Weston Shore Infant School Ofsted Report

Full report

In accordance with section 44(1) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve pupils’ outcomes in key stage 1 so that they are good, by:
  • raising expectations of the standards that pupils can achieve
  • ensuring that teaching makes good use of assessment to match learning activities well to pupils’ different needs, including challenging the most able pupils so that they exceed the expectations for their age
  • making sure that teaching addresses pupils’ misconceptions effectively
  • ensuring that the support teaching assistants provide has a positive impact on pupils’ learning.
• Improve behaviour, welfare and personal development by:
  • using a consistent approach to promoting good behaviour and self-discipline among pupils
  • ensuring that pupils attend school regularly, in particular reducing significantly the proportion of pupils that miss school frequently
  • providing pupils with rich opportunities that promote effectively their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and prepare them for life in modern Britain.
• Improve leadership at all levels by:
  • ensuring that governors meet their statutory responsibilities
  • making sure that leaders and governors have an accurate understanding of the school’s effectiveness
  • ensuring that performance management and appraisal systems are put into place, and are rigorous for all staff members
  • assessing and analysing outcomes for different groups of pupils, tracking their progress and taking prompt action to ensure support for those who are falling behind, including pupils who are disadvantaged and the most able
  • overseeing the implementation of an effective, rich, broad and balanced curriculum for all pupils.

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An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved. The school should not appoint newly qualified teachers.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

• Weston Shore has seen a significant decline in standards since the last inspection. Important systems that ensure that pupils can achieve well have not been introduced, or have been neglected. For example, the most recent national curriculum has not been planned appropriately. Leaders and staff are not held to account well enough. There has been a major fall in pupils’ outcomes, and too many pupils leave the school unprepared for the next stage in their education.
• The interim headteacher has only recently joined the school but has already made some important changes to improve pupils’ achievements. She has accurately identified the school’s strengths and weaknesses, and put in place immediate plans to bring about positive change. However, her appointment is only short term, and the long-term sustainability of her improvement work is not secure.
• The interim headteacher is supported well by the assistant headteacher. Previously, the assistant headteacher was not deployed effectively to fulfil her role to the best of her ability. They work well together, and are determined to improve all aspects of the school.
• Performance management for staff has only recently been introduced. For some time, no one has been held to account for pupils’ outcomes, and standards have fallen as a result. Targets for some staff are now in place, and plans for staff appraisal are developing. However, this work is not yet having an impact in raising standards.
• The curriculum is underdeveloped. Although the interim headteacher has taken incisive action to ensure that the teaching of English and mathematics is planned appropriately, learning in other subjects, such as science and geography, is poorly organised. Consequently, the curriculum is not broad and balanced, and pupils cannot learn well.
• The assistant headteacher has recently taken on the coordinator role for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. Her early work is improving leaders’ understanding of what these pupils need to make stronger progress. However, pupils who have SEN are not achieving well enough because currently they do not receive a good enough standard of support.
• The pupil premium is not spent well. Leaders do not have a strategy to raise the achievements of disadvantaged pupils and have not scrutinised effectively the impact that the pupil premium grant has had on raising these pupils’ attainment. Disadvantaged pupils at Weston Shore achieve very poorly compared to other pupils nationally.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding is limited. Some opportunities for pupils to learn about Christianity are in place, but their knowledge, for example, of other world faiths and cultures, is poor. Pupils are not prepared for life in modern Britain.
• The local authority recognised that the school needed support and put in place some actions to help tackle falling standards. However, this work did not drive improvement rapidly enough. The local authority is taking action to ensure that sustained effective leadership, beyond the current interim headteacher, is maintained at Weston Shore.
• Parents’ views of Weston Shore are mixed. Some feel it is run well and stated that their children enjoy coming to school. Others do not agree. Just over half of parents who responded to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, would recommend the school to others.
• The sports premium is spent well. It provides additional sporting opportunities for pupils after school, which are attended well.

Governance of the school

• The governing body is not effective. For example, governors do not have appropriate oversight of leaders’ work, and do not hold them to account stringently. They have not taken rapid action to improve the school’s effectiveness over time.
• Governors do not carry out their financial obligations well enough. For instance, their understanding of how the pupil premium grant is spent, and whether it is used effectively, is weak. As a result, they are not championing disadvantaged pupils to a high enough standard.
• Governors have not set high enough expectations for leaders. Currently, they do not use performance management to set targets for the interim headteacher. Similarly, they have not insisted on the appraisal of staff performance to inform pay progression. Governors do not monitor successfully pupils’ outcomes or link them appropriately to staff members’ performance.
• Governors are committed to Weston Shore and show a clear determination to serve its community well. A recently undertaken accurate review of governance has provided them with clear targets to address. Governors have much to do to achieve success.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders ensure that staff are recruited in accordance with government guidelines. For example, references are always sought and appropriate checks made to ensure employees’ suitability to work with children. The single central record is accurate and meets statutory requirements.
• Leaders ensure that staff understand their obligations to keep children safe. The designated safeguarding leaders have recently undertaken refresher training to sharpen their knowledge in child protection. Leaders pass on relevant information to all staff and ensure that everyone knows what actions to take to protect children from harm.
• Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe. For instance, they understand that the internet can present dangers but know to ‘lock it, block it, show it, tell it’ if they see something online that worries or scares them.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

• Teaching across key stage 1 does not reflect high expectations of what pupils should achieve. When the new national curriculum was introduced in 2014, leaders did not ensure that teaching plans were reviewed and updated to meet the higher demands in pupils’ learning. Subsequently, standards in education at Weston Shore fell, and are now inadequate.
• Teaching does not meet the needs of different groups of pupils well enough. For example, lessons are frequently too challenging or too easy for pupils’ different abilities. As a result, learning is frequently too slow, and pupils are not supported to make good progress across a range of subjects.
• Teaching does not pick up on pupils’ misconceptions. On too many occasions, pupils are not assisted swiftly enough to identify where they have gone wrong, or helped to learn from their mistakes. Consequently, pupils have significant gaps in their knowledge and understanding in a range of subjects, including in mathematics and English.
• Across the curriculum, the most able pupils are not challenged well to make rapid progress. Until very recently, assessment of pupils’ learning has been weak, and has not been used to identify this group of pupils. Teaching still does not take into account the most able pupils’ needs, and as a result they are not supported appropriately to achieve the highest standards in a range of subjects.
• Teaching does not develop pupils’ key mathematics skills effectively. Work in exercise books shows that activities are frequently too repetitive and do not require pupils to grapple with challenging investigations or develop their reasoning skills. Pupils’ progress in mathematics is typically slow.
• Currently, phonics is not taught well enough in key stage 1. Too few pupils are able to sound out new words accurately and many do not achieve well in the Year 1 phonics screening check. Many pupils who need to catch up in Year 2 do not receive the support they need to achieve success.
• The support provided by teaching assistants frequently does not help pupils to make good progress. Often, this is because teaching assistants do not have a clear understanding of what is being taught, or they are not deployed appropriately by teachers to support learning. Some teaching assistants do not demonstrate appropriate skills to help pupils make good progress.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.
• Pupils are not taught adequately to understand what bullying is, and the different forms it can take. For instance, they do not know the difference between one-off acts of unkindness and more systematic and targeted nastiness. This means that some pupils do not understand the impact of bullying, and are ill equipped to deal with it effectively.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding requires improvement. Pupils show clear tolerance and respect for each other, as noted when one pupil commented, ‘We’re all the same underneath.’ However, they do not yet have a secure and appropriate knowledge of cultures or faiths other than Christianity. This limits their understanding of life in modern Britain.
• Historically, too many pupils, including those who are disadvantaged and those who have SEN and/or disabilities, have missed an unacceptable amount of school. Additionally, many also frequently arrive late. Leaders have begun to raise expectations and have taken the right steps to improve attendance, and they support and challenge parents more effectively. There is emerging evidence that indicates that this strategy is starting to have a positive effect, but the recently improved rates of pupils’ attendance and punctuality are not yet secure.
• The ‘rainbow classroom’ is beginning to provide effective support for vulnerable pupils. The nurture assistant has attended recent effective training that has developed her skills and knowledge well. Despite having been only recently set up, this provision is beginning to help this small group of pupils develop their confidence and self-esteem. Leaders must keep this provision under review and ensure that its fledgling success flourishes.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.
• School information shows that pupils’ behaviour has improved from the lowest standards in recent months. Leaders have worked successfully with staff to raise expectations of what is, and is not, acceptable behaviour. Staff are more frequently demanding better of pupils, but the approach to improving behaviour is not yet refined or consistent throughout the school.
• Most pupils try to listen and learn well. However, tasks are frequently too easy or challenging, and do not spark pupils’ interests well enough. When this is the case, their attention drifts away from learning.
• Outside at breaktimes, pupils are supervised well and have a range of equipment with which to play. This ensures that they are kept busy and focused. As a result, they typically behave appropriately when playing independently.

Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

• Across key stage 1, too few pupils are making enough progress in a range of subjects including reading, writing and mathematics. This is because the curriculum is not effective and weak teaching does not take into account pupils’ needs. As a result, too few pupils achieve as well as they should for their age.
• Pupils do not achieve well in a range of other subjects because learning across the wider curriculum is not sufficiently organised. Teaching in subjects such as science and geography is uninspiring and does not help pupils to make good progress.
• The achievement of disadvantaged pupils, including those who are most able, is weak. Historically, they have not received enough help and support in their learning. Consequently, the progress that they make in reading, writing, mathematics, phonics and the wider curriculum is as low as that of other pupils.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are not supported well enough to make good progress from their starting points. This is because teaching is not adapted well enough for these pupils’ individual needs. Leaders are only just beginning to evaluate effectively the unique needs of these pupils, and how best to support their learning.
• The most able pupils do not make enough progress across all curriculum subjects. Currently, leaders do not have accurate knowledge of who these pupils are, and therefore do not provide challenging learning that matches their ability.
• The proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in the phonics screening check has been below the national average for the last three years. Too few pupils are developing the necessary skills to learn to read effectively.
• In 2017, the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in key stage 1 reading, writing and mathematics national assessments was well below that of all pupils nationally. Not enough key stage 1 pupils are prepared adequately for the next stage of their education.
• Pupils in the early years make good progress. Since joining the school a year ago, the early years leader has embedded significant positive changes that have improved children’s outcomes. As a result, the proportion of children achieving a good level of development, including those who are disadvantaged, has risen dramatically. Current children are making similarly good progress across the early years curriculum.

Early years provision Good

• The early years leader is determined that all children should achieve well. Strong assessment procedures for children’s early development are used effectively to provide appropriate learning activities. Staff work together to help children develop their emerging writing and mathematics skills. As a result, children make good progress in the early years and are ready for the Year 1 curriculum.
• There is a particularly strong focus on developing pupils’ emerging writing skills. Staff have developed a clear strategy to achieve this, and use a variety of successful activities to ensure that children can hold their pencils correctly and learn to make marks well. Many pupils are beginning to construct successfully letters and simple sentences.
• The early years curriculum is delivered successfully. A range of different learning tasks, inside and outside of the classroom, stimulates children’s interests and sparks their imaginations. Staff interact with children well, leading learning when appropriate, and ensuring that children demonstrate growing independence.
• Effective routines help children learn how to keep themselves safe. For example, before snack-time, children know the importance of washing their hands to ensure that they are clean. Children follow instructions well and listen carefully to adults.
• There are frequent opportunities for parents to visit the early years setting. Staff provide briefing sessions so that parents know what their children are learning. Regular information is shared with parents about the progress their children are making. Leaders are refining this process further by investigating more effective ways of engaging with parents, for example online.
• Leaders are developing stronger relationships with the onsite Nursery. They grasp the importance of this in understanding children’s strengths and weaknesses when joining the setting. Leaders are rightly ambitious to forge greater links with other pre-school settings across the community to strengthen their work in this area.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 116133 Southampton 10041456 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Infant School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Maintained 4 to 7 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 76 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mr John Martin Interim Headteacher Mrs Nicky Cunningham Telephone number 02380 390399 Website Email address www.westonshore.co.uk head@westonshore.co.uk Date of previous inspection June 2013

Information about this school

• The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about the pupil premium grant on its website.
• The vast majority of pupils are White British.
• The school is smaller than the average infant school.
• The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is well above that seen nationally.
• The proportion of pupils whose first language is not believed to be English is similar to the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is above average. The proportion of pupils who have an education, health and care plan is also above average.

Information about this inspection

• Learning was observed throughout the school, and the lead inspector spoke to pupils and looked at work in their books. Observations were conducted jointly either with the interim headteacher or the assistant headteacher.
• Meetings were held with senior leaders, middle leaders, groups of pupils, the chair of the local governing body and a parent governor. The lead inspector also met with three representatives from the local authority.
• The lead inspector spoke to parents at the start of the day and took into account 14 responses, including written comments to the online questionnaire, Parent View. Inspectors also analysed 11 responses to the staff questionnaire.
• A range of documents was reviewed, including the school’s development plan and self-evaluation document; information about pupils’ achievement, attendance, behaviour, safeguarding and safety; governing body reports and local authority reports.

Inspection team

Dom Cook, lead inspector

Her Majesty’s Inspector