Wyke Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management, including governance, by ensuring that leaders:
  • systematically prioritise the actions that they have identified and planned to improve the school’s performance
  • consistently and systematically implement the school’s new approaches to improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment
  • take swift action to secure good behaviour during lunchtimes
  • check the learning and progress of disadvantaged pupils with greater precision and accuracy and implement the support and intervention required to enable them to achieve well and make good progress.
• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment so that an increasing proportion of pupils make good progress by ensuring that:
  • teachers assess pupils’ knowledge, skills and understanding accurately and use this information to plan learning that is well matched to pupils’ needs, especially in reading, writing and mathematics
  • the teaching of writing successfully enables pupils to consolidate their skills and write independently in a range of subjects
  • teachers raise their expectations of what pupils can achieve, particularly for the most able, so that pupils make at least good progress from their starting points. An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• Following a period of turbulence, the school’s leadership now has stability. The headteacher has quickly and accurately identified what needs to improve. However, leaders’ actions are not yet having a consistent impact on the progress pupils make. The majority of teaching staff have started to implement the changes required by leaders, but with varying levels of success. This has resulted in outcomes for pupils which remain too variable.
• The headteacher has implemented a wide range of initiatives to bring about improvements in key areas of the school’s work. However, the impact of leaders’ actions has been diluted by the number of areas being tackled at the same time.
• Leaders’ plans for the use of additional funds to support disadvantaged pupils are not effective. Planning does not identify the barriers to learning faced by disadvantaged pupils. Therefore, the resulting actions are not targeted accurately or providing the most appropriate support.
• The school’s provision for pupils who have special education needs (SEN) and/or disabilities is improving. The SEN coordinator has set high expectations of how teachers should support pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. However, she is aware that the real impact of her work will not be seen until teaching in the school is of a higher quality. Consequently, pupils who require support continue to make inconsistent progress across the school.
• Leaders’ systems for recording behaviour incidents are not robust. They do not routinely analyse the frequency and patterns of incidents. As a result, behaviour is not good, particularly at lunchtimes.
• Pupils’ achievement in reading and writing is variable across the school. The leader for English has established a clear vision of how the school should improve the quality of pupils’ reading and writing. However, teachers’ adherence to the revised strategies introduced by leaders is inconsistent. This inconsistency has not been sufficiently addressed by leaders. Consequently, pupils do not reach the standards of which they are capable.
• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is not yet good. The headteacher has introduced monitoring and evaluation systems and is developing a detailed understanding of the strengths and weaknesses in teaching. Although the headteacher is using this information to support and challenge staff to improve their practice, the quality of teaching and, consequently, pupils’ outcomes remain variable across the school.
• The headteacher has introduced greater levels of accountability for staff, which is linked to improvements in pupils’ progress. Staff report that they understand and accept the need for this accountability. The majority of staff, but not all, fully support the improvement work that leaders are driving.
• Leaders have made good use of additional funds to support sport and physical education. The funding has been used to give pupils more opportunities to take part in sports tournaments and competitions as well as resources to promote an active lifestyle.
• School leaders ensure that pupils experience a broad and balanced curriculum. Teachers provide pupils with engaging learning activities across a range of subjects, for example science, history, geography, the arts and physical education. However, leaders have not ensured that teachers assess pupils’ learning progress in a range of subjects to ensure that they achieve well and make good progress.

Governance of the school

• Governors now better understand their role to challenge and hold leaders to account. They now ask probing questions about the progress pupils are making and check the information that they receive through link visits. As a result, governors have a stronger understanding of the school’s position. However, they have not previously asked leaders for in-depth analysis of information about other school data, such as behavioural incidents, routinely. This has limited their ability to hold leaders to account for some aspects of their work.
• Governors bring a wide set of skills and experience to their work in the school. They have audited their skills, and individuals have undertaken training in their specific areas of work. They do not, however, evaluate the impact of their work systematically.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Staff understand their responsibilities for safeguarding pupils. The procedures for checking the suitability of adults to work in the school are rigorous and the records of checks are well maintained. Systems for checking and supervising visitors are strong.
• Pupils report that they feel safe in school, and that they know which adults they would go to if they are concerned about anything.
• Pupils have a strong awareness of how to keep themselves safe, including when on-line and out of school.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment varies between classes and year groups. As a result, it is not yet good. Teaching does not consistently meet the needs of pupils. Too often, teachers do not use assessment information to plan work which ensures that learning activities are matched accurately to pupils’ needs.
• Teachers’ expectations of what pupils can do are too low. For example, in mathematics, pupils have opportunities to practise their mathematical skills. However, teachers do not routinely provide pupils with activities to consolidate their knowledge, skills and understanding. In addition, teachers do not precisely check that pupils have mastered a concept before they move on. This slows pupils’ learning and the progress that they make.
• The leader of literacy has put in place clear strategies to support teachers to develop pupils’ writing skills. However, not all teachers are using these approaches consistently. Also, in some classes, teachers have not established a reliable baseline for pupils’ writing at the start of the year. Consequently, teaching does not address what pupils can and cannot already do, and pupils do not make sufficient progress in their writing.
• Teachers do not ensure that pupils consolidate their understanding and practise their writing skills, either in English lessons or in a range of subjects. As a result, pupils do not fully develop their ability to write at length for different purposes and audiences. Additionally, where teaching is less secure, teachers do not check and extend pupils’ vocabulary or encourage them to spell specialist words correctly.
• Teaching does not provide sufficient stretch and challenge to enable the most able pupils to achieve well and reach the higher standards. As a result, they do not make the progress that they should.
• In subjects other than English and mathematics, for example in history and geography, teaching is focused on pupils’ acquisition of knowledge. Planned learning does not develop pupils’ subject-specific skills. For example, pupils do not learn the skills required to be an effective historian. As a result, pupils are not prepared adequately for the next stage of their education.
• The teaching of phonics in the early years and Year 1 is effective. Pupils learn to use their knowledge of sounds to read unknown words.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare

Personal development and welfare Requires improvement

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.
• Leaders do not tackle poor behaviour in a timely manner, because the school’s systems for collecting information about behaviour lack rigour. School records and feedback from pupils show that there are some behaviour incidents that have a negative impact on pupils’ well-being.
• In religious education lessons, pupils develop an understanding of different belief systems and cultural differences, which improves their understanding and acceptance of diversity. The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding through personal, social, health and economic curriculum and across the rich, wider curriculum.
• Pupils have a good understanding of British values. Pupils take on responsibilities, such as being elected to the school council, becoming sports ambassadors or by representing the school in competitions. They take part in a wide range of extra-curricular clubs. This supports pupils to develop self-confidence and self-esteem.
• Pupils know how to keep themselves safe inside and outside school. They understand, at a level appropriate for their age, what the risks are when online. Pupils report that bullying is rare, and most say that when it does occur, teachers deal with it effectively.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement. Pupils state that, at times, behaviour at lunchtimes can be overly boisterous and rough.
• The school’s systems for collecting and analysing patterns of poor behaviour are not well developed and the use of classroom logs is not monitored. As a result, boundaries and thresholds for referring behaviour incidents to senior leaders are not consistently applied.
• In some lessons, pupils engage well with their learning and they show pride in their books. However, where teaching is less effective, some pupils are slow to settle to tasks. A number of pupils do not take ownership of their own behaviour. Without close supervision, they do not persevere with their learning.
• Leaders have improved attendance in the current year so it is now above the national average. The headteacher has implemented the Gillingham Area School Partnership’s policy for unauthorised absence rigorously. This has proved unpopular with some parents, but has had a positive impact in reducing term-time holidays.
• The proportion of pupils who are persistently absent has fallen and is now below the national average. The attendance of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities has also improved in the last year. However, disadvantaged pupils’ attendance is not good enough, although the proportion of these pupils who are persistently absent has fallen and is now below the national figure for this group.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• As a result of teachers’ low expectations, pupils’ progress is inconsistent and not enough pupils reach the levels expected for their age. In 2017, the progress made in the end of key stage 2 tests was below national figures in reading and mathematics. In writing, progress has been below national figures for the past two years.
• At both key stages 1 and 2, the proportion of pupils working at the higher standards remains too low. Leaders and teachers do not use assessment information to ensure that the most able pupils make the progress of which they are capable.
• Due to inconsistencies in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, outcomes in other year groups and subjects remain variable.
• Disadvantaged pupils do not make good progress. Leaders have not considered which barriers to learning are impeding progress most and teaching of these pupils is not adapted efficiently to their needs.
• Pupils’ spelling is not secure. A significant number of pupils are making spelling errors in specialist words, such as those found in mathematics and science. Systems are not yet in place to improve this.
• The school’s assessment information and the work in pupils’ books show that current Year 6 pupils are making stronger progress. As a result, a greater proportion of pupils are on track to reach the expected standards. Similarly, in key stage 1, a greater proportion of current pupils are working at the expected level in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Many pupils across the school read for pleasure with enthusiasm and fluency. They choose books that are well matched to their age and reading level and talk enthusiastically about the types of books that they like to read. The proportion of Year 1 pupils achieving the expected standard in phonics screening check is broadly in line with the national average. Teachers have extended phonics teaching into Year 3, and this is strengthening pupils’ progress in reading and writing.
• The SEN coordinator has raised expectations for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. Although not yet good, the progress of these pupils is now in line with other pupils in the school.

Early years provision Good

• The Reception class is a strength of the school. The Reception teacher has created a warm and nurturing environment, where children feel secure and enjoy their learning.
• The teacher makes sure that children engage in challenging learning in all areas of the curriculum. There is a good balance between discrete, directed learning and children independently choosing their activities. The broad and balanced curriculum leads to children’s good all-round development.
• Children move between activities in a calm way. The teacher has established strong routines and children are trusted to follow them. As a result, children start to develop independence and self-confidence. There are strong relationships in the class between the children and the adults who support them. Good teaching ensures that children stay on task during structured sessions and in free play. Children co-operate well with each other because of adults’ modelling of good behaviour.
• Reception staff make home visits so that transition to Reception happens without undue concern. Parents contribute to children’s baseline assessments so that there is an accurate picture of what children know and understand on arrival. This provides a secure point for the checking of progress to begin. Parents are complimentary about the management of transition into Reception.
• Children achieve well in the provision. The proportion of children achieving a good level of development was above the national figure for 2017. Well-prepared teaching supports children achieving early learning goals in reading, writing and mathematics, which ensures that they are ready for work in Year 1.
• The school uses an online learning journal effectively to track children’s learning and provide information to parents. The school works with other schools and the local authority to make sure that its judgements are accurate.
• The school has developed strong links with parents. This is exemplified in the ‘stay and play’ session during which children share their learning with visiting parents. Consequently, children learn to develop their understanding of social rules, rich language and self-confidence.
• The Reception class provides a very safe place for the children. The teacher and other adults understand their responsibilities for safeguarding well and robust systems are in place to keep children safe.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 113743 Dorset 10048053 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 Maintained 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 193 Appropriate authority The governing board Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Mrs Alison Beall Ms Olivia Palmer 01747 825 665 gillinghamwyke.dorset.sch.uk office@gillinghamwyke.dorset.sch.uk Date of previous inspection Good

Information about this school

• Wyke Primary School is smaller than the average-sized primary school.
• Since the last inspection, there have been a number of changes in school leadership. The current headteacher took up post in January 2017.
• The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is half the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is well above the national average.
• The vast majority of pupils are of White British heritage.
• The school met the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 6.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed learning across a range of subjects and age groups, some of which were conducted jointly with senior leaders, and scrutinised a wide range of pupils’ written work.
• Inspectors looked at a range of documentation, including minutes of governors’ meetings, development plans, analysis of pupils’ progress, attendance and behaviour information, safeguarding documents and the school’s review of its own performance.
• Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, governors, middle leaders, groups of teachers and groups of pupils.
• Inspectors took account of 88 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, 23 responses to the staff questionnaire and 41 responses to the online pupil survey.

Inspection team

Jeremy Law, lead inspector Gareth Simons

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector