Farnborough Grange Nursery & Infant Community School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Susie Pietrzak and Caroline Mallett Co-Headteachers Farnborough Grange Nursery & Infant Community School Moor Road Farnborough Hampshire GU14 8HW

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Infant Community School

This letter sets out the findings from the monitoring inspection that took place on 18 June 2024, on behalf of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills. The monitoring inspection was carried out under section 8(2) of the Education Act 2005 and was the third monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require special measures following the graded (section 5) inspection that took place in December 2023.

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Infant Community School

The purpose of a monitoring inspection is not to grade the school’s overall effectiveness, but to identify and report on the school’s progress. It is to highlight to the school and parents any improvements that school leaders have made since the school’s previous graded inspection.

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Infant Community School

During the inspection, Kate Fripp, His Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), and I discussed with you and other senior leaders, members of the interim academy board and representatives of The Good Shepherd Trust, including the chief executive officer (CEO), the actions that have been taken to improve the school since the most recent graded inspection. We discussed the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. I also visited lessons, met with staff and reviewed a range of documents during the visit. I have considered all this in coming to my judgement.

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Leaders have made progress to improve the school, but more work is

necessary for the school to be no longer judged as requiring special measures.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Since the last monitoring visit in December 2023, there have been some substantial changes in the school. These include the appointment of new interim headteachers and a number of other staffing changes. A substantive headteacher has been appointed and is due to take up this post before the end of the current academic year. The trust has reassessed the school’s position, and we reviewed the new improvement plan which is being used to determine the type of support provided to the school.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

This monitoring visit focused on the quality of the curriculum; provision for pupils in early years; and support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Following the findings of the last monitoring visit, we also focused on the school’s work to improve pupils’ behaviour and the way that staff are supported as part of this.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

The school’s work to develop the quality of the curriculum remains inconsistent. In reading and mathematics, teachers have secure subject knowledge and understand what they want pupils to know and remember. Although there is some effective practice in these subjects, this is less strong in the early years, including the Nursery. This means that pupils are not always prepared well for key stage 1. Pupils’ learning in all year groups has been affected by inconsistent teaching over time, which means they are still not making as much progress as they should in these subjects.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Across most foundation subjects, the curriculum being delivered is very new. Pupils remember clearly what they have been taught recently, for example recalling sequences of historical events and explaining their importance. However, weaknesses in the previous curriculum and its delivery mean that their learning over time is disjointed. Teachers need to fill gaps in pupils’ knowledge, but this is more challenging because there is not yet a system for assessing what pupils know in these subjects.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

There have been positive changes to the support provided for pupils with SEND, some of which are in the very early stages. Teachers now use a range of strategies to ensure their classrooms are more inclusive. They are increasingly aware of the needs of individual pupils. Despite these improvements, some pupils with SEND are not able to access the same curriculum as other pupils in their class. Where this is the case, there is inconsistency in the quality of the tasks and support provided for them. In addition, pupils with SEND are more likely to be suspended at this school, and some are not receiving a full-time education. This leads to fragmented learning experiences for some pupils.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

The most notable improvements since the last visit are in pupils’ behaviour. The school has introduced a new behaviour policy and trained staff in its application. Additional training has been provided by the local authority and this has been beneficial. Staff in school now feel empowered to challenge behaviour more effectively. There has been a dramatic reduction in the use of physical interventions because staff are more effective at de-escalating poor behaviour before it becomes unsafe. Although there are still some pupils who do not engage well in lessons, this is managed more effectively by teachers. Pupils are benefiting more consistently from the curriculum because disruption is less common. Pupils understand the school’s values. For example, they can talk about the meaning of respect and how it relates to their behaviour in school. Pupils’ attendance at school has improved and the number of pupils who are persistently absent is reducing.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Since the last monitoring visit, trust leaders and the interim academy board have improved their processes for evaluating the school’s effectiveness. By using a wider range of information, including staff conferencing, they have established a more accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. Their work to improve the school alongside leaders is targeted at the most important areas. For example, the trust is providing specialist school improvement support in early years and SEND.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Staff here feel well supported and consistently report positive changes in the school over a short period. Although staff recognise that their roles are demanding, they are motivated by the impact of their work on improving the school. They value the fact that leaders listen to what they say, providing training and support where needed.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

I am copying this letter to the chair of the interim academy board, and the CEO of The Good Shepherd Trust, the Department for Education’s regional director and the director of children’s services for Hampshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted reports website.

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