Wingrove Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Iron out the remaining inconsistencies in the quality of teaching, particularly in writing, so that: − the most able pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make the best possible progress from their starting points − more pupils make at least good progress.
• Sharpen improvement planning to identify more clearly the impact that actions will have on outcomes for pupils and groups of pupils, and particularly in increasing the proportion of pupils making at least good progress.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Following a dip in standards in 2015, the headteacher, supported well by the deputy headteacher and governors, has raised expectations and brought about rapid improvement. Staff have risen to the challenge of improving their own effectiveness to good effect. Outcomes in the early years, key stage 1 and key stage 2 have improved, as has the quality of teaching. There are noticeable improvements in pupils’ reading and mathematical skills because of actions taken in the last 18 months.
• Staff training and leaders’ robust checks on the quality of teaching and work in pupils books have been instrumental in driving improvement. Any pupils at risk of underachieving are quickly identified. Action is taken swiftly to tackle anything getting in the way of their learning or any misconceptions to help pupils catch up.
• Arrangements to manage the performance of staff are effective and linked closely to the national standards for teachers. Teachers say they welcome the more rigorous way they are held to account for the impact of their work because they can see the difference in pupils’ achievements. They recognise the improvement in their own skills as a result of the significant range of high-quality training they undertake.
• Teachers now gather information on pupils’ progress in lessons regularly. This information is usually used well to plan activities that move pupils on quickly from what they already know and understand.
• Leaders know that occasionally key stage 1 pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are given work in writing that is too hard for them and this slows the pace of their learning. Leaders are taking action to tackle this and to ensure that more pupils make accelerated progress, particularly the most able pupils.
• The curriculum has been transformed. Pupils have many opportunities to develop their skills across the creative curriculum that embraces all subjects. It has been structured to provide a good understanding of the basics but also to inspire pupils’ interest and engagement. There is a strong focus on raising pupils’ aspirations and in tackling stereotypes, for example through themes like ‘girls into science’.
• There is also a good emphasis on promoting the values that lie at the heart of British society, such as tolerance, respecting the views of others, equality and democracy. Pupils readily embrace the school’s inclusive values and high expectations of behaviour and care for one another. Pupils of many cultures play and learn together in harmony.
• Leaders capitalise on the many different cultures and beliefs of pupils in school. Pupils learn about and celebrate a wide variety of world faiths, customs and beliefs in assemblies, religious education lessons, and through the arts, music, visits out of school and the topics studied. This enhances pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, which helps to prepare them very well for their lives as citizens in Britain today.
• Leaders use the additional pupil premium funding judiciously to ensure disadvantaged pupils achieve as well as other pupils nationally. Where differences emerge, action is taken quickly to diminish them. For example, in 2016, the small group of Year 2 disadvantaged pupils who had left Reception with below-average skills in their writing development did not achieve as well as other pupils. Actions taken in Year 3 mean they have caught up and are achieving as well as their peers. These pupils achieved well in their reading and mathematics assessments and continue to do so.
• Government sports funding is used well. Staff have been trained to deliver engaging physical education lessons. Pupils take part in an array of activities that promote healthy lifestyles and exercise in school and beyond the school day. Links with other trust schools create more opportunities for competition, which pupils thoroughly enjoy.
• Leaders have a very clear understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. Their improvement plan is checked regularly to see if actions are taking place. There are too few quantifiable measures to check the impact of the actions on pupils’ learning. This is particularly the case in defining leaders’ ambition that more pupils will make faster progress from their starting points. It is therefore hard for governors to know if leaders are being successful in achieving this ambition.
• With the exception of writing for a small number of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities in Year 1, pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are making good progress in their learning. Changes made to the way that pupils are taught in class and supported by teachers are ensuring that their needs are well met to achieve as well as their peers. Consequently, overall, the additional special educational needs funding is used effectively.
• Attendance rates have risen well since spring 2016 and school information shows that rates are in line with those found nationally for virtually all groups. Strong action was taken in the summer to tackle the relatively high absence rates of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, and boys. Support to families with children who have complex medical needs has helped these pupils to attend more regularly. The attendance rates of disadvantaged pupils are above those of other pupils.
• The early years has been transformed in the last year. The impact of the changes can be seen clearly in the significant increase in the proportion of children achieving a good level of development by the end of the Reception class. This has moved from well below average in 2015 to above average in 2016. Children are prepared well for key stage 1.
• The local authority’s lead assistant director of education has been effective in challenging and supporting leaders. The local authority issued a warning notice to the school following the dip in standards in 2015. The lead assistant director has worked closely with leaders and witnessed the rapid improvements made. As a result, the warning notice was removed at the beginning of October 2016.

Governance of the school

• Governors are well informed and provide robust challenge to leaders. They have raised their game in the last 18 months, recruiting governors with the specific skills needed and visiting the school regularly. Minutes of governing body meetings identify the challenging questions they ask of leaders, for example about the impact of pupil premium funding, the quality of teaching and progress of different groups. It is clear from these minutes and discussion with governors that they have already challenged leaders to improve their plans. They have requested that leaders make them less detailed and make it easier to check the impact of actions on increasing the proportion of pupils, particularly the most able, making faster progress.
• Governors carry out their statutory roles effectively. These include making sure the school’s website meets government requirements and that information to parents is up to date.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Keeping children safe in school and in the community is a high priority. Recruitment procedures are rigorous. Staff are well trained and vigilant in identifying and reporting any concern to the designated safeguarding lead. Urgent action is taken when required. Referrals to social care are timely and persistent, as is the support to families in times of crisis. Staff anticipate concerns and respond quickly. For example, they identify pupils at risk of leaving the country suddenly and refer on to the right services. Referrals to the city’s ‘Prevent’ team are timely. The team has commended leaders for their vigilance in making sure that risks to pupils from potential extremist views are identified and reported quickly.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Leaders’ resolute focus on improving the quality of teaching in order to raise the achievement of all pupils is working. Pupils’ workbooks, observations of learning and teachers’ assessment information show that teaching is strong. As a result, teaching is contributing to the rapid rise in standards and pupils’ good progress over time.
• Pupils settle quickly into their lessons and learning is usually brisk. Teachers have good subject knowledge and are skilled in checking pupils’ understanding regularly. Carefully targeted questioning draws out what pupils know and then challenges them to explain their views. This was seen in mathematics, where pupils were asked to choose the best strategy to solve a problem. Pupils were seen grappling with the problem and then explaining their reasoning confidently.
• Teachers use strategies to develop pupils’ stamina for writing across the curriculum. Creative curriculum workbooks and vibrant displays across the school identify the wide range of subjects studied and the quality of pupils’ work.
• Teachers’ focus on reading has ensured that the most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, can read fluently, with expression and understanding. Pupils of lower ability or who are in the early stages of reading development tackle unfamiliar words confidently and draw on the range of strategies, including phonics, that they are taught.
• Teachers’ efforts in building pupils’ resilience and independence skills are paying dividends. For example, in Year 6 English, pupils have succeeded in developing their individual writing styles and ideas confidently and assuredly. This has contributed to their good progress in the subject and to highly individual stories and prose.
• Pupils who are at the early stages of learning English are supported well by staff and pupils. This helps them to develop the speaking and listening skills they need to access learning. Such pupils speak enthusiastically about how well they are doing.
• Teachers usually use the regular assessment information they have to plan activities that are matched well to pupils’ different starting points. Teachers check pupils’ understanding regularly in lessons to tackle misconceptions and ensure pupils know what they are doing and what they need to do to achieve their targets.
• Leaders know that there are still a few occasions, particularly in key stage 1 writing, where the prior understanding of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is not used well enough. This results in work being set that is too hard for them. While pupils complete it diligently with the help of adults, it is not matched precisely enough to the concepts that they need to work on. The special educational needs coordinator is working with staff to tackle this anomaly.
• Until recently, not enough had been done to ensure that pupils made at least good progress, especially the most able and the most able disadvantaged pupils. Teaching has been adapted to tackle this. Pupils’ books and assessments for this year show a greater proportion of pupils achieving at a greater depth than at the same time last year.
• Teachers have high expectations of pupils’ presentation of their work. Pupils learn the habit of good handwriting from the early years. Books show their generally good presentation skills as well as the wide range of work they cover in each lesson.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. Pupils demonstrate an eagerness to learn and to please. This contributes to their excellent behaviour and attitudes. Behaviour is managed well by staff and incidents of concern are very rare. The small number of incidents and the lack of exclusions of any sort for a number of years pays testament to the relationships in school, the high expectations teachers have of pupils’ conduct and the exemplary behaviour and attitudes of pupils.
• Absence rates have been high in the past for boys and a small number of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Close partnerships with local authority professionals, and support for parents with children who have complex needs, have helped to ensure that pupils attend more frequently.
• Attendance rates have improved markedly over the past two terms and are average. Boys’ and girls’ attendance rates are similar and disadvantaged pupils’ attendance rates are above those of other pupils. Leaders take robust action when attendance rates slip and celebrate individual pupils when rates rise. Pupils value the celebration of their efforts.

Outcomes for pupils Good

Early years provision Good

• In the last 18 months, work to improve the quality of leadership, teaching and provision in the early years has had a positive impact. There has been a rapid rise in the proportion of children reaching a good level of development by the end of their Reception Year. In 2015, less than 40% gained a good level of development in all areas of the early years curriculum – well below average. In 2016, the proportion rose to slightly above average. This represents good progress given children’s skills and abilities on entry, which are often below those typical for their age. Leaders are working with staff to provide extra challenge so that more children achieve at a higher level, particularly in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Previous differences between boys and girls and disadvantaged children and others have diminished or disappeared because the curriculum has been redesigned to entice all children into learning and play successfully. This reflects good use of the pupil premium funding for disadvantaged children.
• Boy-friendly topics, that girls enjoy too, and stimulating activities both indoors and out tantalise children’s curiosity and interest. Children were seen throughout the Nursery and Reception class cooperating with each other and enjoying and sustaining concentration on a wide range of activities, some of which they had chosen for themselves and some led by adults.
• Adults skim and scan the classroom well while they are working with small groups and keep an eye on anyone who might be at risk of wasting time. Temporary dawdlers are soon encouraged back to activities or given time to talk and explain their feelings.
• The focus on children’s speech, language and communication skills alongside their writing, reading and number is ensuring that any difficulties they may be facing are quickly tackled.
• Good support for children who are new to the country means that they soon settle in and develop the good learning habits that other children display. Signs in different languages in each of the separate areas of provision help new arrivals to find their feet.
• Prompts for adults working with children ensure that adults ask probing questions which not only check children’s understanding but then encourage children to think more deeply about their responses or work things out for themselves.
• High-quality teaching across the early years ensures that children get a good deal and become successful learners. Assessment of children’s achievements is regular and recorded in a way that ensures that adults plan children’s next steps carefully. It also enables parents to see how well their children are doing in the learning journals and on the ‘windows of learning’ wall that showcases children’s work.
• Partnership with parents is a strength. Parents are invited into the Nursery and Reception every morning to work with their children for the first few minutes. This helps children settle in and enables parents to know how to help their children with their learning. Termly workshops for parents have recently been supplemented by weekly ones. Here, parents can learn additional ways to support their children’s learning at home.
• Leaders have ensured that all welfare requirements are met. Staff are vigilant in ensuring children are safeguarded. They work closely with parents, and where necessary, external agencies, to make sure that children’s emotional and personal needs are well met.
• The development of children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, and promotion of the values that lie at the heart of British culture, underpins all activities. Teachers and other adults model good manners, morals, respect and care for each other. Consequently, children develop the good learning habits, behaviour and respect for each other that stands them in good stead as they move through the school. Children are now prepared well for key stage 1.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 108487 Newcastle-upon-Tyne 10019371 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 Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Number of pupils on the school roll Foundation 3 to 11 Mixed 470 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Joyce McCarty Jane Mullarkey 01912 735 466 www.wingrove.newcastle.sch.uk admin@wingrove.newcastle.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 26 September 2012

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• Wingrove is larger than the average primary school. The number on roll is increasing year on year.
• The proportion of pupils known to be entitled to the pupil premium is above average.
• Virtually all pupils are from minority ethnic communities. This is much higher than average. Over a third of pupils are of Pakistani heritage and just under a quarter are Bangladeshi.
• A higher-than-average proportion of pupils have been identified as requiring additional in-school support for their special educational needs and/or disabilities. An average proportion has an education, health or care plan.
• In 2015, the school met the government’s floor standards. Provisional information suggests it is likely to do so again in 2016.
• A new headteacher has been appointed since the last inspection.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed pupils’ learning across the school. A number of observations were carried out jointly with the headteacher or deputy headteacher.
• The inspection team heard a number of pupils read. They reviewed pupils’ work in their English and mathematics books, and in their creative curriculum books that cover all other aspects of the curriculum.
• The views of pupils were sought informally in lessons, at break and lunchtime and through three formal discussions across the two days of the inspection.
• Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, senior leaders, middle leaders and a range of other staff. Meetings were also held with five representatives of the governing body, including the chair of governors and the lead assistant director of education for Newcastle-upon-Tyne city council.
• Twelve responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, were taken into account, alongside the views of parents who spoke to inspectors during the inspection. The views of the 12 members of staff who responded to the staff questionnaire were also taken into account.
• The school’s website was reviewed to check compliance with government requirements.
• A range of documents was scrutinised. These included the school’s self-evaluation of its effectiveness, the school development plan, minutes of meetings of the governing body and information about pupils’ progress, behaviour and attendance. The school’s safeguarding procedures and associated documents were also reviewed.

Inspection team

Margaret Farrow, lead inspector Kirsty Godfrey Alison Aitchison Jen Cave Fiona Dixon Her Majesty’s Inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector