Eling Infant School and Nursery

Inspection of Eling Infant School and Nursery School Road, Totton, Southampton, Hampshire SO40 9HX

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The quality of education Outstanding Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Outstanding Early years provision Outstanding Previous inspection grade Good 13 and 14 May 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils thrive at this highly inclusive school. They strive to meet the school’s very high expectations of them. Pupils achieve exceptionally well. They benefit from staff knowing them so well. This develops a deep sense of belonging in the pupils. Adults expertly guide pupils to be able to work independently in lessons. As a result, pupils focus on their learning for sustained periods without interruption.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ behaviour is exemplary. From the time they start in the early years, adults guide children to make their own choices and ask for help when they need it. Support from skilled staff ensures that pupils learn to manage their own feelings and behaviour. This enables pupils to feel safe and very happy.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils embrace roles of responsibility. They make meaningful contributions to the school community, for example by becoming sports or library leaders. Pupils are proud of these roles. Every child in the school has the opportunity to represent it in a sporting event before they leave in Year 2. This impressive range of opportunities provides pupils with experiences that help them to develop ambitions for their future.

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

The school provides children with an excellent quality of education. Leaders, including governors, work effectively together to support and challenge each other. This ensures that the focus remains on improving the quality of provision for pupils from early years and throughout the school. Children are supported very well in developing their language, reading, writing and mathematical skills. The school also prioritises pupils’ social development. These strong foundations help all groups of pupils to learn successfully across the curriculum.

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

Reading is at the heart of the school’s curriculum. Very high expectations of all pupils help them become fluent readers who enjoy reading a diverse range of texts. Highly effective daily support helps those pupils at risk of falling behind to keep up with the reading curriculum. A love of reading is fostered in the school. This begins in the early years and is maintained as pupils get older. For example, pupils love reading books recommended to them by staff.

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

Skilled staff ensure pupils use their reading knowledge to help them improve the quality of their writing. Staff ensure pupils practise building accurate sentences orally before learning to write them. Pupils receive precise feedback from well-trained staff to help them further improve the quality of the sentences they create. As a result, the quality of pupils’ spoken and written communication is very strong across the school.

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

Subject leaders are highly knowledgeable. Staff have secure subject knowledge across the breadth of the curriculum. As a result, staff expertly teach the selected content in a well- structured order. The school swiftly identifies pupils’ individual needs. Staff provide precise support so that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) 13 and 14 May 2025

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successfully access the curriculum. These pupils develop confidence and communication skills through the many ways they are supported to get involved in class discussions.

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Across the school, pupils are provided with many opportunities to practise learning independently, in pairs or in groups. Activities carefully match what pupils need to know and do. Staff routinely check pupils’ understanding. They then use this information to address any misunderstandings pupils may have. Therefore, gaps in pupils’ knowledge close very quickly.

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Pupils have excellent attitudes to learning. All pupils know and live up to the school’s high expectations. From the Nursery class onwards, children learn how to use the school’s ‘learning friends’. These help pupils to sustain focus and think more deeply about the task they have been given. Pupils seamlessly move from one task to another, developing strong social and emotional skills. Pupils build on this knowledge throughout the school. They show high levels of motivation as they want to learn more. The school works positively with families to ensure pupils come to school regularly. As a result, pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, now attend well.

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The detailed programme for personal development is exceptional and permeates other areas of the curriculum. This helps pupils to flourish. Pupils develop a strong sense of how they can have a positive impact on the world around them. For instance, pupils take part in a ‘keeping Eling clean’ initiative. There is an impressive range of carefully planned school clubs attended by the majority of pupils. There also includes ‘try it Tuesdays’, where pupils learn new skills. These include dry-land swimming and circus skills. These opportunities help inspire pupils to learn more about subjects and skills they have never encountered before.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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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 13 and 14 May 2025

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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 May 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 19 and 20 November 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this school

 The school uses no alternative provision.  The school has a Nursery for two-year-olds and three-year-olds.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation 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 inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school. 13 and 14 May 2025

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 Inspectors met with senior leaders, staff and pupils. The lead inspector also met with representatives of the school’s governing board and a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, history and geography. For each deep dive, inspectors 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.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments. They also took account of the responses to the confidential online staff survey and gathered the views of staff and pupils throughout the inspection.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors 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

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safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors reviewed a range of the school’s documentation, including leaders’ plans for improving the school, minutes from governing board meetings, records of attendance and behaviour incidents.

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Inspection team

Neil Pilsworth, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Clare Vallence Ofsted Inspector 13 and 14 May 2025

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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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