Beechcroft Infant School

Inspection of a good school: Beechcroft Infant School Beechcroft Road, Upper Stratton, Swindon, Wiltshire SN2 7QE

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Outcome

Beechcroft Infant School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is welcoming, inclusive and nurturing. The school’s values of ‘ready, respectful and safe’ underpin all that it does.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has a tangible ‘family feel’. Staff forge supportive and caring relationships with pupils and their families. Pupils trust staff to look after them. They feel valued and cared for.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is ambitious for all pupils. The school provides opportunities which enrich pupils’ learning and nurture their interests. For example, pupils learn how to build fires and bake bread in their outdoor curriculum. They appreciate learning musical instruments and enjoy trying African drumming. Pupils connect with the local community through their learning when visiting the local church and the park.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy, polite and sociable. They chat excitedly about what they are learning. Staff are clear about how they expect pupils to behave. As a result, pupils behave well and have positive attitudes to learning. They listen carefully, and enthusiastically participate in lessons and assemblies.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The overwhelming majority of parents are delighted with the school. They typically comment that their children thoroughly enjoy school and are well supported by staff.

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

The school provides pupils with a high-quality education. The broad curriculum identifies the building blocks of knowledge and skills pupils must learn. Learning is well sequenced so that pupils are well prepared for what comes next. 13 and 14 March 2024

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Staff have strong subject knowledge. They use this to explain what they want pupils to know and do. Teachers check pupils’ understanding, and support and challenge pupils appropriately. This means that pupils make good progress through the curriculum. Teaching activities give pupils opportunities to recap on previous learning and to practise their skills. As a result, pupils know and remember more. Pupils achieve well, particularly in reading and writing.

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The school checks what pupils know and can do. Assessment is well-established for core subjects, but less developed in some foundation subjects. Where assessment is effective, gaps in pupils’ knowledge are identified and closed swiftly. However, in some subjects this is not yet effective. The information is not used well in all subjects so as to improve the curriculum to address misconceptions and gaps in knowledge.

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The school prioritises reading. Children learn to read as soon as they start school. Reading is taught consistently well. Pupils who find reading difficult have extra help. This enables them to gain the confidence to become more accurate and fluent readers.

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Pupils read regularly. They enjoy choosing to read from a selection of books that are of interest to them. Most pupils develop a love of reading. Once they have become fluent readers, pupils develop wider reading skills, such as comprehension and vocabulary. Pupils thoroughly enjoy listening to stories that adults read to them.

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Pupils are excited to learn new things. As a result, they listen intently and become absorbed in their learning. For example, children in Reception excitedly join in with songs that develop their counting skills. They work sensibly with others to apply their counting skills to calculate number bonds to ten.

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The school quickly identifies when pupils need extra help. It provides precisely focused adaptations to learning, and social and emotional support. As a result, all pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported to learn the curriculum. The school provides calm spaces where pupils can share their worries and talk about their feelings. This helps pupils to recognise and deal with their emotions appropriately.

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The school works closely with families to emphasise the importance of regular attendance. This is having a positive impact, and most pupils attend well. However, some pupils with SEND do not attend school regularly. This means they miss out on vital education and are hindered from achieving their best.

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Pupils benefit from extra-curricular clubs, such as football, choir and cookery. Pupils listen to, and appraise, music, including complex classical pieces. Pupils proudly take on positions of responsibility, such as school councillors and eco warriors. This sparks pupils’ enthusiasm and broadens their development.

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There is a team spirit at the school. Staff morale is high because they value the school’s support of their professional development, workload and well-being. 13 and 14 March 2024

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In several foundation subjects, the school has recently improved assessment. Therefore, it has not yet had an impact on pupils’ learning. The school must continue to embed effective assessment so that it can assure itself that the curriculum enables pupils to know and remember more.  Some pupils with SEND do not attend school regularly. As a result, they miss out on important learning, and do not benefit from the pastoral and academic support the school provides. These pupils do not achieve as well as they could. The school must continue to improve the attendance of those who are too often absent so that these 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 second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in January 2014.

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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. 13 and 14 March 2024

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In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ is used to mean pupils with 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). 13 and 14 March 2024

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 22 February 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school provides wraparound care for pupils before and after school.  The school uses one registered alternative provider.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in this evaluation of the school.  The inspector had several meetings with the headteacher and the deputy headteacher. The inspector also met with the SENDCo.  The inspector met with a group of governors, including the chair and vice-chair of governors. They also had a phone conversation with the school improvement partner.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and music. For each deep dive, they discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a 13 and 14 March 2024

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sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  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 observed pupils’ behaviour at various times of the day, including during breaktime, lunchtime and in breakfast club.  The inspector analysed responses to Ofsted’s online survey for parents, Ofsted Parent View. They also considered the responses of staff and pupils to Ofsted’s online survey.

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Inspection team

Catherine Beeks, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 13 and 14 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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