Westfield Infant School

Westfield Infant School Ashford Road, Hinckley, LE10 0JL

p.1

Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Outstanding 1 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

p.1

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school.  Given their individual starting points when they join the school, children in the Reception Year make increasingly good progress in all areas of their learning and development.  Most pupils continue to make excellent progress in Key Stage 1 and, by the end of Year 2, their achievement is outstanding.  A strong and consistent approach to the pupils’ personal, social and emotional development results in their outstanding behaviour and understanding of how to be and stay safe.  The school is particularly successful in the promotion of a love of reading and enabling pupils to develop well this important skill.  Excellent teamwork across the school results from outstanding leadership at all levels, from subject leaders to the senior leadership team and the governing body.  The regular and careful monitoring of teaching and learning, results in teaching being typically at least good, with much that is outstanding.

p.1

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Excellent attitudes to learning are fostered consistently well across the school.  The staff are highly self-critical and self- challenging; they make very accurate assessments of the school’s effectiveness, and there is a constant drive for improvement.  The school is highly popular with its families, who also appreciate the ways the school helps them to support their children’s learning.

p.1

Information about this inspection

 During the inspection, the school was involved in its ‘Healthy School Week’; a number of lessons and other activities reflected this theme. Many parents, together with their children, were involved in these activities.  The school’s provision for ‘Family Learning’ was also explored. Inspectors spoke with and observed parents, grandparents and carers working together with their children to develop their reading skills at the start of the day, and their handwriting after school in the afternoon.  As a further part of the school’s family learning programme, an inspector visited an adult literacy class, which operates during the school day, and spoke with parents and grandparents about the impact this has had on their own lives and the ways it helps them support their children’s and grandchildren’s learning at home.  The inspectors observed 22 lessons; 13 teachers and their teaching assistants were seen. Four

p.2

Information about this inspection

lessons were seen jointly with members of the school’s senior leadership team.  Daily registration time was observed and an inspector attended an assembly.  Inspectors looked at examples of pupils’ work, and heard a sample of pupils from Key Stage 1 reading.  A meeting was held with groups of pupils selected at random by the lead inspector; this included pupils from the school’s specially resourced provision for those with special educational needs. In addition, many informal opportunities were taken to talk with pupils.  Inspectors looked at a wide range of school documents, including development plans, policies and reports on the school’s strengths and aspects for development, monitoring records and reports, safeguarding and curriculum materials, information provided for families, and governing body documents. The school’s data, including records tracking pupils’ progress, were reviewed.  Discussions and conversations were held with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, other

p.2

Information about this inspection

members of the senior leadership team, subject coordinators, class teachers, staff from the school’s specially resourced provision for pupils with special educational needs, visiting specialists and tutors, administrative staff, and members of the governing body. A telephone conversation was held with a representative of the local authority.  The 35 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, were taken into consideration. Inspectors also considered the results of the school’s own, similar survey of 235 parents and carers. The results of the school’s annual survey of its own Year 2 pupils was examined. The 36 responses to the questionnaire for school staff were also taken into account.

p.2

Inspection team

Michael Miller, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Claire Worrall Additional Inspector Elizabeth Needham Additional Inspector

p.2

Information about this school

 This school is a larger than average-sized primary school.  It shares a campus with Westfield Junior School; the Westfield Children’s Centre is located close by. Both the junior school and the children’s centre are inspected separately by Ofsted.  Most of the pupils attending Westfield Infant School are of White British heritage. A few come from other heritage backgrounds, mainly from Mixed, Asian or Asian British backgrounds.  Almost all pupils speak English as their first language. Very few speak English as an additional language or are at an early stage of English language development.  The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium (additional government funding for particular groups, including those known to be eligible for free school meals) is average.  The proportion of disabled pupils or those who have special educational needs who are supported at school action is well below average. The proportion supported at school action plus

p.3

Information about this school

or with a statement of special educational needs is well above average.  Most pupils receiving additional support have moderate learning difficulty (MLD) but others experience a range of difficulties or disabilities including: speech, language and communication needs; autistic spectrum disorder; physical disability; severe learning difficulty; hearing impairment; and specific learning difficulty.  The school has a specially resourced provision for pupils with special educational needs (its MLD- Unit, Class 7). The local authority allocates places at the unit from across the county; the school manages this provision on behalf of the local authority.  The MLD-Unit provides for up to 20 pupils with moderate learning difficulties. There are currently 19 pupils, from Reception to Year 2 attending the unit; such pupils often have multiple learning difficulties and complex personal and learning needs. There are currently a very few Year 3

p.3

Information about this school

pupils continuing their education at the unit while they await placement in another unit or special school.

p.3

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Implement fully the school’s developing strategies to close further any gaps between different groups of learners in reading, writing and mathematics, including that between those pupils eligible for additional government funding and their classmates.

p.3

The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 From typically well below-average starting points when they join the school, pupils make rapid progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage. They continue this success throughout Years 1 and 2 to reach average standards when they leave the school at the end of Year 2. The school has proved successful in enabling its pupils to achieve this year-on-year.

p.4

The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 National data on the school’s performance does not reflect the actual standards which the pupils are achieving by the end of Year 2. This is because all such data also includes that for the pupils in the Class 7 Unit, and the well above-average proportion of pupils supported at school action plus. The complex needs and difficulties of such pupils in getting to grips with learning often means that many are unlikely to gain the standards expected nationally for their age group, particularly in literacy and numeracy.

p.4

The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Because the school tracks and monitors so meticulously the progress of all its pupils, it is able to show that those who are disabled or who have special educational needs make at least good progress. This reflects well on the school’s fundamental approach to ensuring equality of opportunity for all its pupils.

p.4

The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 The school also takes care to ensure that its assessments of its pupils are independently checked and confirmed. Teachers keep a careful watch on pupils’ progress; consequently, pupils have little chance to fall behind. Any necessary support to get pupils back on track is organised quickly and to very good effect.

p.4

The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 The school’s records confirm that, over the years, children typically start in the Reception classes with low level of skills in communication, language and literacy, and well below expected levels in their personal, social and emotional development. Over the years, teachers in the school’s Reception classes have developed some outstanding skills in planning lessons and activities which help accelerate the children’s learning and development.

p.4

The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Excellent achievement was seen in a number of lessons in the Reception classes because the teaching is so well focused on activities which enable children to consolidate the small steps in learning which build their good and better achievement over time.

p.4

The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 This is to be seen in the children’s ‘Learning Journey’ books, which provide examples of the ways children develop securely those important mark-making skills which lead to proper writing. In an excellent outdoor activity, children made excellent progress in controlling their movements along an exercise trail while spontaneously counting up to ten. This was not only great fun but also showed how numeracy is embedded in their everyday learning.

p.4

The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 A similar approach was seen in an outstanding physical education lesson for pupils from the Class 7 Unit. Pupils not only gained confidence in controlling carefully their movements, but also gained in their awareness of personal and social space. Literacy was integrated well through the formation of ‘O’ shapes using their hands and streamers, and their concepts of ‘high and spikey’ and ‘low and smooth’ were significantly enhanced through fun activities and active involvement.

p.4

The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 The school sets itself the challenging task of enabling all its pupils in Key Stage 1 to make at least two terms’ better progress than expected nationally. As a result of the firm foundations laid in the Reception classes, they are mainly successful in this, and often the more-able pupils make around a year’s better progress than expected as a result of the excellent teaching.  In summer 2013, Year 2 pupils gained nationally expected standards overall in reading, writing and mathematics. Those ‘mainstream’ pupils who do not normally experience difficulties with their learning were around a half a term ahead of their peers nationally. This represents some remarkable progress from when they joined the school three years earlier.

p.4

The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 The pupil premium is used well to support those pupils eligible for this funding. In 2013, there was a further improvement on previous years in that these pupils gained standards in line with those of similar pupils nationally. They were a term and a half behind their classmates in reading, writing and mathematics, but the gap has been closing steadily.

p.5

The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 The main priority in the school’s improvement plan is to close even further any gaps in the performance of different groups, and reduce that between the performance of boys and girls. However, the boy-girl gap is often skewed by the proportion of boys with disabilities or who have special educational needs; in some years such boys can outnumber girls by four to one.

p.5

The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 The school is successful in ensuring that its pupils gain the vital skills they need to be able to read. This is because there is excellent, daily teaching, in ability groups right across the school, of letters and sounds (phonics). The school was an important pilot school when the new phonics screening checks were being developed.

p.5

The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 By the end of Year 2, most pupils gain nationally expected levels in their reading and have become confident readers. Just under 10%, including more-able pupils, gain higher levels. A key strength of the school is that pupils across the school develop a love of books and reading.

p.5

The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 During the inspection, it was impressive to see some 100 parents in school each day to join in the ‘Healthy School Week’ activities, and to work with their children on developing their reading skills at the start of the school day. The ways the school works in partnership with parents on family and home learning plays a major role in helping to accelerate pupils learning while in school.

p.5

The quality of teaching is outstanding

 There is a remarkable consistency in the quality of teaching across the school. The minimum expected by the headteacher and governing body is good teaching, and school records indicate there is much excellent teaching. This was reflected in the lessons observed during the inspection, where the majority of teaching was outstanding.

p.5

The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers in all year groups, from Reception classes to Year 2, have comprehensive planning covering the range of pupils’ abilities; teachers understand well how different pupils may learn in different ways. There is always a ‘Plan B’ (and often a ‘Plan C’) to back up the ways they teach and help pupils to develop their next steps in learning. Teachers make excellent use of the data and information they collect on pupils’ attainment and progress; regular marking helps in this.

p.5

The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Highly skilled questioning techniques by both teachers and their teaching assistants are used as a matter of course during lessons to help pupils think about and reflect on their learning. A constant dialogue with pupils, whether as a class or with individuals, keeps pupils on their toes, challenges them and ensures that lessons proceed at a good but manageable pace, so that pupils get a lot done. Such discussions with and between pupils enhance significantly their speaking and listening skills.

p.5

The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers and their assistants in the MLD Unit know and understand their pupils’ needs very well; consequently, they consider well their pupils’ personal as well as academic development. The Unit is particularly strong on promoting social and communication skills.

p.5

The quality of teaching is outstanding

 The school invests well in specialist teaching support for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs; pupils’ with behavioural, social and emotional difficulties benefit well from a visiting play therapist. This enhances what teachers are enabled to achieve with the pupils once they are back in their various class.

p.6

The quality of teaching is outstanding

 In a number of lessons taking place across the year groups as part of ‘Healthy School Week’, pupils learnt and discovered a great deal about themselves by studying skeletons and where the important organs of their bodies are located. This proved an important opportunity to develop pupils’ knowledge and understanding of life. It also provided great opportunities for them to practice their letters and sounds when dealing with new vocabulary and, for example, the proper names of the various bones and organs.

p.6

The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. That is also true of their attitudes to learning. Pupils often show great excitement in learning; they enjoy their time at school because their teachers make learning both fun and interesting. Attitudes to learning are excellent because the pupils know that when they come to school there will always be something interesting to learn.

p.6

The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 This is also reflected in attendance being well above average. Parents appreciate the importance of regular attendance in ensuring the continuity of their children’s learning and accelerating achievement.

p.6

The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 There are excellent working relationships between adults and pupils at the school. This is because there is an entirely consistent approach to behaviour management; pupils know exactly where they stand and rarely overstep any boundaries. The word ‘good’ is heard frequently in each lesson: ‘good’ sitting / listening / thinking / writing / talking, and so on. Pupils have learnt that when they hear the word ‘good’, there will be something of interest to follow.

p.6

The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils and adults show high levels of respect for each other, and value each other’s contributions and achievements; this is underpinned by their well-developed social and moral understanding. Staff encourage pupils to reflect on what they are learning, and pupils are rightly proud of each other’s successes. This also leads to excellent levels of cooperation between pupils, both in and outside of lessons. Pupils enjoy talking about their work, both with each other and adults.

p.6

The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. Discussions with pupils show they know how to keep themselves and others safe. They look out for each other and take responsibility readily from an early age. Older pupil leaders also take great pride in walking around the playground at the end of breaks and lunchtimes with a placard saying, ‘Toilet, Toys, Coats!’ to help others to prepare for the next session of learning.

p.6

The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils know about the implications of bullying. The school’s personal, social and health education programme has prepared them very well to recognise and deal with different types of bullying and threats they might meet. A group of Year 2 pupils enjoyed recounting the advice of visiting police about dangers to their personal safety, advising inspectors, ‘If you can’t run – scream and shout!’

p.6

The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Other pupils knew about e-safety, pointing out that all their teachers tell them not to put their name on a computer, and to tell an adult if they see something wrong. They know about fire drills and the reasons for practices, ‘So we can be safe.’ Pupils feel entirely safe at school.

p.6

The leadership and management are outstanding

 The quality of teamwork and sense of purpose at the school is high. This is due to strong, clear and firm leadership from the headteacher and deputy headteacher, ably supported by the school’s other leaders, such as subject coordinators, and the governing body.

p.7

The leadership and management are outstanding

 As a result of high-quality teamwork, the school’s self-evaluation is very accurate and focused well on the key points for further improvement which are enabling Westfield Infant to continue as an outstanding school. Shared lesson observations show that the headteacher and senior leadership team evaluate very professionally the quality of teaching and learning.

p.7

The leadership and management are outstanding

 The feedback given to staff on their work and teaching is by no means uncritical, but it is also developmental and focused on those ‘tweaks’ which make the difference between good and outstanding teaching. All staff responding to their questionnaire, both teaching and non-teaching staff, expressed great pride in the school and confidence in its leadership and management.

p.7

The leadership and management are outstanding

 Leaders ensure that there is a particularly strong commitment to family learning, and the school supports very effectively parents and carers in enabling them to contribute to their children’s learning at home. The school’s success is underpinned very effectively by its support for families through its ‘Family Learning’ initiatives; it is successful in targeting support for children and families whose circumstances may make them more vulnerable.

p.7

The leadership and management are outstanding

 Pupils thoroughly enjoy what is taught in school (its curriculum). This is because their learning is planned so well, both in the main school and in the Class 7 Unit. The Early Years Foundation Stage, Key Stage 1 and Unit leaders play an important part in ensuring that learning meets the needs of each individual pupil. Staff expertise enables great flexibility and adaptability, particularly where pupils are identified as requiring additional support to boost their learning.

p.7

The leadership and management are outstanding

 There is a strong partnership between the headteacher, who is the special educational needs coordinator, the assistant coordinator (the subject leader for literacy), and the Unit’s leader. Together with the teacher responsible for higher achieving pupils, they ensure the school’s firm belief that every child matters is put into practice. This is much appreciated by parents.

p.7

The leadership and management are outstanding

 The school has only just received its grant under the new primary sports funding scheme, so has yet to evaluate its impact. However, the approved package supports current specialist training for staff and the development of coaching links; for example, with a Premier League football club. This is being linked with the school’s current developments for the new National Curriculum, due to be introduced in September 2014.

p.7

The leadership and management are outstanding

 The local authority works regularly with the school to ensure its assessments of its pupils are accurate. To augment this, the governing body employs a consultant who, twice yearly, checks on the standards the pupils are achieving and their rate of progress, and reports on the school’s overall effectiveness.

p.7

The leadership and management are outstanding

 There are very good working partnerships between the school and the local authority regarding the work of the MLD-Unit. The authority’s link officer for special educational needs visits and contacts the school regularly to manage the demand for placements and new admissions or transfers. The school also has close links with a local special school (the Dorothy Goodman School) which benefits well both teaching and the quality of pupils’ learning.  The governance of the school:  The governing body contributes substantially to ensuring the school’s continued excellence. Governors challenge and support the school very effectively. They work very closely with staff to secure continued improvement. There is a strong commitment to open governance, which means that the records of all governors’ visits to the school are publicly available in the school’s main reception area. Their monitoring, and their firm grasp of the school’s data,

p.7

The leadership and management are outstanding

ensures that governors know and understand how the school is performing in relation to others nationally. The governing body also ensures that teachers’ salaries are linked to pupils’ progress, teaching quality and national Teachers’ Standards.  The governing body places a clear priority on ensuring the school’s legal requirements are met, including those for safeguarding. Governors are very well informed about their roles and responsibilities. They monitor closely the work of the school, including the MLD-Unit, and check that pupil premium funding has the best possible impact on the achievement of eligible pupils. Such funding is being used very effectively, particularly in ensuring additional, specialist staffing and resources to provide extra tuition and to ensure that no pupils are disadvantaged.

p.8

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

p.9

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.

p.9

School details

Unique reference number 119929 Local authority Leicestershire Inspection number 440556

p.10

School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

p.10

School details

Type of school Infant School category Community Age range of pupils 4–7 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 277 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Gail Steele Headteacher Jill MacLauchlan Date of previous school inspection 29 March 2011 Telephone number 01455 637558 Fax number 01455 613494 Email address admin@westfield-inf.leics.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 .

p.10

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.

p.11

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

p.11

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

p.11

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’.

p.11

School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.11