Wigmore Primary

Wigmore Primary School Twyford Drive, Wigmore Hall Estate, Luton, LU2 9TB

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 Pupils do not make as much or as rapid progress in mathematics as they do in English.  More-able pupils do not have enough opportunities to do work that fully stretches them.  There is not enough teaching which is good, and outstanding teaching is rare.  Teachers’ expectations of pupils are not always high enough and work is not always well matched to pupils’ needs.  The teaching of mathematics for pupils who have special educational needs does not always meet their particular needs or level of learning.  Leaders’ checks on teachers’ work have not been focused closely enough on the progress pupils make in lessons. This has resulted in inconsistencies in teaching across the school.  The governing body has not challenged leaders enough about the school’s performance. Governors have not developed a more independent view through gathering evidence for themselves.

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The school has the following strengths

 From previous, below-average levels, attainment has risen and is now broadly average.  A concerted effort to improve the teaching of writing has benefited pupils, and they are now making good progress in writing.  The focus on opportunities to talk about their work means that pupils are confident in speaking and listening.  Teaching and the equipment and resources available in the Early Years Foundation Stage are good, so children get off to a good start in their learning.  Previous issues around the behaviour of a few pupils have been tackled successfully and behaviour is now good.  There are good relationships between teachers and pupils. Teachers provide a positive climate for learning and pupils are, therefore, keen to be at school. Attendance has improved and is now above average.  The new leadership structure is helping to make the use of data more effective in identifying pupils who need to make faster

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Information about this inspection

 During the inspection, inspectors held meetings with staff, groups of pupils, governors and a representative from the local authority. They observed 32 lessons or parts of lessons, taught by 14 teaching staff. The support provided by teaching assistants was also observed.  The headteacher and seconded deputy headteacher conducted 14 joint observations of lessons with the inspectors, as well as shorter observations of learning across the school.  Inspectors considered a wide range of evidence including: the school’s evaluation of its performance; data and analysis of pupils’ progress; records of monitoring of teaching; teachers’ plans for lessons; and policies and procedures about keeping pupils safe.  The inspectors met informally with some parents and carers at the start of the school day and considered the responses to the school’s own surveys, as well as the 29 responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) and correspondence directed to the inspection team.

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Information about this inspection

 The school has specially resourced provision for pupils with autistic spectrum disorder, from the wider area of Luton. This currently supports seven pupils.  There is also a nurture room in the school, where staff provide support for pupils with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties.  A breakfast club for pupils is run at the school, by a voluntary management committee independent from the school and is subject to a separate inspection.  A children’s centre is located on the school site but is privately run and was not part of this inspection.

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Inspection team

Andrew Saunders, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Carol Worthington Additional Inspector Concetta Caruana Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This school is larger than average.  The proportion of pupils in receipt of the pupil premium is above average. This funding provides additional opportunities for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and children in local authority care.  The majority of pupils are White British. Other pupils come from a wide range of minority ethnic backgrounds. A few join the school at the early stages of learning English.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics.  There have been recent changes to the senior leadership structure within the school and, at the time of the inspection, a seconded deputy headteacher was working with the school for a year.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Eliminate inadequate teaching and increase the proportion of good and outstanding teaching, by:  identifying and sharing details of the best teaching that already exists across the school  ensuring teachers respond quickly within lessons, to maintain the level of challenge for all pupils, as their understanding develops.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the rate of progress in mathematics to match that in writing, by:  providing more-able pupils with more frequent opportunities to work independently on solving complex problems within realistic contexts  identifying and putting in place appropriate extra support for pupils with special educational needs, in mathematics  working with pupils to identify, at the start of each lesson, exactly how they will know if they have achieved what they should have, during that lesson  giving pupils more time to work on the tasks prepared for them, as soon as they know what they need to do  giving pupils more opportunities to explore how to use and apply their skills in mathematics through realistic problems.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen leadership and management by:  increasing the effectiveness of the way leaders at all levels check teachers’ work, especially by focusing closely on the effect teachers have on the progress pupils make in lessons  improving the skills and understanding of the governing body in gathering information for themselves and using this to provide greater challenge for senior leaders.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The progress pupils make varies between classes within year groups. Where teachers expect pupils to do work to a high standard and the level of challenge is good, pupils make good progress during lessons. However, too few pupils make better than the expected progress, particularly in mathematics. Progress in writing is good.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The standards achieved by pupils at the end of Year 6 have been improving and are now average, although higher in English than mathematics. More pupils are reaching the higher levels in their work than previously.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 When they join the school in Reception, children often have skills and knowledge which are below, and sometimes well below, those typical for children of their age, particularly in communication, language and literacy. The well-organised routines and resources mean that most children make good progress and have made up ground by the time they start Year 1.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, including those who benefit from the resourced support, are well supported in English and make good progress in developing skills in reading and writing. However, their progress in mathematics requires improvement because the strategies used to support them are not as well focused and the school does not always keep a check on how well the strategies are working. These pupils are, otherwise, helped to participate fully in lessons and the school ensures that the additional support they get works well alongside the main lessons they attend.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 When pupils join the school after Reception, and especially later in Key Stage 2, their skills and knowledge are often well below what might be expected. These older pupils are well supported and often make good progress.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium get extra help from adults, and are helped to attend the residential trips, which supports their developing confidence. Their progress is similar to their classmates and requires improvement in mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 During lessons, the progress of pupils falters when the work is too easy or too hard, and teachers do not pick up quickly enough that the work is not at the right level for particular groups of pupils, such as the more-able pupils. Work in books shows a similar picture, that progress is not often as rapid as it could be.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The quality of teaching is inconsistent. While some teaching is good, too much teaching requires improvement, and outstanding teaching is infrequent. Occasionally, teaching is inadequate because it does not challenge groups of pupils and their progress stalls.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers have plenty of information about how well pupils are doing in their work. However, in too many lessons, pupils of different abilities do the same work and this means they do not make as much progress as they should during these lessons. For example, in a Year 2 class, pupils played a game using doubling or halving; the examples were too easy for more-able pupils and they did not benefit from it.  Teachers do not often consider how quickly pupils have understood, and do not adapt what they have asked them to do, or the explanations they provide for them, in the light of this. There are too many occasions when pupils are not clear why they are doing a particular task, or what it is leading towards, as teachers do not always share this purpose early on in the lesson.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The way writing is taught has improved, following a new scheme. This has been successful and pupils now enjoy writing extended pieces. Their attitudes towards homework, and the quality of work they produce for this, show how well this has worked. There are also good opportunities to write across the curriculum.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Another focus has been to develop a more consistent approach to teaching the linking of sounds and letters (phonics) which is now well established across Key Stage 1, and reading skills are usually good. Phonics is not yet as consistently taught across Key Stage 2, although those who need to catch up get additional help. Opportunities to use mathematical skills in other subjects are developing but are not yet as well organised as with writing skills. In particular, pupils do not have enough chances to use and apply their skills in mathematics.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers make good use of technology to engage pupils and make their work interesting. For example, Year 6 pupils greatly enjoyed thinking about how to prevent the spread of harmful bacteria because of the video clips and images used. Pupils develop good skills on computers because they use them regularly to support their work in other subjects.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The school has developed a clear policy about marking and most teachers now ensure they show where pupils have succeeded, and give helpful comments about what pupils need to do next. In some lessons, pupils acknowledge the comments, but there are too many missed opportunities to actually do what the comments say. This means that some simple errors continue much longer than they should.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Those who teach or support disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are well trained so they understand the specific needs of the pupils they work with. Pupils who are learning to speak English are also well supported. This ensures all these pupils develop their self- esteem and confidence alongside their academic work. Consequently, they make better progress in English than similar pupils nationally. Their progress in mathematics is not as strong because the targets set for them are not as well focused as in English.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Almost all pupils are well behaved at school. They like learning and feel that the teachers give them interesting things to do. Behaviour is not yet outstanding because pupils are not yet independent enough in deciding what they should be learning next, or how they will know if they have been successful during the lesson.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are proud of their school and like being part of the community. For example, 120 pupils took part in ‘the big pedal’, an effort to increase the number of pupils cycling or using scooters to get to school, winning the competition for Luton.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Around the school, pupils are very polite and kind towards each other, and show respect for others from different heritages or beliefs. They work well in groups and like it when they get the chance to help each other improve their work.  A few pupils said that they used to be worried about being safe when a very few pupils’ behaviour was unruly, but that this has changed because of the nurturing ethos of the school and the help these pupils get from the behaviour support team. The school has tackled some extremely challenging behaviour of a very few pupils and these pupils now more readily make good choices. Pupils and staff said that behaviour has improved a lot.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Some pupils said that bullying can occur occasionally, but they feel confident that they can talk to an adult if it does. They know it will be dealt with. They are aware of different forms of bullying, including cyber-bullying, which may happen outside of school occasionally, but they are helped to know what they can do about it. As well as training the pupils, the school helps parents and carers to understand the dangers of the internet.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils who join the school outside of the usual times are helped to feel welcome. They swiftly make friends because of the inclusive atmosphere of the school, which parents and carers were highly positive about. Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, as well as those who join the school at the early stages of learning English, are encouraged to take part in all aspects of the life of the school community.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The focus on improving the teaching of writing has been successful. However, leaders’ monitoring of teaching has not ensured that teaching is consistently good, either across year groups or across subjects. Their evaluation of the quality of teaching has been too optimistic at times.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders across the school have set out their expectations about how lessons should be planned. However, some teachers do not always plan different tasks to meet the different needs of pupils. Some teachers are too focused on sticking to their plan when pupils’ progress is faster than they expected, or when pupils get stuck on work which is too difficult. This comes about because records of monitoring, and consequently the feedback given to teachers, focus too much on the process of teaching rather than the effect their teaching has on pupils’ progress.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders have helped teachers to keep a closer track on how well pupils have done and are raising the expectations about how much progress each pupil should make each term. This has helped to raise achievement in writing but its effect is not yet as clear in mathematics.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Teachers have benefited from training which has increased their understanding and confidence in supporting writing, and in teaching phonics. There has been some focus on teaching mathematics, and further training is being implemented, but this has not yet made as much difference as in writing.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The curriculum provides appropriate opportunities for pupils to develop their skills in reading, writing, communication and mathematics, through interesting topics. Skills in writing are well established across a wide range of subjects; these links are not yet as well developed for mathematics.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

The local authority has supported the school to address previous weaknesses in leadership. It has helped the school to develop more rigorous analysis of data and reviews of planning, to tackle previous underachievement so that standards of attainment have risen to broadly average. It has also supported the school in developing a new scheme for teaching mathematics.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  The governance of the school requires improvement because governors have been too reliant on the information provided by the headteacher. They have, therefore, had too optimistic a view of the work of the school which has not always reflected the progress pupils have made.  The governing body ensures that finances are used carefully to benefit pupils’ learning. They are increasingly aware of the way that the pupil premium funding is used, to make sure these pupils get the maximum benefit. They are aware of the need to ensure that the quality of teaching informs decisions about how finances are used to reward the best teachers.  Together with school leaders, governors ensure that staff are checked for their suitability to work with children, that appropriate training takes place so staff know how to keep pupils safe, and that policies and procedures are reviewed and kept up to date.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is

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Grade Judgement Description

failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 109588 Local authority Luton Inspection number 401064

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 372 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mark Kitchener Headteacher Carole Crabtree Date of previous school inspection 10 December 2009 Telephone number 01582 616101 Fax number 01582 616102 Email address wigmore.primary.admin@luton.gov.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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School details

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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School details

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk, or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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School details

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please

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School details

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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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