Leesland Church of England Controlled Infant School

Leesland Church of England Controlled Infant School Inspection report

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116335 Unique Reference Number Hampshire Local Authority 312266 Inspection number 27 °28 February 2008 Inspection dates John Seal HMI 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 5 °7 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 175 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Paul Dixon Chair Miss Jane McDowell Headteacher 8 December 2003 Date of previous school inspection Whitworth Road School address Gosport PO12 3NL 02392 583872 Telephone number 02392 601048 Fax number

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5-7 Age group 27 °28 February 2008 Inspection dates 312266 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 one of Her Majesty's Inspectors and an Additional Inspector.

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Description of the school

This is a below average sized infant school. Almost all the pupils are from White British backgrounds. The number of pupils eligible for free school meals is above average. The proportion of pupils who have learning difficulties or disabilities is much higher than the average. A higher than average number of pupils move in and out of the school during the school year. There are breakfast and after school clubs run by an independent provider. The school has achieved the Activemark.

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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: Leesland Church of England Controlled Infant School, 27 °28 February 2008

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Grade: 3

Leesland Infants provides a satisfactory standard of education. Pupils' standards of attainment in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 2 in recent years have been below average. Recent and timely intervention by the senior leadership and management has ensured that most pupils are now making satisfactory progress. Many parents hold the school in high regard. The provision for pupils' personal development and well-being is good. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Pupils' behaviour is good both during lessons and around the school. They enjoy coming to school and this is reflected in the improving attendance rate. Pupils get on well with each other and adults. Pupils are proud of their roles in the school council they have been influential in improving lunchtime games and in changing the title of the mid-day supervisors to 'Lunch Ladies'. The quality of teaching is satisfactory overall. There is too much variation between good and

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Grade: 3

satisfactory lessons. Over time, this inconsistency causes pupils' progress to be satisfactory, and their standards of attainment in reading, writing and mathematics to be below average. The school is working on this to make further improvements. The curriculum is satisfactory. The school provides a broad, balanced and relevant range of subjects. The school has appropriately developed many areas of learning which match most pupils' social, emotional and learning needs. This approach is still in the early stages of development and the full impact of the changes is inconsistent across the school. At its most effective, pupils are excited and stimulated. For example, the 'Over to You' programme introduced in the Foundation Stage is now used throughout the school. This is beginning to support more pupils' independence in their learning with more practical activities, which develop their speaking and listening skills effectively.

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Grade: 3

Care guidance and support is satisfactory with some strengths. The school provides a secure environment that enables all pupils to feel safe and cared for. The school employs an Emotional Support Learning Assistant (ELSA) who effectively works with vulnerable pupils and those with social and emotional difficulties. The school has good links with families and other agencies. The academic support for pupils is satisfactory. Pupils are set targets but these are not always specific enough to help them improve their work. Leadership and management are satisfactory. There has been a renewed emphasis on raising pupils' standards of attainment through monitoring progress. This is not fully in place across the school. Although there is an appropriate monitoring and evaluation of pupil progress and the quality of teaching, there is not enough urgency at middle management level to improve the quality of teaching or pupil progress. Since the last inspection, the school has made

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Grade: 3

satisfactory progress. The headteacher and governors have effectively identified what the school does well and where it needs to improve and therefore, the school is on course to continue to improve.

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Grade: 2

Children benefit from a well-organised curriculum and good teaching. Staff understand well how young children learn. A major success of the curriculum has been the introduction of 'Over to You', a daily time for independent activities. These effectively allow the children to develop 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Leesland Church of England Controlled Infant School, 27 °28 February 2008 and apply their skills and knowledge. As a result, children negotiate tasks and co-operate well with others. Personal and social development is rapid. The outside environment area is used to good effect to develop a range of skills, including speaking, as children explore and are encouraged to talk about their experiences. At times staff do not always extend children's thinking to encourage further exploration. Although children make good progress, many of them fall short of national expectations by the end of the Foundation Stage in their

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Grade: 2

communication, language and literacy skills, because of their exceptionally low starting points. There are close links with the many pre-schools in the area and very good links made with parents before children start school. This allows children to settle quickly and fosters familiarity and confidence. Parents represented the views of many in explaining 'My child has a wonderful time. The teacher has made my daughter a happy outgoing child'. Good arrangements also ensure a smooth transition from the Foundation Stage to Year 1.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Increase the number of pupils who attain average standards in reading, writing and mathematics. ■ Increase the proportion of good teaching.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Ensure all levels of management are effectively engaged in supporting better pupil progress and quality of teaching. A small proportion of the schools whose overall effectiveness is judged satisfactory which have areas of underperformance will receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before their next section 5 inspection.

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Grade: 3

Most pupils' below average attainment in their standards of reading, writing and mathematics are a great concern to the leadership and management team. As a result, effective early intervention strategies are now in place. These have begun to take effect. Many pupils generally start Year 1 below average and continue to be supported by the Foundation Stage planning and activities. This effectively builds on their good start in Reception and supports pupils' good progress. Year 2 pupils' attainment in reading, writing and mathematics is below average overall. However, to support better progress, the pupils are effectively organised in ability groups for literacy and numeracy work. During these lessons, pupils' progress is satisfactory and a higher proportion of pupils than in previous years are working at levels expected nationally. Pupils with learning difficulties or disabilities are supported well throughout the school and make

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Grade: 2

Pupils' good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is supported by good opportunities to reflect on the consequences of actions and consider their feelings. Attendance has improved to be in line with the national average. Relationships throughout the school are good. Pupils feel safe in school, and know who to approach if they have a problem. One child explained that there are 'lots of adults to help you'. Pupils' understanding of healthy living is well developed. They know about the need for healthy eating and exercise. Pupils have many opportunities to learn about people who express their faith in different ways and respect it. For instance, many children spoke with great pleasure about the 'Chinese New Year' day they had in school. Pupils 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Leesland Church of England Controlled Infant School, 27 °28 February 2008 have good opportunities to raise funds for charities such as collecting coins to support a past

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Grade: 2

pupil on his journey to Honduras where he volunteered to build a house. Pupils make a good, positive contribution to the community. For example, the Citizenship project in Year 2 enabled the school council to visit the Town Hall and meet the Mayor. This year sees the pupils taking part in the local carnival for the first time. Pupils' development of their personal and social skills supports their future economic well-being effectively. However, this is limited by their satisfactory progress in literacy and numeracy basic skills.

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Grade: 3

All teachers foster good relationships and have high expectations of pupils' behaviour. Some teachers' plans support pupils in making good progress through activities, which are practical and relevant. As a result, pupils are excited and interested in their learning. The school has effective systems to monitor where pupils are in their learning and what they need to do next. In good lessons, pupils are aware of their targets. Pupils are able to describe what they need to do to improve and work confidently. Teachers' use of this information is inconsistent across the school and as a result, lesson plans are not always detailed enough to meet the learning needs of all pupils. This leads to insufficiently challenging work and pupils not being clear about their task and making less progress than they should.

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Grade: 3

The school has made effective changes to the curriculum. Most lessons are focussed on supporting pupils' practical skills. There is a strong emphasis on communication and role-play. This approach is still in the early stages of development and not consistently implemented. Consequently, it does not match all pupils' needs. Information and communication technology (ICT) effectively promotes pupils' skills especially in Year 2. Provision for vulnerable pupils and those with learning difficulties or disabilities is good. There is effective additional provision for music lessons from a specialist teacher who teaches all classes. The curriculum is enriched well through the organisation of a variety of visitors and visits. For example, circus artists and a nurse from the Royal Navy. The school provides a good range of extra curricular clubs. These include the 'eco-group', arts club and football club. These clubs and activities support the

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Grade: 3

children's enjoyment and achievement as well as adding successfully to social cohesion.

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Grade: 3

There are robust and secure systems to ensure pupils' health and safety. Pupils who are vulnerable or who have learning difficulties or disabilities are supported well by the school and are generally happy and well behaved. Because of the school's effective work with other agencies, pupils' progress is satisfactory overall. Parents and families are effectively supported. There are well-established home-school links for pupils starting school. Academic guidance and support for pupils is inconsistent across the school. There are targets in pupils' books and most teachers provide helpful guidance in their marking of work. However, targets are not always specific or challenging enough to support good progress. Some marking although positive, does not provide pupils with support for further improvement. 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Leesland Church of England Controlled Infant School, 27 °28 February 2008

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Grade: 3

The headteacher, ably supported by the assistant headteacher regularly monitor the quality of teaching and pupils' progress. The governors are aware of the school's strengths and weakness. They are now able to hold the school to account effectively. The subject managers and year leaders provide satisfactory support in this work and there are now suitably challenging targets in place. Middle managers know what to do to raise pupils' standards of attainment and have implemented some effective strategies for supporting pupils to catch up. However, the monitoring and evaluation process is not sufficiently rigorous to have a significant impact on all pupils, all of the time. The school has fostered good partnerships with support agencies and other outside organisations. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Leesland Church of England Controlled Infant School, 27 °28 February 2008 .

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Grade: 3

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Leesland Church of England Controlled Infant School, 27 °28 February 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 3 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

3 How well do learners achieve? 4 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 3 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?

3 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: Leesland Church of England Controlled Infant School, 27 °28 February 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 3 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 3 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? 10 of 11 Inspection Report: Leesland Church of England Controlled Infant School, 27 °28 February 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

12 March 2008 Dear Children Inspection of Leesland Church of England Controlled Infant School,Gosport,PO12 3NL Thank you for your friendly welcome when we visited your school. We enjoyed talking with you, seeing you in your lessons and watching one of your assemblies. We think that your school does some things well. Your headteacher and staff know the school and work hard to make improvements. It is getting better all the time. There are some lessons that are not always as good as they could be. These lessons do not help you to learn as much as you could know by the end of Year 2. Your headteacher knows how to make these lessons better and with the staff is looking at ways of making them even more interesting and exciting to help you learn more. We were very impressed with your behaviour and the way you get on with each other. We particularly liked the way you helped to change the name of the staff that

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

help you at lunchtime to 'Lunch Ladies'. We also enjoyed your lovely school grounds and garden, which you look after and play so well in. We have asked your teachers to improve three things about your school. The first is to help more of you learn and do even more by the time you leave Year 2. The second is for your teachers to plan and teach even more interesting and exciting lessons. The third is to ask your headteacher, assistant headteacher and other teachers who lead, to regularly check that you are learning as much as you can and that most of your lessons are good. You all can help your teachers by carrying on working as hard as you can and continuing to behave so well. Thank you once again and best wishes to you all. John Seal Her Majesty's Inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Leesland Church of England Controlled Infant School, 27 °28 February 2008

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