Weston Rhyn Primary School

Weston Rhyn Primary School Old Chirk Road, Weston Rhyn, Oswestry, SY10 7SR

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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

 Nursery children do not have enough stimulating experiences to help them to develop their skills quickly.  Pupils in most year groups are working a little below age-related expectations, due to a legacy of underachievement in Key Stage 1.  Some weaknesses in teaching hold back pupils’ achievement.  While leaders’ evaluation of the school’s effectiveness is mainly accurate, a few aspects of the work that leaders undertake are not sufficiently developed to drive school improvement quickly.

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The school has the following strengths

 The headteacher, members of the governing body and other senior leaders are committed to improving teaching and raising pupils’ achievement, and are clear about how to do so.  Pupils’ achievement, including in Key Stage 1, is improving and gaps with nationally expected levels of attainment are steadily closing.  Pupils’ behaviour is well managed by staff. Pupils get on well with each other, know how to stay safe and are happy in school. They have positive attitudes to learning.  Attendance has improved considerably since the last inspection and is now above average.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching in 16 lessons taught by 11 teachers and/or teaching assistants. Two of these lessons were jointly observed with the headteacher.  Samples of pupils’ work in English and mathematics were analysed. An inspector listened to some Year 2 pupils reading.  Meetings were held with school staff, a group of pupils and members of the governing body. A telephone consultation was conducted with an improvement advisor from the local authority.  Inspectors took account of the 19 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View), other communications received from parents during the inspection and parents’ responses to the school’s own recent survey. The nine questionnaires completed by staff were also considered.  Inspectors looked at a range of evidence including: the work in pupils’ books; monitoring records; the school’s own data on pupils’ progress; minutes of the governing body meetings;

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Information about this inspection

and policies, procedures and records relating to safeguarding, behaviour and attendance.

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Inspection team

Derek Aitken, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Janet Bird Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Weston Rhyn is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  Nearly all pupils are White British.  A below average proportion of pupils is supported by the pupil premium which provides extra funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, children in local authority care and the children of members of the Armed Forces serving overseas.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is above average. The proportion of these pupils supported through school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is also above average.  The school has a part-time (morning) Nursery class and a Reception class for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage.  A playgroup on the school site provides care for children between the ages of two and four in the afternoons. There are also before- and after-school clubs on site. All of these facilities are

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Information about this school

privately managed and are inspected separately.  The school meets the current government floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ learning and progress in English and mathematics.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching to good or better and so raise standards, by ensuring all teachers:  make consistently good use of assessment information to plan lessons which challenge all groups of pupils, especially the more-able  make sure that time is not wasted by pupils spending too long on the carpet during lesson starters  guide the learning of different groups of pupils carefully so that pupils know whether they have successfully mastered a new skill and can take more responsibility for learning independently  use pupils’ targets and marking more effectively to show pupils how they can improve their work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve provision in the Nursery by:  making sure the teaching, accommodation and resources provide more stimulating experiences to encourage children to become independent and develop their creative and social skills more quickly.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by:  setting up sharper systems to enable leaders to check the quality of provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage more carefully and to plan in more detail for its improvement  ensuring that interventions to support disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are checked thoroughly to ensure they are making a difference  ensuring that pupil premium funding is directed at those pupils for whom it is intended, and that the effectiveness of the spending is gauged in how well any gaps in attainment are closing.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children enter Nursery with levels of skills and knowledge which are below national expectations. By the end of Reception levels remain below expectations. Children make faster progress in Reception than in Nursery, where weaknesses in the quality of the accommodation and resources prevent children from developing key skills quickly.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 At the end of Year 2 pupils’ attainment is a little below national averages in reading, writing and mathematics. Changes in staffing and assessment practice have helped the attainment of pupils in Key Stage 1 to rise considerably over the last 18 months.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 In Key Stage 2 a legacy of previous underachievement in Key Stage 1 remains, but it is now reducing as most pupils are catching up steadily with expected levels of attainment. In Year 6 attainment is broadly average but few pupils attain the higher Level 5. Overall, most pupils make the progress expected of them in English and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 There are no significant differences in the achievement of different groups of pupils. However, a few pupils eligible for the pupil premium attain lower than others who do not qualify for free school meals. Most disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make expected progress from their starting-points due to the high ratio of teaching assistants in lessons. Their needs are not always sharply distinguished from those of less-able pupils for the purposes of extra support.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 In recent years pupils have made better progress in English than in mathematics. Pupils’ achievement in mathematics is now improving because a new range of resources is helping them to practise their calculation skills more effectively. However, while more-able pupils in Year 6 understand key mathematical concepts, they sometimes do not recognise number patterns, which prevents them from applying their knowledge quickly.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Less-able pupils in Year 2 read confidently, are able to work out meanings from other clues in the text and answer questions competently. They blend sounds correctly when pronouncing tricky words.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Good teaching is not yet a consistent feature of the school’s work and no examples of outstanding teaching were observed. Teaching in the Nursery does not provide children with enough stimulating experiences to help them become independent and learn creatively. Teachers sometimes do not make sharp use of time or assessment information to plan lessons to challenge all groups of pupils, especially the more-able. Teachers use lesson starters well to settle pupils and introduce and practise new ideas, but pupils occasionally spend too long on the carpet before starting to work unaided.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers’ planning sometimes does not promote a brisk pace of learning. While teachers question the whole class regularly to check their understanding and clear up general misunderstandings effectively, opportunities are occasionally missed to extend pupils’ knowledge and to make clear to different groups of pupils what success looks like. This reduces opportunities for pupils to shape their learning over time.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs often make better progress when supported by teaching assistants in small groups or one-to-one lessons outside the classroom where resources and methods are targeted more effectively at individual needs.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The quality of marking varies too much. While pupils’ effort is regularly praised, only pupils in a few year-groups, such as Year 6, receive clear guidance to help them practise techniques to improve their work. Inconsistent use is made of personal targets to direct pupils’ work.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers use a good mix of methods, techniques and resources, including new technology, to maintain pupils’ interest in their work. Classroom routines are clear and well-established. Teachers foster good relationships with pupils and manage them skilfully so that pupils feel valued and encouraged sufficiently to respond to questioning.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In a few lessons there is a real ‘buzz’ to pupils’ learning. This was evident in a science lesson when pupils used their own photographs to explore genetic traits in families.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are friendly and polite. They behave well in lessons and in public areas inside school. They abide by the new ‘Good to be Green’ policy and understand the difference between right and wrong. They comply quickly with staff’s requests, cooperate well with each other in the playground and older pupils sensibly seek adult help if a younger pupil needs extra attention.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Exclusions are very rare. Behaviour strategies are well managed and effective. The school has a good record of working with pupils who experience behavioural problems to enable them to remain or complete their studies in mainstream education.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils report that bullying is uncommon and is usually restricted to name-calling. They say that staff deal quickly with any such incidents. No racist incidents have been recorded in the last three years. The responses to the questionnaires indicate very few concerns regarding pupils’ behaviour.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Nearly all pupils enjoy lessons, concentrate well and have positive attitudes to learning. This is noticeable when pupils talk through their ideas in pairs or work with interesting resources. Nursery children are less responsive. Few children show they are becoming self-reliant and can work creatively.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils feel safe in school. The school is recognised as a ‘Safer School’ and staff have made sure that pupils are taught what they need to know about the dangers of fireworks, water and road hazards and how to use the internet and mobile phones responsibly.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Leaders have worked effectively to exceed the target for pupils’ attendance, which is now above average.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders are strongly committed to raising pupils’ achievement. They are keen to learn from best practice and they act willingly on the advice of external partners when reviewing the quality of pupils’ learning. This has led to some improvements in teaching and pupils’ attainment.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Salary increases are linked to the quality of teaching and the additional responsibilities of individual staff. Staff targets are robust and clearly linked to the drive to improve attainment and remove underachievement.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Tracking and assessment procedures for pupils from Year 1 to Year 6 have improved since the last inspection. This has helped staff to form clear ideas about what they need to do next to raise pupils’ achievement and has made them more accountable for pupils’ progress.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 While most systems for checking up on the school’s work are very effective, leaders have less secure oversight of provision and assessment in Nursery and Reception. Across the school, sharp timelines and methods have not been fixed to review the effectiveness of extra help to support disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school promotes equal opportunities adequately. Individual vulnerable pupils have benefited from the ways in which the pupil premium has been spent. This funding has been used, for example to provide extra training for teaching assistants, one-to-one support for pupils and to employ a learning mentor. It is not always directed specifically to support the pupils for whom it is intended, which has made it hard for leaders to judge the impact of the actions they have taken in this respect.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well, for example through a wide range of exciting visits in the locality which enhance pupils’ topic work in art.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The local authority supported the school usefully just after the last inspection in tackling priority areas of weakness. Since then the level of support has reduced.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 All statutory responsibilities for safeguarding are met.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  Governance has significant strengths. Members of the governing body are fully involved in the school’s work. They are visible in school, not just at special events such as ‘Maths Day’, but also through their regular attendance at meetings where staff analyse pupils’ progress. Their secure knowledge of data enables them to understand how well most groups of pupils are achieving compared to pupils in other schools. However, as pupil premium funding is not clearly earmarked for eligible pupils, governors are not in a position to evaluate fully the effectiveness of this expenditure. Through their committees governors check the school’s performance closely against key targets. They have supported senior leaders well in increasing the rigour and scope of arrangements for managing staff’s performance. They have undertaken a considerable amount of training to improve their expertise and contribute fully to

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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 123403 Local authority Shropshire Inspection number 402156

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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 School Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 173 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair John Burke Headteacher Richard Hines Date of previous school inspection 7 December 2009 Telephone number 01691 773429 Fax number 01691 774692 Email address admin.westonrhyn@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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