Warninglid Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve writing in English and across the curriculum by ensuring that:
  • teachers raise their expectations about the quality and presentation of pupils’ writing
  • teachers provide more opportunities for children in the early years to develop their writing skills.
• Strengthen leadership and governance further, by:
  • improving the school’s self-evaluation so that school improvement planning is more sharply focused on raising pupils’ outcomes further extending the good work of subject leaders so that they have a greater effect on raising standards in the areas for which they are responsible
  • ensuring that governors hold leaders to account more fully by asking challenging, probing questions, particularly relating to pupils’ progress.
• Embed improvements in teaching and learning so that:
  • teachers challenge all pupils, especially the most able, to deepen their learning and understanding.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Since joining the school in April 2016, the headteacher has made many positive changes. She has brought aspiration, energy, hope and direction to a school that had been in decline. As a result of the headteacher’s effective leadership, the school has improved and now provides a good standard of education.
• Staff and governors fully support and contribute effectively to the drive for improvement. Together they have reshaped the school’s vision and are united in their aspiration for the school to be successful. Improvements at the school are gathering momentum as leaders and staff see the fruits of their hard work.
• Leaders have a clear understanding of the school’s strengths and where further improvements need to be secured. The headteacher carries out regular checks on the quality of teaching and learning and provides helpful feedback to teachers. However, she acknowledges that these evaluations are not sharply focused on pupils’ progress to hone-in precisely on areas for improvement. Nonetheless, the school improvement plan is suitably detailed and sets out a pathway for further improvement.
• Performance management arrangements are appropriate and teachers have targets related to pupils’ outcomes for the end of the year. Subject leadership is developing and these leaders now contribute more significantly to school improvement. They provide helpful guidance to other teachers to improve teachers’ subject knowledge and confidence. This has led to greater consistency in approaches to teaching and assessment and improvements in the progress pupils are making.
• Visits to other successful schools together with relevant training have improved teachers’ understanding and knowledge. Teachers value this professional development. They now have a better understanding of the curriculum expectations and how to help pupils learn more effectively. However, leaders acknowledge that teachers’ expectations of pupils’ writing across the curriculum are not consistently high enough, especially of the most able pupils. Therefore, pupils’ writing has not improved as rapidly as reading and mathematics.
• Leaders have a good understanding of the needs of the small number of disadvantaged pupils. They have used additional funding well to provide effective support for these pupils. Appropriate support to learn key skills helps these pupils to make good progress. Financial support for school visits and extra activities is used to help develop pupils’ confidence and well-being, ensuring that these pupils can make the most of school life.
• Leaders have ensured that additional funding for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is used well. Pupils receive the support they need to help them make good progress. For example, individual support for language and literacy skills contributes strongly to developing these pupils’ reading and writing skills.
• Leaders keep a careful track of the progress that all pupils are making and take timely action if any pupils are falling behind. Leaders carefully evaluate the extra support which pupils receive to ensure that it is having a good impact on their learning.
• The primary sports funding has been used wisely. Pupils benefit from increased opportunities to participate in sports activities and competitions such as multi-sports, running and football. This funding has also been used well to develop outside learning for pupils in key stages 1 and 2. Pupils in key stage 1 greatly enjoy the opportunities they have each week to take part in forest-school activities, such as den-building. This makes a good contribution to pupils’ well-being, sense of enjoyment and attitudes to learning.
• The curriculum is broad, balanced and interesting. Topics such as the ‘Vikings’ and the ‘Amazing Amazon’ ignite pupils’ interest and promote learning well. Special events and activities and visits to places of interest, such as museums, enrich pupils’ learning. On the second day of the inspection, pupils enjoyed a visit from an author and many had prepared in advance for this special day by reading his novels. Older pupils talk with enthusiasm about their forthcoming overnight camp at school, known as ‘kestrel camp-out’. Pupils in key stage 2 also benefit from additional specialist teaching in music and French.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral and social development is good. They understand the importance of respect and tolerance for others and have a growing awareness of different opinions and beliefs. They leave the school as confident learners, prepared well for the next stage of their education. However, pupils’ understanding of different cultures is not as well developed. School leaders have recognised this shortcoming and have plans in place to address this.
• The local authority has provided effective support and guidance to the school. The headteacher has welcomed and appreciated this support. She acknowledges that this support has contributed positively to the school’s improvement.
• The headteacher has worked effectively to build strong, supportive partnerships with parents. Her ‘visible’ leadership, determination and commitment to keep the school improving is recognised by parents. Parents support the school wholeheartedly and many regularly help out with activities in school. Parents speak enthusiastically about the school and the many changes the headteacher has made. As one parent commented, ‘The headteacher has given the school a breath of fresh air.’

Governance of the school

• Since the previous inspection governance has improved significantly. The new committee structures and improved communication have enabled governors to carry out their responsibilities more effectively. Governors have received suitable training to improve their understanding of their roles and responsibilities. Governors work in close partnership with the headteacher and support her well.
• Governors have played an effective role in the school’s improvement. They are acutely aware of the need for continued, sustained improvement. Governors rightly keep a very close track of the school’s finances and all aspects of the school’s work.
• Governors ensure that they receive the information they need, including relating to pupils’ achievement. However, scrutiny of governing body meeting minutes indicates that while governors ask questions for clarification, they do not ask sufficiently challenging questions, particularly relating to pupils’ progress, to hold school leaders to account effectively.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Staff know pupils very well and are alert to any changes that may indicate a concern. Staff have received appropriate training to ensure that they are confident and know what to do to keep pupils safe. Where necessary, the headteacher refers concerns on to outside agencies. She also actively pursues referrals to ensure swift action is taken and support is provided for pupils and their families. Records of these referrals and any concerns are logged and recorded appropriately.
• The headteacher keeps safeguarding arrangements under review and any issues are acted upon promptly. For example, the headteacher has made improvements to the front entrance of the school to ensure safer, secure access. Appropriate checks on the suitability of staff to work with children are completed diligently. Record-keeping fulfils all requirements but could be more systematic.
• Parents are unanimous in their views that their children feel safe at school. One parent said, ‘My child is 100% safe at Warninglid.’

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• The quality of teaching at the school has improved since the last inspection and is now good. As a result, pupils are making better progress and achievement is rising.
• Teachers plan interesting activities which capture pupils’ interest and help them to learn across a range of subjects. For example, when learning about the Egyptians, pupils learned how to make a mummy during a visit to a museum. Following this visit, pupils developed their explanatory writing and knowledge of chronology by completing timelines.
• Teachers plan reading and writing activities for pupils to learn about a wide range of genres and contexts. Teachers have good subject knowledge and there are particular strengths in teachers’ knowledge of grammar. Teachers use this to good effect to help develop pupils’ understanding of grammatical features when reading and writing. They ensure that pupils are developing their knowledge of literacy devices, such as expanded noun phrases.
• Teachers assess and review pupils’ learning regularly and effectively to check how well they are progressing. They give timely feedback to pupils, enabling them to have a clear understanding of how to improve their work and their next learning steps. Teachers have received good-quality training and, as a result, have a good understanding of the raised curriculum expectations and the related statutory assessments.
• Teachers encourage pupils to review and edit their own work. This aspect of the school’s work is well developed. As a result, pupils have a growing understanding of their own learning and how to refine their work to improve it further. For example, in a key stage 2 class the teacher asked pupils to improve their sentences. Pupils were encouraged to make more adventurous word choices and include adverbs to describe actions. Pupils improved their writing by using words such as ‘gracefully’ and ‘swiftly’ to describe how an Amazonian animal moved in the rainforest. One pupil wrote ‘Silently, the slithering, slimy, snake slithered in the rainforest.’
• Phonics is taught well and pupils apply the skills they are learning when reading new words and sentences. For example, in a key stage 1 class the teacher effectively recapped pupils’ prior learning of the sound ‘ue’. Pupils then wrote individual words and constructed their own sentences using this sound. One pupil wrote, ‘It’s true that the blueberries are sweet.’
• In mathematics teachers ensure that pupils’ understanding and skills are developed well. Pupils have many opportunities to develop their fluency in calculation, and teachers are adept at shaping activities to enable pupils to develop their reasoning. For example, teachers include questions where pupils need to reason to find missing numbers in written calculations. Teachers encourage pupils to use correct mathematical vocabulary to describe mathematical symbols. In key stage 1, pupils learn how to use symbols such as ‘greater than’ or ‘less than’. Older pupils learn that sometimes letters can represent numbers to describe number patterns.
• Teachers provide effective support, both academically and emotionally, for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Teachers have a good understanding of these pupils’ needs and tailor support for them appropriately. Individualised support for these pupils, as well as least-able and disadvantaged pupils, helps build their confidence and self-esteem, enabling them to participate fully in their lessons and make good progress.
• Teachers and other adults have positive, warm relationships with pupils and as a result, pupils feel confident and secure. Kindness and courtesy are modelled by teachers. There is a positive climate of learning in all classrooms and teachers expect all pupils to apply themselves well to their learning. Teachers promote equality of opportunity and respect for other people effectively. This has a good impact on pupils’ very respectful attitudes to others.
• Teachers set homework in line with the school’s policy to help pupils build on and prepare for future learning. The school’s online mathematics resource, which pupils can access at home, makes a good contribution to pupils’ learning.
• The school keeps in regular contact with parents to keep them informed about how their children are doing. Parents very much appreciate the ease of contact with their child’s teachers including the early morning ‘meet and greet’ at the school gate. Teachers provide detailed reports to parents at the end of the school year and each term they give parents a helpful written summary of their child’s learning during parents’ evening consultations.
• On the whole, teachers are ambitious for what pupils can achieve. Teachers use appropriate questioning to involve pupils and extend their learning. However, questions and tasks planned for the most able pupils lack challenge to extend learning well. In addition, teachers do not consistently set high expectations for effort or the presentation of pupils’ work. Consequently, pupils’ writing in English and other curriculum subjects does not reflect the high standards pupils demonstrate verbally or in short written exercises.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Through assemblies and lessons, pupils’ personal and social skills are developed well. Pupils learn about important values such as kindness and respect and have a growing understanding of the impact of their behaviour on others. In a class assembly pupils gave thoughtful responses about what it means to be kind. One pupil commented that you can show kindness to others and, ‘put a smile on someone’s face by putting a smile on your own face’.
• Pupils enjoy the ‘family feel’ of the school and the opportunity to play and mix with pupils from other classes and year groups. For example, when asked ‘What’s the best thing about Warninglid?’ one pupil commented, ‘We are like one big family.’ Older pupils enjoy being special ‘peer mentors’ and take this responsibility very seriously. These pupils help others to resolve any minor fall-outs harmoniously and help one another to play happily together. Pupils also enjoy the responsibility of being on the school council and the opportunity this gives them to share their ideas about what they would like to improve at the school.
• Teachers plan good opportunities for pupils to learn how to keep themselves safe. For example, pupils learn about keeping safe when using the internet by not sharing personal information. They also know that it is important to ‘click on the dolphin’ to report anything that makes them feel worried when they are using the computer. Pupils learn about road and fire safety and have enjoyed visits to the school from the fire brigade. The forest-school work helps younger pupils to learn how to manage risk to keep themselves safe. The tasty lunches encourage pupils to make healthy food choices and the wide range of sporting activities make a positive contribution to pupils’ fitness and health.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils’ behaviour in class, around the school and on the playground is good. They are courteous, friendly and enthusiastically greet visitors to their school. Pupils wear their uniform with pride and are keen to tell you about the many things they enjoy at school. They listen well in class, take turns, and respond politely to each other and to adults.
• Pupils state that unkind behaviour or bullying is rare and that if it does happen, teachers deal with this quickly to resolve any problems. The school’s incident logs confirm that inappropriate behaviour at the school is rare and that staff take appropriate action to address any issues. Leaders conscientiously record these few incidents and the actions they have taken to resolve matters. However, leaders do not currently keep strategic oversight and evaluate this aspect of the school’s work so that they can identify any patterns of behaviour.
• Pupils have positive attitudes to learning. They are interested learners, want to do well, and talk with enthusiasm about the topics that have particularly interested them. However, pupils do not consistently take enough care with the presentation of their work. Although this is improving, their work does not yet reflect the pride they have in their overall achievements.
• Pupils’ attendance is just below the national average. The headteacher is doing all she can to improve this. She has taken affirmative action to improve the attendance of the small number of pupils whose attendance is not as good as it should be.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• In the past, pupils have not made good progress. However, since the arrival of the new headteacher, the progress of pupils has significantly improved.
• Improved teaching and assessment has been effective in raising pupils’ attainment. In all key stages, standards are rising. The school’s information about how well pupils are achieving and scrutiny of pupils’ work show that pupils are on track to progress well, and achieve in line with the national average as a minimum at the end of this school year.
• Last year, pupils in key stage 1 did not achieve well due to the legacy of underachievement. Stronger teaching is ensuring that these pupils are now making rapid progress to make up for previous lost ground.
• In 2016, pupils in key stage 2 achieved well in reading. The proportion of pupils who achieved a high level in reading was above the national average. Pupils also achieved well in the grammar, punctuation and spelling test. The proportion of pupils working at the expected level was in line with the national average and well above average for the higher level of attainment. Most pupils achieved age-related expectations in mathematics; however, no pupils achieved a high score. Pupils achieved significantly less well in writing than in reading and mathematics.
• The progress of current pupils in key stage 2 is improving. Pupils are now making better progress and standards are rising. However, there remains some variation in progress between year groups, particularly in writing. Leaders are aware of this and are taking appropriate action to address any dips in pupils’ progress. High pupil mobility has also contributed to these differences.
• The majority of disadvantaged pupils are making good progress from their varying starting points. However, the very small number of pupils in each cohort does not make for meaningful comparisons. Where the progress of individual pupils is not as strong as it could be, teachers and leaders take prompt action to help speed up pupils’ progress.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are making good progress and achieve well. They are supported effectively and also make good progress in their social and emotional development.
• The most able pupils are making reasonable progress overall. Older pupils are challenged to use complex literacy devices and develop an increasing understanding of how to write from different viewpoints. In mathematics, they tackle increasingly complex problems. However, the most able pupils do not consistently make the rapid progress they are capable of.
• Pupils have many opportunities to write in a range of genres and for different purposes. They are developing increasing stamina, writing longer more interesting sentences. Pupils enjoy reading and the school provides a good range of quality texts to encourage pupils to read.

Early years provision Good

• The headteacher has made significant improvements to the early years foundation stage setting. The environment is now attractive, well-organised and promotes children’s learning and independence well. Teachers provide many opportunities for children to learn across all areas of the early years curriculum through play and exploration. Visual prompts such as number lines, key words and letters support children’s learning. The outside area is used well by children who enjoy the many interesting activities.
• Leaders have introduced a new assessment system to ensure that children’s learning is suitably tracked. This also enables teachers to correctly identify children’s next learning steps. Adults observe children’s learning regularly and effectively assess their learning, recording their observations in ‘learning journeys’. These observations show that current children are making good progress and a greater proportion of children are on track to meet the early learning goals than in 2016.
• Early reading and number skills are developed well. Children can count forwards and backwards and understand concepts such as ‘more’ and ‘less’. Children confidently apply their phonics skills to read and write words and simple sentences. They can identify sounds in words and know that one sound can be made by groups of two or three letters. As one child commented, ‘I know this sound, it has three letters.’ Children enjoy exploring the world around them, for example what water and ice feel like. Children’s achievement in writing is not as strong. This is because currently, there are too few opportunities for children to develop their writing skills.
• Adults support children’s learning well. They capture children’s interest and natural curiosity, successfully harnessing their enthusiasm for learning. Through well-timed questioning adults move on children’s learning appropriately. Children confidently contribute to discussions, and adults respond promptly if children haven’t quite understood something. For example, in a phonics game, children had not accurately completed a ‘sound-sort’. A teaching assistant provided effective guidance to ensure that children secured their understanding of ‘ear’ and ‘or’ sounds.
• Relationships are warm and positive, and systems to keep children safe are secure. Children get on well with each other and with adults. They take turns, share equipment well and play together happily. Staff provide good levels of care for children and continually encourage them to achieve. They praise children for their achievements and children delight in giving themselves a ‘marshmallow clap’ when they have been successful.
• The school makes good arrangements to help children settle with confidence into their first days in school. Staff make home visits, and children visit the school to get to know staff and other children. The school sensibly adjusts settling-in arrangements according to children’s individual needs. Currently, children in the early years are taught in class along with children in Years 1 and 2. This means that there is a seamless transition when children move into key stage 1 and children are well prepared for this next step.
• Relationships with parents are positive, and parents are welcomed as partners in their child’s education. Parents speak about how much their children enjoy coming to school. As one parent commented, ‘My child loves coming to school.’

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 125936 West Sussex 10032868 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. 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 57 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Robert Clark Marion West 01444 461329 www.warninglid.w-sussex.sch.uk head@warninglidprimary.co.uk Date of previous inspection 23–24 April 2015

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• Warninglid is a smaller than average-sized primary school, located in a rural village. There are currently three classes of mixed ages. Pupils in Reception, Years 1 and 2 are taught together, as are pupils from Years 3 and 4, and pupils in Years 5 and 6. Pupils come from a very wide area around the school.
• Most pupils are of White British heritage. Very few pupils speak English as an additional language.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is below the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is similar to the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who join and leave at times other than the normal point of entry to school is much higher than the national average.
• The current headteacher was appointed to the school in April 2016. There have been many other staff changes since the school’s last inspection in 2015.
• There is an early morning club before the start of the normal school day. This is run by staff from the school.

Information about this inspection

• The inspector met frequently with the headteacher during the inspection and held discussions with other teachers and leaders.
• The inspector met with three governors, including the chair of the governing body, and held a discussion with a representative of the local authority.
• The inspector visited all classes a number of times during the inspection to observe learning, talk to pupils about their work, hear pupils read and look at pupils’ work in books. Most observations were carried out with the headteacher.
• The inspector discussed pupils’ progress and attainment with leaders and reviewed pupils’ work in books with them.
• The inspector spoke to pupils informally during lunchtime and also met with a group of pupils from the school council. The inspector also considered the responses from the 23 pupils who completed the online questionnaire.
• Parents’ views were taken into account through discussions before school and the 31 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View.
• The inspector also considered the nine survey responses submitted by staff.
• The inspector checked records and documentation relating to safeguarding, behaviour, attendance, minutes of meetings, staff appraisals and monitoring and improvement.
• The inspector reviewed the checks made on staff about their suitability to work with children.

Inspection team

Sue Cox, lead inspector

Her Majesty’s Inspector