Sharps Copse Primary and Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Main findings

This is a good school. It is a vibrant community where all its members are highly valued as individuals.

Through a climate of mutual respect and dedication, the headteacher and staff promote positive attitudes to learning, raising aspirations and enabling pupils and their parents and carers to overcome barriers. Attainment has steadily improved since the previous inspection and for the last two years the attainment of a large majority of pupils has been broadly average in both English and mathematics. Good progress begins in the Early Years Foundation Stage and continues through Key Stage 1, although assessments at the end of this key stage show that attainment is still lower than average due to the h...igh proportions of pupils with identified special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Progress in Key Stage 2 continues to be good so that the majority of pupils leave having reached the standards typically expected for their age. Teachers assess pupils regularly and well so that any groups who are making less than expected progress are quickly identified and interventions put in place. The one- to-one tuition for reading, together with targeted support for parents and carers in supporting their children's reading at home, has been successful in accelerating progress.

Improvements in writing have been a particular success; no pupils underachieved, and most made at least good progress with a few exceeding the school's expectations. The school's actions to achieve this, led well by the senior leadership team, resulted in thorough, concerted whole-school initiatives, training of teachers and consistent expectations of practice. The leadership team monitors and reviews this very effectively and reports to the governing body.

This clearly demonstrates a continued good capacity for sustained improvement. Pupils feel safe and safeguarding is good. All adults are well trained and concerns are highlighted regularly and followed up well by a very effective team of senior leaders.

Behaviour is good. It contributes strongly to well-paced lessons and pupils know that they have to 'do it the first time you are told' in order to stay safe when handling equipment. Any incidents of bullying and poor behaviour are dealt with well and pupils are learning good skills in resolving interpersonal conflicts.

Very well trained support staff work with individual pupils, including those with identified special educational needs and/or disabilities, to provide targeted support for modifying poor patterns of behaviour and helping those on the autistic spectrum, as well as supporting those with speech, language and communication difficulties. Support staff are involved in training colleagues and sharing good practice with other schools, contributing to strong partnerships. The nurture group provision has achieved a nationally recognised quality mark and was used in an Ofsted survey inspection programme on work in this field.

Teaching is good, securing good learning and progress. In the majority of lessons, work is well planned to meet the needs of all groups of learners. Teaching is adjusted effectively to provide more challenge when pupils have successfully completed a task.

Support staff contribute well to this. In a small minority of lessons, there is less challenge for middle- and high-ability pupils as time is not always planned for or used effectively. Teachers are enthusiastic and effective at engaging pupils in practical learning activities where they demonstrate good interpersonal skills when working in pairs.'

Talk partners' are well used by teachers and pupils are encouraged to develop speaking and listening skills in all lessons to promote good language development. The curriculum is good. It provides memorable and interactive experiences that motivate children well and are designed to make good use of the local area so that learning is fun and relevant.

This contributes well to providing a purpose for writing and ensures that all groups, especially boys, succeed. Information and communication technology is used well to provide visual support to deliver the curriculum and opportunities for pupils to present work. However, the school is aware of the need to provide more opportunities for pupils to use technology to develop their independent learning skills even further.

Information about the school

Sharps Copse Primary and Nursery School is larger than average serving a locality on the outskirts of Havant that includes some areas of disadvantage. A much higher than average proportion of pupils is known to be eligible for free school meals. The proportion with special educational needs and/or disabilities is also above average.

Very few pupils are from minority ethnic groups; almost all are White British. The nursery is now part of the neighbouring children's centre. The school has the Healthy Schools award and the Marjorie Boxall Quality Mark for nurture groups.

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