Whiteley Primary School

Whiteley Primary School Gull Coppice, Whiteley, Fareham, PO15 7LA

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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.  The headteacher provides inspiring leadership and exceptional drive, which result in the school’s highly positive ethos. In this, she is extremely well supported by the other four senior leaders who together form a cohesive and committed team. Members of the governing body share the leadership’s aspirational vision for the school. Without exception, the teaching and support staff express pride in their membership of the school.  Pupils’ achievement is outstanding. Pupils make excellent progress in all subjects, and especially in reading and mathematics. Their attainment in English and mathematics at the end of Year 6 has been exceptionally high for the last five years.  Teaching is outstanding and results in pupils’ excellent learning and progress. Teachers’ high expectations lead them to set well- devised learning tasks, providing very good levels of challenge for all groups of pupils,

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

including more able learners and those who are disabled or who have special educational needs.  The school makes outstanding provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, which does much to foster their highly positive and mature attitudes to learning, and excellent behaviour in lessons and around the school.  Pupils feel entirely safe at school, and say they enjoy all aspects of school life. Parents and members of staff agree that pupils are completely safe at school. Pupils emphasise that bullying is rare, and trust staff to sort out any issues that occasionally arise.  Leaders are rigorous in checking the quality of teaching and of pupils’ learning. They also analyse in detail the data about how well the school is performing. The resulting information feeds into the school’s accurate self-evaluation, which forms the basis of high-quality planning for improvements.  The rich range of subjects and topics in the

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

curriculum provide stimulating experiences for pupils and, together with the broad and varied out-of-school programme, promote their academic and personal development extremely well.  The school seeks to help parents to support their children’s learning. Parents are extremely positive about the school. Almost all would recommend it to others.  The governing body has a particularly good understanding of the school’s performance and priorities for improvement. Governors are entirely supportive of the leadership, but also confident to hold the school fully to account.  Inspectors recommend increased opportunities for pupils to reflect on and apply teachers’ suggestions to improve their work in writing.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching and learning in 29 lessons, of which five were joint observations with the headteacher and deputy headteacher. Inspectors also heard a sample of pupils in Years 1 and 2 read.  Meetings were held with groups of pupils, members of the school’s staff, the Vice Chair and three other members of the Governing Body, and a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors took account of the 27 responses available on the online questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection. They analysed the 97 responses that were on Parent View by the end of the inspection.  Inspectors also took account of the 43 responses to the questionnaire for school staff.  Inspectors observed the school’s work, and looked at a range of documents, including the school’s own data on pupils’ current attainment and progess, planning and monitoring documentation, records relating to behaviour and attendance, and documents relating to

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Information about this inspection

safeguarding and management of the performance of staff.

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Inspection team

Chris Grove, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Julie Sackett Additional Inspector Peter Thrussell Additional Inspector Bryan Meyer Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a primary school that is much larger than average.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium (which provides additional funding to support children in local authority care, children from service families and pupils known to be eligible for free school meals) is well below average. The school currently has no children who are looked after by the local authority.  The proportion of disabled pupils or those who have special educational needs supported through school action is well below average.  The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is also well below average.  One pupil is currently in receipt of part-time alternative provision in a specialist unit.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  Following the retirement of the previous headteacher, the deputy headteacher was appointed to

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Information about this school

the acting post from September 2010 and as the headteacher from March 2011. An external appointment to the role of deputy headteacher was made from September 2011.  Among the school’s accreditations are the Artsmark (Gold) and Sing Up (Gold) awards.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Develop pupils’ understanding of how to improve their work in writing through more consistent opportunities to reflect on teachers’ marking and to respond to their advice about improvement.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Since the previous inspection, pupils’ standards of attainment by the end of Year 6 have consistently been exceptionally high. Records clearly indicate that current attainment across the school remains well above the national average.  Pupils make outstanding progress from Years 1 to 6. A Year 4 class, for example, made excellent progress in writing persuasively to the headteacher to allow them a class pet. The teaching supported their learning highly effectively, through clear guidance and discussion of examples, including detailed reference to previous learning and to criteria for success. In a lively, highly engaging French lesson, pupils in Year 3 greatly enjoyed the variety of learning activities. All groups of pupils made rapid progress in understanding basic differences between French and English grammar, for instance in understanding why a boy would express happiness by saying, ‘Je suis content’, whereas a girl would say ‘contente’.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 When children first start school, their knowledge and skills are generally as expected for their age. By the end of the Reception Year, children make very good progress to reach above average attainment. They make greatest progress in their communication and literacy skills, their early mathematical development, especially in calculation, and also their creative development and wider knowledge and understanding of the world in which they live.  Pupils’ achievement in reading is particularly strong throughout the school. They make especially rapid progress, and their attainment is particularly high, because of the very effective phonics programme (linking letters to sounds). Pupils, including less proficient readers in Years 1 and 2, become confident to apply strategies to read unfamiliar words. Furthermore, the many trained parent volunteers hear readers frequently, using the well-devised reading records.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Carefully targeted support for pupils in part-time alternative provision has led to evident improvements in learning.  The numbers of pupils who are disabled or have special educational needs are relatively small, and this may lead to considerable apparent variability in the extent of their progress from year to year. Current school evidence shows that these pupils achieve well.  The small proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium, and great variability in numbers within each Year 6 year group (2011: one pupil; 2012: ten pupils), make comparisons across years difficult. In national assessments at the end of Key Stage 2 in 2012, the gap between those supported by the pupil premium and other pupils narrowed in English, but widened in mathematics. This represented a gap of one and a half terms in English, and four and a half terms in mathematics. The school is confident in predicting a greatly reduced mathematics gap

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

in 2013. Pupil premium funding has been used to enhance the role of inclusion manager by removing her class teaching responsibilities. This arrangement offers increased support for those pupils eligible for the premium. Training of assistants in additional specialist teaching programmes has also been provided, as well as support for these pupils’ music tuition and residential trips. This illustrates the strong commitment to promoting equality of opportunity.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Pupils’ excellent learning is the result of the high quality of teaching. Much of the teaching observed during the inspection in all subject areas was outstanding, and very rarely less than good.  Teachers are confident in their subject knowledge, and have the skills to inspire and motivate pupils. Their high expectations for achievement are evident in the adept challenge they provide for pupils. For instance, the Year 6 teachers working with the most and least able pupils had each answered different mathematical test questions, deliberately making various arithmetical and conceptual errors. Pupils of different abilities were highly motivated in their tasks to spot, correct and explain their teachers’ errors. This provided excellent practice in the checking skills needed in forthcoming national assessments.  Almost all teaching is very well judged, for instance in terms of the pace of learning, involvement

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

of pupils as ‘learning partners’, and use of questioning and assessment techniques providing feedback on the extent of pupils’ understanding .  Teaching in the Reception classes has a high impact on learning, leading to children’s above average attainment. Strong working relationships with children, and well-planned opportunities motivate both boys and girls. Excellent use is made of the outside area, complementing indoor provision extremely well. For example, an imaginative variety of challenging practical activities offer opportunities for counting and for sequencing the numbers 1-20, with numbered logs or model dinosaurs.  Very good use is made of pupils’ ‘target books’, and work is regularly marked against criteria for success throughout the school. Teachers often give advice to pupils about how to improve their writing. However, there are too few opportunities for pupils to reflect on the suggestions for

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

improvement, or to apply teachers’ advice.  Teaching assistants are very well deployed and show highly effective teaching skills, for example through adroit questioning of less able pupils to develop their understanding.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils show exceptionally positive attitudes to school and their learning in response to the warm and caring ethos and the high expectations of members of staff. Children develop excellent attitudes to learning in the Reception Year, where they quickly feel secure and confident. Pupils in all year groups display high levels of respect for adults and for each other, and are welcoming and extremely polite towards visitors.  As at the previous inspection, inspectors find that pupils’ conduct is excellent. As a result of their pride in the school, pupils’ behaviour around the school and at breaktimes continues to be exemplary. In lessons, pupils’ behaviour is commendably positive, as shown by their well- developed listening skills, regular responsiveness and willing participation.  The use of alternative provision has a very positive impact on the behaviour of pupils who attend.  Pupils’ enjoyment of school is reflected in their continuing high levels of attendance and very low

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

rates of persistent absence.  The overwhelming majority of parents agree that their children feel entirely safe at school. Those members of staff who completed the questionnaire unanimously agreed about pupils’ safety.  Pupils have a well-developed understanding of what constitutes bullying, and the forms it can take, including racism and cyber bullying. They say that incidents of bullying are rare, and this is confirmed by the lack of entries about bullying in the school’s behaviour logs. Pupils are confident that adults can be trusted to address concerns if ever they arise. This is because discrimination of any kind is not tolerated.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher has a very clear vision for the school which involves both academic success and excellent opportunities for pupils’ personal development. Other senior leaders and the governors provide superb support, resulting in a tremendous team spirit. Members of staff unanimously agree that the school is excellently led and managed, and that they know what they are trying to achieve.  There is excellent linkage between activities to monitor the quality of learning and teaching and the close analysis of performance data, resulting in robust and accurate self-evaluation. This, in turn, leads to improvement planning of high quality. The rigorous and systematic monitoring of teaching by the headteacher and deputy headteacher, in particular, and the increased accountability of teachers through regular progress reviews, underpin pupils’ high achievement.  The rich and exciting curriculum realises the vision very effectively. The school has built

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The leadership and management are outstanding

successfully on the excellent opportunities for pupils to apply reading and writing skills in other subject areas by providing similar opportunities for them to use mathematical skills. There is a particular strength in French teaching, in addition to the tradition of excellence in art and music. Assemblies demonstrate the exceptionally high quality of pupils’ singing and represent inspirational experiences. They contribute strongly to pupils’ outstanding spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, and attest to accreditations such as Artsmark (Gold) and Sing Up (Gold). The extra-curricular programme, involving a wide range of sports and expressive arts, including two large choirs, also does much to develop pupils’ skills and personal qualities.  The school commands high levels of parental support, as is evident from responses on Parent View. The school’s excellent website is highly informative, and encourages parents to play an

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The leadership and management are outstanding

active role in their children’s learning.  The local authority is entirely confident in the capacity of the school’s leadership and governance, and in the robust self-evaluation and improvement planning. Accordingly, it provides no more than light-touch support.  The leadership focuses rigorously on all aspects of safeguarding, which fully meets requirements. Leaders are meticulous in ensuring that pupils who may be vulnerable are extremely well supported.  The governance of the school:  The governing body is knowledgeable and shows an excellent understanding of its role in holding the school to account. Governors are fully aware of its many strengths, and the priorities for improvement. They know the impact of teaching from their regular visits to school, as well as from the headteacher’s detailed reporting. Governors confidently undertake their role in managing the headteacher’s performance, and are clear that the school’s

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The leadership and management are outstanding

leadership ensures the rigorous appraisal of other staff. They have seen anonymised evidence about teachers’ performance, and assured themselves that salary progression is merited. Governors are clear about how pupil premium funding is spent, and know at first hand the impact of work with these pupils. The importance of additional training is fully recognised through individual governors’ regular professional development, in addition to annual training for the whole governing body .

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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 131420 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 403632

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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 624 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Steve Griffiths Headteacher Lesley Pennington Date of previous school inspection 19–20 May 2008 Telephone number 01489 881601 Fax number 01489 881740 Email address adminoffice@whiteley.hants.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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