Weedon Bec Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by ensuring that:
  • adults in the early years explain activities to children thoroughly and maximise opportunities during the activities to deepen children’s knowledge and understanding
  • teachers give pupils more opportunities to practise spelling, punctuation and grammar skills by writing at length in subjects across the curriculum.
• Improve the quality of leadership and management by ensuring that:
  • the school’s website is kept up to date with statutory information and policies so that parents have relevant information about the school.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher and governing body have ensured that rigorous procedures are in place to monitor and evaluate key aspects of the school, with support provided where it is needed. Consequently, the quality of teaching, learning and assessment is consistently good in all year groups.
• Leaders, governors and staff are ambitious for the school to improve further and are involved in writing the school development plan. Appropriate actions are identified using a range of sources, including data on pupils’ attainment and progress and the leaders’ accurate self-evaluation of the school’s performance. Consequently, the governing body is able to hold leaders to account for actions they take.
• The leaders of English, special educational needs and the early years are effective. They are knowledgeable and enthusiastic and have a clear understanding of the strengths and areas for development in their particular area of responsibility. Leaders understand the importance of having clear milestones on development plans to ensure that actions are completed by a specific time.
• The leader responsible for special educational needs has ensured that extra funding received by the school is allocated and monitored effectively.
• The mathematics leader has thoroughly investigated the reasons for an attainment dip in the subject by the end of key stages 1 and 2 in 2016. For example, she has examined the test papers to identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge and introduced a new calculation policy. Staff have also undergone training in the teaching of mathematics, and regular mathematics tests are helping to show where pupils require extra help and support. As a result, pupils’ progress in mathematics is good throughout the school.
• The pupil premium leader has ensured that the pupil premium funding is allocated and monitored well. Leaders, including governors, understand the importance of ensuring that pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, receive appropriate guidance and support.
• The primary physical education (PE) and sport funding is allocated and monitored closely. A sports coach is employed to develop staff’s expertise and to help those pupils who require extra support. After-school clubs in football, yoga, basketball and tag rugby are very popular. Pupils have the opportunity to compete against other schools within the trust and have played on the pitches at half-time at the local professional football and rugby clubs. Consequently, participation in PE and sport has risen over the last few years.
• Leaders ensure that pupils are prepared well for life in modern Britain. Pupils spoke confidently and knowledgeably with inspectors about faiths and places of worship different from their own. Pupils have a good understanding of British values and explain clearly, for example, tolerance, democracy and the rule of law.
• The headteacher is passionate about pupils learning through experiences outside the classroom. Pupils relish educational trips and have recently visited the Royal Opera House, the Houses of Parliament, 10 Downing Street, London Zoo and Northampton University for a science day. Residential trips are also popular, with pupils staying on HMS Belfast and for a week in Pensarn, North Wales.
• Leaders make good use of the academy trust. They take up opportunities for teachers and leaders to share good practice, moderate the assessment of pupils’ work and carry out joint training with the governors of other schools in the trust. Leaders are aware of the importance of ensuring that certain trust policies are unique to the school.
• Performance management procedures are robust. All employed staff have objectives. Teachers’ three objectives are linked to pupils’ progress, school-wide professional development and a personal area for development. A mid-year review allows leaders to evaluate whether staff are on track to meeting their objectives. Leaders use this information effectively to guide the governing body’s decisions on pay rises.
• Parents are overwhelmingly supportive of the school and its work. They are confident that pupils are happy, kept safe and making good progress. One parent commented, ‘All the children are enthusiastic to come to school’ and another said, ‘Weedon Bec is a truly amazing school with brilliant staff.’
• At the time of the inspection, the school’s website did not meet statutory requirements because some documents and policies were missing or out of date. Most of these were added during the inspection. Financial information, however, and documents relating to the multi academy trust were still absent.

Governance

• The strong and effective governing body has an accurate view of the school’s strengths and areas for development. Governors receive detailed reports from the headteacher on key aspects of the school’s work, as well as regular presentations from the English and mathematics subject leaders. Governors ask appropriate and challenging questions at meetings, thereby holding leaders to account for their actions.
• Governors hold frequent ‘in-school days’ that help them to monitor and evaluate, for example, the quality of teaching and safeguarding procedures. After these visits, they write reports and share them with other governors, ensuring that the governing body is made aware of any issues and can take any necessary action.
• Governors have received up-to-date training in, for example, safeguarding and the analysis of information about pupils’ attainment and progress. This training helps the governing body to discharge its statutory duties effectively. Governors are aware of the importance of keeping up to date with how leaders allocate and monitor any additional funding received by the school, in particular the pupil premium and the PE and sport funding.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• A strong safeguarding culture exists within the school. Rigorous checks are made on adults before they are able to start volunteering or working alongside any pupils. The single central record meets all statutory requirements.
• A robust system allows staff to report any safeguarding concerns they may have regarding a pupil. The designated safeguarding lead staff are well trained and ensure that pupils and their families are referred on to outside agencies swiftly when required. Records relating to safeguarding are kept in a well-ordered fashion.
• The family support worker is a strength. Her work with pupils and families is effective in offering support with pupils’ attendance, behaviour and emotional health. There are strong links with outside agencies, for example, the school nurse, health visitor and the autism and speech and language teams.
• Staff and governors have undergone appropriate training in safeguarding, safer recruitment and the ‘Prevent’ duty. Consequently, they are alert to the dangers pupils face from potential radicalisation and extremism.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Following a dip in mathematics results in 2016, leaders introduced a different approach to teaching the subject. This has led to an increased focus on teaching to pupils’ specific gaps in their mathematical knowledge and understanding. Assessment information provided by the school, and work seen in books, suggest that current pupils are now making good progress and working at age-related expectations in mathematics.
• Teachers make frequent assessments of pupils’ attainment and progress. The assessments are recorded in an online system that allows teachers and leaders to carefully analyse the performance of individuals and groups of pupils. Meetings to discuss pupils’ progress identify any pupil who is falling behind. As a result, any pupil who is not making enough progress is given the support they need to catch up.
• Pupils work hard in a range of subjects and are keen to learn. This is because teachers plan lessons carefully to motivate and challenge pupils. For example, pupils in Year 4 were keen to share with an inspector their topic of ‘fashion’. They spoke enthusiastically about designing and making T-shirts, and were looking forward to staging a fashion show for parents and the rest of the school.
• Phonics is taught well. Teachers engage pupils through a range of stimulating activities that help pupils learn letter sounds and new words, and practise writing sentences. Misconceptions are identified quickly and remedied, ensuring that pupils make good progress.
• Teachers stretch and challenge the most able pupils well. For example, in a mathematics lesson, the most able pupils in Year 5 were working with a teaching assistant on multiplication using fractions and whole numbers.
• The work of teaching assistants is a strength. They are skilled at asking questions to help deepen pupils’ knowledge and understanding. They help promote pupils’ independence by allowing them to complete some activities on their own.
• The vast majority of pupils complete regular homework activities and this often helps them to develop their learning further. In key stage 1, there is a focus on spelling, reading and multiplication tables, with more open-ended topic activities being completed in key stage 2. Pupils enjoy the challenge of the termly ‘Spelling bee’. Ten spellings are learned each week with a test of 100 words at the end of the term. Certificates are then awarded to reward good performance.
• End-of-year reports are personal and give a good level of detail to parents about their child’s progress. They contain information regarding pupils’ effort and attitudes in reading, writing and mathematics, plus future targets in these areas. The headteacher writes personal words of praise and encouragement.
• Teachers do not provide enough opportunities for pupils to practise spelling, punctuation and grammar skills in extended pieces of writing in subjects other than English. As a result, pupils’ learning is not as well developed or secure in other subjects as it should be.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils are confident and self-assured. They are motivated to succeed and are enthusiastic about learning. Pupils understand their ‘learning line’ and recognise that when trying to understand a new concept their learning will be challenged before the concept is fully grasped.
• Relationships between adults and pupils are positive. The family support worker is available to help pupils who may require any emotional or social guidance. As one pupil told an inspector, ‘There is always someone around to help us.’
• Pupils have a very good understanding of bullying and the different forms it can take. They are adamant that instances of bullying are extremely rare and that adults rectify any disagreements swiftly and fairly.
• The ‘junior parish councillors’ are elected to help the village parish council solve problems in the local community. The pupils meet with a representative from the parish council and have, for example, designed posters that were displayed to encourage residents to keep the village free from litter.
• The vast majority of pupils and parents state that pupils are safe. Pupils spoke knowledgeably about keeping themselves safe on bicycles, when crossing roads and when online, and about the potential dangers of social media. Visits to assemblies by the local police officer have helped to reinforce this message.
• Pupils look smart in their school uniform and arrive punctually at the start of the day. Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils’ conduct in classrooms and when playing outside on the playground is very good. They understand the ‘5Bs’ of ‘Be kind, honest, respectful, hard-working and cooperative.’ Records kept by the school indicate that instances of poor behaviour are rare.
• Pupils are rewarded for good behaviour and good work in weekly assemblies. The ‘hall of fame’ display shows photographs of the star of the week from each class and a walk down the red carpet awaits any pupil who has been nominated by a member of staff for something they have done particularly well. Proud parents witness these assemblies.
• Procedures for monitoring the attendance of pupils are robust. Checks are made when pupils are absent and letters are sent to families should a pupil’s attendance become a cause for concern. A corridor display informs pupils of the class with the highest attendance for that particular week, helping to motivate pupils to attend regularly.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Evidence seen in pupils’ books and in lessons, and information provided by the school, indicate that the vast majority of current pupils are working at age-related expectations in reading, writing and mathematics.
• A large proportion of pupils, including the most able pupils, disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, are currently making good progress from their various starting points in reading, writing and mathematics. In some classes, their progress is less rapid in writing, however, because pupils do not have frequent enough opportunities to practise spelling, punctuation and grammar skills in extended writing in other subjects.
• In 2016, pupils leaving Year 6 made faster progress from their starting points than other pupils nationally in reading and writing. Untypically, in mathematics, pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, made much slower progress. Leaders quickly identified the reasons for this dip and put relevant actions in place. Consequently, standards in mathematics are now in line with age-related expectations in all classes.
• Over recent years, the proportions of pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, leaving the Reception class achieving a good level of development have been broadly in line with national averages. The proportions of pupils achieving the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check have been higher than the national figures for the last three years.
• Historically, standards by the end of key stage 1 have been high. In 2016, the proportions of pupils achieving the expected standard in reading and writing were in line with national averages. However, they were lower in mathematics.
• Pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, read regularly and typically make good progress in reading. Pupils demonstrated a passion for reading and talked to an inspector enthusiastically about their favourite authors including Roald Dahl and Michael Morpurgo.
• Leaders understand the importance of moderating the assessment of pupils’ work frequently with other schools in the trust. This helps to ensure that teachers are making accurate assessments and that the next steps in pupils’ learning can be planned carefully.

Early years provision Good

• Children enter the Reception class with a variety of knowledge and skills, and make good progress from these various starting points. Transition into the early years is particularly effective. Children visit the school on transition days in the summer term and school staff visit children in their Nursery setting. Meetings for parents and the sharing of assessments with pre-school Nursery staff mean that teachers have a good knowledge of each child before they start at the school.
• The leader in the early years provides good leadership. She has a good understanding of the strengths and areas for development in this part of the school.
• Disadvantaged children make good progress. Pupil premium funding provides teaching assistants who help to support children with, for example, phonics, and speech and language development. Links with outside agencies are strong and include the school nurse, behaviour support and a physiotherapist.
• The quality of teaching provided is good and adults prepare children well for life in Year 1. Transition into Year 1 is good. Children make frequent visits to the next class to help prepare for the rigours of the new curriculum.
• The learning environment is well resourced, bright and stimulating both inside and out. Distinct areas of learning allow children to work with adults and have the freedom to explore activities individually, in pairs or in groups. Some activities, however, are not always explained to children or modelled well enough, and adults occasionally miss the opportunity to deepen children’s knowledge and skills in some tasks.
• Phonics is taught well. Children are engaged in learning letter sounds and take an active role using whiteboards and pens to practise writing new words and sentences.
• Frequent assessments carried out by staff are recorded using online software. This system allows parents to see how well their child is making progress and to make a contribution themselves, for example by informing staff of any significant milestones that a child has achieved at home. Moderation opportunities exist within the trust to ensure that judgements adults are making about a child’s attainment are accurate.
• Relationships between adults and children are positive. Well-structured routines and procedures mean that children move carefully from adult-led activities to open-ended tasks. They cooperate with each other and behave well.
• Safeguarding is effective and statutory duties are met. Staff have had up-to-date training and are aware of the procedures to use to report any safeguarding concerns they may have about a child.
• Parents are as enthusiastic and positive about provision in the early years as they are about provision in the rest of the school.

School details

Unique reference number 141080 Local authority Northamptonshire Inspection number 10031203 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act. Type of school Primary School category Academy converter Age range of pupils 4 11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 234 Appropriate authority The academy trust Chair Janet Wincott Headteacher Antony Witheyman Telephone number 01327 340 547 Website www.weedonbecprimary.co.uk Email address office@weedonbecprimary.co.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• Weedon Bec Primary School is part of the Innovate Multi Academy Trust (IMAT).
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website, although at the time of the inspection it did not.
• The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish.
• The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.
• Children start the early years in a full-time Reception class at the beginning of the year in which they are five years old.
• The proportions of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds and those pupils who speak English as an additional language are much lower than average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above average.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is below average.
• In 2016, the school did not meet the government’s floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed lessons in all year groups and examined a wide variety of pupils’ books from a range of subjects. The headteacher and a trustee sometimes accompanied them.
• Inspectors held a range of meetings with the headteacher, subject and other leaders, a group of governors and two trustees. They spoke with pupils in groups, in lessons and around the school, and listened to them read.
• Inspectors scrutinised a range of documents including minutes of meetings of the governing body, current assessment information provided by the school, the school development plan, plans written by the English and mathematics subject leaders, and records relating to safeguarding.
• Inspectors talked with parents before school, examined the results of 62 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, and took into account a recent pupil survey carried out by the school.

Inspection team

Peter Stonier, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Julian Scholefield Ofsted Inspector Caroline Evans Ofsted Inspector