Ofsted inspectors give Havant school the thumbs-upÂ

The recently-released report praised Fairfield Infant School for its '˜passion for every child's right to a high quality education'.

Headteacher Amanda Hall said: '˜I am really proud of where the school is at as we all want the children to get the best possible start to their education.'

Although having been judged good in previous inspections Mrs Hall believes there have been significant improvements at the school.

'˜The bar is constantly being raised for Ofsted judgements. Our previous 'good' would probably have been graded as requiring improvement under the new framework,' explained Mrs Hall.

The report highlighted the school's progress in educational provision for special educational needs students and those with disabilities as well as the monitoring of pupils' progress.

Oftsted inspector Linda Appleby praised pupils' behaviour, improving attendance levels and reading.

She said that pupils' reasoning skills in mathematics need to be strengthened, and that pupils' speaking and listening skills could be improved throughout the school. 

'˜Standards have gone up since the last inspection. In particular students are making good progress in their reading, phonics and writing. The report also highlights how we are now ensuring more able students are making progress,' said Mrs Hall.

A key strength of the school has been identified as the strong team ethos amongst the staff who are described as '˜good role models for pupils'.

'˜The staff are a really good team who are passionate about education and committed to the children's learning,' explained Mrs Hall. 

With students arriving below the national average for communication skills a key target for the school is to continue to improve pupils' speaking and listening skills.

'˜We have introduced a programme called '˜diminishing the word gap'. As students communication and literacy skills improve this will have a beneficial impact on all aspects of the curriculum,' said Mrs Hall. 

The news was shared with staff and students during a whole school assembly.

'˜They have all worked really hard and deserve this outcome,' added Mrs Hall.