Farnborough Road Infant School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 29 March 2023

This is a happy school. Pupils appreciate leaders' ambition that everyone feels special, has hope and a reason to smile. Pupils feel at ease and enjoy one another's company. They have lots of friends. Pupils often give staff a friendly greeting as they pass them in the corridors. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve well. This is because leaders have set high expectations for what children in the early years and pupils in key stage 1 should learn. Children in the early years, including those in the two-year-old provision, quickly find that learning through stories, rhymes and talk is an important and successful part of their education at Farnborough Infants. Pupils said that they feel safe at the school. They know that they can tell staff their worries. Leaders act quickly and effectively to resolve any incidents of bullying. Pupils behave themselves very well because leaders set clear expectations for all pupils' conduct. Pupils gain valuable extra knowledge, and develop their respect for other people, through a range of educational trips. For instance, they spoke maturely of their recent informative visit to a local synagogue. Pupils are thrilled to be trusted by staff with special helper roles, including on the school council. Many pupils enjoy attending clubs, such as musical theatre, 'little voices', judo and archery.

What the school should improve

• Some staff in the early years do not use questions skilfully. These staff do not enable children to take part in back-and-forth conversations. This limits how well some children build their language. Leaders should ensure that all staff understand how to use questions and other teaching strategies to develop rich conversation with children about their learning.
• Some aspects of the early reading curriculum are not delivered consistently well across early years and key stage 1. Sometimes, some staff use impure letter sounds, select reading books not well matched to pupils' phonics knowledge or help pupils too much when they read. These inconsistencies mean that some pupils do not read as well as they could. Leaders should ensure that all staff who teach reading have the expertise that they need and work in the same systematic way, so that pupils become fluent readers.

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