Westbury Leigh CofE Primary School

Westbury Leigh C of E Primary School Sandalwood Road, Westbury, Wiltshire, BA13 3UR Inspection dates 28 February–1 March 2013

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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 Require improvement 3

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

 Achievement requires improvement especially in writing and mathematics. Pupils’ attainment at age 11 has not improved for many years.  Leadership and management require improvement. The strong leadership of the headteacher is improving the quality of teaching and learning and leaders and managers have an accurate view of strengths and areas for improvement, but many staff with managerial responsibilities are only recently in post and their impact is yet to be seen.  There is not enough consistently good or better teaching to enable pupils to make good progress.  Despite some good examples, marking does not always give clear enough guidance to pupils on how to improve their work.  In too many lessons, the pace of learning is not brisk enough to ensure good progress.  Expectations of what pupils, especially those who are more able, can achieve are inconsistent and often tasks set do not challenge pupils to achieve of their very best.

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

 Learning intentions for lessons are not clear enough and too many are statements of what pupils will do rather than what they will learn during the lesson.  Assessment of children in Reception is not robust enough to either enable accurate measurement of progress or plan tasks that will accelerate learning.  The rate of progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage has not improved enough over time.

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The school has the following strengths

 Achievement in Years 1 and 2 has improved considerably in the last two years and attainment is now above average.  The changes made to the teaching of reading are starting to prove effective and attainment in reading is rising.  Behaviour and safety over time are good. Pupils are well behaved. They say they feel safe and know how to keep themselves safe.  Governance has improved since the last inspection and is now strong.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 15 teachers in the course of visiting 32 lessons or parts of lessons, including short visits to observe the provision for teaching reading.  Discussions were held with staff, groups of pupils, representatives of the governing body and a representative of the local authority.  The responses of the 52 parents and carers who filled in the online questionnaire, Parent View, were considered along with the results of the most recent survey of the views of parents and carers conducted by the school. Parents were spoken to at the beginning of the school day and questionnaires from 30 staff were also analysed.  Documentation studied included the school’s self-evaluation; the school development plan; reports from the school improvement adviser; the school’s records on pupils’ attainment and progress; reports on pupils with special educational needs; documents relating to safeguarding

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Information about this inspection

and child protection; and the minutes of the governing body.  The work in pupils’ books and folders was examined in partnership with the deputy headteacher.

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Inspection team

Stephen Lake, Lead inspector Additional inspector Jennifer Cutler Additional inspector Colin Lee Additional inspector

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Information about this school

 This school is larger than most primary schools and serves mainly the surrounding area.  The large majority of pupils are White British, with fewer-than-average pupils from other ethnic groups. A few pupils have English as an additional language.  Slightly more pupils than usual leave or join the school other than at the normal time.  The proportion of pupils entitled to support through the pupil premium is above average.  The proportion of pupils with disabilities or with special educational needs is below average, with an above-average percentage of pupils supported at school action or school action plus or with statements of special educational needs. The most common areas of need are moderate learning difficulties or speech, language and communication needs.  The school meets the government’s floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The headteacher has been in post for two years. Well over half of the teaching staff are new to

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Information about this school

the school and almost all of the middle and senior managers have taken up their posts in the last year.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching across the school, including in the Early Years Foundation Stage, so that the large majority is good or better in order to raise achievement by: - making better use of information on what pupils already know, can do and understand to plan tasks that challenge all pupils, especially the more able, to achieve their very best - ensuring that all learning proceeds at a brisk pace and introductions to lessons are not too long so that pupils are all actively engaged in learning - reviewing the way that learning intentions are written so that they make it clear what pupils are expected to learn in a lesson rather than what they are going to do - making sure that marking sets out clearly what pupils need to do to improve their work.  Develop the roles of the new senior leaders and middle managers so that: - they are fully engaged in supporting and developing teaching skills

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

- the impact of their work can be seen in further improvements in provision and outcomes.  Embed a robust assessment structure in the Early Years Foundation Stage to ensure that the progress of children is monitored accurately and the information gained used effectively to improve the quality of learning by planning tasks closely matched to the identified needs of children.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Achievement requires improvement because too few pupils make good progress, and not all those capable of it attain the higher Level 5 at age 11. This has been the case for many years and historically too little has been done to improve achievement, particularly that of more-able pupils, especially in writing and mathematics.  Progress has improved over the last two years in Years 1 and 2, where attainment is now above average as a result of improved teaching and a consistent drive by the headteacher to drive up standards. Nevertheless, progress in other parts of the school is not improving rapidly enough to ensure good achievement because too little of the teaching is consistently good or better.  Children start in the Reception class with skills that are broadly similar to those expected at that age. They make variable progress because teaching does not consistently challenge them to do their very best but generally start Year 1 with average skills.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 In last year’s check of phonic skills (the ability to link letters and sounds) in Year 1, pupils’ scores were below average. The school is addressing this and revised strategies for teaching phonics are already beginning to have an impact. Attainment in reading at the end of Year 2 is above average and pupils in the current Year 6 are on track to achieve well in reading by the end of the year.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs receive support to keep them included in lessons and make similar progress to other pupils. They are not yet making the accelerated progress necessary to enable their attainment to rise to match that of other pupils because they are not consistently set tasks that are closely enough matched to their needs.  Based on average point scores, the attainment of pupils entitled to support under the pupil premium is almost a year behind that of other pupils in the school in both English and

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

mathematics because they are not making the accelerated progress necessary to close the gap, although the gap is beginning to close in English.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The large majority of parents and carers who responded to Parent View agree that teaching is good. Inspection evidence shows that although there is much good teaching, the quality of teaching over time requires improvement. There is too much teaching that requires improvement and although recent appointments have strengthened the teaching team, it is too early for the impact of these to be seen.  Teaching in the Early Years Foundation Stage varies considerably over time but requires improvement because teachers are not using assessment information well enough to challenge all children consistently.  School systems for checking on what pupils already know are used well in some classes to plan work that meets the needs of all pupils and helps them move on in their learning by clearly identifying what they need to do next. Nevertheless, in many lessons tasks set are aimed at the middle ability of the class and are too easy for some and too hard for others. This slows

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

learning.  Older pupils say that the new system of targets in their books make it clear to them what they need to learn by the end of the term or the end of the year to achieve a given level. This system is not used consistently across the school, which limits pupils’ understanding of what they are expected to learn over time.  Some pupils say that marking helps them know what they need to do to improve, but this varies across the school. In too many classes, marking does not make it clear enough to pupils what they need to do next.  A new system of setting out learning intentions has been introduced, starting with a ‘what’ statement, but in too many lessons the ‘what’ is a statement of the activities that will take place rather than the intended learning, and this reduces the effectiveness of this strategy. In most classes, pupils have ‘success criteria’ for their work set out to help them check their own work,

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

but often these criteria do not extend far enough to challenge more able pupils.  In some lessons, across the whole school, the pace of learning is not brisk enough. Too often, pupils spend too long sitting on the carpet listening to the teacher and do not settle to their tasks quickly enough, or they are set tasks that are undemanding, such as work sheets that are too easy and given too long to complete them.  In those lessons where pupils make good progress, this is often linked to effective use of information and communication technology. For example, pupils made outstanding progress in a Year 3 lesson where they made extremely good use of tablet computers to research information on cocoa and develop their ideas into an e-book, including pictures and videos.  Pupils with disabilities or special educational needs receive suitable additional support in many classrooms and in small groups that enables them to be fully included in lessons but in a few

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

classes teachers are not assessing their needs well enough and planning tasks that would accelerate their learning.  Visits and visitors are used effectively to support learning. For example, pupils make good progress in a Year 2 lesson where they were using their recent zoo visit as a stimulus for writing recounts. In this lesson, pupils were continually challenged to improve their accounts by using better adjectives and time connectives.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils, staff, governors and parents and carers all agree that behaviour is good. The school is a friendly, calm and welcoming environment in which to learn. The vast majority of pupils are polite and courteous and behave well.  Behaviour is not outstanding because there are occasions where pupils become disengaged in lessons, especially when teaching is mundane or fails to challenge and stimulate them. In those lessons, although there is virtually no disruptive behaviour that would slow learning for all, these comparatively weaker attitudes to learning limit achievement.  Behaviour around the school, on the playground and in assemblies is almost always extremely good. Pupils show great respect for each other and for adults.  Pupils have a very good understanding of bullying, including cyber bullying, discriminatory language and prejudice-based bullying. They say that none occurs in the school and all are

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

confident that adults would deal with it effectively if it did occur. Pupils know that discrimination in any form is not tolerated in their school.  Attendance has improved in the last two years as a result of effective actions, such as not allowing extended holidays in term time. Although still average, this improved attendance is contributing to the improvements in learning taking place.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 The headteacher has a clear and ambitious view of how to improve the school. This is shared by governors and staff. She is driving school improvement through setting out models of excellence for others to follow.  The local authority is providing good support through the improving school plan and helping effectively with observations that seek out good practice and where teaching and learning need improvement. This has supported the headteacher in developing a very secure view of strengths and areas for improvement in teaching. The outcomes of the observations are linked closely to professional development which is increasing robust and closely targeted.  The headteacher has introduced an effective system for recording and analysing the progress and attainment of pupils. This is enabling close monitoring of the performance of groups and year groups to ensure equality of opportunity and measure the performance of the school

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The leadership and management require improvement

against other schools nationally. This is not as effective in the Early Years Foundation Stage because the systems for assessing children there are not robust or consistent enough.  Information on how well pupils are doing is used well as part of the performance management of teachers, with targets for improvement of teaching linked very clearly to improvements in attainment of pupils.  A minority of parents and carers who responded to the online Parent View did not agree that leadership and management were good. Inspectors found that past expectations of middle leaders and some senior leaders have been low and they have not been involved enough in driving forward school improvement. This is changing as those newly appointed begin to take up their roles. For example, the new English team has been set up for over a year and, as a result of their work, attainment in reading is rising. The mathematics team and most of the senior

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The leadership and management require improvement

leadership team are very new and the strategies they are putting in place have not had enough time to impact upon improvement.  The curriculum is suitably planned and has been revised as part of the Improving Schools Programme to ensure that it is broad and balanced and provides well for the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils.  Safeguarding meets requirements and all training for staff and governors is up to date.  The governance of the school:  Governors check on the performance of the school through their new system of governors linked to various aspects and subjects. This is supplemented by regular reports from the headteacher and the school improvement adviser so that governors have good information about the quality of teaching. Governors have a secure understanding of how this is linked to teachers’ progress up the pay scale and are well aware of what is being done to reward good

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The leadership and management require improvement

teachers and tackle weaknesses. The governing body monitors the budget well. The additional funding available through the pupil premium is used to provide additional teaching materials and small group support for those pupils supported by this funding, and this is monitored by members of the board. They also have a good overview of the school’s finances. Governors undertake frequent and regular training linked to identified areas of their role, such as safeguarding or the interpretation of data. They are rigorous in the examination of school performance and ensure that this information is used in the headteacher’s performance management to set challenging targets.

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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 126370 Local authority Wiltshire Inspection number 402395

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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 407 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Hazel Reid-Bowen Headteacher Debbie Grimsey Date of previous school inspection 7–8 July 2010 Telephone number 01373 822230 Fax number 01373 822230 Email address admin@westburyleigh.wilts.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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