Whitefield Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Ensure there are more opportunities for pupils to use their mathematical skills in other subjects across the curriculum.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

• The executive headteacher and her senior leadership team work tirelessly and highly effectively to ensure that every pupil at Whitefield Primary School feels part of a warm and loving family. From these solid foundations, they build the pupils’ confidence, knowledge and skills and help pupils to recognise that they can all succeed. Leaders are ambitious for their pupils. This is encapsulated in the school’s motto, ‘Nothing but the best.’ They reinforce their ambition with displays around school and in class, such as photographs of past pupils who are now graduates. Pupils are inspired to do well and make outstanding progress in their development from low starting points. They leave the school as well-rounded individuals, who are very well prepared for the next stage of their education. Pupils demonstrate the school’s core values of care, courtesy and confidence.
• The key to leaders’ success is the exceptional provision for pupils’ wide range of needs. At whichever point they start school, most pupils come with a variety of issues, such as those related to emotional or social development and communication and language abilities. Leaders promptly identify pupils’ needs and are unstinting in their work to provide pupils with highly effective nurture and support. Many pupils arrive who speak English as an additional language. Leaders swiftly access support from outside agencies, such as translation services, and teachers bolster this by working with pupils individually or in small groups. This results in accelerated development of their language skills, which enables them to make rapid progress.
• Leaders provide a broad and balanced curriculum that they mould to the needs of their pupils exceptionally well. There is a strong emphasis on reading as an essential tool for life. Leaders use high-quality texts to support learning in writing and in other subjects, such as history. They keep the curriculum under constant review, making very effective use of their assessment information to ensure that curricular content remains relevant. Leaders also regularly plan and stage exciting events to stimulate and engage pupils’ interest. These include the visit of a ‘live’ tyrannosaurus rex before beginning a writing topic on dinosaurs in Year 2.
• Leaders are very effective in promoting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and in preparing them for life in modern Britain. They enable pupils to find out about other faiths and cultures through, for example, lessons in religious education and personal, social and health education. Lessons in philosophy for pupils encourage debate about moral issues. Pupils attend a wide variety of school clubs, including science, debating, hockey and gardening. A planned programme of assemblies gives pupils excellent opportunities to find out about values such as justice and the work of organisations such as Amnesty International.
• Leaders make excellent use of pupil premium funding to support eligible pupils through a wide range of interventions, such as extra teaching sessions and activities to support the development of social skills and mental health. These contribute significantly to pupils’ exceptional progress.
• Leaders make very effective use of sports premium funding. Pupils have numerous opportunities to take part in competitive sports, such as girls’ football and tennis tournaments. Leaders make sure pupils can improve their fitness through, for instance, involvement in an after-school running club. Leaders also develop the skills of staff by commissioning Liverpool School Sports Partnership to provide expert coaches to work alongside them.
• The school’s provision for pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities is exceptional. The SEN coordinator uses the additional funding highly effectively. She has a sharply focused understanding of the range of needs and knows every pupil very well. She uses precise information from assessment and the tracking of pupils’ progress to create a bespoke range of support. She checks the effectiveness of the activities on offer, evaluating which have the most positive impact and developing them. In addition, she is tenacious in following up pupils’ transition into key stage 3 to ensure that pupils are given every opportunity to succeed in their new settings.
• Systems for the assessment and tracking of pupils’ progress across the whole range of subjects are very well established and highly effective. Senior leaders and subject leaders hold regular meetings with staff to discuss pupils’ progress. After analysing the assessment information, leaders very swiftly introduce support where required, so as to ensure that they sustain rapid progress.
• Subject leaders are exceptionally effective. Their clear focus on the impact of their actions on pupils’ achievement means that pupils make excellent progress from their starting points. Subject leaders swiftly identify pupils who are falling behind and put actions in place to bring about improvement. These plans take account of relevant assessment information and provide extra support if necessary, sometimes individually and sometimes to larger groups as appropriate. Subject leaders seek external validation of their work. This has resulted in the school achieving awards for teaching in mathematics, science and reading, as well as the Inclusion Quality Mark.
• Staff are very positive about the work of the school and are totally supportive of the senior leadership team. They find the training that senior leaders provide highly effective in improving their skills, and commented that the programme of lesson study is particularly helpful. This programme enables teachers to try innovative practice in teaching and learning, based on research, to improve quality in specific areas, such as pupils’ reading of non-fiction. Afterwards they discuss with senior leaders what has been most and least effective.
• Leaders make thorough checks on the quality of teaching and learning through lesson observations and analysis of pupils’ work. Leaders then feed back their findings to staff and check at a later point that they have addressed any areas for development. Staff have challenging performance targets that relate closely to the school improvement plan, pupils’ achievement and their own wider professional development. These processes are very effective, because the quality of teaching and learning is high.
• Parents are very positive about the support that staff give to their children. They also appreciate the support they directly receive from school, such as positive parenting sessions and book clubs. The link between home and school is very strong.
• Leaders make sure that transition between various year groups is smooth and that pupils and parents are well prepared. They carry out home visits before children start in the early years, for example, and include parents in the process of assessing children’s knowledge and skills. Visits to, and joint activities with, local high schools prepare Year 6 pupils very well for secondary education.
• The local authority provides support that complements the school’s high level of effectiveness. The adviser has a very accurate understanding of the quality of education in the school and helps to arrange for external providers to meet training needs that senior leaders identify. The local authority has a close working relationship with the executive headteacher. Managers have employed her temporarily to lead improvement in another nearby school.

Governance of the school

• Governors know the school very well and understand its strengths and areas to develop. They show true ambition for its pupils, a fact that is clear from their strong desire to support the school in helping pupils to succeed, regardless of their background or circumstances.
• Governors are very well trained in safeguarding and other areas. They give safeguarding a high priority. Governors carry out tasks such as ‘safeguarding walks’ around the school to check that pupils are safe and to keep themselves up to date on the school’s safeguarding processes.
• Governors challenge leaders robustly and are highly effective in holding them to account. They ask very focused and searching questions on matters such as pupils’ achievement and the use of funding. Governors also check that actions leaders take have a positive impact.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• There is a strong culture of safeguarding in the school. This stems from staff having an excellent, in-depth knowledge of the school’s very thorough procedures and the government’s guidance, as well as knowing their pupils’ needs in great detail. There is a tangible sense of constant communication between adults and pupils. This enables staff to sense when there may be a concern, if, for example, they detect a change in a pattern of behaviour. It also enables pupils to feel comfortable enough to confide in adults when they need to do so.
• The reporting and recording of safeguarding concerns are detailed and thorough. The designated safeguarding lead promptly makes referrals to relevant agencies and rigorously follows up issues when required.
• The school’s record of required checks on members of staff is meticulous and leaders ensure that staff keep it up to date.
• Leaders keep in daily contact with alternative providers, where a small number of pupils receive their education for at least part of the week. The school’s inclusion manager, who is also the assistant headteacher, keeps in regular contact with parents and closely checks pupils’ progress.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

• Teachers have excellent subject knowledge. They are highly skilled in planning lessons that sustain pupils’ interest and provide work that challenges pupils at a level appropriate to their ability. The excellent assessment systems enable teachers to target pupils’ work very precisely to meet their needs. They are, therefore, very efficient at making the most of the learning time available.
• Teachers ask very effective questions and challenge pupils to think hard and aim for constant improvement. For example, during the inspection, they asked questions to ensure that pupils thoroughly understood the text they were reading in Year 3, or to challenge most-able pupils in Year 6 to use their reasoning skills in solving mathematical problems about recurring decimals. They also intervened quickly to tackle any misconceptions. As a result, pupils made excellent progress in their learning.
• Teachers have very high expectations of pupils, in terms of both their learning and their behaviour in lessons. Relationships between teachers and pupils are excellent and support learning very well. No learning time is wasted. Teachers create a bright and supportive learning environment where pupils have highly positive attitudes to their work, which contributes significantly to the outstanding progress pupils make. Teachers set very clear and challenging learning expectations that reflect their determination to see their pupils achieving exceptionally well.
• Staff observe and adhere consistently to the school’s marking and feedback policy. Pupils respond very well to the guidance teachers give. Therefore, they know how to improve their work and increase their knowledge, understanding and skills. They readily talk about their learning with great confidence.
• Staff provide excellent opportunities outside the classroom for older pupils to develop their mathematical knowledge by means of a weekly activity known as ‘mathemagicians’. Pupils in Year 6 teach mathematical basic skills to Year 3 pupils during lunchtime sessions. This enables them to practise their reasoning skills, because they have to explain concepts to younger pupils and to have a role of responsibility at the same time.
• Teachers ensure that there are plenty of opportunities for pupils to use their reading, writing and communication skills in other subjects across the curriculum. The range of skills and high standards evident in English is clear in pupils’ work in other subjects. However, there are fewer opportunities to use mathematical skills across the curriculum.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding. Leaders put pupils’ well-being at the forefront of everything they do. They are exceptionally successful at building pupils’ sense of worth. This empowers pupils to achieve outstanding progress in their development.
• E-safety training is a prominent feature of the school. Pupils take the lead in developing their own knowledge about how to stay safe. For example, the school appoints ‘eCadets’ among Year 5 and Year 6 pupils, who take responsibility for instructing younger pupils in ways to keep safe on the internet.
• Pupils feel very safe in school and know how to stay safe. They say that teachers look after them well and they appreciate the security of the school grounds.
• Leaders very effectively provide for pupils’ emotional and social well-being, as well as their mental health. Pupils can share their worries during the daily ‘time to talk’ session at breaktime, when an adult is available to listen or to supervise while they confide in another pupil. Leaders have also appointed a mental health first-aider to add to the excellent support the school provides.
• Pupils told inspectors that they are proud of their school and highly value their education. Some Year 6 pupils talked about what they want to do when they leave school. Their ambitions varied from blacksmith to marine biologist, but the one constant feature was that they recognised that education is the key to success.
• Leaders provide many opportunities for pupils to take on responsibilities, which contribute strongly to their overall personal development. These include older pupils becoming ‘playground buddies’ for younger pupils, membership of the school council and taking on the role of school librarian. Pupils also have the opportunity to become Junior Lord Mayor, in collaboration with the local authority.
• The small number of pupils in alternative provision are safe because the school’s inclusion manager contacts the providers every day to check on them. Pupils’ attendance is very good. They benefit greatly from the support these settings provide to meet their various needs.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.
• Pupils show great confidence and impeccable conduct as they move about the school and in their interaction with adults and each other. They are polite and welcoming and very articulate.
• Pupils’ attendance is regularly above the national average because of leaders’ highly effective work. They are quick to call at the houses of pupils as soon as their absence becomes known. Leaders will even bring pupils to school if necessary, so committed are they to maximising their pupils’ life chances by making sure they attend school regularly.
• Staff manage behaviour exceptionally well. There are very few cases of bullying in any form, but leaders record and report the extremely rare incidents thoroughly. Leaders also record the infrequent incidents of serious misbehaviour. They take highly effective action, such as accessing outside support for more serious cases where pupils’ behaviour relates to SEN and/or disabilities.
• Leaders always look for ways to produce further improvement in pupils’ behaviour. They have introduced a ‘social thinking’ approach to encourage pupils to recognise how they react in different situations and to develop more self-regulation in their responses.
• Pupils’ behaviour in lessons is excellent, which contributes very well to pupils’ excellent progress.

Outcomes for pupils Outstanding

• Pupils in all year groups, including the most able, make outstanding progress from their starting points across the curriculum. Rates of progress and levels of attainment by the end of Year 6 in English and mathematics are typically above the national average. This is a direct result of highly accurate assessment of pupils’ capabilities, a carefully planned curriculum that closely matches work to pupils’ needs and excellent teaching. Consequently, pupils are very well prepared for the next stage of their education.
• Pupils who are disadvantaged and pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities make excellent progress from their starting points. This is because leaders provide exceptionally well-targeted extra support that complements the high-quality teaching that characterises the school.
• Leaders very effectively support pupils who speak English as an additional language and those who have social or emotional issues but do not have recognised SEN and/or disabilities. They provide extra one-to-one or small-group teaching sessions, accessing external support when appropriate. Consequently, these pupils make excellent progress from their starting points.
• In subjects other than English and mathematics, pupils, including the most able, make very strong progress in acquiring the relevant knowledge, understanding and skills. In science in Year 2, for example, most-able pupils not only correctly identified food chains but also wrote detailed explanations of terms like ‘producer’ and ‘predator’. In history in Year 1, pupils developed their historical skills very well by, for example, making accurate comparisons between old and new toys. Leaders track progress in these subjects very effectively, using meetings about pupils’ progress to identify areas for extra development. Teachers plan pupils’ learning thoroughly and provide appropriate challenge to all.
• Pupils make excellent progress in reading. They read with very good fluency that is appropriate to their age and stage of development. They show excellent comprehension, including the ability to infer meaning. Pupils readily name their favourite authors and the range of genres they enjoy reading.

Early years provision Outstanding

• Children start Nursery with skills and abilities that are below, and often significantly below, those that are typical for their age. Many children begin the Nursery class with limited knowledge or understanding of English. As a result of particularly effective planning to meet their needs, children quickly attain a good understanding of English. All children make outstanding progress from their low starting points across all areas of learning, so that the majority achieve a good level of development by the time they leave Reception and are ready for Year 1.
• The early years leader is an excellent role model and very knowledgeable. She and her team work together cohesively and plan learning highly effectively. This is because they carry out accurate assessments of children when they enter the provision and throughout their time there, using the information to structure interesting and stimulating learning activities. Staff also gather information from parents about what their children know, understand and can do. The early years leader uses her analysis of children’s achievement to plan improvements. For example, she has introduced a structured daily session in mathematics, which an adult leads, to secure even stronger progress in that subject, especially for most-able children. As a result of these actions, children make rapid and sustained progress.
• Adults use highly skilful questioning to develop children’s language. When talking to children about stories related to, for example, ‘Incy Wincy Spider’, staff ask them what might happen next. They allow them to show that they can tell a simple story in a sequence, showing excellent progress in the development of their language skills.
• Children work very well and behave very sensibly. They enjoy their learning and show a high degree of concentration and perseverance. Typically, they are engrossed in their learning. They show delight in acting out the ‘Miss Polly had a dolly’ rhyme, showing very strong language development as they talk about the sick doll’s temperature.
• Children from the Nursery and Reception classes have opportunities to work together. The older children are excellent role models for the younger, guiding and leading learning for them where appropriate. This enables the children in the Reception class to develop a sense of responsibility at an early age, which contributes very effectively to their spiritual and social development.
• Leaders have carefully designed the learning environment to promote excellent development for children in all areas of the curriculum. They have very effectively organised resources to meet the needs of learners. The outdoor area, for example, contains activities, such as for climbing and balancing, that promote strength and stamina. Staff develop these activities with, for example, ‘bottle babies’, bottles of colourful liquid that adults ask children to carry around and ‘look after’. This develops children’s strength in their arms and upper body, which in turn contributes very effectively to the development of their ability to hold and handle pencils, pens and other writing tools.
• Staff keep children safe and care for them exceptionally well. Children show they feel safe by their behaviour and by their confidence, for instance, to speak to adults and show them their work. Leaders make sure that the provision meets all welfare requirements.
• Leaders are rightly proud to have recently received the Early Years Basic Skills Quality Mark, which represents external validation of their work.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 104570 Liverpool 10041492 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 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 282 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Executive Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address David Hoare Nadine Carroll 0151 263 5976 www.whitefieldprimaryschool.co.uk whitefield-ao@whitefield.liverpool.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 30–31 October 2013

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• This school is slightly larger than the average-sized primary school.
• The proportion of pupils supported through school action is above average.
• The proportion of pupils who receive support for their SEN and/or disabilities is above average.
• The proportion of pupils who have an education, health and care plan is below average.
• The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for pupil premium funding is much higher than average.
• The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups or who speak English as an additional language is above average.
• The school operates a breakfast club which is managed by the governing body.
• The school meets the current government floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for attainment and progress by the end of Year 6.
• The school has gained several awards, including the Inclusion Quality Mark and the Early Years Basic Skills Quality Mark.
• The executive headteacher is also temporarily executive headteacher of another local primary school, where she is leading work to improve the quality of education.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors carried out observations of learning in all year groups. Some of these were joint observations with the executive headteacher and the head of school. The executive headteacher, the head of school and the assistant headteacher were also present at inspection 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 and records connected with the safeguarding of children.
• Inspectors had discussions with various stakeholders, including the executive headteacher, senior leaders, subject leaders, other members of staff, the chair and another member of the governing body, a representative from the local authority, parents and pupils.
• A member of the inspection team held discussions on the telephone with alternative providers that the school uses.
• Inspectors listened to pupils read and analysed pupils’ work in a range of subjects. They also looked at the work of children in the early years.
• The lead inspector evaluated five responses received through Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, during the inspection. He also analysed 26 responses to the staff survey and 20 responses to the pupils’ survey.

Inspection team

Mark Quinn, lead inspector Mike Tonge Joan Williamson Tanya Hughes

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector