Willington Primary School

Willington Primary School Trent Avenue, Willington, Derby, DE65 6DN

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Outstanding 1 Achievement of pupils Outstanding 1 Quality of teaching Outstanding 1 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Outstanding 1

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school.  Achievement is outstanding. Pupils make excellent progress throughout the school from their starting points. Their reading, writing and number skills are especially well developed.  The headteacher, together with her senior staff and the governing body, has worked hard to maintain strengths and improve standards even further since the last inspection.  The teaching is often inspirational and pupils are fully involved in their learning. Occasionally, teachers do not ensure tasks are appropriately challenging for all pupils.  The staff plan and provide excellent, imaginative and creative activities which provide pupils with interesting and often exciting tasks, and make excellent links between subjects.  The school’s systems for checking on the success of its work are exemplary and often used as a model by other schools.  Behaviour is outstanding across the school. This ensures pupils are safe, happy and

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

engaged in learning. They talk about how much they love coming to school. This is also the view of the large majority of parents and carers.  Well-targeted individual support helps those pupils with disabilities or who have special educational needs to make outstanding progress. The money allocated through the pupil premium is used very effectively.

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Information about this inspection

 Fifteen lessons or parts of lessons were observed, some jointly with the headteacher.  Meetings took place with the headteacher, staff, a sample of pupils, parents and carers, members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority.  A number of pupils read to inspectors and talked about their work. Samples of pupils’ work were scrutinised.  Twenty-seven parents and carers responded to the online Parent View survey. Parental responses were analysed and they informed inspection judgements.  Inspectors looked at key inspection documents, including the school’s self-evaluation, policies, performance data, procedures for safeguarding and the school improvement plan.

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Inspection team

Geof Timms, Lead inspector Additional Inspector David Westall Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Willington is an average-sized primary school.  A below average proportion of the pupils are supported through school action.  An above average proportion of the pupils are supported through school action plus or have a statement of special educational needs.  A very small number of pupils are from a minority ethnic background.  A below average proportion of the pupils qualify 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 school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Make even more of the teaching outstanding, by ensuring that teachers consistently expect enough from the most able pupils and provide work that is well matched to all pupils’ prior learning.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Most children start in Reception with knowledge, skills and understanding below those expected for their ages. A growing number have speech, language and communication difficulties, and many have underdeveloped writing and calculation skills. They make outstanding progress over the year and by the time they enter Year 1, they have at least attained the levels expected and over half have exceeded them, although writing skills remain weaker.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Pupils in Years 1 and 2 currently make excellent progress in reading and in their ability to link letters and sounds. This is the result of changes made to the activities and programme of work after the school identified previous weaknesses in the provision. Pupils throughout the school read confidently and widely and enjoy talking about books. Progress in Years 1 and 2 last year was well above that expected.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 In Years 3 to 6, pupils make outstanding progress and by the time they leave school, standards in reading and writing are significantly higher than those expected. In mathematics, standards are above average. Current pupils are on track to achieve well above average standards by the end of the year. This is especially the case in writing where last year a much higher than average proportion attained above the level expected. This was the successful outcome of a whole school focus on improving writing standards.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 High quality work was evident in almost all lessons observed, in pupils’ past work and in other subjects as well as English and mathematics. For example, in a Year 4 music lesson, the level of pupils’ knowledge of musical terminology was outstanding. Excellent art and design work is used to illustrate a number of history or cultural topics, such as work on castles or canals.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 A further improvement since the last inspection has been in boys’ achievement. Improved resources, extra training for teachers and changes to some of the activities provided, have been targeted to support boys’ learning. This has been very successful and boys now make much improved progress and are reaching higher levels in reading and writing.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are well supported and make outstanding progress in basic literacy and numeracy skills from their starting points. Although a small number failed to reach the levels expected in mathematics in Year 6 last year, this has quickly been put right by the school.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Extra tuition is in place and proving successful for those who find it difficult to apply their knowledge of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Effective training for staff has helped to improve pupils’ self-esteem and the ‘magic room’ has proved a popular and effective resource.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 The progress made by pupils supported through the pupil premium is outstanding and reflects the extremely effective use of this resource. Extra time for teachers and teaching assistants to work with pupils on a small group or one-to-one basis is very successfully used to improve their achievement. The success of this work is evident in the school’s close monitoring of its effectiveness.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 The pupils receive a high quality education because of the excellent teaching they receive. They talk about how well teachers help them to learn new things. Relationships between pupils and teachers are extremely strong. Partly because of this, pupils make outstanding progress in many lessons.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers often provide stimulating and inspirational activities for pupils. In Year 5, for example, pupils were fully engaged by some outstanding science teaching as they mixed materials which reacted strongly. This caused a real sense of awe and wonder at the results of the experiment. Teachers are particularly good at encouraging pupils to work together. In Year 2 for example, pupils co-operated on a weather forecasting project leading to some excellent role-play activities as forecasters.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 The youngest children have excellent opportunities to explore learning through a wide range of play and teacher-led activities. Imaginative resources help to develop early writing skills and children use technology confidently. As a result of children’s own ideas, an excellent role-play area based on a space theme enables them to work with darkness and light sources to create an imaginative space flight experience.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teaching assistants are an integral part of the excellent provision. They make a quiet, unobtrusive but very effective team. The school makes excellent use of their talents and skills, such as in music or sport, and providing support in assemblies as well as in lessons.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 The best teaching ensures that the work provided meets all pupils’ needs and extends their knowledge and understanding very effectively. This happened, for example, in a Year 6 mathematics lesson where the pupils extended their knowledge and understanding of angles. In a small number of lessons, however, all pupils are given the same activity to do and this does not always extend them sufficiently, especially those who find learning easier.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Most lessons have a good pace and pupils are set targets to improve their learning. The marking of their work and the feedback provided by teachers is often excellent and much improved since the last inspection. Pupils find it helpful and have time to respond to teachers’ comments appropriately.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The behaviour of pupils in lessons and around the school is exemplary. They are extremely polite and friendly and show pride in their achievements and in their school. They love sharing their work with others. They live up to the school values of becoming responsible, respectful, caring members of society.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils’ attitudes have an extremely positive impact on their learning and there are no significant interruptions or disruption to lessons. Because of this, teachers are able to provide more interesting, exciting lessons than might otherwise be the case. This was reflected in the comments of some visiting Viking re-enactors who were able to do work at Willington they would not attempt in schools where pupils were less well behaved.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils say there is no bullying and inspection evidence through the school’s records and discussion with pupils supports this. They feel safe at school and the vast majority of parents and carers agree with this view. Pupils are aware of the different forms of bullying, including cyber-bullying.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils whose circumstances make them vulnerable are very well cared for and the creation of the ‘magic room’ and ‘positive play’ projects has had a very successful impact on many pupils’ social and emotional development. Excellent support from trained teaching assistants supports the learning of those who are disabled or who have special educational needs.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Attendance is well above average and there are very few persistent absentees. The school works closely with parents and carers to encourage full attendance.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 In 1881, an inspector wrote of Willington, ‘The order is not what it was, and the school has somewhat deteriorated since it was last examined.’ Fortunately, that is not something that needs to be said again. The leadership of the headteacher has provided the school with a clear vision and strong focus on high achievement over a number of years. She has led the school through a long period of improvement and, since the last inspection, this has seen the school move to its current outstanding position.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The senior leaders and governors fully share a vision for the school. They provide very able and highly skilled support for the headteacher. The work of the school is very closely monitored and evaluated and this information is used in setting challenging targets and seeking out areas for further improvement. The use of assessment data in tracking pupils’ progress is outstanding. Much of this self-evaluation work is used as an example of good practice by other schools.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The performance of teachers is closely monitored and managed by the headteacher and is clearly linked to the school’s improvement priorities. This has been extremely successful, for example, in raising standards in writing. Professional development through focused training has been outstandingly successful. This can be seen in the improvements to boys’ achievement.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The local authority has provided very helpful and effective support for the school. This has been done through joint monitoring activities and training for governors and staff.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Subject leaders in English and mathematics, and the leaders of provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage and for those who are disabled or who have special educational needs, have an excellent knowledge of how well pupils are achieving and what the strengths and weaknesses are in their areas. The pupils’ work is carefully monitored and teachers work closely as a team to support each other and spread good practice.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The school has developed an outstanding curriculum in which excellent links are made between subjects in a natural and unforced way. For example, in an excellent Year 4 lesson, the Second World War topic was enriched through a music focus on swing and Glenn Miller.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Pupils’ outstanding spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted through the curriculum and through a wide range of other activities, including charity work, links to schools in other countries and excellent opportunities for pupils to take responsibility and show independence.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Every opportunity is taken to promote tolerance and respect for others and equal opportunities are promoted extremely effectively. This is evident in the way pupils support each other and especially those whose circumstances make them more vulnerable.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The money available through the pupil premium is used very effectively to support pupils’ learning, academically, socially and personally. Senior leaders are held to account for the impact of its use. The success is obvious in the data showing the outstanding progress especially for these pupils.  The governance of the school:  The governors are clear about the school’s effectiveness and have an excellent understanding of its strengths and weaknesses. This is because they are well informed through their regular visits to school and by the headteacher and senior staff, and because they involve themselves fully in the life of the school. They have been well trained to carry out their role effectively. The governors understand and use a wide range of information about how well the school is doing. Performance management is robust and governors are aware of the staff’s strengths and weaknesses and the quality of teaching. They carefully control the budget, including that

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The leadership and management are outstanding

for teachers’ pay, the use of the pupil premium money and that attached to statements of special educational needs. Governors ensure all statutory requirements, including those for safeguarding, are fully met.

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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 112701 Local authority Derbyshire Inspection number 403187

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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 216 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Martyn Gallimore Headteacher Pam Stones Date of previous school inspection 11 September 2007 Telephone number 01283 702156 Fax number 01283 702156 Email address headteacher@willington.derbyshire.sch.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

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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