South View Infant and Nursery School

Inspection of a good school: South View Infant and Nursery School Shooters Way, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 5LL

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Outcome

There has been no change to this school’s overall judgement of good as a result of this ungraded (section 8) inspection. However, the evidence gathered suggests that the inspection grade might not be as high if a graded (section 5) inspection were carried out now. The school’s next inspection will be a graded inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Happy pupils enjoy their time at South View. Committed staff provide pupils with personal development that focuses on instilling a belief that pupils can do it. Staff form highly effective relationships with pupils. They work with parents to ensure pupils can manage basic health and self-care and that pupils attend regularly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils learn across a varied and interesting curriculum. However, too many are not learning the core skills of literacy and numeracy quickly enough. This is making it harder for pupils to be ready for different academic stages of their education and achieve successfully.

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What is it like to attend this school?

High behaviour expectations are underpinned by the ‘bee’ rules, which pupils avidly follow. From the start of Nursery, children are taught how to behave, sit sensibly and manage their emotions. The school’s rewards system motivates pupils to work hard and be kind to each other. Pupils are very accepting of others. When they welcome visitors, they are polite and eager to shake hands.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school places great importance on pupils’ physical development and healthy lifestyles. The popular allotment teaches pupils to grow healthy foods. Extensive opportunities in the curriculum provide pupils with vital experiences outside of school. These provide pupils with wonderful memories, a sense of belonging and crucial life skills.

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

The school’s ambition is to ensure the education it provides makes a difference to pupils’ lives. Many pupils arrive at school requiring additional support in terms of their communication and language, personal, social and emotional development and physical development. Some pupils also have additional special educational needs and/or 4 and 5 June 2024

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disabilities (SEND). The school prioritises the prime areas of learning in early years that children need most. The environment is used very well to enable children to socialise and interact, develop core strength and learn how to do things independently. Adults continually help children articulate sounds and speak in grammatically correct sentences. Staff recognise the word gap in many children’s language and there is a school-wide focus on teaching pupils as many words as possible.

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The school’s curriculum is logically sequenced and covers what is set out in the national curriculum. Knowledge, vocabulary and key concepts are mapped out within different subjects. There is regular revisiting of prior knowledge to help pupils develop their memory in holding more information. Teachers do this strongly in their classroom practice and they check pupils’ ongoing understanding. Adults ask probing questions and facilitate ample discussion time to support pupils’ learning.

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However, in 2023, published outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics were significantly below the national average. The school’s improvement priorities are sharply addressing these. Although this important work has begun, notably in mathematics, it is not yet borne out securely in the teaching of the English curriculum and the impact for pupils. Writing is a barrier for many pupils and they are not making rapid enough progress through the school’s planned curriculum. Furthermore, the work set for pupils across subjects is sometimes not ambitious enough in enabling them to practise the knowledge they need.

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In reading, there is a strong culture in pupils’ exposure to high-quality picture books and instilling an excitement to visit the library. But beyond this, the school’s phonics programme is not working successfully. The training provided for staff has not ensured they choose the most appropriate reading activities. Also, pupils are reading books that do not always align with the sounds and words they know. The school has recognised this and is beginning to implement a new phonics programme that will help strengthen the teaching of early reading, writing and spelling.

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The two specially resourced provisions for pupils with SEND are making a real difference to pupils’ lives. Skilled staff know exactly pupils’ starting points and the key areas identified in pupils’ education, health and care plans. Personalised activities are well planned to help pupils make progress in their learning and development. The identification of pupils with SEND is a particular strength in the school, and staff ensure that pupils’ needs are met well across year groups.

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The school’s bespoke curriculum for personal development is uniquely written to meet the lives and experiences of pupils. Within it, pupils learn about fundamental British values, living and working in a community, character development and personal care. Each pupil has a passport to ‘stamp’ these achievements. This also contributes well to pupils’ good behaviour and conduct around school.

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A new governing body is working hard to understand the school and check the embedding of school improvement priorities. Governors are accessing ongoing training and know they need to dig deeper into pupils’ educational performance. 4 and 5 June 2024

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some staff lack expertise in knowing how best to deliver an ambitious and coherently planned phonics programme. Furthermore, pupils are not always reading books that closely align with their reading development. This means pupils are not learning to read as quickly as the school intends. The school now needs to implement its new phonics programme and ensure that all staff are expertly trained to teach this consistently well.  Pupils’ knowledge and skills in writing are still developing. Many pupils are not yet writing to the year group expectations of the national curriculum. The school should continue its focus in helping pupils to acquire the building blocks of early writing to increase their success across the curriculum.  Sometimes, staff select activities that do not enable pupils to develop more detailed knowledge. This impacts on how deeply pupils learn in different subjects. The school should provide further professional development to support staff’s knowledge and

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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 November 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. 4 and 5 June 2024

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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). 4 and 5 June 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Headteacher Sheila Pape (executive headteacher)

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 6 and 7 November 2018, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the South View Federation, which comprises the infant school and the junior school. Both schools are on the same site.  Since the last inspection, the school has opened a second specially resourced provision for the local authority. This caters for pupils with moderate learning difficulties. The school’s other specially resourced provision is for pupils with speech, language and communication needs.  Most of the governing body are newly appointed.  The school is not currently using 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 his evaluation of the school. 4 and 5 June 2024

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 The inspector met with senior leaders and staff. He met with three governors, including the chair and vice-chair. He held a telephone call with a school improvement adviser from the local authority.  The inspector carried out deep dives into these subjects: early reading, mathematics and religious education. To do this, he met with subject teachers, looked at curriculum plans, had discussions with staff and pupils, visited lessons and looked at 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 views of staff and parents were gathered through discussions and Ofsted’s online surveys.  The inspector talked to pupils from different year groups about their learning and

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experiences at school.  The inspector scrutinised a range of documents provided by the school. These included the school’s self-evaluation and school improvement priorities, published outcomes, policies, curriculum documents, behaviour and attendance records, visit reports from the local authority and the impact of governors’ work.

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Inspection team

James Broadbridge, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 4 and 5 June 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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