Queen’s Park Infant Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Queen's Park Infant Academy

Following my visit to the school on 27 March 2018, 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 July 2013. This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

Since you took up post as headteacher in September 2016, you have made some significant improvements. The restructuring of the staff team has meant that the school operates efficiently and within the funding available. The sharper focus on... pupils' progress for middle and senior leaders means that there is clarity around roles and responsibilities.

Year leaders have a secure understanding of the quality of teaching and learning in their year group. They ensure that assessments are accurate, and that the curriculum engages pupils' interests. This addresses one of the areas for improvement raised at the previous inspection.

Standards continue to rise. The proportion of children in the early years who achieve a good level of development is now above the level seen nationally. In key stage 1, more pupils reach and exceed the expected standard than seen nationally and this positive trend continues.

You recognise that there are some groups of pupils who do not make as much progress as their classmates and are beginning to tackle this. Pupils at Queen's Park Infant Academy are polite, well behaved and attentive. In lessons, they focus on their learning and persevere when tasks are tough.

When pupils make mistakes, they show resilience and learn from them. Teaching staff ensure that pupils are suitably challenged, and, in some year groups, a large proportion of pupils are now reaching the highest standards. All the pupils I spoke with told me how much they enjoy school.

The older pupils recounted their time at the school. They were particularly keen to tell me about the many enrichment activities they have taken part in. The visit to HMS Victory helped pupils understand what it was like to live in the 19th century and recall detailed facts about the Battle of Trafalgar.

They are proud of their work with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra who are expected to perform pupils' compositions at a forthcoming music festival. Safeguarding is effective. The safety and welfare of your pupils is paramount to you.

You have ensured that the school is a place of safety. Parents and carers are fulsome in their praise for the school and the work of its staff. They find the staff to be consistently positive and approachable.

Every parent who responded to Parent View feels the school is well led and their children are safe and well cared for. Every pupil who spoke to me, or who completed the online pupil survey, can identify an adult they would speak to when they are worried. Staff ensure that there is good supervision of pupils at break and lunchtimes.'

Playground buddies' are particularly effective in encouraging pupils to participate in events and offer a listening ear. You have arranged training to ensure that all staff and volunteers are aware of their safeguarding responsibilities, including in relation to the 'Prevent' duty. Leaders who have specific safeguarding responsibilities are suitably trained and have a good understanding of the local authority's procedures.

Your team makes good use of early help to provide families with the support they need. When pupils are at risk of harm, you are swift to involve the appropriate agencies to keep pupils safe. Inspection findings ? You are fully aware that, in recent years, boys have not been making the progress they are capable of in the early years.

Consequently, a greater proportion of girls have reached a good level of development than boys by the end of their Reception Year. ? To address this issue, your Reception teachers have adapted the curriculum to better engage boys. They plan whole-class teaching and free-flow activities to ensure that boys engage in a range of opportunities.

The use of construction toys and apparatus in mathematics has been particularly effective in improving boys' dexterity and developing a deeper understanding of number concepts. I spoke with a large number of boys; they all enjoy coming to school and talk positively about their learning. As a result, in many of the early learning goals, boys currently in Reception are achieving at least as well as the girls.

This is a significant improvement from previous years. ? In 2017, very few pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities in Year 2 reached the expected standard in reading and writing. These pupils have also had lower attendance than pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities nationally and other pupils in school.

I looked at the effectiveness of teachers' planning to support pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. ? Your staff are swift to identify pupils who may have SEN and leaders carry out assessments without delay. Your team use their strong links with specialists to ensure that more complex needs are accurately diagnosed and fully understood.

Interventions are used effectively to help pupils develop their social skills. However, you recognise there is more to do to improve pupils' knowledge and understanding in their academic studies so they make the progress they should. The attendance of this group of pupils has improved and very few are now persistently absent.

• In the early years and in key stage 1, disadvantaged pupils have not achieved as well as their classmates, particularly in reading and writing. This group also attend school less frequently than other pupils. You have invested funds in the appointment of a family support worker.

Her work with a number of families, getting to know them and helping them when needed, has had significant positive impact. The family support worker signposts families to other agencies who are best placed to support them. As a result, the attendance of disadvantaged pupils has improved significantly and very few are now persistently absent.

• In classes, pupils are supported well and this enables them to make good progress in their personal development, particularly those who are disadvantaged. Although in some classes disadvantaged pupils benefit from targeted help for their academic work, this is not a consistent feature across the school. As a result, not all disadvantaged pupils are making the progress they should in their work.

Governors' scrutiny of the impact of this funding lacks rigour and you recognise that the strategies to accelerate the progress of this group of pupils are not as robust as they need to be. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? disadvantaged pupils make accelerated progress in their academic studies ? teaching staff have the knowledge and skills they need to plan learning that fully meets pupils' many and varying special educational needs. I am copying this letter to the chair of the board of trustees, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Bournemouth.

This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Iain Freeland Her Majesty's Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I observed learning in classes, accompanied by year leaders and yourself. I looked at the work of a number of pupils and many talked to me about their learning.

Meetings were held with you, senior leaders, your family support worker, the leader with responsibility for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities, and with four governors, one of whom is the chair of the governing body. I scrutinised a wide range of documentation, including the school's own analysis of strengths and weaknesses, assessment information and safeguarding records. I considered the views of 30 parents who responded to Parent View, seven members of staff who completed Ofsted's staff questionnaire and the 51 pupils who completed the online pupil questionnaire.

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