Sandringham Infant & Nursery Academy

Inspection of a good school: Sandringham Infant & Nursery Academy Sandringham Way, Paddock Hill Estate, Frimley, Surrey GU16 9YF

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Outcome

Sandringham Infant & Nursery Academy continues to be a good school.

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Outcome

The headteacher of this school is Timothy Lodge. This school is part of The Kite Academy Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Jeremy Meek, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Debbie Andrews. There is also an executive headteacher, Dee Hughes, who is responsible for this school and five others.

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a school where everyone is valued for who they are. Pupils are proud of this. Staff support them to celebrate what makes them unique and talk about why they are special. Pupils are confident that staff help them if they are unsure or worried about anything. This demonstrates the school’s kind and caring ethos. Interactions between pupils and staff are warm and friendly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

On the playground, pupils play together happily. They understand the school rules and follow these keenly. Pupils talk positively about the behaviour in their school. They understand that adults and the school’s systems keep them safe. They know that adults are there to help them. The routines of school life begin in nursery where children bound into school enthusiastically. Adults greet them with warmth. This helps children to be ready for the day ahead.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The curriculum supports pupils to recall what they have learned and build upon this during lessons. Consequently, pupils achieve well. They are keen to talk about what they have learned in a variety of subjects, for example, why a camel would not be able to live in a cold climate and how to create stable structures using paper.

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

There has been a period of change for the school, with new leaders in post since September 2023. Since then, the school has worked hard to refine policies and procedures, with strong support from the trust. This has included revising the curriculum and refining the school’s approach to behaviour management. Staff appreciate the 7 and 8 February 2024

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positive impact of these changes on their own workload. They report that the new systems help them to work collaboratively with staff from the trust. Linked to a strong staff professional development programme, there is a sharp focus on all staff using the same shared language and having consistent expectations as pupils progress through the school.

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The school has developed the curriculum so that the most important information pupils must learn is clear. Staff have meticulously identified the precise steps pupils must work through. These steps take careful account of what pupils will need to know in order to access future learning. Staff training has focused on ensuring that teachers know how to implement the curriculum effectively. The school knows that this work needs to continue to make sure all staff fully understand and use the agreed approaches to teaching. Throughout lessons, teachers revisit the concepts pupils need to remember. They also check that pupils have understood what they have been taught. Teachers use modelling successfully to ensure that pupils understand what is expected of them.

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The school has successfully considered the support pupils may need to access different aspects of the curriculum. Staff make appropriate adaptations for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). During lessons, teachers identify pupils who need more support to keep up with their peers. Additional sessions are provided for these pupils to revisit the content. The school places great emphasis on knowing each pupil and their specific needs. This starts in nursery, where staff build positive relationships with children and their family. This aids the early identification of pupils with SEND.

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Reading is given the highest priority in school. All pupils read for pleasure on a daily basis. The school has carefully considered the books that pupils will be exposed to as they progress from early years to Year 2. These texts have been chosen to represent a range of cultures and broaden pupils’ understanding of the world beyond Sandringham. Staff have strong subject knowledge about how to teach phonics and pupils read books to help them practise what they have learned in lessons. Sometimes, older pupils who are learning to read are not given enough support or time to develop their phonics knowledge.

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The school has adapted the behaviour policy this year and raised expectations across the school. Pupils rise to these and the high standards are evident throughout the school as well as on the playground. As a result, there is a calm and purposeful atmosphere which helps pupils to remain focused on learning during lessons. Pupils are enthusiastic, polite and courteous. They are eager to share how proud they are when their achievements are recognised and how special they feel when they are ‘on the sparkly star’.

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The school supports pupils’ wider development successfully, through the curriculum as well as enrichment activities. There is a focus on supporting pupils to understand their community and to become active citizens. Pupils talk animatedly about the trips they have been on. They recall the excitement of the pig run during their farm visit. Due to the inclusive nature of the school, pupils are clear that difference is what makes their school special. 7 and 8 February 2024

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 There is minor variability in the effectiveness of reading sessions for pupils who are learning to read. These do not always allow them to develop their phonics knowledge well enough. This means that some pupils do not learn to read as quickly as they could. The school should ensure that reading sessions provide weaker readers with the precise support they need to catch up quickly with their peers.

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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 predecessor school, Sandringham School, to be good in February 2015.

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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 ’ 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, 7 and 8 February 2024

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looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 7 and 8 February 2024

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School details

Headteacher Dee Hughes (executive headteacher) Timothy Lodge (headteacher) Website www.sandringham.kite.academy

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School details

Date of previous inspection 11 September 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The headteacher and inclusion leader joined the school in September 2023. The executive headteacher joined the school in January 2024.  The school is part of The Kite Academy Trust.  The school does not currently use any alternative provision.  The school runs an on-site breakfast and after-school club.

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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. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in the evaluation of the school. 7 and 8 February 2024

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 The inspector met with the executive headteacher and the headteacher. She also met with other school and trust leaders, staff and pupils.  The inspector met with the chair of the governing body. She also met two trustees, in addition to the chair of trustees and the CEO of the trust.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, geography and design technology. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspector also visited mathematics lessons and looked at a sample of pupils’ work.  To inspect safeguarding, the inspector checked the single central record of recruitment checks and talked to leaders responsible for safeguarding. The inspector also talked to a range of staff and pupils informally.  The inspector considered the responses to the confidential staff survey and spoke to a

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range of staff about their views of the school.  The inspector took account of the 62 responses to the Ofsted Parent View questionnaire and the additional 32 free-text responses.  The inspector met with a range of pupils to discuss their views about the school and talked to pupils informally during social times and in lessons.  The inspector reviewed a range of documentation, including the school development plan.

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Inspection team

Sara Staggs, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 7 and 8 February 2024

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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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