Farnham Common Infant School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 21 January 2025

Pupils are proud of their school. They welcome visitors warmly, introduce themselves politely and ask sensible questions. Strong relationships ensure that they feel secure and well cared for. Children in the Nursery class are happy, comfortable and settled. Pupils say that everyone is nice to each other in school. Parents and carers are positive about the school's work, praising the school's caring community atmosphere and recognising improvements in communication since the previous inspection. The curriculum makes a strong contribution to pupils' personal development. Pupils enjoy participating in the wide range of trips, visits and clubs provided by the school. The school is understandably proud of the successful way its woodland area is used to enrich learning. Pupils understand why good behaviour is important and follow the rules most of the time. The older pupils talk about the school's values of 'respect, resilience, innovation, empathy and integrity'. The school is committed to ensuring that pupils achieve well, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and most pupils do. However, despite this ambition, there are weaknesses in the teaching of reading. This affects pupils' achievement. Until recently, the school has not given enough attention or support to pupils who have fallen behind with their reading.

What the school should improve

• The school's phonics programme is at a very early stage of implementation. Pupils are not making the progress in reading that they should and those who struggle with reading are not catching up quickly enough. The school should make sure that the new phonics programme is fully established and implemented consistently well.
• The school's approach to supporting the very small number of pupils with significant behavioural needs is at an early stage of development. Sometimes, the strategies used to support these pupils are not as effective as they could be. This affects how well these pupils engage with their learning. The school should ensure that consistent and effective strategies are in place to support pupils' behaviour.
• The school's checks on pupils' learning in phonics are not as robust as they need to be. This means that the school is not routinely clear about the impact of its work on pupils' learning. The school should strengthen its approaches to checking how well pupils are learning and its impact on pupils' outcomes.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)