Ludlow Infant Academy

Inspection of a good school: Ludlow Infant Academy Ludlow Road, Woolston, Southampton, Hampshire SO19 2EU

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Outcome

Ludlow Infant Academy continues to be a good school.

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Outcome

The headteacher of this school is Beverley Corbin. This school is part of Hamwic Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Robert Farmer, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Alice Wrighton.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are put at the heart of this school, where leaders insist on getting it right for every child. The school’s values of ‘learn, inspire, achieve’ are central to everything the school does. Pupils relish learning. They enjoy the work they do because it is interesting and challenges them. They relish the experiences that help to bring their learning to life, such as visits to a farm, an art gallery and the fire brigade.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy, confident and feel safe. There is no place for bullying in this school. Pupils, parents and the school are clear that it does not happen. Pupils also learn how to keep themselves safe, including when they are online. Staff thoughtfully help pupils to develop their resilience and independence. This helps pupils to achieve well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ behaviour is incredibly positive. Pupils play well together on the playground, using the equipment considerately. In lessons, pupils listen and learn well. They are cooperative and polite and share equipment to help them learn more. There is no low-level disruption in lessons because pupils understand and follow the school’s ‘Super Seven’ learning behaviours. Pupils know how adults support them to behave well. They feel proud when the school shares their good work and behaviour with their parents.

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

Reading has high priority here. Pupils are confident readers who read with increasing fluency. Reading is a core part of the school day, where pupils are encouraged to read for pleasure. Children in the early years begin learning phonics straight away. Pupils’ knowledge of sounds and letters develops quickly, building their confidence in exploring texts and stories. The school has ensured that all adults are well trained to teach phonics. Staff know how to check what the pupils know and can do, so adults can swiftly 19 and 20 March 2024

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intervene to ensure any pupils who fall behind catch up quickly. All pupils read daily in school, and the books they read are precisely matched to the sounds they know. Pupils love hearing stories and joining in with the daily story time.

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Pupils learn well, developing the knowledge they need for the next stage of their education. This is because leaders have planned an interesting curriculum around the important knowledge they want pupils to learn. There are deliberate opportunities for pupils to revisit this knowledge. Pupils call this ‘sticky knowledge’. Older pupils say that when they revisit topics it helps them remember securely what has been learned. However, in some lessons, the activities selected by staff do not always help pupils learn the intended knowledge as well as they could. An example of this is the teaching of some of the identified key subject vocabulary. As a result, some pupils do not always use the correct key vocabulary across the full curriculum.

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Pupils are confident learners who know what actions they need to take to be successful. An example of this can be seen in mathematics lessons. Each day, pupils value watching adults model how to work through problems first. Pupils then practise in pairs and groups before the teacher skilfully moves them on to more complex tasks when they are ready.

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Younger pupils keenly describe and retell stories. Adults model good word choices when they are talking about characters. As a result, children have imaginative conversations about the stories they are reading and use the words they have learned in their own writing.

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Pupils with complex special educational needs and/or disabilities benefit from a personalised curriculum, tailored to meet their needs. These pupils are making progress, as they are skilfully supported by adults and have personalised learning plans. Leaders have worked with specialists to develop this provision and continue to monitor its impact.

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Attendance is a high priority for the school. Robust and rigorous monitoring processes are in place. The school is knowledgeable about the barriers to good attendance that some families face. There is a sharp focus on making sure pupils and families receive the support they need to secure good attendance.

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Pupils benefit from a wide range of experiences. Older pupils appreciate the opportunity to be lunch monitors. They enjoy the clubs and trips, as well as the experts who visit their school to tell them more about their jobs. The school has designed a curriculum that supports personal development and growth. Pupils can explain with confidence how they can keep themselves healthy.

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Staff value how leaders at all levels support them every day. They find the ‘open door’ policy and the opportunities they receive for training and development particularly helpful. Staff feel that this support helps them to continue to develop the provision in ensuring pupils benefit from a very positive education.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 19 and 20 March 2024

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In a few subjects, activities do not consistently help some pupils to learn and apply subject-specific vocabulary. As a result, these pupils are not deepening their understanding as much as they could. The school needs to continue to support staff in developing the curriculum securely and consistently in every subject.

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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 October 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

Dates of previous inspection 3 and 4 October 2018, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 This school is part of the Hamwic Trust.  This school does not use any alternative provision.

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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 geography. For each deep dive, the inspector held discussions about the curriculum, 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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 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 the school’s attendance and behaviour records, as well as a number of policies and self-evaluation.  The inspector held meetings with the headteacher, senior leaders, the special educational needs coordinator, the chair of trustees, the CEO of the trust and the chair of the local governing committee.  The inspector spoke with staff and pupils to gather their views. The inspector also considered parents’ and carers’ responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Ofsted Parent View, and took account of responses to the staff and pupil surveys.

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Inspection team

Charlotte Wilson, lead inspector Ofsted 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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