Purbrook Infant School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Purbrook Infant School

Following my visit to the school on 19 March 2019, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to report the inspection findings.

The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in January 2015. This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

You have accurately evaluated the school's effectiveness in all areas and have an insightful understanding of the identified areas for continued improvement. You are highly ambitious to provide the best for your pupils. Leaders can confident...ly articulate your aims for the school.

They speak with great clarity about their next steps. Parents are very supportive of the school. One parent said, 'My daughter is in Year 1 and she enjoys school and looks forward to going.

She comes home full of excitement and is keen to practise things they've learned at home.' Governors have a clear understanding of the school's strengths and appropriate areas for further development. They challenge and support the senior leadership team effectively.

Governors carry out a range of useful tasks to monitor and evaluate the school's effectiveness, including checking safeguarding arrangements. The governors are fully supportive of the school. Purbrook Infants is a very happy school, where pupils learn well together.

Pupils' conduct around the school and their behaviour in lessons are good. They learn in a well-organised, calm and highly supportive environment. Pupils engage well in their learning; they take pride in their work, which is presented well.

One pupil said, 'We do lots of fun learning.' Pupils say that they are happy at school and value the staff. During breaktimes, pupils play together well, and adults ensure that they are safe.

In a quiet part of the playground, a group of pupils sat in an enclosed shelter and read books, supported by an adult. This well-planned activity allows children who enjoying reading to be given an extra opportunity to enjoy books during some of their free time. Leaders have successfully addressed the areas for improvement identified at the last inspection.

Teachers' feedback to pupils' work is clear and pupils know what to do to improve their work. You are currently further refining the approach so that pupils have more instant feedback on their work to help rectify any mistakes during the lesson. Pupils now have greater opportunities to develop their practical and problem-solving skills in mathematics to expand their breadth and depth of understanding.

Staff use their time wisely to ensure that no time is lost between pupils moving to different activities. The targets for school improvement are clear and planned well, enabling leaders to evaluate the measurable outcomes. Safeguarding is effective.

There is a strong culture of safeguarding at Purbrook Infants. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed. Staff and governors undertake regular training so that they know how to keep pupils safe.

Governors visit regularly, carefully reviewing and evaluating safeguarding policies and procedures. Pre-employment checks to ensure the suitability of staff are firmly in place. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe in the building and are well supported by the adults around them.

They are aware of the potential dangers when using the internet. Pupils confidently told me that they know how to take part in fire practices, to keep themselves safe. Parents also agree that their children are safe at school.

The school has effective systems in place to ensure that vulnerable pupils get the support that they need. Inspection findings ? During this inspection, we agreed to focus on: how effectively leaders ensure that pupils who are disadvantaged achieve well; how leaders ensure that boys achieve well in reading and writing at key stage 1; and how leaders ensure that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) make good progress. ? In the lessons we visited, disadvantaged pupils were engaged and working well towards meeting their learning goals.

Leaders' well-chosen activities to engage disadvantaged pupils are ensuring that they are making good progress. The progress of pupils who are disadvantaged is carefully evaluated. Pupils who are disadvantaged are actively encouraged to attend an after-school reading club to give them more opportunities to develop their comprehension skills.

• Funding to support pupils who are disadvantaged is used effectively. The governing body holds leaders to account for the spending of the pupil premium funding and how the funding is used to benefit pupils. Leaders accurately provide well-planned writing support for the pupils.

However, leaders recognise that this support must be sustained and developed so that the attainment differences, when compared to pupils nationally with similar starting points, are eradicated. ? At the end of key stage 1, pupils leave Purbrook Infants with attainment that is higher than the national averages in reading, writing and mathematics, including the national averages for working at greater depth. These results show strong leadership, ensuring that a high proportion of pupils are making good, and for some very strong, progress in reading, writing and mathematics.

In recent years, there have been gaps in attainment, with girls achieving higher than boys with similar starting points at key stage 1 in writing and reading. However, boys do achieve higher than the national averages in writing and reading compared to boys nationally. ? Leaders have effectively evaluated the wider curriculum and made changes to the topics taught so that a greater proportion of boys are inspired and enthused to read and write more independently and to a higher standard.

Current school assessment information, including learning in pupils' books, shows that outcomes are improving for boys in key stage 1. Boys, as well as girls, are very enthusiastic about their engaging curriculum. Some of the new topics that the pupils told me that they enjoy studying are the Great Fire of London, the Titanic, dinosaurs and pirates.

The curriculum also provides more physical learning opportunities for both boys and girls as a starting point for reading and writing activities. Leaders are mindful that the new curriculum changes need time to embed so that boys' progress in writing is sustained and developed. ? Most pupils with SEND make good progress, and some make very strong progress.

The effective support provided by teaching assistants ensures a wide variety of well-chosen interventions to meet pupils' needs. Adults effectively ask pupils questions to check their understanding. Pupils have positive attitudes to learning and are keen to achieve well.

Leaders track pupils' progress precisely, and the additional interventions are evaluated effectively to ensure that pupils make strong gains in their learning. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? there are sustained improvements in writing for pupils who are disadvantaged, so that they achieve as well as other pupils nationally with similar starting points ? boys' achievement in writing continues to improve across key stage 1. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Hampshire.

This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Darren Aisthorpe Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During this inspection, I met with you, the deputy headteacher, the special educational needs coordinator, the school business manager, the reading and phonics leader and three governors. I spoke on the telephone with a representative of the local authority and had a meeting with a group of pupils.

I spoke with eight parents on the playground, and considered 57 responses to Ofsted's online questionnaire, Parent View, including 37 free-text comments. Together with you, the deputy headteacher and the special educational needs coordinator, I observed teaching and learning across the school. I looked at pupils' learning in their mathematics and English books.

I also looked at pupils' science books and their learning journals, and looked at evidence of learning in the classrooms. I observed pupils at playtime and spoke with them informally. I also considered the school's action plan, the school's self-evaluation and a range of documentation related to safeguarding, governance, leadership and pupils' progress.

Also at this postcode