Wimboldsley Community Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Further increase the proportion of children exceeding the expected standard in writing by the end of early years.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

• The headteacher, working closely with the executive headteacher, provides excellent leadership. They have been extremely successful in ensuring that the school has continued to improve strongly since the previous inspection, so that the quality of education that it provides is now outstanding. There is no sense, though, of leaders resting on their laurels. Leaders, governors and staff are all ambitious for the school to continue to grow and develop.
• Leaders and governors have a clear and accurate view of the school’s strengths and are quick to spot any areas that might be potential weaknesses. This is because their ongoing monitoring and evaluation processes are thorough and rigorous. As a consequence, improvements are continually made to ensure that the school provides pupils with the highest standard of education and care.
• The quality of teaching across the school is consistently high, because the leadership of teaching and learning over time has been extremely effective. Leaders ensure that performance management systems are used very well, both to hold teachers to account and also to identify professional development opportunities that would further enhance their skills. The strong partnership between the two schools in the federation has been a key driver in developing teaching and learning. Staff value the opportunities that they are given to increase their knowledge and share effective practice.
• Leadership beyond the senior leadership team has improved significantly since the last inspection and is now of a very high standard. Leaders of English and mathematics take responsibility for tackling any areas of potential underperformance within their subjects. Their work has been very successful. For instance, the changes made to the timetabling and the content of phonics and guided reading sessions have raised standards of teaching and learning in both of those areas, so that pupils are now making excellent progress.
• A key strength of the school is the high quality of the curriculum. Teachers ensure that their plans take full account of pupils’ likes and interests, skilfully shaping themes to provide a broad curriculum coverage and high levels of engagement. Careful checking of pupils’ prior knowledge ensures that skills and understanding are developed at a rapid pace. As a consequence, pupils learn to use and interpret information like historians, and make predictions and observations like scientists. The exceptional quality of artwork on display around the school confirmed that pupils’ creative skills are also being developed to a high level. The curriculum is enhanced well by a broad range of after-school clubs and activities. Pupils speak enthusiastically about trips that they have been on, to places such as the Imperial War Museum in Manchester and Beeston Activity Centre.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is very well promoted, and pupils develop a keen sense of fairness and equality. They speak with conviction about the importance of showing respect for others: one pupil described tolerance as being ‘a line in the sand,’ and explained that intolerance was simply unacceptable.
• Provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is extremely strong. The leader with responsibility for this area has a very clear picture of individual pupils’ specific needs, closely tracks their progress and development, and ensures that they receive the support that they need. Leaders have ensured that staff who regularly work with pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are well trained and are therefore able to cater for pupils’ different needs. This support is highly effective and contributes significantly to pupils’ progress, confirming that the school makes excellent use of the additional funding that it receives to support these pupils.
• School leaders make excellent use of the other areas of additional funding that they receive. Although the number of disadvantaged pupils currently in school is low, the excellent progress and attainment of the slightly larger group of disadvantaged pupils who were in Year 6 in 2016 showed that pupil premium funding is used very effectively.
• The extra funding for sport and physical education is used to provide additional coaching across the school in less commonly taught sports, such as tennis. It is also used to provide support for teachers in order to develop their skills in teaching different sports and games. Despite the school’s small size, teams are regularly fielded for inter-school competitions, including swimming and football, and pupils say that they are proud to be part of a school team.
• Parents are overwhelmingly supportive of the school. Without exception, those parents who responded to the Parent View survey would recommend the school to others. Almost all parents commented particularly about how well they felt that the school caters for their children as individuals, helping them to develop socially and academically. One parent simply said ‘This school is just wonderful,’ and this sentiment was reflected in many other parents’ comments.
• The local authority has identified Wimboldsley as being highly successful and consequently has a ‘light touch’ relationship with the school. The excellent relationship that exists between the two schools in the federation provides both with further support and challenge, as well as aiding the development of leadership and teaching. The school also works very well with other local schools.

Governance of the school

• Governors know the school extremely well and are highly ambitious for its future. They have a clear understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses, and are rigorous in challenging senior leaders and holding them to account for how well the school is performing. Their influence has been a significant factor in the school’s continuing improvement.

• Governors have ensured that there are robust procedures in place for managing staff performance and that these are applied effectively. Decisions about pay progression are well informed and fair.
• Governors have been highly effective in ensuring that finances are used and managed well, and that the challenges presented by fluctuations in cohort sizes have not been allowed to detract from the quality of education that the school provides. They have a very good understanding of how school leaders spend the additional funding received for the pupil premium and sports premium, and the impact that this funding has.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

• Staff and governors receive regular training to ensure that their knowledge of best practice in safeguarding and child protection is up to date. As a result, staff have a clear understanding of the procedures to follow if they are concerned about a child’s welfare. The designated leader for safeguarding maintains detailed records of any such concerns and ensures that they are rigorously followed up. The school has established strong and effective partnerships with external agencies.
• Thorough checks are made on staff, governors and volunteers to ensure that they are suitable people to work with children. The school maintains appropriately detailed records of these checks. The school’s recruitment procedures are robust and comprehensive.
• Leaders ensure that the school building is very well maintained and that the site is safe and secure.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

• Teachers at Wimboldsley engage and motivate pupils very effectively, so that they want to learn. Teachers use questioning skilfully within lessons to check on and extend pupils’ knowledge and understanding, and use their excellent subject knowledge to identify and correct pupils’ misconceptions. Time in lessons is not wasted, and pupils are moved on in their learning as soon as they are ready. As a result, pupils in all year groups are making excellent progress.
• The teaching of mathematics is highly effective. Pupils quickly learn key mathematical concepts and then use their knowledge to tackle well thought-out written problems. Teachers provide clear explanations that help pupils to pick up new ideas quickly, and ensure that pupils are set work that is appropriately challenging. In mathematics lessons, pupils discuss their learning with each other, which helps them to test out their understanding. Teachers’ expectations are extremely high, as was evident in a lesson in which Year 4 and 5 pupils were challenged to solve problems involving converting and multiplying improper fractions and mixed numbers. Pupils responded enthusiastically to the challenge and quickly grasped a difficult concept.
• Excellent teaching enables pupils to make very strong progress in phonics. Teachers ensure that work is carefully matched to pupils’ needs, and build their skills and understanding of phonics systematically. Pupils in key stage 1 confidently use their phonic knowledge to help them to tackle unfamiliar words when they are reading.
• The strong start that pupils make in phonics is then built upon very effectively. As a result, pupils typically become confident and enthusiastic readers. Reading is promoted well throughout the school. Older pupils are able to discuss their reading likes and dislikes thoughtfully, identifying favourite books and authors. The school’s assessment data confirms that pupils in all year groups are making excellent progress in reading.
• Writing is taught extremely well. Teachers ensure that pupils gain a secure grasp of key writing skills and techniques, and then provide them with an excellent range of opportunities to practise and refine these skills, both in English lessons and in other areas of the curriculum. Consequently, by the time they leave key stage 2, pupils are able to write with skill and maturity in a range of genres, including poetry, story, persuasive writing, letters and recounts. However, occasionally pupils’ spelling is not of the same very high quality as the rest of their writing.
• Teaching assistants provide outstanding support for learning, working very well in partnership with teachers. They have a very good understanding of the specific needs of the pupils whom they are working with, particularly those pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities or who need additional help to catch up.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.

• Life at Wimboldsley is underpinned by a particularly strong culture of mutual support and respect. Relationships between adults and pupils are exemplary. There is a very high level of care and nurture throughout the school, and pupils have total confidence that staff will help them if they have any worries or problems. As a result, pupils say that they feel very safe and are extremely happy in school.
• Pupils have an excellent understanding of how to keep themselves safe in a variety of different situations. For example, they know that it is important not to share personal information when using the internet, and understand that they should never arrange to meet up with somebody whom they have just met online. They also have a detailed understanding of different types of bullying, but say that bullying in their school is virtually unheard of. Pupils have an excellent awareness of diversity and are very clear that everybody must be treated fairly and equally.
• Pupils enjoy having the chance to take on positions of responsibility, such as being a member of the school council. They are confident that school leaders listen to and value their ideas and opinions. Pupils’ views on healthy eating and playtime developments have indeed been listened to. Pupils were especially keen to show the inspector the improvements that had been made to the outdoor areas.
• There is a strong emphasis across the school on developing ‘values for life’. Pupils develop a very good appreciation of core values, including responsibility and consideration, and also of fundamental British values such as democracy and tolerance. Pupils had thoroughly enjoyed taking part in a school ‘general election’, linked to the election taking place nationally, and from this had learned a great deal about manifestos, policies and political parties.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.
• Pupils have exceptionally positive attitudes to learning. They listen well, both to their teachers and to their classmates, and confidently share ideas and discuss their learning. They waste no time in getting on with their work, and respond with enthusiasm and determination when presented with challenging activities. Standards of handwriting and presentation are extremely high, because pupils take great pride in their work.
• Pupils’ behaviour around school and on the playground is exemplary, and they are polite, friendly and welcoming to visitors. Pupils are also thoughtful and caring towards each other. In class, they encourage and support their friends, so that all are confident to answer questions and give their views. At playtimes, pupils typically encourage others to join in their games so that nobody is left on their own.
• Attendance is consistently well above the national average, and very few pupils regularly miss school. This clearly illustrates how much pupils enjoy coming to school. This was summed up well by one parent, who commented: ‘My children are thrilled to go to school every day.’

Outcomes for pupils Outstanding

• Pupils make outstanding progress from their different starting points during their time at Wimboldsley. By the time they leave key stage 2, pupils consistently reach standards of attainment that are well above the national average in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils’ high levels of achievement confirm that they are extremely well prepared for the next stage of their education.
• Pupils currently in the school are making exceptional progress across a wide range of subjects. Work in pupils’ books and the school’s own assessment data show that the proportion of pupils working at and above the level expected for their age is high across the school and is continuing to increase. Pupils are making excellent progress not only in reading, writing and mathematics, but also throughout the curriculum, particularly in history, science and French. This was exemplified during a session in Year 1, where pupils were correctly able to identify different types of mini-beasts and then recall the correct French names for each one of them.
• Pupils consistently make excellent progress in phonics. The proportion reaching the expected level by the end of Year 1 is typically above the national average. This is because leaders reacted decisively to a dip in results in the phonics check in 2015 by introducing a more regular and focused approach to phonics teaching. Teachers and teaching assistants have excellent phonic knowledge, and younger pupils use their own knowledge of phonics to help them to tackle difficult words in their reading.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities progress extremely well from their varied starting points. This is because they receive highly effective, individualised support from additional adults that meets their diverse academic and pastoral needs.
• There are only a small number of disadvantaged pupils currently in school. Their progress and attainment are at least in line with other pupils in the school and are typically better than that of other pupils nationally. This confirms that the school uses its pupil premium funding extremely well to provide additional support for disadvantaged pupils where it is needed, and to ensure that disadvantaged pupils are able to access all of the activities that the school offers.
• The most able pupils typically make excellent progress and reach standards of attainment that are above, and often well above, the level expected for their age. This can be seen in the proportion of pupils reaching the highest levels in reading, mathematics and writing by the time they reach the end of key stage 1 and key stage 2. This is now comfortably above the national average. School leaders have recognised that standards could be increased even further by eliminating pupils’ occasional careless errors in spelling some common words.

Early years provision Outstanding

• Children enter early years with skills and knowledge that are typically in line with those expected for their age, although small cohort sizes mean that there are differences from year to year. During their time in the early years, almost all children make excellent progress. By the time they leave the Reception class, the large majority have achieved a good level of development and an increasing number are working above that level in many areas of learning. Therefore, they are extremely well prepared as they move into Year 1.
• Children benefit from a high-quality learning environment, both indoors and outside. Staff ensure that there is a wide range of engaging activities for children to choose to access independently. These activities help to build on the excellent learning that goes on in adult-led groups. For example, one child enjoyed finding and ordering numbered beanbags, and then followed a challenge set by her teacher to practise writing different number sentences.
• Staff make regular, detailed observations of children’s learning to check on their progress and attainment. Adults then use this information to plan the next steps in children’s learning. Thorough tracking of children’s progress is used to identify common areas that need further development and to ensure that all children are making suitably swift progress.
• The partnership between school and home is very effective, and parents speak highly of the detailed information that they receive about their children’s progress. Parents are encouraged to be fully involved in their children’s learning, and are able to come into class regularly to look at and contribute to children’s ‘learning journeys’.
• Behaviour in the early years is excellent. This is because relationships between staff and children are extremely strong. One parent said that the level of care was so high that ‘children view the school as an extension of their family.’ Staff make sure that children’s safety and well-being are a high priority and that all statutory welfare requirements are met.
• The early years leader works very closely with his counterpart from the other school in the federation. Together, they provide a great deal of knowledge and enthusiasm. The leader is constantly looking to improve practice, where possible, for example by redeveloping the format used in school for recording observations so that it is manageable and more closely aligned with the early years foundation stage framework. This has further sharpened the focus of assessment and is having a positive impact on children’s learning and progress. Leaders are aware that the proportion of pupils exceeding the expected level in writing is not as high as in other areas of learning, and are determined to further accelerate pupils’ progress in writing.

School details

Unique reference number 111056 Local authority Cheshire West and Chester Inspection number 10032344

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 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 119 Appropriate authority Governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Peter Rooney Mark Allen 01606 832321 www.wimboldsleyprimaryschool.co.uk admin@wimboldsley.cheshire.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 2–3 July 2013

Information about this school

• The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is below average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is below average.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for achievement in Year 6.
• In the early years, children in Reception class attend on a full-time basis.
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school is part of a federation with William Stockton Primary School in Ellesmere Port. The federation’s executive headteacher works across both schools and the schools have a combined governing body.

Information about this inspection

• The inspector observed teaching and learning across the school, and was joined on some visits to lessons by the headteacher. He also looked at pupils’ work in books, records of children’s learning in the early years and other information about pupils’ attainment and progress.
• The inspector listened to pupils read and held discussions with a group of pupils. He also talked informally with pupils around the school and in the playground.
• The inspector considered the 49 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View. He also met informally with parents and took account of a letter received from a parent.
• The inspector met a group of five governors. He also had discussions with staff in school, including the leader responsible for the provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, the leader for the early years and the leaders for English, mathematics, religious education and modern foreign languages.
• The inspector had a telephone conversation with a representative of the local authority. The federation’s executive headteacher was also present during the inspection.
• The inspector examined a range of documents. These included information about pupils’ attainment and progress, the school’s reviews of its own performance, governing body meeting records, and information about leaders’ checks on the quality of teaching and learning. The inspector also examined safeguarding documentation and various records of pupils’ attendance and behaviour.

Inspection team

Neil Dixon, lead inspector

Her Majesty’s Inspector