Setting

Aviation House 125 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 0300 123 1231 F 020 7421 6855 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Mrs T Hannon Executive Headteacher Wynstream Primary School Burnthouse Lane Exeter Devon EX2 6AY

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Ofsted 2012–13 subject survey inspection programme: English

Thank you for your hospitality and cooperation, and that of your staff and pupils, during my visit on 25 June 2012 to look at work in English.

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Ofsted 2012–13 subject survey inspection programme: English

The visit provided valuable information which will contribute to our national evaluation and reporting. Published reports are likely to list the names of the contributing institutions but individual institutions will not be identified in the main text without their consent.

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Ofsted 2012–13 subject survey inspection programme: English

The evidence used to inform the judgements included: interviews with staff, pupils and members of the governing body; scrutiny of relevant documentation; analysis of pupils’ work; and observation of five lessons.

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Ofsted 2012–13 subject survey inspection programme: English

The overall effectiveness of English is good.

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Achievement in English

 Taking account of the trend over the past three years, attainment in English by the end of Key Stage 2 is below average but improving rapidly.  Across the school, pupils are making good progress relative to their low starting points. Pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, and pupils with low or middle prior attainment, progress at least in line with similar groups nationally.  The quality of pupils’ learning is good in the majority of lessons. Pupils enjoy their lessons and demonstrate good behaviour. They talk about favourite authors and produce a wide range of writing. They are developing independence in learning, although not yet consistently across the school.

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Quality of teaching in English

The quality of teaching in English is good.

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Quality of teaching in English

 Key strengths in teaching include: positive relationships, effective behaviour management, detailed lesson planning, a brisk pace of learning, motivating use of resources including media and information technology, and a good range of activities that engages all pupils.  Teaching assistants are adept at supporting disabled pupils and those with special educational needs or low prior attainment to make good progress.  In a minority of lessons, teachers do not assess pupils’ progress sufficiently during the lesson to ask questions that extend pupils’ spoken and written responses or engage pupils in using their curricular targets to improve their work further.  Pupils engage in assessing their own and each other’s work in lessons and teachers’ marking includes written comments which help them to improve their work effectively.

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Quality of the curriculum in English

The quality of the curriculum in English is outstanding.

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Quality of the curriculum in English

 The curriculum is exceptionally broad and balanced, covering all aspects of English, media and information technology, drama, phonics and an extensive range of intervention programmes.  It has been developed in innovative ways to meet the needs and interests of all pupils. For example, it is co-designed with the pupils. The pupils identify areas of interest to them and the teachers select texts, including media texts, relevant to the topics. Progression is ensured through the use of key learning objectives and the Assessing Pupils’ Progress guidelines.  Daily guided reading sessions, opportunities to share books with parents and carers in school and a ‘Book Track’ competition, promote pupils’ wider reading very effectively.  The teaching of literacy skills underpins the whole curriculum. This is evident in the high quality and interactive displays of pupils’ work that include, for example, pupils’ audio recordings of book reviews and

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Quality of the curriculum in English

instructions for making paper aeroplanes.  Enrichment activities are very effective in enhancing literacy work. They include reading weeks, reading treasure hunts, the making of films and news broadcasts, performances of plays, choral speaking and visits from authors, in addition to the many trips related to cross-curricular topics.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management in English

The effectiveness of leadership and management in English is outstanding.  The subject leader is supported very ably by a literacy focus group of leading teachers. Together, they provide clear direction for the improvement of teaching and learning through effective action planning.  The development of best practice is informed very well by regular lesson study which involves observing or videoing pupils’ learning in lessons and discussions with pupils. The impact of this work is evident in, for example, improvements in boys’ reading and writing.  Relevant priorities for improvement are informed by rigorous self- evaluation, including robust analysis of the progress of individuals and groups of pupils. Self-evaluation is accurate in identifying the most important priorities for improvement and leads to effective action. As a result, the capacity for further improvement is outstanding.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

 increasing the proportion of outstanding teaching by:  refining teachers’ use of assessment during lessons in order that they ask questions that extend pupils’ spoken and written responses  engaging pupils in using their curricular targets during lessons to improve their work further  ensuring that opportunities to develop pupils’ independence in learning are consistent across the school.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

I hope that these observations are useful as you continue to develop English in the school.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

As explained previously, a copy of this letter will be published on the Ofsted website. It may be used to inform decisions about any future inspection. A copy of this letter is also being sent to your local authority.

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