Woore Primary and Nursery School

Woore Primary School London Road, Woore, Crewe, CW3 9SQ

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Teaching is good and, sometimes, outstanding. Teachers have excellent subject knowledge and learning across the school is good in most lessons.  Pupils make good progress throughout the school and reach above average attainment in reading, writing and mathematics.  Pupils supported by additional funding, those who are disabled pupils and those with particular needs are given good support.  The vast majority of parents and carers hold the school in high regard.  The headteacher and staff have created a cohesive and harmonious learning community where pupils feel very safe, behave well and know they are well cared for. Their attendance is high.  Leaders, including governors, closely track the progress of individual pupils and hold staff fully to account for pupils’ achievement.  Governors have an accurate view of the school’s strengths and weaknesses and ensure the school takes effective action to improve

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 There is not enough outstanding teaching.  Teachers’ guidance to pupils, including marking, is not consistently astute enough to maximise pupils’ learning.  Pupils are not consistently given sufficient opportunities to develop and apply independent learning skills.

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Information about this inspection

 Nine lessons or parts of lessons were observed over the two days. All three classroom teachers present were observed teaching on a minimum of two occasions. The inspector undertook two joint lesson observations with the headteacher and the Early Years Foundation Stage/Key Stage 1 Senior Leader.  Discussions were held with senior leaders, staff, members of the governing body and different groups of pupils.  The inspector heard individual pupils read and discussed with them their reading preferences and individual reading record.  The inspector sampled pupils’ work, scrutinised the school’s tracking records of pupils’ progress and took account of the school’s self evaluation and improvement plans.  The inspector held a discussion with a member of the local authority’s advisory staff.  The views of parents and carers were sought at the start of the day, 11 responses to Parent View were examined and the inspector took account of the school’s own survey of parents’ and

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Information about this inspection

carers’ views undertaken in March 2012.  The views of staff were sought through a questionnaire. In total, 11 questionnaires were scrutinised.

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Inspection team

Gordon Ewing, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The school day is organised with three classes each morning – Reception and Year 1, Years 2 and 3, and Years 4, 5 and 6. In morning sessions, lessons are focused on the teaching of phonics, literacy and numeracy. In the afternoon pupils are grouped into two classes – Reception, Years 1 and 2, and Years 3, 4, 5 and 6.  The majority of pupils (90%) are from White British heritage.  A well below average proportion of pupils is eligible for the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for children in local authority care and pupils known to be eligible for free school meals.  The proportion of pupils supported at school action is well below average.  The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or who are disabled or with a statement of special educational need is above average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations

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Information about this school

for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The school hosts onsite pre-school provision, called ‘Saplings’, for children younger than Reception class age. This is not managed by the school’s governing body and was not part of this inspection.  The school is part of a cluster of ten local primary and secondary schools that share good practice and collaborate on a range of educational initiatives and training.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so that a high percentage is outstanding by:  sharing and building on existing outstanding practice  providing additional opportunities, with local authority support, to observe outstanding teaching in other settings  improving the quality of teachers’ questioning so that they are able to extend pupils’ thinking and the quality of their explanations  improving the marking of pupils’ work so that feedback is finely focused on what has been achieved and what next steps need to be taken  involving all pupils in the setting of challenging short term targets in their learning so that they have a clear picture of what is expected of them and understand how to take the next step.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase pupils’ independence as learners, by:  providing more open ended learning activities and challenging investigations  improving their ability to check their own work and that of their peers.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Achievement in reading, writing and mathematics has been rising consistently over time. A key factor in bringing about this improvement has been the school’s action to reduce class sizes in the morning for phonics, literacy and numeracy lessons by employing an additional teacher and by improving facilities through the provision of an additional teaching space.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage make good progress. From starting points broadly in line with those expected for their age, they are supported well on entry, settle in quickly and thrive in an environment that is caring and stimulating.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children in the Reception class achieve well in their early speaking and listening, reading, writing and number work. Adults track their progress closely and often spur those on who are able to grasp ideas quickly and provide sensitive and effective one to one support for those who find learning difficult. In an activity around the theme of ‘Goldilocks’, children wrote their names in coloured sand and proudly helped the teaching assistant to photograph their work.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Other pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics is securely above average at the end of Year 2 and Year 6. This represents good achievement from pupils’ varying starting points. Current progress data indicates that pupils’ achievement is on track to exceed the levels seen over the previous two years.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The careful use of the pupil premium funding has had a significant impact on particular pupils’ learning and personal development. The introduction of additional one-to-one intervention, opportunities to attend educational visits and extra curricular clubs have improved these pupils’ core literacy and numeracy skills, boosted self-esteem and helped these pupils to enjoy the same broad and vibrant experiences available to other pupils.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make similar rates of progress to that of their peers. Their good achievement results from swift identification of their needs, well- planned and focused support and the close working relationship between home and school.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils are, on occasion, unnecessarily reliant on their teachers for guidance on what to do next, and not enough show the independence of thought needed for them to become outstanding learners.

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The quality of teaching is good

 ‘Learning is fun and the teachers are brilliant.’ This view, from one pupil, was strongly supported by his other Year 5 and 6 peers, who met with the inspector to discuss their learning.

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The quality of teaching is good

 No inadequate teaching was observed by the inspector and the majority was good or outstanding. Scrutiny of pupils’ work confirmed that teaching has been consistently good over time, and, particularly, since the reorganisation of numeracy and literacy groups in morning sessions.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In the large majority of lessons observed, adults set high expectations and used their excellent subject knowledge to ensure pupils understood the learning objectives and made good progress. Pupils benefited from a good blend of learning activities ranging from listening to the teacher, working in pairs on a computer, sharing ideas with their talk partner and working collaboratively in groups.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In an outstanding ‘themed’ lesson for older pupils, the teacher set a challenging problem-solving activity set around the theme of ‘The Race to the Antarctic.’ Their task was to assist and evacuate an Antarctic research team in overcoming unseasonal weather conditions. Throughout the lesson pupils used their reading, writing, mathematics and ICT skills to find answers to solve the problem. Pupils were thoroughly engaged in their learning, independently accessed computers, reference books and used their prior knowledge to find successful solutions to the problem. This outstanding practice is not yet a common feature across the school because pupils are too reliant on adults to help them in their learning and do not use dictionaries, thesaurus or other reference resources with sufficient independence.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers use assessment procedures well to track pupils’ progress and adapt daily activities to ensure that any misunderstandings are rapidly overcome. Teaching assistants generally work closely with teachers to support pupils and use their good knowledge of each individual to ensure learning is often well timed and at the right pace. However, teaching assistants are not consistently used to provide additional focused support to individuals.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers generally use questioning effectively to check pupils’ understanding, assess their progress during lessons and ensure that pupils are on task. That said the frequency of high order questioning to probe pupils’ grasp of their learning is not always sharp enough to ensure pupils think carefully about their progress or to inform teachers about how to accelerate learning further.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers’ marking and feedback to pupils are accurate, supportive and positive. Pupils understand how well they are doing, for example, by understanding the level they are working at in literacy and numeracy. However, they are less clear about what they need to do to accelerate their learning. This is because the setting of individual learning targets and the use of marking to accelerate progress are not used consistently across the school. Teachers do not sufficiently encourage pupils to assess their own progress or use teachers’ next step guidance to accelerate their learning and develop greater independence.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ attitudes to learning are very positive. Relationships are strong and pupils’ desire to learn is, at times, palpable.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ high attendance and good punctuality reflect their clear enjoyment of school. They are polite, courteous and respectful towards one another and to their teachers, and co-operate readily when working together. For example, in a Year 2 and 3 numeracy lesson, three pupils were tackling word problems together, setting out their ideas and methods to solve the problem. They each took it in turn to say how they would solve the problem and then compared the outcomes.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils feel very happy and safe at school. Their parents and carers agree. Pupils report that bullying and racism of any kind are not tolerated and are extremely rare. They clearly understand the risks of cyber bullying but say that it does not take place in or out of school involving themselves. They confidently explain how to keep themselves safe when using the internet and social networking media, as well as when they are at play in the community.  Pupils display sensitivity to the needs of others within and beyond the school and organise a range of events throughout the year to support charities within the United Kingdom and internationally.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher knows her school well and has brought about significant improvements since the last inspection. She is well supported by her team of staff and morale is high.

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The leadership and management are good

 All staff, including the hard working governing body, undertake careful monitoring of the school’s work. Leaders are not complacent and have taken clear and decisive steps to convincingly raise attainment in reading, writing and mathematics over time and ensure all pupils have an opportunity to succeed.

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The leadership and management are good

 School improvement planning is detailed and rigorous. Arrangements for the performance management of the headteacher and staff are generally well-organised. There has been effective linkage between teachers’ pay and progression through the salary levels.

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The leadership and management are good

 There is a strong commitment to training and professional development and this is closely linked to the school’s improvement planning. The close working partnership with the local cluster of schools plays an important role in providing training that is targeted and value for money.

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The leadership and management are good

 Teaching programmes are well planned and delivered. They provide all pupils with a vibrant blend of learning activities that makes the most of their interests, positive attitudes and thirst for learning. Pupils are encouraged to reflect on their place in a global society, for example, by studying different religions of the world. The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development effectively.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority has adopted a ‘light touch’ level of support to the school. It knows the school well and rightly judges that it is well placed to improve further.

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The leadership and management are good

 Procedures and practice in ensuring pupils and staff are safe are robust and effective. In addition, levels of care and support to all pupils are key strengths of the school’s practice. Adults know every pupil individually and take the time to engage with them fully within and outside of lessons. All adults promote equality of opportunity, foster good relations and tackle discrimination with vigour.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  is robust, focused and supportive  is very active around the school. Governors make regular visits to monitor the school’s work and to track the impact of new initiatives. For example, the governing body’s decision to restructure literacy and numeracy lessons was followed up with visits to observe how this is raising pupils’ achievement over time  contributes effectively to the performance management of staff  is fully involved in decisions to use the pupil premium, for example to enhance in-school support and provide more extra-curricular activities for pupils in receipt of this funding  provides sensitive and effective levels of challenge when holding the headteacher to account for the quality and impact of the teaching over time.

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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 123405 Local authority Shropshire Inspection number 402157

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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 44 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Rachel Goodman Headteacher Faye Cull Date of previous school inspection 7 October 2009 Telephone number 01630 647373 Fax number 01630 647373 Email address admin.woore@shropshirelg.net 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

telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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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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