Lyndhurst Infant School

Lyndhurst First School Inspection report

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125960 Unique Reference Number West Sussex Local Authority 328430 Inspection number 13 May 2009 Inspection date Michael Barron Reporting inspector

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. The registered childcare, managed by the governing body, was inspected under section 49 of the Childcare Act 2006.

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First Type of school Community School category 4–8 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 331 School (total) 0 Government funded early education provision for children aged 3 to the end of the EYFS 0 Childcare provision for children aged 0 to 3 years The governing body Appropriate authority Donna Felsted Chair Diane South Headteacher 8 June 2006 Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous funded early education inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous childcare inspection Lyndhurst Road School address Worthing BN11 2DG 01903 235390 Telephone number 01903 823627 Fax number

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4–8 Age group 13 May 2009 Inspection date 328430 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. 2 of 10 Inspection Report: Lyndhurst First School, 13 May 2009

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by two Additional Inspectors. The inspectors evaluated the overall effectiveness of the school and investigated the following issues.

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Introduction

■ The achievement of pupils throughout the school in numeracy, literacy and science, focusing on possible gender differences.

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Introduction

■ The quality of teaching and learning in order to evaluate how effectively it meets the needs of all pupils.

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Introduction

■ The impact of leadership and management on school improvement, especially regarding the roles of the school's senior management team, subject leaders and the governing body. The inspectors gathered evidence from: discussions with pupils, staff and representatives from the governing body; observations of teaching and of pupils at work and at play; scrutiny of school documentation and self-evaluation, and samples of pupils' work; and an analysis of parent questionnaires. Other aspects of the school's work were not inspected in detail, but the inspector found no evidence to suggest that the school's own assessments, as given in its self-evaluation, were not justified, and these have been included where appropriate in this report.

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Description of the school

This is a larger than average school which includes a specialist unit for pupils with autistic spectrum disorder. Most pupils are of White British heritage. The percentage of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is above the national average. These include individuals who have speech and language difficulties and those who have behavioural and emotional issues. There is also a unit on site which provides places for 8 pupils with autism. Provision for the Early Years Foundation Stage consists of three Reception classes. The school has gained several recent awards including Healthy School Status and the Active Mark award.

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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: Lyndhurst First School, 13 May 2009

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Grade: 2

This is a good school. It has a welcoming and inclusive ethos and provides a good education for pupils, preparing them well for the next stage of their education. It is well led and managed by a dedicated headteacher who is held in very high regard by pupils and parents. She provides a very clear vision for school improvement and works well with governors and staff to ensure that the school regularly analyses and evaluates its performance methodically in order to identify and implement improvements where needed. This is evident in the way the school has tackled the issues raised by the last inspection, for example, in improving the teaching of reading. As a result, the school has made good progress and demonstrates a good capacity to improve in the future. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school: 'I feel so lucky that my child goes to Lyndhurst', being typical of the many supportive comments in parents' questionnaire replies.

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Grade: 2

Children enter the school's Reception Year with well below average standards, especially in their social and language development. They make very good progress because outstanding teaching caters very effectively for their needs. The quality of teaching throughout the rest of the school is good and serves the needs of all pupils effectively, enabling them to achieve well in all year groups. Standards are average overall and pupils in Year 2 are on course to meet nearly all of the challenging targets set for them in the national assessments. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, including those in the on-site unit for pupils with autistic spectrum disorder, make good progress because of the good level of support they receive. An analysis of the school's data to track pupils' progress and a scrutiny of pupils' work confirm that there is no significant difference in the achievement of boys and girls. However, although

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Grade: 2

the school has recently successfully raised standards in mathematics, standards in science remain an area in need of improvement. Pupils really enjoy school and this is reflected in their good attendance. They are very keen to learn and describe lessons as really interesting, 'especially when we learn about aliens in writing lessons'. Pupils of all ages are very friendly. They say the 'Junior Governors' give them a voice in school affairs and that their school is a happy place. They describe teachers as 'our friends'. Pupils play and work together very well and say they feel extremely safe and well looked after and that they know there is always someone to turn to if they have a problem. Whilst the quality of pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural education is good overall, moral, social and spiritual development are outstanding and this is reflected in pupils' excellent personal development. Behaviour is outstanding and pupils have a high regard for the safety and

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Grade: 2

well-being of others. They are very polite and confidently engage in conversations and discussions with other pupils and adults. They fully understand the importance of making sensible and healthy choices, especially about what they eat and the importance of regular exercise. The curriculum meets pupils' needs and interests well. During discussions it was evident that pupils enjoyed being able to develop their writing, mathematical and information and communication technology (ICT) skills in other subjects. The curriculum is also enriched by a range of additional activities that further develop pupils' skills and their enjoyment of learning. Pupils learn to speak Italian and French and say that they enjoy taking part in the range of after-school clubs provided by the school. However, pupils are not provided with regular opportunities to build up the skills associated with scientific enquiry and investigations.

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Grade: 2

4 of 10 Inspection Report: Lyndhurst First School, 13 May 2009 Teachers are enthusiastic and use a variety of approaches to ensure pupils work hard. Pupils say that teachers are friendly and that they enjoy lessons, especially when they involve practical work. Good quality teaching assistants have a positive impact on pupils' learning and work well with class teachers to make sure pupils needing help are always effectively supported and so make the same good progress as others. However, whilst recent enforced changes to the teaching staff appear to have had a positive effect on the standard of teaching, the school has identified the need to improve the subject knowledge and confidence of teachers to teach science, especially the skills associated with scientific investigations, in order to improve pupils' achievement in this subject. Parents are extremely positive in their appreciation of the very caring way the school looks

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Grade: 2

after their children and comment about the 'happy and caring environment' the school provides. They believe, quite correctly, that the quality of care, guidance and support for pupils is outstanding. Very good induction and transfer arrangements help pupils settle quickly into new routines. Pupils' health and well-being are securely safeguarded and child protection procedures are very robust. The quality of teachers' marking is consistently good and always gives pupils ideas about how to improve their work whilst pupils requiring help with learning are very well supported. The school has developed and implemented very good procedures to assess and track pupils' progress since the last inspection and uses these very effectively to set individual pupils challenging targets for improvement. The headteacher and recently reorganised senior management team are very thorough in regularly analysing the school's performance. As a result, the quality of self-evaluation is good

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Grade: 2

and has enabled the school to sustain existing good practice and bring about improvements where needed, for example, improving the effectiveness of subject leaders. The school has been well supported by the governing body. Although governors are actively involved in school life, the governing body is undergoing a period of change and is only now beginning to improve the degree of challenge it gives to the school. The school works closely with parents who appreciate that the school regularly seeks their views. Resources are good and used well whilst good links with external agencies help to support pupils' learning. The school makes a good contribution to promoting community cohesion and this is evident in the way pupils work and play very well together whilst accepting each other's differences and also in the way the school has successfully included hard to reach families in school events. Pupils talk enthusiastically about the school's links with the local community and how visits to

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Grade: 2

places such as the local mosque make them realise they share common values with people living in this country who are from different cultural and religious backgrounds than themselves.

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Grade: 1

The words of one parent summed up the quality of education in the Early Years Foundation Stage: 'My son started school last September and I cannot believe how much he has learnt. He was so proud when he came home last week with a certificate for fantastic writing.' Children enter their Reception Year with well below average standards in nearly all areas of learning. They get off to a very good start and make outstanding progress in all areas of learning because outstanding leadership and management have ensured that children's progress is constantly monitored and assessed in order to ensure that teaching caters exceptionally well for all children's needs, regardless of their abilities. Children are encouraged to work 5 of 10 Inspection Report: Lyndhurst First School, 13 May 2009 independently and lessons often make excellent use of children's imaginations in order to capture their interest and add to their enjoyment of learning.

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Grade: 1

Progress in personal, social and emotional development is outstanding and this is reflected in children's excellent behaviour. Classrooms and well-resourced outdoor areas provide stimulating learning environments for children, who feel very safe and well looked after and are happy to share and to take turns. Staff work very effectively to ensure there is always a very strong emphasis on language development because children often enter the school with very low communication skills. A further range of interesting activities ensures that children make outstanding progress during their first year and provides the basis for their good progress throughout the rest of the school.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Improve teachers' subject knowledge and confidence to teach science in order to provide pupils with regular and meaningful opportunities to build up the skills associated with scientific enquiry. ■ Ensure the governing body offers the school a realistic level of challenge when required to do so. 6 of 10 Inspection Report: Lyndhurst First School, 13 May 2009 .

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What the school should do to improve further

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 7 of 10 Inspection Report: Lyndhurst First School, 13 May 2009

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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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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 capacity to make any necessary improvements

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EYFS?

1 How well do children in the EYFS achieve? How good are the overall personal development and well-being of the children in the EYFS? 1 How effectively are children in the EYFS helped to learn and develop? 1 How effectively is the welfare of children in the EYFS promoted? 1 How effectively is provision in the EYFS led and managed?

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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/or disabilities make progress

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Achievement and standards

1 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: Lyndhurst First School, 13 May 2009

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learners?

2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 1 The extent to which learners enjoy their education 2 The attendance of learners 1 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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learners' needs?

How well do the curriculum and other activities meet the range of needs and interests of learners? 1 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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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 2 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination eliminated 2 How well does the school contribute to community cohesion? 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: Lyndhurst First School, 13 May 2009

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

14 May 2009 Dear Pupils Inspection of Lyndhurst First School, Worthing BN11 2DG Thank you for making both the other inspector and me feel very welcome when we visited your school. We really enjoyed our day and especially enjoyed seeing you work in lessons and talking to some of you about what you like the most about your school. Here are some of the things we particularly like about your school.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Your school gives you a good start to your education.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Children in the Reception class make very good progress.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Your personal development is excellent. You all behave very well indeed and you are very friendly, caring and polite. ■ The school takes very good care of you.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Your headteacher, teachers and governors are working hard to make sure that your school continues to improve in the future. We believe your headteacher and teachers can make your school even better. We have asked them to:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ help you to make the same good progress in science as you do in other subjects

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ make sure that school governors ask more questions about what the school does.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

You can help your school to get even better by continuing to work hard. I wish you the very best for the future. Yours faithfully Michael Barron Lead inspector 10 of 10 Inspection Report: Lyndhurst First School, 13 May 2009

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