Chandler’s Ford Infant School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Main findings

Pupils come to this good school eagerly each morning and thoroughly enjoy learning.

Their behaviour is exemplary; they are keen to do well and attendance levels are high. The school has an outstanding relationship with parents and carers; they see themselves as partners in their children's education. Their numerous positive comments included: 'a welcoming, warm and caring place', 'I could not have asked for more from the school' and 'My child is thriving and loves school.'

Parents and carers are confident that the school keeps their children safe and this view was endorsed during the inspection when pupils said they felt extremely secure in school and explained how they could keep themselves... safe. Pupils develop a love of learning because teachers are skilled in engaging them and providing tasks which build on their individual starting points. As a result, pupils make good progress through the school and their attainment is generally above average.

Pupils read very well but, despite some successful initiatives, boys' competence in writing does not reflect their skills in reading. Outstanding care, guidance and support are evident in the extremely welcoming atmosphere for pupils and their families, the high levels of attendance and the strong support for pupils whose circumstances might make them vulnerable. There are excellent partnerships with external agencies.

Staff not only draw on outside expertise but also offer professional support for colleagues in other schools. Teachers have excellent relationships with pupils and take care to provide work which challenges all groups. In their eagerness to help pupils tackle new work, however, teachers sometimes provide a little too much support, which means pupils do not have the opportunity to try out their own ideas independently.

The school has moved forward on several fronts due to strong leadership, management and governance. Subject leaders have led several successful initiatives, although they do not routinely use assessment information to evaluate the impact new strategies have on pupils' achievement. Self-evaluation is rigorous and provides senior managers and members of the governing body with a clear idea of the school's strengths and areas for improvement.

Following a systematic review of how the school promotes community cohesion, for example, this is now rightly a priority for improvement. The school's track record in building on strengths and addressing weaknesses indicates a good capacity for sustained improvement.

Information about the school

This is a smaller than average school.

Around 90% of the pupils are of White British heritage with the remainder from other, mostly Asian, minority ethnic backgrounds. No pupils are at an early stage of learning English as an additional language. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is well below the national average.

The proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is broadly average. Most of these pupils have speech, language and communication difficulties. The school has Healthy Schools status.

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