‘Aspirational’ infant school earns ‘good’ Ofsted rating
An infant school in Fareham has been described as a ‘happy’ and ‘safe’ setting in its recent Ofsted inspection.
Newtown Soberton Infant School, located in Church Road, has received a ‘good’ Ofsted rating following its inspection on February 1.
The inspection found that significant improvements have been made since the previous visit.
The report said: “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.
“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.
“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.”
The inspection found that the school is ‘aspirational’ for pupils but that there still needs to be progress in order to get the setting to a good quality.
The report also found that the behaviour across the school is positive and students understand why it is important to behave in the correct manner.
Parents are supportive of the school and recognise the work that is being done to make the necessary improvements.
The report added:
“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 safeguarding measures are effective and there is a strong culture of keeping students safe.