives from the governing body and the local authority.  The inspectors analysed responses to the staff survey and spoke to staff about their views of the school.  The inspectors took account of the responses to the Ofsted Parent View questionnaire and the additional free-text responses. They also spoke with parents on the morning of the second day of the inspection.

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Inspection team

Kate Fripp, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Judith O’Hare Ofsted Inspector 5 and 6 December 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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