Waverton Community Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Ensure that teachers secure more rapid progress for the most able pupils from their starting points by consistently providing tasks that challenge them to work at greater depth.
• Embed the revised marking and feedback policy so that pupils are able to build on their knowledge, skills and understanding or learn from their mistakes.
• Further improve the leadership of subjects other than English and mathematics by ensuring that:
  • action plans are focused sharply on securing pupils’ progress within the subject
  • reviews of action plans evaluate clearly and explain the impact of the actions taken to secure pupils’ progress.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher and his leadership team create a warm and nurturing environment that is appreciated by pupils and parents alike. Pupils say that they feel safe in school and know who to turn to if they need help. A large majority of parents, through the online survey ‘Parent View’ and in conversation with inspectors, commented positively on the education the school provides, describing the school as ‘inclusive and welcoming’.
• The headteacher has reinvigorated senior leadership since the last inspection, with the appointment of a new deputy headteacher two years ago and a new special educational needs coordinator within the last 18 months. They have a clear overview of the strengths and areas for development of the school. Leaders recognise that there is a history of strong performance in national assessments for English and mathematics, which they are ambitious to continue, but that there is still work to be done in securing faster progress for most-able pupils.
• The school’s overall development plan is realistic and well focused on improving outcomes for pupils. Reviews are suitably evaluative about the impact of actions taken and avoid being descriptive.
• The leadership of subjects other than English and mathematics has improved since the previous inspection. Subject leaders have a better understanding of their area now and have a clearer view of standards across the school. They have introduced ways of assessing how well pupils are doing compared to the expectations for their year group, and are planning to develop this further to give them an even better view of progress and attainment.
• Senior leaders have effective procedures for checking the performance of teachers, which have resulted in an improvement in teaching and learning since the last inspection. They regularly highlight strengths and plan effective training to support teachers’ development so that teaching is constantly improving. Leaders also analyse the progress of pupils and ensure that teachers are held accountable for this.
• Subject leaders’ action plans do not yet have a sharp enough focus on pupils’ progress within the subject, and evaluations do not yet contain enough about the impact of actions taken.
• Staff responses to the online survey were overwhelmingly supportive and positive.
• Local authority support for the school has been understandably ‘light touch’, given the regularly strong performance in national assessments and the existing good leadership. The local authority’s visits to school have been useful in validating leaders’ work and confirming the school’s broadly accurate self-assessment.
• The school’s curriculum is broad and balanced, promoting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. Pupils develop appropriate skills across a range of subjects. For example, they learn about cities in geography and have opportunities to develop their map-reading skills. They can apply mathematical skills in science, such as sorting animals and creating tables recording different weights.
• Leaders promote fundamental British values well and prepare pupils for life in modern Britain. They use activities such as ‘value of the month’, which involves a planned series of assemblies, followed by circle times in class to consider the value in depth. A whole-school activity, ‘Olympic Values’, enabled pupils to think about equalities in the context of the recent Olympic Games.
• Pupils benefit from a range of extra-curricular activities and visitors. They find out about Islam through the support of a Muslim family in the community and they take part in a range of activities, such as sport, music, gardening and dance.
• The extra money from the government to support the small number of disadvantaged pupils is used effectively, as they make good progress compared to other pupils.
• School leaders use the extra government money to support the development of skills in sport effectively. There has been a substantial increase in the number of pupils taking part in sports and competitions, while teachers’ confidence in the teaching of physical education is growing.
• The progress of the most able pupils is not yet as rapid from their starting points as it should be because there is inconsistency in the degree of challenge that is provided.
• There are some omissions from the school website. School leaders are aware of these and are taking action to rectify them.

Governance of the school

• Governors hold leaders stringently to account, regularly challenging them on matters such as finance and standards.
• Governors know the school well and understand its strengths and areas for development.
• Governors receive regular training, including safeguarding, and ensure that new governors receive appropriate training as part of their induction.
• The governors’ section of the school website has some omissions. Governors are aware of this fact and are taking appropriate action to address it.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Safeguarding issues are reported promptly and managed or referred appropriately. Recruitment processes are safe and effective. Staff are keenly aware of procedures and of their responsibilities.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Where teachers plan lessons well, there is the right amount of challenge for pupils, including the most able and disadvantaged pupils. For example, while most pupils in a mathematics lesson were learning about place value, most-able pupils were solving problems that required a deeper level of reasoning skill and gave an opportunity to apply their knowledge of place value using negative numbers.
• Challenge for the most able pupils is not consistent. In some lessons, teachers do not provide them with work that will stretch them and enable them to think at a deeper level. This sometimes results in most-able pupils finishing their work quickly because it is too easy for them.
• Teachers have warm and positive relationships with pupils in the school. They ensure that good learning takes place because they generally have high expectations of work standards and behaviour. As a result, pupils mostly listen attentively, behave well and become absorbed in their work.
• Teachers plan the work of support staff well so that they can help groups of pupils, such as those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. This support contributes to the good progress these pupils make compared to other pupils.
• Teachers have good subject knowledge and often use effective questioning of pupils to develop their learning, challenging them, in the best examples, to explain why they have given a certain response.
• Teachers use assessment well to plan lessons and resources for pupils. For example, some children have personalised spelling lists, based on the teacher’s assessment of their spelling knowledge.
• Classroom environments are welcoming and supportive of pupils’ learning. They contain displays that celebrate pupils’ work, thus increasing their self-esteem and their spiritual development. There are also displays with key words and ideas available for pupils to refer to during lessons.
• Occasionally, pupils can lose concentration and begin to misbehave. This is often when the task they have been set does not keep them interested or engaged enough. Nevertheless, pupils respond positively when their teacher instructs them to correct their behaviour.

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 justly proud of their school. They enjoy coming to school and feel safe there, saying that staff care for them well.
• Pupils have a good understanding of online safety and benefit from regular learning activities about the risks that the internet can present.
• Pupils understand the different types of bullying that can take place and they know who to speak to if they see it or suffer it. In conversation with inspectors, they reported that there had been no incidents of bullying in school, including racist or homophobic bullying.
• Pupils enjoy the positions of responsibility they are given. They are expected to make formal applications for roles in school, such as school council members or Year 6 Buddies (where Year 6 pupils are paired with Reception children and share activities, such as reading, with them). This process gives them an appreciation of the value of the roles.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils show good behaviour in lessons and when moving into and out of the classroom. They usually listen well, but can be distracted if they lose focus on the task. On the few occasions when behaviour does momentarily slip, pupils respond positively to teachers’ instructions.
• Pupils generally take pride in their work, and their presentation is neat, showing a good attitude to their learning.
• Pupils’ conduct at breaktimes and lunchtimes is good. They understand the conventions in the dining hall and move around safely. They talk to each other over their meal, but not too loudly. Adults supervise them well.
• In the playground, pupils play well together. They say that they feel safe there and that examples of aggressive behaviour are rare. The playground is spacious and includes a grassed area. Pupils make good use of the zones for playing ball games and for climbing and balancing.
• At the end of breaktime, pupils return directly to class under adult supervision without lining up. The process is generally efficient and little learning time is lost.
• In assembly time, the vast majority of pupils are attentive and show enjoyment. On occasion, pupils fidget, but they correct their behaviour when they notice an adult looking at them. Some pupils talk as their line leaves the assembly. Movement is generally orderly as classes leave the hall after assembly.
• Attendance is above the national average, which shows that pupils have a good attitude to school and appreciate the education they receive.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Over a number of years, attainment at the end of key stage 1 and key stage 2 has been high in English and mathematics, with figures typically above national averages. Previous assessment information also shows that a higher proportion of pupils than the national average in Year 1 have regularly reached the expected standard in the phonics screening check each year.
• In 2016, unconfirmed data shows that over four fifths of pupils in Year 1 reached the expected standard in phonics.
• Provisional figures for the most recent assessments in English and mathematics at the end of key stage 1 indicate good progress from pupils’ starting points. In addition, the attainment figures in key stage 2 for 2016 are higher than published national averages for English and mathematics and demonstrate sustained, good performance. Most pupils, therefore, are well prepared with the basic skills needed for the next stage of their education.
• Pupils read well and make effective use of their knowledge of phonics to work out unfamiliar words. They also show good comprehension and inference skills appropriate to their age. They read widely and frequently and enjoy reading their own books at home.
• Most pupils make rapid progress from their starting points in English and mathematics across the school. Pupils in Year 3, for example, move from knowing about number bonds to 100 to plotting line graphs and multiplying two-digit numbers by 11 and 12. Most-able pupils in the current Year 4 can already use well-chosen phrases to interest the reader, such as ‘your taste buds start to dance’, when describing chocolate they have designed.
• Pupils make mostly good progress in a wide range of other subjects across the school. In science, for example, they understand how to plan and carry out investigations and there are opportunities to use the writing skills they develop in English lessons when writing reports. In history, pupils show that they understand what propaganda is and the main events of the Battle of Britain.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress from their starting points, because staff identify their needs promptly and put effective support in place.
• The extra money given by the government to support disadvantaged pupils, known as the pupil premium, is used effectively. As a result, these pupils make strong progress and the difference between them and non-disadvantaged pupils is diminishing.
• The most able pupils from previous years, who had high attainment at the end of key stage 1, have regularly reached high standards in English and mathematics. This, however, has only represented steady progress from their starting points. This is linked to the fact that most-able provision is inconsistent across the curriculum. In some lessons, pupils do not do work that challenges them to think more deeply.
• In mathematics, teachers are inconsistent in providing opportunities for pupils to use their problem-solving and reasoning skills, although leaders have identified this fact as a target for improvement in the current year.
• The school’s recently revised marking and feedback policy has not had time to develop yet. As a result, some marking and feedback, as required by the policy, does not give pupils the chance to learn from their mistakes and work out how to make progress.

Early years provision Good

• When children begin their time in Reception, they have skills and knowledge that are broadly typical for their age. Most children make at least good progress and the proportion achieving a good level of development is usually above national figures. By the time the children leave Reception, a large majority are ready for Year 1.
• The small number of disadvantaged children and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress from their starting points, especially in their reading, writing and mathematical skills. This shows good planning of support by the early years leader and indicates that the extra money provided by the government to support disadvantaged pupils is spent effectively.
• The environment for the children is well thought out, with some stimulating opportunities in both the outdoor and the indoor areas to develop writing and mathematical skills. For example, two boys in the outdoor area were fascinated by a weighing scale and were piling objects on it. When an inspector asked them what they were doing, they replied that they were trying to get the needle to go past 1. One boy then said he wanted the needle to go past 10, but correctly recognised that it would take many more objects: he pointed towards the ceiling and said, ‘Up to there.’
• Children showed positive relationships, for instance in their role play, and demonstrated some mature behaviour at times. For example, they showed good listening skills during register time, which was used well to practise name recognition and knowledge of initial sounds. They also showed good personal development as they tidied up sensibly and efficiently.
• Teaching, learning and assessment are good. Adults generally show good questioning skills and plan activities to keep children involved in purposeful learning. Even at this early stage in the year, children demonstrate good writing skills, since almost all can write their name, and they also show good number recognition. The early years leader has already identified how to support the children who still need to develop their writing skills and has planned appropriate activities.
• Safeguarding is effective in the early years. The attitudes and behaviour of the children show that they feel safe. Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding procedures.
• The early years leader provides good leadership. She has a good overview of standards and has identified priorities accurately. For example, she has developed an action plan to address the difference between the attainment of boys and girls, which has only slightly diminished in recent years.
• Sometimes staff do not take the opportunity to develop children’s thinking further. This is especially true of most-able children, as comments or responses they make are not always used by staff to deepen their learning.
• While behaviour is good overall, there are a few occasions when staff do not immediately challenge children’s silly behaviour, especially in less structured activities.
• Parents are positive about the early years and the vast majority say that their children are happy and progress well.

School details

Unique reference number 111106 Local authority Cheshire West and Chester Inspection number 10003444 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 Community 5 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 202 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Claire Cook Simon Talbot 01244 981060 www.waverton.cheshire.sch.uk head@waverton.cheshire.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 24–25 January 2012

Information about this school

• The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information on its website about: providing details of the curriculum for the academic year; the effectiveness of provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities; governor dates of appointment, business and pecuniary interests and attendance at governors’ meetings. School leaders have plans to address these matters.
• Waverton Community Primary School is smaller than average in size.
• The percentages of pupils from minority ethnic groups and who speak English as an additional language are well below the national averages.
• The proportion of pupils who receive support in school for their special educational needs and/or disabilities is below the national average. There are no pupils who have an education, health and care plan.
• The proportion of pupils who are supported through pupil premium funding is well below the national average. The pupil premium is extra money from the government to support pupils identified as being from disadvantaged backgrounds.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set out the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress by the end of key stage 2.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors carried out observations of learning in all year groups. Two of these were joint observations between the headteacher and the lead inspector. The headteacher was also present at inspector team meetings.
• A range of documentation was scrutinised, including the school’s self-evaluation summary, action plans for school improvement, records of the monitoring and evaluation of teaching and learning, minutes of meetings of the governing body, staff recruitment documentation, behaviour logs and records connected with the safeguarding of children.
• Inspectors had discussions with various stakeholders, including members of staff, governors, a representative from the local authority, parents and pupils.
• Inspectors listened to pupils read and analysed pupils’ writing and mathematics, as well as their work in other subjects. They also looked at the work of children in the early years.
• The inspector also evaluated 47 responses received through ‘Parent View’ (Ofsted’s online survey) and 16 responses received through the online staff survey. No other survey responses were received.

Inspection team

Mark Quinn, lead inspector Elaine White Sandie La Porta

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector