Newtown Soberton Infant School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

There has been no change to this school's overall judgement of good as a result of this ungraded (section 8) inspection. However, the evidence gathered suggests that the inspection grade might not be as high if a graded (section 5) inspection were carried out now. The school's next inspection will be a graded inspection.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and safe. They describe their school as welcoming and take pride in knowing the school's rules of 'be ready, respectful and safe'. Learning is rarely interrupted.

Pupils play happily on the playground. Relationships between staff and pupils are warm and caring. Pupils trust staff to look after them and know th...at any issues, such as bullying, will be sorted out.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) feel included in school life. Parents appreciate these nurturing aspects of this community school.

Pupils enjoy trips and special events.

Recent examples include a visit to the local church to take part in Christingle and a trip to Marwell Zoo. These experiences enrich the curriculum. Opportunities for pupils to develop their talents and interests are more limited.

The school is aspirational for all pupils. Nevertheless, the quality of education that pupils receive is not currently good enough. This means that some pupils do not achieve as well as they could.

The school recognises this and has rightly made significant changes to the curriculum. However, it is early days. These actions are beginning to make a difference, but it is too soon to see the impact of these changes on how well pupils learn over time across all subjects.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Following a period of turbulence in staffing and leadership, the school is now in a stable position. Staff are working together to quickly address the issues that contributed to disappointing examination outcomes in 2023. The school is benefiting from links with another local infant school and there is a clear vision for improvement.

There is now a coherently planned and ambitious curriuclumn in place for most subjects. The knowledge and skills that pupils need to learn are sequenced in a logical order. This is supporting teachers to know what to teach and when.

Provision for pupils with SEND is prioritised. Staff identify pupils' needs with accuracy. Teachers use this information to adapt learning successfully.

This ensures that pupils receive the support they need.

The quality of teaching is variable. Where the curriculum is new, activities in lessons do not always link well enough to the precise knowledge the school intends pupils to learn.

In some subjects, teachers are not routinely checking how well pupils have learned the intended knowledge. This means some pupils have gaps in their understanding and are not achieving as well as they should. Conversely, in more established subjects such as mathematics, teachers present new information clearly.

They use modelling well to help pupils understand new concepts and provide pupils with regular opportunities to revisit prior knowledge. This helps pupils to know more and do more over time.

The school is improving the teaching of reading.

Staff receive the training they need to deliver the new phonics programme well. Pupils read books that are matched to the sounds that they know. Staff provide the help pupils need to use their phonics knowledge to decode with increasing fluency.

Parents appreciate the workshops the school provides to help them to support pupils at home. Pupils read every day and enjoy books that reflect a range of authors and genres. As a result, pupils develop into confident readers.

In the early years, staff know the children's needs and interests and use this information to provide activities that help engage children in their learning. Communication and language are a high priority. Staff model this well.

This helps children improve their language skills. Work to ensure that the curriculum identifies the precise knowledge that children need to learn is at an earlier stage of development in the early years than in the rest of the school.

The personal development programme has its strengths.

For example, pupils learn about diversity and show consistently inclusive attitudes towards others. However, pupils' understanding of different faiths is limited, and the school does not provide a selection of clubs. The school is alert to this.

Having rightly prioritised improvements to the curriculum, the school is yet to implement plans to improve pupils' personal development. This means that pupils do not currently benefit from a broad set of experiences.

Behaviour is positive across the school.

Pupils know the rules well and understand why these are important. In lessons, they respond promptly to teachers' instructions and follow clear routines. Pupils attend well.

Where needed, effective work with families helps pupils to improve their attendance.

Parents are supportive of the school, recognising the recent improvement work that has taken place. Governors provide strong support and challenge for leaders.

They have an accurate view of the school's strengths. They are clear about the areas to focus on and are very mindful of staff well-being. Staff feel appreciated.

They welcome the training and support they receive.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In subjects where the curriculum is new, teachers do not have the subject expertise to teach precisely and check pupils' understanding.

As a result, some pupils have developed misconceptions and/or have gaps in their knowledge. The school should ensure that ongoing staff training provides staff with the knowledge and confidence to teach all parts of the curriculum consistently well. ? The curriculum in the early years is not as coherently planned and sequenced across all the prime areas of learning as it is for the specific areas.

This means that children are not being supported to build knowledge and skills over time as effectively as they could be. The school should ensure that early years curriculum planning clearly identifies what children should learn and in what order, so that children gain the necessary foundations for their future schooling. ? Important aspects of the school's personal development offer have not yet been addressed by the school's recent improvement work.

This means that pupils are not building an understanding of different faiths and cultures, and do not benefit from a broad range of opportunities to develop talents and interests. The school must ensure that its plans to develop opportunities for pupils' wider development are implemented successfully, so that pupils are prepared well for life in modern Britain.

Background

When we have judged good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in October 2020.

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