Eling Infant School and Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Main findings

Eling Infant is a good school where pupils' attainment is above average and both boys and girls make good progress from their different starting points.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress in their learning because : teachers plan well to meet their needs in lessons, and additional support to improve basic skills is very effective. Pupils have responded exceptionally well to the school's initiatives to eat healthy foods and take regular exercise. Older pupils know that this is important for their future well-being.

The 'cook and eat' programme promotes healthy food choices at home. Pupils' very positive attitudes to learning are demonstrated in the way... they work independently in groups, helping each other out, for example, to solve problems in mathematics. Their behaviour is good and during lessons it is sometimes outstanding.

Pupils say they feel very safe in school and their parents and carers agree. In the past, the attendance of pupils has been consistently well below average. The headteacher and other leaders have taken firm action through working with individual pupils, parents and carers, and attendance is now rapidly improving and is currently broadly average.

The school rightly recognises that persistent absence is still a problem for a few pupils. Activities are well planned to meet the needs of different groups of pupils. In all classes, teachers use questioning well to promote thinking.

In science, for example, questioning was used effectively to develop pupils' understanding about fair testing. In mathematics, teachers set challenging problems requiring pupils to use their mental mathematics skills; older pupils in Year 2 tackle these confidently. Pupils have helpful personal learning targets in English, mathematics and science which they refer to in lessons.

However, they are not as broad as could be, particularly to promote the higher levels of attainment, and pupils are not yet assessing their own work in depth so that they can strongly direct learning for themselves. In Reception, letters and their sounds are taught securely but a few children find it difficult to use this information to help with reading and writing. Leaders have rightly identified that they need to work even more closely with these children to improve their language and communication skills.

The headteacher's leadership of the school is firmly established. New initiatives are fully implemented by staff and carefully evaluated. Leaders have securely maintained and built upon the good and outstanding areas identified when the school was last inspected.

Improvements in mathematics are firmly embedded. More recent developments to improve writing are beginning to strengthen progress. Self-evaluation is strong and the school demonstrates a good capacity for sustained development.

Information about the school

This is a much smaller than average-sized school of its type situated on the outskirts of Southampton. There are four classes, comprising a separate Reception and three mixed-age Year 1 and 2 classes. The proportion of pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals is above average.

Most pupils are of White British heritage. The proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is above average. Their main difficulties relate to learning, social and/or behavioural difficulties.

The school runs a daily breakfast and after-school club. The school manages the on-site Children's Centre that was not part of this inspection. The school has the 'Gold Mark' award for sports.