Bursledon Church of England Infant School

Bursledon Church of England Infant School Inspection report

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116277 Unique Reference Number Hampshire Local Authority 312243 Inspection number 11 °12 March 2008 Inspection dates Janet Sinclair 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 Voluntary controlled School category 4 °7 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 196 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Hilary Bax Chair Miss Maureen Knight Headteacher 20 October 2003 Date of previous school inspection Long Lane School address Bursledon Southampton SO31 8BZ 02380 402869 Telephone number 02380 404628 Fax number

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4-7 Age group 11 °12 March 2008 Inspection dates 312243 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 two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

Bursledon is an average-sized infant school. Its pupils come from a wide range of backgrounds. A significant number of children do not attend pre-school provision. The school is due to have a Full Core Children's Centre on site from September 2008. There have been many staff changes recently due to staff leave, promotion and retirement. The school is currently without a substantive deputy headteacher. The school holds the following quality marks: Enhanced Healthy Schools, Active Mark and Basic Skills Quality Mark.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 10 Inspection Report: Bursledon Church of England Infant School, 11 °12 March 2008

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Grade: 2

Bursledon Infant is a good school where pupils enjoy learning. They achieve well due to the strong leadership of the headteacher, effective teaching, and good pastoral care. The headteacher and her staff have created a warm, caring environment enabling pupils to become confident, committed learners. Most parents hold the school in high regard and have great confidence in its provision for their children. One wrote and summed up the views of most others, 'The school is a happy, safe, well disciplined environment where my children are making great progress and enjoy learning'. The headteacher has provided clear direction for the work of the school during a difficult time of staff change and absence. Her calm, thoughtful leadership has enabled the school to remain focused on providing a good quality education for its pupils. This is one of the keys to the school's success, along with its willingness to take on new initiatives such as the phonics

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Grade: 2

programme, which is already having a very positive impact on reading and writing in the school. The school has made good progress since its last inspection and, with its on going commitment to improvement, there is a good capacity to improve further. Standards are rising in Key Stage 1. Current standards are now average in reading and mathematics and slightly below in writing. Progress is good. Writing is improving. Pupils enjoy writing, although there is not always enough emphasis on using accurate punctuation and spelling. Pupils receiving additional literacy, numeracy and social skills support make good progress due to an accurate focus on identifying and meeting their needs. Effective teaching, coupled with a good curriculum, ensures pupils enjoy their learning and work hard. A strength of the teaching is the way teachers keep a check on how well pupils are doing and use this information to ensure work is well matched to their needs. Additionally, supportive relationships

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Grade: 2

across the school make a significant contribution to pupils' good behaviour and positive attitudes to learning. There are inconsistencies in the extent to which teachers, when marking, give sufficient guidance to pupils on how to improve their work. Pupils' good personal development encourages them to participate well in school activities and take care over their work. Through the school council they have a say in improving their environment, for example, when choosing playground equipment. They cooperate well with each other and appreciate the 'busy bees' they get for good work. Good procedures to ensure pupils welfare, health and safety enables pupils to feel safe and happy. Monitoring of their progress is good. Individual targets are well matched to their learning needs and pupils are clear about how they will help them to improve. However, they are not consistently implemented by all teachers, so some of their value is lost.

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Grade: 2

Leadership within the school is good. The headteacher has an effective overview of all aspects of the school and delegates effectively, thereby ensuring all leaders share a clear sense of direction. The leadership team, some of whom have ably assumed new responsibilities in response to changing circumstances, are already proving effective in helping to move the school forward through good use of school improvement planning and clear action plans for subjects.

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Grade: 2

There is good provision in the Foundation Stage and children achieve well across the areas of learning. Most are working below the goals expected of them on entry to Year 1, due to their 4 of 10 Inspection Report: Bursledon Church of England Infant School, 11 °12 March 2008 low attainment when they start in Reception. It is well organised and managed to ensure it securely meets the children's needs. There is an increasing balance of child-chosen and teacher-directed activity giving the children more opportunities to work together and gain a good level of independence. Sometimes there is insufficient challenge in the questioning or activities set and this slows progress. Frequent assessments ensure that work is well targeted at the children's needs and consequently they progress well. Staff work hard to improve children's literacy skills, which are at a fairly low-level overall on entry. The use of a new phonics

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Grade: 2

programme is helping to improve children's writing and reading skills.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Iron out the inconsistencies in teachers' marking and target setting to enable all pupils to know how to improve their work. ■ Continue to improve writing by ensuring punctuation and spelling are given enough attention.

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Grade: 2

Over several years, standards at the end of Year 2 have been below the national average. However, they are improving. Standards for pupils currently in Year 2 are average in reading and mathematics and slightly below in writing. This represents good progress overall given their starting points. Writing and reading are both improving well due to recent innovations by the leadership of the school. Of particular note is the huge improvement in pupils' reading scores over a short period. Pupils with speech and language difficulties make good progress towards their targets due to the individual support they get.

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Grade: 2

Pupils mainly behave well. They respond quickly to adults' requests and work together co-operatively. However, this sometimes lapses when lessons do not fully engage them. They build good relationships, feel safe and are confident that there are adults they can go to if ever they have problem. Pupils adopt healthy lifestyles, taking frequent and regular exercise, and know about healthy diets. For example, during the inspection, there was a lively debate on whether they needed three or five portions of fruit and vegetables a day to stay healthy. Even the youngest children enjoy their daily piece of fruit and regular outdoor activities. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Effective assemblies develop a sense of empathy, for example, when discussing the life of African children. They know right from wrong and respect the school's 'Golden Rules'. Pupils make a good contribution to the

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Grade: 2

community through charity fund-raising, being playground 'buddies', and school councillors. Pupils make good progress in developing their literacy, numeracy, information, and communication technology skills thus preparing them well for their future economic well-being.

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Grade: 2

Teaching and learning are good. Lessons are well planned and good use is made of on-going assessment that challenges pupils. There is good, consistent behaviour management and relationships at all levels are good. As a result, pupils enjoy their learning and work hard. 5 of 10 Inspection Report: Bursledon Church of England Infant School, 11 °12 March 2008 Teachers are working conscientiously to improve pupils writing skills, which are a focus of school improvement. This can be seen in the amount of written work produced by pupils, although teachers do not always place enough emphasis on punctuation and spelling. Teaching assistants are fully involved in pupils' learning and support teaching very well. Challenging questioning is often seen in lessons, but just occasionally these are less effective and this slows progress. Marking of pupils' work is inconsistent. While some teachers make good use of specific

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Grade: 2

learning criteria to ensure work is improved, not all do.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum provides well for the development of pupils' literacy, numeracy and information, communication and technology skills. The school is currently working on how to improve the support for literacy and numeracy across all subjects. Pupils' personal development is promoted well through good attention to health and safety. Pupils clearly understand the message about road safety conveyed by the 'Walking Bug' scheme. A good range of after school clubs, visits and visitors, such as the police and fire officers, enrich the curriculum. These are very popular with pupils who say that they enjoy recorder and art club as well as visits to places such as a local farm or a museum for a Victorian Day. Parents benefit well from regular curriculum information evenings.

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Grade: 2

Care is good, with effective procedures to ensure pupils are safe and behave well in school. Tracking of pupils progress is thorough and evaluated termly so that any pupils not making enough progress are quickly identified and given support. Not all teachers use this information well enough to set and update individual targets for pupils. Pupils understand them and know what they need to do to make their work better. The school identifies pupil with literacy, numeracy and behaviour difficulties at an early stage and ensures resources are well targeted at their specific needs. Parents comment on the effectiveness of the school's support, and the good progress their children make. Very good links with the junior school, including a music teacher and deputy headteacher who teach part time in both schools, help to ensure a smooth transfer for pupils.

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Grade: 2

Self-evaluation is good. The school has a clear idea of its strength and weaknesses and the school development plan focuses well on the main areas for improvement. Regular reviews involving governors ensures all have a clear idea of the progress being made towards outcomes. However, on occasions, a lack of clear, measurable success criteria makes it difficult to accurately assess the effectiveness of some initiatives. Monitoring of teaching and learning is systematic and regular. Teachers' skills are well supported through effective professional development. Governors, led by a very able chair, are effective. They are supportive, have a good knowledge of the school and successfully act as 'critical friends'. Financial management is good and the school has successfully attracted extra funding through local grants. 6 of 10 Inspection Report: Bursledon Church of England Infant School, 11 °12 March 2008

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Grade: 2

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 7 of 10 Inspection Report: Bursledon Church of England Infant School, 11 °12 March 2008

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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? Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 2 The effectiveness of the Foundation Stage 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

2 How well do learners achieve? 3 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 How well learners enjoy their education 3 The attendance of learners 2 The behaviour of learners 2 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?

2 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. 8 of 10 Inspection Report: Bursledon Church of England Infant School, 11 °12 March 2008

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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 2 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 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? 9 of 10 Inspection Report: Bursledon Church of England Infant School, 11 °12 March 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

26 March 2008 Dear Pupils Inspection of Bursledon Church of England Infant School,Southampton,SO31 8BZ I am writing to thank you for being so friendly and helping us with the inspection. We enjoyed our meetings with you and were pleased to learn how much you enjoy school and the work that you do. We agree with your parents that Bursledon Infant is a good school. Here are the things we like about your school.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You get off to a good start in Reception.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You progress well in Years 1 and 2 because the teaching you get is good.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Your headteacher and all the staff are looking after you very well.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You enjoy school because everyone is kind and caring.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You like the after school clubs and interesting visits you have.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

These are the things we have asked your school to work on.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Ensure that all teachers regularly up-date your targets because you find them helpful and when marking your work, they all give you guidance on how to improve. ■ Your writing is really improving, but now teachers need to help you make it better by ensuring you use capital letters, full stops and correct spelling. I wish you all the best for your future success. Janet Sinclair Lead Inspector 10 of 10 Inspection Report: Bursledon Church of England Infant School, 11 °12 March 2008

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