Kempshott Infant School

Kempshott Infant School Inspection report

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116036 Unique Reference Number Hampshire Local Authority 290404 Inspection number 13 July 2007 Inspection date Michael Pye Reporting inspector

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Infant Type of school Community School category 4 °7 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 251 School

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The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs A Court Chair Mrs S Waters Headteacher 5 March 2001 Date of previous school inspection Old Down Close School address Homestead Road Kempshott Basingstoke RG22 5LL

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01256 461795 Telephone number 01256 331347 Fax number

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4-7 Age group 13 July 2007 Inspection date 290404 Inspection number .

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by an Additional Inspector.

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Description of the school

This average size school is situated in a relatively affluent area on the outskirts of Basingstoke. There are well-below average numbers of pupils entitled to free school meals. Pupils come from predominantly White British backgrounds; there are few pupils for whom English is an additional language. The number of pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities is below average and there are two pupils with a statement of special educational need. The school has been recognised nationally through its Achievement Awards, Artsmark Gold and Healthy School Award. It is an Investors in People organisation.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 11 Inspection Report: Kempshott Infant School, 13 July 2007

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Grade: 1

The school provides an outstanding education for its pupils. The inspirational headteacher, strongly supported by her deputy and other senior managers, have established systems that have resulted in the exceptionally high standards and achievement levels over the past five years. Pupils respond extremely well to the very strong emphasis on tight organisational structures that deliver continuity. Coupled with high expectations, this results in pupils who thrive academically and in their personal and social development. The sustained very high standards reflect the outstanding capacity to improve the school further. Standards are well above average by the time pupils leave at the end of Year 2. Their achievement, given their starting points, is outstanding. Most enter Reception with skills and knowledge that are broadly average, although pupils are often unable to link sounds and letters. The school has successfully introduced strategies in each class to tackle this.

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Grade: 1

Pupils' personal development and well-being are outstanding. Crucially, a high priority is placed upon independent learning. From Reception onwards the emphasis is upon pupils taking responsibility. For example, in Reception, rather than telling children what they need to do to prepare to go home, they are asked the question, 'You're going home, what do you need?' In later years, this approach extends to pupils deciding what resources they need to support their writing, whether it be dictionary, pencil or thesaurus. The outstanding curriculum, in the main school and in Reception, provides exceptionally well for the development of literacy and numeracy. The school recognises that information and communication technology (ICT) can be developed further so as to meet the individual needs of pupils across all subjects. The school has also developed a wide and rich range of experiences for pupils. Consequently they thoroughly

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Grade: 1

enjoy their education and talk excitedly about the various activities they do. Singing and three-dimensional art work pervade the school. One parent correctly wrote, 'The level of thought and care for individuals is outstanding. It is a school where every child matters.' The school knows its pupils extremely well. One aspect is the careful tracking of pupils' progress and the grouping of pupils of similar ability in lessons, to meet their differing needs. It is this attention to the individual that is a major contributory factor to the success of the school. Teaching and learning are outstanding and reflect the high expectations of the senior managers within the school. A high priority is placed upon the professional development of staff, which, in turn, enables them to meet challenging performance targets. The continuing success of the school is testimony to the outstanding levels of leadership and management.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Ensure that ICT is developed to support the individual needs of pupils in all subjects.

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Grade: 1

Children enter Reception with skills and knowledge expected of their age. They make very good progress and when they enter Year 1 most have exceeded the goals expected of them. A consistent level of exceptional teaching helps to ensure that pupils continue to make excellent progress. In the national tests for seven year olds the pupils attain standards in reading, writing and mathematics that are significantly above average. This has been the pattern for the last 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Kempshott Infant School, 13 July 2007 five years. The school sets and meets very challenging targets. It is able to meet them because effective tracking of pupils' progress enables the accurate grouping of pupils by ability. The membership of these groups changes frequently, according to their needs and the progress they make. Pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities benefit very well from accurate assessment, and

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Grade: 1

work that is carefully matched to their needs. Consequently they progress in line with their peers.

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Grade: 1

The school accurately judges pupils' personal development and well-being as outstanding. These are independent learners - they move from one group to another during lessons, and settle very quickly to their work. The spiritual, moral, social and cultural education of pupils is excellent. Their multi-cultural education is very well enhanced by the links that the school has with schools in Africa. Pupils speak proudly of their contribution to drawing up school rules, and this reflects their deep understanding of the school's expectations of behaviour. The pupils enjoy coming into school, showing eager anticipation, as they enter the building. Pupils have an exceptional knowledge of healthy lifestyles. They have met the fitness challenge set by the school, and speak excitedly about completing their two kilometre run. Personal safety is given a very high priority within the school, and pupils learn well from visitors such as the police

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Grade: 1

about how to stay safe. They take every opportunity to participate in their community, and obviously enjoyed their recent Wizard of Oz production. One girl stated that she was a member of the choir, another piped in that she was a 'munchkin'. Typically, in this caring school, another commented about the 'great' performance of others; pupils around her nodded their agreement. School council members are extremely active, writing to parents to express their safety concerns over their use of cars and the dropping of litter. The very high levels of basic skills, coupled with the outstanding degree of pupils' personal development helps ensure that these pupils are extremely well prepared for the next stage in their lives.

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Grade: 1

Thorough monitoring by senior staff, together with the established commitment to self-review, helps ensure that teaching and learning are of a consistently high quality. Teachers plan work very well for pupils of different abilities. The use of different learning groups is highly effective in delivering short, sharp sessions which challenge and motivate pupils. For example, in one Reception lesson, children worked at letter formation, some were learning letter sounds, whilst others briskly went about their work in the open area; sand, paints and outdoor play being in evidence. Relationships are extremely strong and pupils want to behave and do well. Teacher's planning is extremely detailed, with attention to providing different learning activities that pupils find 'fun'. As one boy said, 'I like working, and learning new things.' Learning support assistants work very well with small groups and individual pupils. Teachers have very high

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Grade: 1

expectations and consequently pupils achieve so well. In art, for example, pupils' observational and drawing skills were developed extremely well when drawing bicycles; the detail in their final drawing is exceptional. 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Kempshott Infant School, 13 July 2007

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Grade: 1

The pupils' high achievement level bears testimony to the positive impact of this curriculum. With literacy and numeracy so well addressed, the school is able to ensure that pupils benefit from a rich and varied diet. The curriculum provides outstanding opportunities for pupils to experience a very wide range of activities. One parent wrote, 'My child thoroughly enjoys the workshops and themed weeks that the school regularly provides to enhance his learning'. ICT is used well to support subjects such as numeracy, literacy and art, although the school recognises the need to extend its use to support learning in other subjects. The pupils' experiences are further enriched by the emphasis upon rights and responsibilities. The pupils are considerate, and willingly share resources and ideas. In one lesson they discussed sensibly the merits of each other's work, praising the good aspects and suggesting improvements.

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Grade: 1

Philosophy lessons develop pupils' thinking skills very well and helps ensure that pupils consider the 'why' behind aspects of their learning. The learning in topics begins and ends with the pupils creating mind-maps. This ensures that teachers start from what the pupils already know, and that the topic ends with pupils having a clear idea about what they have learnt. A very good, recent innovation has been the introduction of a curriculum that addresses the emotional needs of pupils.

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Grade: 1

Care, guidance and support are outstanding and this has a significant impact on pupils' progress. The interests of pupils are at the heart of all that the school does. From Reception to the point when pupils leave, the school take the utmost care to provide a safe and secure environment for pupils. It manifestly succeeds because pupils thrive in this friendly but challenging environment. In addition the adults know the pupils and their needs extremely well. Pupils tell of how they feel safe, secure and that they know who to approach for help. The school makes excellent use of external agencies to provide support for learners. Parents recognise the support that the school gives to them as well as to their children. Pupils have targets and know how to use them to improve their work. They regularly evaluate their own work. For example, in ICT the pupils are asked to decide if they have understood the

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Grade: 1

work and could teach others about it. This enables the teacher to monitor those pupils who have not fully understood the work.

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Grade: 1

Parents comment on the inspirational and energetic leadership of the headteacher. Around her there is a very dedicated team who share the vision of excellence and caring within the school. All managers participate in rigorous monitoring, with a clear emphasis on how change impacts on the progress of pupils. For example, school analysis revealed that the pupils were not reading as much as they could at home. The school built in a challenge which, when met, was expanded to a five-times a week reading target. The pupils have responded extremely well and achievement in reading has risen to the present very high levels. There is no room for complacency. The ethos of management is that if there is a difficulty then it is there to be learnt from and tackled. 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Kempshott Infant School, 13 July 2007 This has resulted in changes in the way the school approaches the teaching of boy's writing.

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Grade: 1

From Reception onwards there is an emphasis on motivating boys through using books that appeal to them, and by ensuring work is delivered in small manageable units, which enable them to achieve. Highly effective systems are in place; these are crucial to the maintenance of the high standards in the school. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Kempshott Infant School, 13 July 2007 .

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Grade: 1

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Kempshott Infant School, 13 July 2007

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Inspection judgements

School Overall Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

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Overall effectiveness

How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 1 The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage 1 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 1 The capacity to make any necessary improvements Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

1 How well do learners achieve? 1 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 1 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

1 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 1 The behaviour of learners 1 The attendance of learners 1 How well learners enjoy their education 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 1 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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and interests of learners?

1 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average to below average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low. 9 of 11 Inspection Report: Kempshott Infant School, 13 July 2007

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and supporting all learners?

How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities Yes Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? No Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 10 of 11 Inspection Report: Kempshott Infant School, 13 July 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

3 September 2007 Dear Pupils Inspection of Kempshott Infant School,Basingstoke,RG22 5LL Thank you for making my visit to your school so enjoyable. You were eager to talk to me and I listened carefully to what you had to say. You said you go to a 'fantastic school'. I agree. I use the word 'outstanding'. There are many things that your school does so well. The quality of your work and the speed at which you learn is exceptional. You behave so well, get along with others, and have very good attitudes to your work. This, together with the excellent teaching you receive, helps you to make the very good progress that you do. You told me how much you enjoy school, and I was really impressed to hear about how you worked so hard to get fit. Well done and keep it up! This is just one part of the excellent range of things that the school provides for you. Again, you told me how good these were. You really like the theme days and weeks, and you obviously enjoyed the production of the Wizard of Oz.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

What I really liked was the way many of you complimented the actors on their performances. I agree with you that the adults really care for you. You know this and are able to concentrate on your work. You are using learning targets very well to improve your work. The success of the school over recent years is the result of exceptional leadership by your headteacher and the adults around her. One extremely good thing is that you are able to settle to your work quickly because the adults have made sure that you know what is expected of you. Even though your school is outstanding, your teachers want it to be even better. I have asked them to ensure that you use computers to help you with your learning in all subjects. I wish you all the best for the future. Yours faithfully Michael PyeLead Inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Kempshott Infant School, 13 July 2007

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