Willersey Church of England Primary School

School report Willersey Church of England Primary School Church Street, Willersey, Broadway, WR12 7PN

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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.  Since the last inspection, the headteacher, supported by the governing body, has successfully improved the quality of teaching so that it is now good.  Thorough checks by the headteacher on teaching and giving staff opportunities to observe good and outstanding teaching in other schools have done much to improve teaching.  Pupils make good progress overall in reading, writing and mathematics and, over time, leave school with attainment that is above the national average.  Pupils are keen to learn and work well together.  Teachers plan lessons well to meet the different abilities of pupils in mixed-age classes.  Behaviour is good and pupils show respect and courtesy to one another and to adults.  Pupils feel safe in school because bullying is very rare and staff deal with concerns quickly and effectively.  The governing body holds the school to account well.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Not all lessons, especially in Years 1 and 2, are delivered at pace with activities that consistently stretch pupils, particularly for the more able.  Occasionally, opportunities to improve pupils’ writing skills more quickly are missed, especially in Years 1 and 2.  Subject leaders are not always involved in checking teaching to help teachers improve their skills further and share good ideas in their subjects.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector visited eight lessons or parts of lessons and observed two teachers and two teaching assistants. One lesson was observed in conjunction with the headteacher.  Meetings were held with the Chair and other members of the governing body, the headteacher, and teachers with responsibilities for different subjects, a group of pupils, and a representative from the local authority.  The inspector looked at school documentation, including the school’s judgements of its performance, school improvement plan, safeguarding policies and procedures, and assessments tracking pupils’ progress, and assessed the quality of pupils’ work.  The inspector listened to a sample of pupils read.  Responses from 10 parents who completed the Ofsted online questionnaire (Parent View) were analysed.

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Inspection team

James Henry, Lead inspector Additional inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is much smaller than the average-sized primary school.  Almost all pupils are White British.  The proportion of pupils supported through school action, school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below the national average.  The proportion of pupils known to be 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, is below the national average.  Due to small numbers, pupils are taught in two classes. Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage and pupils in Years 1 and 2 are taught in one class and pupils in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 are taught in the other.  The headteacher spends a significant amount of time teaching.  The school meets current government floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching and learning so that it is consistently outstanding by:  ensuring that all lessons are delivered with pace and that activities interest pupils and stretch the more able, especially in Years 1 and 2  ensuring subject leaders are involved more regularly in observing teaching and learning in lessons, so that they can provide accurate advice to teachers on how to improve their skills in subject areas.  Increase the rate at which pupils develop their writing skills, especially in Years 1 and 2, by:  providing more exciting activities for pupils that allow them to produce longer pieces of writing by themselves  increasing pupils’ understanding of the different styles of writing and then provide more opportunities for writing in different situations for different purposes.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children enter school with skills and abilities that are in line with those typical for their age. They make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage and across the school and, by the end of Year 6, leave with attainment above the national average in English and mathematics.  All groups of pupils, including disabled pupils or those with special educational needs, make good progress overall in reading, writing and mathematics because teaching is now typically good.  The number of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium is increasing and the school is successfully closing the achievement gap for these pupils because their attainment is rising due to making good progress.  Pupils make good progress in reading because the school has effective methods for teaching early reading skills. This is backed up by a scheme to provide extra support for pupils who may be falling behind in reading. The scheme is successful in helping pupils, especially boys,

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The achievement of pupils is good

improve their skills.  Progress overall in reading and mathematics is better than in writing, especially in Years 1 and 2. This is because pupils do not always produce longer pieces of writing for themselves, or understand how different ways of writing can be used for different situations.  Evidence shows that pupils in the Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 class make good progress in their writing skills through writing extended sentences using conjunctions. In the same class, pupils achieve well in learning about decimals and fractions through practical activities. In the Early Years Foundation Stage and Years 1 and 2 class, pupils make good progress in developing their investigation skills through practical activities to show how light reflects in a mirror and shines through different materials.

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The quality of teaching is good

 All the parents and carers who responded to the Ofsted Parent View survey felt that their children were taught well. Pupils, also, say that that they are taught well.  Teaching has improved since the last inspection and is now typically good. This is partly because teachers use accurate assessments to plan activities in lessons that are pitched at the right level for pupils of different abilities. Consequently, pupils of different ages are making good progress in mixed-age classes.  Teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve. As a result, lessons are mostly delivered at a good pace. However, there are occasions when activities do not interest pupils and stretch the more able. This is evident, for example, in the teaching of writing in Years 1 and 2. Teachers do not ensure that all activities are stimulating or exciting enough to encourage pupils to produce longer pieces of writing for themselves, or understand how they

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The quality of teaching is good

can write in different ways for various situations.  Teaching assistants support pupils effectively, especially disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. This ensures that all pupils have an equal opportunity to be included in lessons and activities in school. There are consistently good aspects to teaching. Teachers always share with pupils the purpose of lessons and how they can measure whether they have been successful in their work or not.  Marking is particularly effective in helping pupils to improve. This is because teachers not only put comments in their books, but also give them time to respond and act on the guidance given. As one pupil said, ‘It’s like having a conversation with your teacher.’

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils say they feel safe in school because bullying is very rare and they have confidence in staff to deal quickly and effectively with any concerns they may have.  All the parents and carers who responded to the Ofsted Parent View survey felt that the school keeps their children safe, deals effectively with bullying and makes sure pupils are well behaved.  The school develops pupils’ awareness successfully of how to keep themselves safe. Pupils visit the ‘Safe Side Centre’ in Birmingham, where specialist safety officers help pupils understand about safety in the home and keeping safe when they are out on their own or with friends.  Pupils are keen to learn and have a positive attitude towards school. They are polite, respectful and courteous towards adults and each other. Consequently, behaviour in lessons and around the school is typically good.  Very occasionally, there are incidents of low-level disruption because activities do not interest

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

pupils fully and, therefore, they do not always pay full attention to what they were asked to do. However, pupils respond well to staff’s interventions and settle back on task quickly.  Staff manage pupils’ behaviour well through a good balance of rewards and correction where necessary. Pupils appreciate the ‘yellow card’ system, whereby pupils are given warnings for any inappropriate behaviour before they are taken off the playground.  Relationships are good throughout the school. For example, older pupils are ‘playground leaders’ and help younger ones at playtime.  Attendance is above the national average and almost all pupils arrive on time for school.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher and governing body, supported by the staff, have a strong ambition and drive to improve the school. Staff work well with other local, successful schools and the local authority to gain good ideas for lessons. This is successful because teaching is now good and, consequently, pupils are learning at a quicker rate, which is an improvement since the last inspection.  The headteacher not only leads by example through regularly teaching, but also manages the performance of the staff well through observing lessons and giving accurate guidance to teachers on how to improve. The guidance is backed up with appropriate professional training and is another reason why teaching is good.  The staff work hard to ensure all pupils are treated equally and that there is no discrimination. The money from the pupil premium has been spent very carefully. It is funding a specialist worker to support potentially vulnerable families and a teaching assistant

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The leadership and management are good

to work partly with pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium who may be falling behind. As a result, the achievement gap for this group of pupils is closing as they are making good progress across the school.  Subject leaders do not always observe lessons regularly and opportunities are sometimes missed to provide further advice to teachers on how to improve lessons and to share ideas that would improve teaching and learning further.  The subjects that pupils are taught are often linked together to increase their interest and often include a visit or a speaker on the subject. For example, pupils visited Warwick Castle as part of a topic on castles.  Parents and carers make a substantial contribution to pupils’ experiences by running different sporting and creative activities after school, such as football, cookery and singing. There are strong links with the local church and the vicar visits the school regularly to take assemblies.

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The leadership and management are good

All these activities ensure that pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well.  The local authority provides good support for the school, for instance reviewing the quality of pupils’ learning in lessons, which has supported the headteacher in bringing about improvements in teaching.  The governance of the school:  The governing body holds the school to account well and governors visit the school regularly. Each visit monitors a different aspect of the school, including observing learning in lessons. Governors are linked to different subjects and receive regular reports from subject leaders about developments to improve the school. They have a very good understanding of the different statistics about how well pupils are doing compared to other schools. Consequently, the governing body knows thoroughly about the quality of teaching and the strengths and weaknesses of the school. This is the main reason why it holds the school to account

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The leadership and management are good

effectively. The governing body manages the performance of the headteacher well and has systems to link teacher performance to any increases in salaries. The budget is managed carefully and well. This is very evident in the way that the pupil premium has been allocated to provide extra staff to support pupils. The governing body ensures that all safeguarding policies and procedures are effective and that roles and responsibilities to protect pupils are clear and well known. This includes governors undertaking appropriate professional training to enable them to fulfil their roles, such as undertaking ‘Safer Recruitment’ training.

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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 115661 Local authority Gloucestershire Inspection number 401529

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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 Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 44 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Gareth Atkinson Headteacher Mark Jackson Date of previous school inspection 16 September 2009 Telephone number 01386 852646 Fax number 01386 852178 Email address admin@willersey.gloucs.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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