Newlands Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Newlands Primary School Windermere Avenue, Millbrook, Southampton, Hampshire SO16 9QX

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Outcome

Newlands Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel proud to belong to this school. The school’s values, which include ‘respect’ and to ‘be ready and safe’, underpin pupils’ everyday actions. Pupils appreciate the kind, caring nature of staff and their peers. The school has high expectations for all pupils to achieve well, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The vision of ‘no child left behind’ is at the centre of the school’s highly inclusive work. Pupils at the specially resourced provision for pupils with SEND move seamlessly between the base and mainstream classes as all staff support these pupils well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well. They are responsible and considerate of each other. There is little or no disruption to lessons or day-to-day school life. Pupils are attentive in lessons and they work hard. Pupils feel safe and happy. They value the support that they receive from adults when they need it. Pupils are also keen to help others by becoming ‘global ambassadors’. The school chooses the wider experiences pupils experience carefully. For example, pupils visit museums and have artists who come into school to inspire pupils’ artwork. Annual visits to a local university also aim to inspire pupils to attend higher education in the future.

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

The school has prioritised reading. Staff expose pupils to a wide range of high-quality books, including stories, poetry and non-fiction texts. Staff teach the school’s chosen phonics programme well. They ensure that pupils begin to learn to read accurately and fluently from a young age. The books that pupils take home to read are usually matched to the letter sounds they recognise. Overall, pupils make very good progress with their early reading. However, some pupils who require additional support do not always make the rapid progress they could. This is because the support they receive is not always fully effective.

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

The school’s curriculum ensures that teachers deliver content in a sensible order. Teachers provide significantly effective opportunities for pupils to develop their language and 19 and 20 March 2024

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mathematical skills. Staff teach pupils valuable knowledge, skills and vocabulary in all other subjects. As a result, pupils enjoy learning. They take pride and care in their work. The school checks pupils’ learning effectively. This has led staff to realise pupils do not always remember their learning in the depth they could. This means pupils do not always build their knowledge over time in all subjects. As a result, the school is refining the curriculum further to decide the vital knowledge pupils should learn and remember.

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The school makes sure that disadvantaged pupils get the right support to achieve well. The school identifies the needs of pupils with SEND early and precisely. Staff work with wider professionals to ensure that pupils have the support they need. The school regularly monitors the individual plans to ensure that these pupils achieve well over time.

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Behaviour around the school and in the playground is generally calm and orderly. Children learn the behaviour routines from the early years. For example, they cheerfully share paints and toys. They learn to concentrate and persevere. Through the school, pupils develop a camaraderie. Pupils feel confident to speak to trusted adults or use the ‘worry boxes’ to raise any concerns they might have. Attendance is a high priority. While most pupils attend school regularly, a few pupils do not. Where this is the case, the school provides extra help and support to improve attendance.

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The school supports pupils’ wider development and well-being effectively. Pupils flourish in their various roles and responsibilities. Pupils enjoy taking part in other opportunities and clubs. These include singing in the choir, being a role model as a prefect or helping to enable active playtimes. The school’s understanding of the community helps pupils be ready for their next stages in development. Pupils know and understand how to keep themselves safe in the local area. They are vigilant to dangers they might face as they get older. This includes online safety.

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Governors carry out a range of activities to assure themselves that the school’s systems are working well. This has helped them to ensure that the quality of education continually improves. When making decisions, the governing body and the school consider the impact on staff. This makes for a happy staff team whose members feel supported and proud to work at the school. Parents and carers are very positive about the school. One view, which reflected the thoughts of many parents, was: ‘My son is always eager to attend school. The members of staff at the school are giving their best to motivate the children.’

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some areas of the curriculum, the school has focused too much on covering a wide breadth of content at the expense of pupils’ depth of knowledge. This means that 19 and 20 March 2024

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pupils do not develop a greater depth of understanding over time. The school should further refine the curriculum and prioritise the key content that it wants pupils to learn.  A few pupils who need extra support in early reading are not always given the additional help that they require. This means some pupils do not catch up as swiftly as they could. The school should make sure that pupils’ needs are met consistently well when learning to read.

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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 June 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.

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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, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 19 and 20 March 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 12 and 13 June 2018, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school has a specially resourced provision for pupils with SEND. This has a capacity for 14 pupils with a hearing impairment.  The school does not currently use any alternative provision.  The school offers breakfast provision for pupils at the school. It is managed by school leaders and run by non-teaching members of staff.

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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 their evaluation of the school.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, and art and design. 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. 19 and 20 March 2024

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 The inspector also looked at additional curriculum plans for physical education and history.  The inspector met with the headteacher and other leaders within the school. The inspector also met with five governors, including the chair of the governing body, and a representative from the local authority.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector: 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 inspector reviewed a range of the school’s documentation, including minutes of governing body meetings and behaviour incident logs.  The inspector considered the views of parents shared through Ofsted Parent View and with parents before school on the first day of the inspection.  The views of staff were gathered through interviews and discussions conducted

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throughout the inspection, as well as the staff survey.  The inspector gathered pupils’ views throughout the inspection, including through discussions, during classroom visits, the pupil survey and at lunchtime.

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Inspection team

Chris Parker, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 19 and 20 March 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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