St Wilfrid's CofE Primary School, Haywards Heath

St Wilfrid's Church of England Primary School, Haywards Heath Eastern Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH16 3NL

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 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.  Strong determination and hard work have seen attainment rising rapidly since a dip in 2012. Attainment is above average, as previously, and well placed to rise further because the proportion of pupils making good progress is increasing.  Phonics (the sounds letters make in words) is exceptionally well taught so most pupils read previously unseen texts accurately.  Very effective programmes to support pupils who might be at risk of underachieving, including disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, ensure the very large majority catch up with their peers.  Good teaching, with its strong focus on acquiring important literacy and numeracy skills, helps pupils to achieve well.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted exceptionally well. As a result pupils feel safe and secure, form very positive relationships and, despite a significant minority of pupils finding good behaviour

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

difficult, most behave well and lessons are rarely interrupted.  Very comprehensive and regular monitoring, and rigorous analysis of pupils’ progress and teaching quality ensure that improvement planning is well targeted at weaker aspects.  Senior leaders drive forward improvement effectively and are ably supported by staff and subject leaders whose good action plans have helped rectify the dip in attainment well.  Governors have a good understanding of how well the school is performing, ensuring that they fulfil their duties of challenging and supporting staff well.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because:

 While teaching is good the quality varies, especially in the expectations of what pupils can achieve, and only a minority of lessons are outstanding.  The quality of marking is not consistently good, and too little use is made of pupils’ individual targets to encourage them to improve in some lessons. Inspection report: St Wilfrid's Church of England Primary School, Haywards Heath, 11–12 June 2013 2 of 9

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 17 lessons of which five were joint observations with senior leaders. In addition the inspection team made a number of other short visits to lessons and special group activities, heard a sample of pupils read and scrutinised a sample of pupils’ written work.  Meetings were held with groups of pupils, members of the governing body, staff including senior and middle managers and a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors took account of the 75 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) and also scrutininsed the school’s own parent and staff questionnaires. A small number of parents and carers bringing their children to school were spoken to.  The inspectors observed the school’s work and scrutinised a number of documents including the school’s records on current pupils’ progress, behaviour and attendance. Documents relating to planning, monitoring and safeguarding were also looked at.

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Inspection team

Diane Wilkinson, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Christine Dickens Additional Inspector Peter Wybroe Additional Inspector Inspection report: St Wilfrid's Church of England Primary School, Haywards Heath, 11–12 June 2013 3 of 9

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Information about this school

 The school is larger than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils with special educational needs supported by school action is above the national average as is the proportion supported by school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs.  Few pupils come from ethnic minority backgrounds or speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium, which provides funding for children in local authority care, children from service families and pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, is below average.  Since its previous inspection there have been a considerable number of staff changes and lengthy absences. A new headteacher and deputy headteacher have been appointed since then.  There have been changes to the school’s catchment area since its previous inspection.  The school has met the current government’s floor standards in English and mathematics, which

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Information about this school

are the minimum standards for pupils’ attainment and progress required by the government.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of outstanding teaching and build on and extend the strategies in place to raise attainment through ensuring that in all lessons:  staff plan activities that have high expectations of pupils at different ability levels and always expect pupils’ written work to be well presented  activities proceed at a brisk pace so that pupils can do the very best of which they are capable  during discussions more opportunities are taken to extend rather than just consolidate pupils’ learning, and pupils are set new challenges to help them do even better  all pupils in Years 3 to 6 have opportunities to work with a range of data so that their skills in organising and interpreting it support mathematical investigations effectively  those pupils who need extra support have sufficient opportunities to apply their newly learned skills independently  greater reference is made to pupils’ individual targets so that pupils are continually

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

encouraged to strive to achieve them  staff consistently follow the school’s agreed marking policy for written work and indicate what pupils have achieved and how they can improve. Inspection report: St Wilfrid's Church of England Primary School, Haywards Heath, 11–12 June 2013 4 of 9

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Changes in the school’s catchment area have led to a decline in the levels of skills children have when they enter the school, which are below those expected for their age. Weaknesses in early literacy and personal, social and emotional skills are rising. An increasing proportion of children have speech and language needs.  Reception staff are good at addressing these weaknesses, especially in reading, so that reception children make good progress and in most years the large majority achieve average attainment levels.  Phonics continues to be exceptionally well taught in Years 1 and 2 so that only pupils with significant special educational needs cannot read new words accurately. Progress in developing comprehension skills is good and attainment in reading is currently average in Year 2. This demonstrates good progress for these pupils because they were below average on entry to Year 1. Attainment is very well placed to rise in subsequent years.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The dip in Year 6 attainment last year was anticipated by the school, due to the much higher proportion of pupils with disabilities or significant special educational needs and the higher than national proportion joining the school after Year 2. The range of effective strategies put in place to help make up for past slow progress, partly resulting from many teacher changes in Years 3 and 4, helped this group to make good progress subsequently.  Strengths in reading are built on well in Years 3 to 6, with pupils making good progress and reaching above average standards by Year 6. Most pupils are very enthusiastic about reading, confidently discussing the story and accurately predicting what might happen next from clues in the text.  Throughout the school, progress in writing is good. A strong focus on sentence structure, punctuation, spelling and using ‘wow’ words ensures younger pupils’ writing is interesting. Older

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The achievement of pupils is good

pupils write well in different formats, such as letters, diaries or poetry. Attainment is above average, but the quality of writing is too often spoilt by poor handwriting and presentation.  Pupils make good progress in mathematics and the strong focus on place value and calculation skills helps pupils work accurately and apply their skills well. By Year 6, older pupils use their skills well to work with different types of measures and fractions, and in problem solving. However, with the exception of the higher attaining pupils, their understanding of how to interpret different forms of data is limited.  The special programmes to help disabled pupils, those with special educational needs and the very small proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language catch up mean they achieve well and most reach at least the levels expected for their age by Year 6.  Pupils eligible for pupil premium funding achieve well due to very well-targeted support. As a

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The achievement of pupils is good

result eligible pupils are quickly closing the gap in achievement with other pupils. They are only a term behind their peers by the end of Year 6 in both English and mathematics. Pupils and their parents and carers are rightly confident that the school provides equality of opportunity and that, whatever pupils’ needs or talents, they achieve well.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Continual staff changes and absences have been a barrier to the school’s improvement strategies over the past few years, but astute new appointments, challenging performance management targets and well-considered training opportunities have ensured that teaching is good and the proportion of outstanding teaching is rising. Most parents and carers are pleased with teaching quality.  Teachers’ good subject knowledge ensures they demonstrate and explain things clearly, which helps pupils to make good gains in their skills and knowledge. It also ensures pupils become mature learners by Year 6, confidently discussing their work and aspirations for improving. Inspection report: St Wilfrid's Church of England Primary School, Haywards Heath, 11–12 June 2013 5 of 9

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The quality of teaching is good

 Management of behaviour is a significant strength, including by classroom assistants, so lessons are rarely interrupted and during the inspection it was not easily apparent which pupils find good behaviour difficult because they are so well supported.  Although teaching is good there is still some variation in practice which prevents it from being outstanding.  Pupils have very positive attitudes to learning which staff capitalise on to ensure pupils work hard in lessons and achieve well. However, only in a minority of lessons do teachers take full advantage of this and set really high expectations that help pupils do exceptionally well, as was observed in an excellent writing lesson in Year 1.  The pace of learning varies. Where there is a sense of urgency, as observed in the excellent phonics teaching in Years 1 and 2, pupils make exceptionally good progress. However, this happens only occasionally.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Effective discussions which take place throughout lessons correct pupils’ misconceptions well and help them consolidate learning. However, only in outstanding lessons do teachers question pupils in a way that extends learning further for those who are learning quickly.  Teaching assistants support learning well, especially for pupils who find learning difficult. However, on a few occasions staff provide too much support for pupils’ independent tasks, which limits their learning.  The recent review of marking and target setting processes has led to improved practice and the school is well aware that some inconsistencies remain. In particular, not all marking indicates how well pupils have done and how they can improve and some teachers do not refer sufficiently to pupils’ targets during lessons. Addressing this is a current improvement priority.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Very strong promotion of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is a key reason why behaviour is good, despite an increasing proportion of pupils entering the school with personal, social and emotional needs. The support these pupils receive from a range of skilled professionals, including the play therapist, is especially good so their behaviour improves very well over time.  The school is a very happy and safe place to be and pupils can achieve well because behaviour is good in lessons and especially good around the school and at playtimes and lunchtimes. Pupils and their parents and carers agree that this is the case.  Pupils are very respectful and well mannered, and are fully aware that discrimination in any form is not tolerated. They report that bullying is extremely rare and that any minor incident is dealt with immediately. They are well prepared for their future in a diverse society. Pupils are keen to

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

come to school and attendance levels are broadly average.  Pupils greatly enjoy school because of the breadth of interesting activities and good teaching. Where teaching is outstanding pupils develop excellent attitudes and a great capacity for learning. In other lessons, particularly where there is a slower pace, their concentration and capacity for learning are less good.  Pupils’ very good moral and social awareness helps them develop a strong understanding of how to keep safe, including when using the internet.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher, ably supported by the deputy headteacher and governors, provides strong leadership and determination to move the school forward despite the difficulties presented by considerable staff changes and absences, and a changing catchment area in recent years.  An effective reorganisation of leadership and management roles and good training opportunities have strengthened the contribution of subject leaders and other middle managers, holding them Inspection report: St Wilfrid's Church of England Primary School, Haywards Heath, 11–12 June 2013 6 of 9

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The leadership and management are good

to account well for driving forward improvement. Success is clearly evident in their effective contribution to swiftly turning around the dip in attainment in 2012.  The comprehensive range of monitoring procedures in place to check the school’s work is helping to increase the rate of improvement. For example, the recent work scrutiny report in mathematics provides staff and governors with a clear picture of what has been achieved and where more needs to be done. Excellent reports provided by the assessment coordinator on pupils’ progress have helped the school target specific weaknesses and rapidly improve progress over the past year.  Monitoring of, support for and the performance management of teaching quality have seen this remain good, despite constant changes. Staff are set challenging targets related to pupils’ progress, and leaders at all levels are held to account well. This helps governors to agree to

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The leadership and management are good

salary progression only in cases where there has been a positive impact on pupils’ progress.  The curriculum promotes learning well, with excellent cross-curricular topics in place to make learning interesting and relevant, including in a range of subjects such as music and in after- school clubs. Programmes to help pupils catch up are especially effective, although some classroom activities do not always fully stretch higher attaining pupils. The school’s Christian ethos and a wealth of opportunities for spiritual and cultural development help make this a very strong aspect of the school’s work.  Both staff and governors take safeguarding very seriously and policies and procedures fully meet requirements, including in safe recruitment and child protection.  The school has a productive partnership with parents and carers who support their children’s learning well. The partnership with locality schools is a significant strength, helping staff to

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The leadership and management are good

increase their expertise and gain an objective view of their work.  The local authority has supported the school well in its drive to address the decline in attainment in 2012 and correctly recognises that little support is needed in future.  The governance of the school:  Governors have a number of important skills that benefit the school well and represent the parent body and locality, including the church, effectively. Their good knowledge of educational data helps governors compare St Wilfrid’s well with schools nationally, and effectively challenge and support staff with regard to what needs to improve. Governors are well trained, including in their responsibilities for safeguarding and, through monitoring, are well informed about teaching quality. However, the fact that some priorities for raising attainment are included in subject rather than whole-school development planning has meant first-hand monitoring of reading and mathematics has been limited this year. Governors have

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The leadership and management are good

a clear understanding of performance management of staff and how good teaching is rewarded. Pupil premium funding, effectively allocated to providing staff training and support programmes for eligible pupils, including those with emotional and behavioural needs, is regularly monitored by governors. However, governors’ questions regarding this and other areas are not always minuted in sufficient detail. Discussions indicate that governors are very clear as to the difference this funding makes for these pupils, validating their determination to make the best use of financial resources. Inspection report: St Wilfrid's Church of England Primary School, Haywards Heath, 11–12 June 2013 7 of 9

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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. Inspection report: St Wilfrid's Church of England Primary School, Haywards Heath, 11–12 June 2013 8 of 9

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School details

Unique reference number 126056 Local authority West Sussex Inspection number 412315

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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 aided Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 407 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Gloria Kendall Headteacher Janet Davies Date of previous school inspection 24 June 2009 Telephone number 01444 413707 Fax number 01444 414743 Email address office@st-wilfrids-haywards-heath.w-sussex.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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