Wildground Infant School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Strengthen outcomes further by:
  • ensuring that pupils make strong and sustained progress in all curriculum areas
  • increasing pupils’ attendance.
• Ensure that governors improve their knowledge and oversight of attendance and the wider curriculum to hold leaders to account for all pupils’ outcomes.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

• Leaders are highly ambitious for all pupils. They work exceptionally well together to ensure that all pupils do well. The executive headteacher provides excellent and motivational leadership. Her unrelenting high expectations permeate the school and drive improvement. As a result of the combined efforts of leaders, pupils’ outcomes are constantly improving. School information indicates that this improvement is set to continue.
• Leaders are determined to give every child a great start. Support for disadvantaged pupils is excellent because the funding is used extremely well. Outcomes for these pupils improve every year. The most recent results show that any small differences in the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and that of others are rapidly diminishing. Outcomes for disadvantaged pupils have improved again in 2017.
• Leaders have rightly focused on ensuring that pupils acquire the skills they need in reading, writing and mathematics. They make sure that everything improves outcomes for pupils. They set challenging targets for improvement and have high expectations of staff. This is leading to higher expectations and more progress for pupils.
• Leaders have created a culture where all staff want to improve the work that they do. This is because the professional development of staff is excellent. Staff benefit from individual development programmes and regular opportunities to talk through their work. Systems to manage the performance of teachers are rigorous. As a consequence of these actions, the quality of teaching has significantly improved and made a real impact on the progress pupils make.
• School improvement activities focus relentlessly on improving outcomes for pupils. Leaders make excellent use of the funding to support pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders have an incisive knowledge of every pupil’s needs. They act swiftly to identify and support pupils who would benefit from additional support. The two specialist resource provisions in the school are very well led.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted effectively in all aspects of the school. For example, lunchtime supervisors encouraged pupils to think about others while outside at play. The curriculum also prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain, helping pupils to understand the differences and similarities between different people.
• The local authority has provided leaders with light-touch support as it judges the school to be good.
• The curriculum is good and pupils enjoy the wide range of subjects and extra-curricular activities on offer. English is embedded in all learning and this contributes to pupils’ very secure skills in reading and writing. A good example of this was the history teaching, taking place in Year 2. Pupils were learning about The Titanic and developing their ability to ask complicated questions.
• Leaders’ rigorous monitoring of progress in English and mathematics is well developed and highly effective. They quickly identify pupils who are falling behind and provide excellent support to help them catch up. The monitoring of other subjects is not as effective. Consequently, although progress in other subjects is generally good, it is not as consistently strong as in English and mathematics.

Governance of the school

• Governance is strong. Governors hold leaders to account for actions to improve the school’s performance. They regularly seek the views of pupils, staff and parents. Governors measure the success of actions to improve the school by the impact on outcomes for pupils. As a result, governors have a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school.
• Governors are enormously proud of the work of the school and are proactive in raising its profile and reputation. For example, they have attended local events to encourage parents to visit the school. As a result, they are improving the reputation of the school in the local community.
• Governors visit the school regularly and, as a result, have a detailed knowledge of how the school works. They are very knowledgeable about the teaching of English and mathematics. Their guidance and focus on these subjects have improved outcomes for pupils.
• Governors do not understand the wider curriculum as well as they do English and mathematics. As a result, governors do not effectively evaluate all aspects of the performance of the school, particularly the wider curriculum.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. The well-being of pupils is a high priority for everyone. Leaders and governors have created a strong and confident culture of safeguarding in the school. As a result, all staff are committed to looking after pupils and keeping them safe.
• Governors carry out appropriate checks to ensure that safeguarding is well managed. They check school documentation and regularly visit the school. For example, governors have carried out visits to the school to monitor pupils’ behaviour and to watch a fire drill to ensure that it is effective. In this way, they ensure that the culture of safeguarding is strong.
• Leaders ensure that all staff receive appropriate training on all aspects of safeguarding, including radicalism and extremism. Leaders carefully consider the needs of staff, for example, by giving them opportunities to consider how they might respond to difficult situations. This results in a knowledgeable staff who live and breathe the culture of safeguarding that has been created.
• Leaders work closely with other agencies to support vulnerable pupils. They work hard to provide early help in the school and rightly challenge other agencies when necessary.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Parents highly value the teaching and support their children receive. The view of parents was summed up by one, who said, ‘Wildground Infants is a great school that has made a real difference to my son’.
• Teaching has improved since the last inspection. Staff work together to make sure that pupils do well. Their combined efforts are leading to pupils making rapid progress, particularly in English and mathematics.
• The teaching of English and mathematics is highly effective. Teachers have strong subject knowledge and high expectations. This leads to pupils having very secure knowledge of the basic skills. The most able pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. This is because the basic skills are well taught and adults now provide the most able pupils with more challenging activities.
• Children love learning and take a pride in their work. Teachers’ high expectations of pupils’ learning and behaviour are clearly evident, even at this early stage of the year. Teachers expect pupils to use their skills accurately when studying other subjects. For example, pupils at the very beginning of Year 1 were seen using secure skills very confidently to re-write a favourite story.
• A love of reading is developed well across the school. Very effective phonics teaching from an early age gives pupils the confidence to begin to read quickly. Engaging books are used to stimulate pupils’ imaginations. Pupils talk enthusiastically about these books. They value the time adults spend listening to them read. The most able readers in Year 2 are fluent and are fully engaged in their reading.
• Strategies to identify and support pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are extremely effective. Pupils who receive additional support in either of the two resource provisions are well taught and make good progress. Teaching assistants are well trained and have good relationships with pupils. They are used well by teachers to enable pupils to make good progress.
• Teachers’ planning and assessment are detailed and thorough. Staff introduce pupils to a range of interesting topics. For example, pupils in Year 2 were enthusiastic about their new topic, finding out about The Titanic. Teaching in the wider curriculum, while generally good, is not as effective as the teaching of English and mathematics.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding. Staff are proud of the pupils and pupils are proud of their work. Pupils are happy and confident learners who feel well supported by the adults in the school.
• Pupils have extremely positive attitudes to their learning. They tackle tasks enthusiastically and have the resilience they need to give challenging activities ‘a go’. Across the school, pupils demonstrated this in their ‘have a go’ attitude in a range of subject areas.
• Pupils take good care of each other. They understand how to keep themselves fit and healthy. They know how important it is to be kind to each other. Pupils feel well looked after and are confident that all adults at school will help them if needed.
• Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe in school and out in the local community.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.
• Pupils’ behaviour is impeccable. Leaders’ high expectations mean that courtesy and respect are the norm. This results in a calm environment in which all pupils focus on their work.
• Pupils value their learning and keep their school tidy. They are considerate when moving about the school. They listen carefully to each other in lessons.
• Pupils rarely disrupt the learning of others. Those who find behaving appropriately difficult are well supported to develop the skills they need.
• Pupils say that bullying and unkindness are very rare. They are confident that teachers and other adults in the school act promptly to deal with any concerns that they have.
• Leaders are tireless in their efforts to ensure that all pupils attend school regularly. They work closely with families and outside agencies to tackle persistent absence from school. However, attendance is lower than average and some pupils miss more school than they should. As a result, these pupils do not make as much progress as they could.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Leaders have worked hard to improve outcomes for all pupils since the last inspection. Their determination has resulted in a rising trend in results. Outcomes for children in the early years are outstanding because they are sustained over time. The excellent outcomes in the rest of the school are more recent. Pupils throughout the school now make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. In 2017, the proportion of pupils who made more than expected progress increased.
• Outcomes for children in the Reception Year have rapidly improved. The proportion of children who achieve a good level of development by the end of the year is now consistently higher than the national average. As children start in the school with skills and knowledge that are lower than the levels expected for their age, this shows outstanding progress.
• As a result of the very good teaching they receive, disadvantaged pupils make good progress in English and mathematics. However, until recently, they did not achieve the same levels as other pupils in the school. In the most recent assessments, disadvantaged pupils have made good progress and achieved the same levels as other pupils. There is now no difference in the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and that of other pupils in the school.
• Leaders identified that disadvantaged pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities did not make as much progress as other pupils. As a result, these pupils were given additional attention. Consequently, outcomes for disadvantaged pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities have improved. In 2017, they are higher than the most recent national averages in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Outcomes for the most able pupils, particularly the most able disadvantaged pupils, have recently improved. They are now higher than the most recent national average. These pupils made excellent progress in 2017 because they received highly effective support.
• Outcomes in other subjects, while good overall, are not as strong as in English and mathematics. The wider curriculum is not as strong as it is for English and mathematics. Consequently, it is not yet leading to outstanding outcomes.

Early years provision Outstanding

• Children make excellent progress in the early years. From starting points that are lower than those found nationally, children make outstanding progress. As a result, a higher than average proportion of them achieve a good level of development.
• Children thoroughly enjoy their time in the early years. This is because excellent planning ensures that activities closely match their needs and interests. Children’s interests are tracked and recorded to inform future planning. A good example of this was the successful changes made to some activities to encourage more girls to learn outside.
• Leadership in the early years is outstanding. Adults provide high-quality care and support and look for every opportunity to develop children’s language and communication skills. Staff closely monitor the children to assess their learning and plan their next steps. Disadvantaged pupils, and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, receive excellent support and make great progress.
• Children leave the early years ready for Year 1. The high quality of teaching enables children to learn a wide range of language, number and social skills. Children also develop very positive attitudes to learning in the foundation classes. These skills and attitudes combine to give children a head start when they leave early years and begin Year 1.
• Parents are delighted with the early years provision. Parents went out of their way to tell inspectors how impressed they were with arrangements for their children starting school. Parents of pupils in Year 1 confirmed that children’s progress is shared with parents and that communication between school and home is strong.
• Children are already heavily engaged by the activities available to them, even this early in the term, because transition has been very well managed and staff have very strong and positive systems and routines to ensure children engage.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 115885 Hampshire 10033003 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act. Type of school Infant School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Community 4 to 7 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 150 Appropriate authority Chair Local authority Fiona Western Executive Headteacher Amanda Mullett Telephone number 02380844001 Website Email address www.wildground.hants.sch.uk adminoffice@wildground-inf.hants.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 18–19 June 2013

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• Since the last inspection, the school has federated with Wildground Junior School. The schools share a governing body, the executive headteacher and some senior leaders. Both schools are based on the same site.
• The proportion of pupils who are eligible for pupil premium funding is higher than the national average.
• The federation has two resourced provisions for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. A pre-school provision provides five places for three- to four-year-old children who have speech, language and communication difficulties and is based on the infant site. A primary provision for pupils who have social, emotional and mental health difficulties provides eight places for pupils aged four to 11. This resource provision is based in the junior school.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors visited all classes in the school at least twice. Senior leaders joined inspectors on most of their classroom visits.
• Meetings were held with members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority.
• Inspectors spoke to pupils, listened to some of them read and looked at samples of their work. Inspectors talked to pupils in lessons, at breaktime and during lunch. One inspector met with a group of Year 2 pupils. Inspectors also considered the 10 responses to Ofsted’s pupil questionnaire.
• A number of parents spoke to inspectors during the inspection. Inspectors considered the 28 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, including the 20 written comments. Inspectors also considered the three letters from parents, written to the lead inspector.
• A number of teachers and leaders met with inspectors during the inspection. Inspectors also considered 21 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire for members of staff.
• Pupils’ work in books was scrutinised so that the progress that pupils make over time and the accuracy of school assessments could be evaluated.
• Inspectors examined a range of school documents, including information on pupils’ progress, improvement plans and checks on the quality of teaching. They also considered school records relating to safety and behaviour.

Inspection team

Phil Minns, lead inspector Gerida Montague-Munson

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector