Wheatfield Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve outcomes for pupils so that:
  • a greater proportion of pupils in key stage 2, especially the most able disadvantaged pupils, make at least expected progress in their writing so that their progress matches that in reading and mathematics
  • a greater proportion of children who reached a good level of development at the end of early years make at least the progress that is expected of them in reading and writing by the end of key stage 1.
• Improve pupils’ attendance, especially that of those who are disadvantaged, so that attendance rises to match that of all pupils nationally.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Since the previous inspection, leaders and managers at all levels have worked tirelessly to improve the quality of teaching and pupils’ outcomes. They have been determined in their actions to ensure that no aspect of the school has remained unchallenged. There is no room for complacency.
• The acting headteacher is tenacious in challenging, coaching and motivating staff. She is ably assisted by a committed senior leadership team and governing body. As a result, everyone in the school community, pupils, staff and governors, have high expectations and are determined to secure improvement.
• Middle leaders are clear about their roles and contribute fully to the school’s monitoring and self-evaluation activities. They describe the last couple of years as ‘being on the most massive journey’. In turn, they have supported colleagues to improve their work.
• Leaders use professional development for teachers and rigorous performance management systems effectively. These have resulted in improvements in the quality of teaching across the school. Leaders are not afraid to hold robust and challenging conversations, which together with coaching, have secured improved outcomes.
• Leaders provide a broad, balanced and exciting curriculum across the school. Stimulating and vibrant displays are prominent throughout the school. Recent work on dragons in Year 6, the search for Tutankhamun in Years 5 and 6, and work on aspects of India by pupils in Year 2 have clearly inspired pupils and provide meaningful learning activities. Teachers use visits to local areas of interest, including a wide variety of museums and galleries in Bristol, to give pupils first-hand practical experiences. Pupils really enjoy the recently introduced ‘enrichment afternoons’. They clearly enjoy the opportunity to try a range of wider experiences such as chess, tree studies and art. Added to this is an extensive range of breakfast and after-school clubs, including for gymnastics and mini-football, which enhances pupils’ experiences.
• The school offers its pupils a wide range of experiences through personal, social, health and citizenship education lessons. Promotion of pupil voice, and assemblies provide pupils with good opportunities to develop their understanding of British values. Staff encourage pupils to reflect widely through class and whole-school sessions including collective worship. Consequently, pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding is good.
• Leaders are adept at identifying the barriers disadvantaged pupils face. They use the pupil premium creatively to enhance the learning of disadvantaged pupils. However, leaders’ monitoring of interventions is not thorough enough so that they can clearly evaluate the impact of their actions. This is most clearly seen in a lack of focus on outcomes in writing for the most able disadvantaged pupils.
• Through careful analysis, leaders have used physical education (PE) and sport funding to enhance teachers’ confidence in delivering the curriculum. The impact of this has been improved teaching across the PE curriculum and the increased levels of participation of pupils in sporting activities. External coaches have also been funded to come into school to enhance pupils’ opportunities to be more active at lunchtime. Pupils were keen to tell inspectors how much they like the sporting activities in which they take part.
• The support from the local authority for leaders at all levels has been valued and has resulted in improvements in strengthening leaders at levels across the school, for example in the support given to the governing body. The local authority officer commented on how leaders consistently challenge themselves and how they have ‘transformed’ the school since the previous inspection.
• Leaders have been able to support other schools in the local authority through the sharing of the expertise of the mathematics leader.

Governance of the school

• Governors are determined to improve standards at Wheatfield, even during the headteacher’s absence. Governors have ensured that leaders have continued to improve all aspects of the school’s work.
• Through routine visits to the school and attendance at senior leaders’ meetings, governors monitor the progress made towards the challenging targets they set. Governors use a wide range of sources to ensure that they are fully aware of the school’s strengths and weaknesses to assure themselves that this is a school where ‘every child is known as an individual’.
• Governors are assiduous in carrying out their statutory duties through visits and monitoring, including the testing of safeguarding checks.
• Governors oversee the performance management of staff effectively. They are aware of strengths and weakness in teaching throughout the school and ensure that the school improvement plan addresses any shortcomings.

Safeguarding

• There is a strong culture of safeguarding in the school and the arrangements for safeguarding, such as in the recruitment and vetting checks when appointing staff, are robust.
• All staff and governors have an up-to-date, clear understanding of safeguarding requirements, including how to protect pupils from radicalisation. Leaders know that further training on female genital mutilation awareness would better support their understanding.
• School leaders and staff work successfully with parents and a wide range of agencies to ensure that pupils are well supported and kept safe. They work effectively with outside agencies in order to support this work.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Pupils enjoy learning and appreciate the challenges staff set them. Learning is typified by fun and exciting learning challenges, including practical, hands-on activities that engage pupils’ interest and deepen their understanding.
• The learning environment is highly stimulating. The high expectations that staff have are reinforced by the displays of high-quality work that pupils produce. Effective use of the environment helps pupils with prompts for learning. For example, in a Reception classroom, children pointed out that a ‘camera word’ (tricky word) was on the wall to help them with their spelling. While strong in the early years, progress in reading and writing is not as strong in key stage 1.
• Teachers identify specific gaps in pupils’ learning, which informs their planning of pupils’ next steps in learning. Inspectors saw current pupils making at least expected progress in their learning, particularly in mathematics. The determination of teachers to improve pupils’ achievement is evident through the thoughtful activities they plan, such as the forthcoming ‘mum and girls event’ to support more girls to reach the higher standards in mathematics. As a result, standards have risen for this group and attainment is above that of girls nationally. Staff recognise that they now need to ensure that pupils make stronger progress in their writing.
• Since the monitoring visit in March 2015, leaders have made sure that the marking and feedback policy is consistently used across the school. As a result, pupils respond positively to the feedback given.
• Teachers demonstrate secure subject knowledge, which is seen through the tasks they set that are well matched to pupils’ knowledge and understanding. Teachers use a range of strategies to deepen pupils’ understanding and ensure that all pupils make the progress of which they are capable. One pupil, typical of many, commented, ‘When I don’t know how to do something, the teachers really help my learning to move on.’
• Occasionally, teachers fail to address the needs of the most able pupils or challenge them sufficiently. Leaders are aware of the need to make sure that learning opportunities effectively challenge pupils regardless of their ability so that strong progress is made. Leaders are now ensuring that teachers routinely plan activities that challenge all pupils, especially the most able pupils.
• As a result of good phonics teaching and careful planning, younger pupils are able to accurately use their knowledge of letters and sounds to read and spell increasingly complex words accurately.
• Teachers make skilful use of other adults to support pupils who speak English as an additional language. Through the precise and focused analysis of these pupils’ learning needs, staff plan activities that improve their English language skills.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils are welcoming, courteous and proud of their school. They are confident and keen to talk to adults and tell them about how good their school is. One pupil commented, ‘There are so many good things to say about this school there just isn’t time to tell it all.’
• ‘Achievosaurs’, the new system to look at the individual skills that pupils need to learn, is proving successful. Throughout the inspection, inspectors observed how pupils are keen to support one another with learning, such as offering to help a friend spell an unfamiliar word.
• Pupils talk confidently about how the school helps them learn about keeping safe in and out of school. They welcome visits from other agencies who help them develop their understanding, such as those who help them understand about road safety.
• Pupils know how to stay safe online. They talk confidently about what they would do if they had a concern about something they had seen online and how staff would help them.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. They behave well, moving around the school building in an orderly and calm manner. They appreciate the new system, which they say helps everyone to understand what behaviour is expected in their school, helps them reach for the same goals and recognises their good behaviour. They especially appreciate the rewards that they are given which they enjoy and which they say motivate them.
• Pupils commented that generally behaviour is good and that when there are incidents of poor behaviour they feel that adults listen well and deal with them appropriately. One child commented, ‘Above all, this school is really fair.’ This is a view echoed by a parent’s comment, ‘This school treats all children equally, giving their best to them and making it a great place to be.’
• Attendance is below the national average for all pupils and especially for the disadvantaged pupils. This is largely because parents take pupils out of school for holidays, which the school does not authorise. Leaders are working hard to improve attendance and are using various strategies to make parents aware of the importance of being in school every day.
• The school is also aware that the proportion of pupils who are absent for 10% or more of the school year is also significantly above that of the national average, especially for disadvantaged pupils. Leaders and governors rightly recognise that without regular attendance, these pupils will not make the progress they should. Leaders are determined to reduce absence levels and engage other agencies, such as the education welfare service, to support them in their efforts.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Current pupils make good progress over time in a wide range of subjects, including geography, history and art. Pupils take pride in their work and high standards of presentation are seen in pupils’ work and displays.
• In key stage 1, historic data shows that a few pupils who attained the expected standard at the end of early years did not make the expected standard in reading and writing at the end of key stage 1. Leaders are determined to help these pupils catch up quickly and have set focused targets for Year 1 and Year 2 pupils as a result. Current assessment information, reinforced by inspectors’ review of learning over time, shows that a greater proportion are already on track to reach the expected standard and larger numbers are expected to attain the higher standard this summer.
• In 2016, there were few disadvantaged pupils in Year 6; however, they made better progress than other pupils nationally in reading and mathematics. Leaders are aware that the progress that this group makes in writing needs to increase to match that made in reading and mathematics.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are making similar good progress from their various starting points as their classmates. This is as a result of effective use of allocated funds to provide successful, well-planned interventions. Parents commented on how well they feel staff support and care for their children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Leaders and managers are ambitious to secure improved outcomes across the whole school. They have set ambitious targets for pupils in key stage 2 to reach by the end of Year 6. This builds on the success of pupils’ attainment at the end of Year 6 in reading and mathematics in 2016. Year-group targets clearly set out the individual milestones that need to be achieved in order to reach these targets.
• Leaders’ own assessment information and work seen by inspectors show that, from their varying starting points, pupils are on track to achieve their targets, including those predicted to reach the highest standards.
• Leaders are aware that sometimes groups of pupils, particularly the most able pupils, do not make the progress of which they are capable. Leaders are clear that they need to track and monitor these pupils more closely to ensure that they achieve as well as pupils with similar starting points in other schools. Leaders have also put measures in place to increase the number of pupils who make accelerated progress.
• Pupils in key stages 1 and 2 who read to inspectors did so with enthusiasm and confidence. They read a wide range of texts with expression and deep understanding. Pupils talked about their love of story time within the class and also appreciated being read to. The importance placed upon reading within the school was evident, with highly engaging reading areas and well-looked-after libraries for both key stages. Leaders have recently appointed a librarian to support this aspect of the school’s work.

Early years provision Good

• Children join the school with levels of knowledge and skills generally in line with that expected for their age. Effective teaching ensures that children make good progress through the early years. As a result, most children are well prepared to join Year 1.
• Children are nurtured, motivated and engaged in their learning as a result of the good teaching they receive. Children show a curiosity about their learning environment. Consequently, children’s records of learning, and teachers’ assessment and observations demonstrate that a greater proportion of children are on track to reach a good level of development at the end of the Reception Year.
• Parents are positive about the setting and comment that their children really enjoy coming to school. One parent, typical of many, said, ’My child has done so well in the first five months in this school, it’s incredible and he loves every minute of it.’ Staff encourage parents to contribute to children’s assessment through ’wow’ vouchers to celebrate their child’s success. Further opportunities to participate in their child’s learning are planned during the course of the academic year, such as additional parent workshops. Parents commented on how much they value the curriculum workshops already offered. These help them to support their child’s learning.
• During the inspection, children were keen to share the exciting stories they had created about the ‘Naughty Night Bus’. They were also keen to show inspectors their good writing. Children were quick to spot deliberate mistakes in the teacher’s work, explaining how it should be corrected using their understanding of phonics as well as words from classroom displays.
• The culture of safeguarding in the setting is strong. Children are taught how to keep themselves safe through a range of activities. When playing on their bikes and trikes outside, children were seen by inspectors to demonstrate their learning about road safety. Skilful questioning by adults helps children develop and extend their road safety awareness.
• Children behave well. They take turns, share resources and develop confidence in working independently as well as collaboratively. They enjoy using the school’s ‘Achievosaurs’ learning approach to help them with their learning, such as building a road track for the ‘Naughty Night Bus’ to travel on.
• The early years leader is ambitious for the setting and for the outcomes children achieve. Effective transition arrangements are in place with pre-schools and he ensures that he has a thorough understanding of each child’s prior learning.

School details

Unique reference number 131705 Local authority South Gloucestershire Inspection number 10024921 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 389 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Acting Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Sue Davey Lois Haydon 01454 868610 www.wheatfieldprimary.com office@wheatfieldprimary.com Date of previous inspection 11–12 December 2014

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school is much larger than the average primary school.
• The acting headteacher has been in post since the summer of 2016. The previous headteacher retired in December 2016.
• Most of the pupils are of White British heritage. Just over a third of pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds and a fifth speak English as an additional language.
• The proportion of pupils who are eligible for free school meals is much lower than that of other schools nationally.
• The number of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is lower than that of other schools nationally.
• The number of pupils who move in and out of the school during the school year is in line with that of other schools nationally.
• The school runs a breakfast and after-school club.
• In 2016, the school met the government’s floor standards, which are the minimum expectation for pupils’ attainment and progress at the end of Year 6.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors observed learning in lessons and in group sessions, including support given to help pupils catch up with writing and mathematical skills.
• Inspectors looked at pupils’ current work in books as well as some evidence of writing from the previous academic year.
• Meetings were held with governors, middle and senior leaders, the local authority and groups of pupils. Individual conversations were also held with parents, pupils and staff.
• Inspectors took account of 75 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire.
• Inspectors also looked at a wide range of school documents, including the school’s self-evaluation, the school improvement plan and the school’s own information system and monitoring records.
• Inspectors also reviewed a wide range of safeguarding evidence, including the school’s single central record, and behaviour and incident logs.

Inspection team

Helen Springett, lead inspector Lisa Rowe Martin Bragg

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector