Weyford Nursery and Primary School

Washford Lane, Bordon, Hampshire, GU35 0ET

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Requires improvement 3 This inspection: Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  The very positive ethos is the result of the headteacher’s vision for the school and her principled leadership. Other leaders and governors offer good support. All the parents who took part in the online survey agreed that the school is well led and managed.  Leaders, managers and governors have ensured that teaching and pupils’ achievement have improved.  From starting points that are below average, pupils make good progress and achieve well.  By the end of Year 6, overall attainment is broadly average. It has improved in the last two years in all subjects, particularly in reading and mathematics.  Pupils’ good progress is the result of good teaching.  Teachers foster good working relationships with pupils and set high expectations, which creates a positive climate for learning.  Teachers provide challenge for pupils by planning lessons that build on assessments of their previous learning and include a good

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

match of tasks to pupils’ abilities.  Teachers mark pupils’ work conscientiously.  The quality of presentation of pupils’ written work is good.  Pupils’ behaviour is good. Their attitudes to learning are positive. They feel safe in school.  Attendance has improved to above average.  Leaders regularly check the quality of teaching and learning and pupils’ progress. This results in accurate self-evaluation and school improvement planning of high quality.  The school is good at promoting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, and their physical well-being.  Governors are now more tenacious in their approach. They are more rigorous in holding the school to account.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Although current pupils are making improved progress in writing, their attainment by the end of Year 6 remains lower than in reading and mathematics.  Not all writing tasks stimulate pupils’ interest to achieve as well as they could.  When using their targets, pupils do not always sufficiently understand what more they need to do to reach higher levels of attainment.  The school does not set clear expectations that pupils will incorporate teachers’ advice about improvement into their subsequent writing.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching in 13 lessons, of which three were joint observations with the headteacher. Inspectors also scrutinised a sample of pupils’ written work. They heard a sample of pupils in Years 3 and 4 read.  Meetings were held with groups of pupils, members of the school’s staff, the Chair and three other members of the Governing Body, and also with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors analysed the 10 responses that were recorded on the online survey (Parent View) by the end of the inspection, and spoke with a small number of parents accompanying their children to school.  Inspectors took account of the 20 responses to the questionnaire for school staff.  Inspectors observed the school’s work, and looked at a range of documents. These included the school’s own data on pupils’ current attainment and progress, planning documentation, records relating to behaviour and attendance, and documents relating to safeguarding, performance

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Information about this inspection

management, the pupil premium, the primary sports funding and the curriculum.

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Inspection team

Chris Grove, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Julie Quarrell Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a junior school that is smaller than average in size.  The school serves a community on the eastern side of the town of Bordon in Hampshire.  The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium (which provides additional funding to support pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, children in local authority care and the children of service families) is above average.  The proportion of disabled pupils or those who have special educational needs supported through school action is above average.  The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is well above average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  In recent years, the school has experienced considerable turbulence in staffing. At the time of the inspection, the extent of turbulence had diminished. Since the previous inspection, there has

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Information about this school

been continuity in the senior leadership team which, besides the headteacher, consists of the deputy headteacher (also inclusion manager) and the lower and upper school leaders (also English and mathematics leaders).  The breakfast club is managed by the governing body and formed part of this inspection.  The school holds the Healthy Schools (Enhanced) award.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Accelerate pupils’ progress in writing, in order to match their more rapid progress in reading and mathematics, by:  creating more imaginative opportunities to stimulate pupils’ interest in producing more extensive pieces of writing  making sure that pupils develop a better understanding and a clearer overview of what they need to do in order to reach higher levels of attainment  providing better opportunities to apply teachers’ advice from marking in subsequent written work.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 From their starting points on entry to the school, pupils in all year groups make good overall progress, particularly in reading and mathematics.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs also make good progress, as do the more able pupils. This is because teachers know pupils well and provide work that challenges them to do well.  When pupils first arrive in the school, their attainment is below average and has fallen year on year, especially in writing. Pupils’ attainment in national assessments at the end of Year 6 is rising. It is broadly average overall, but higher in reading and mathematics than in writing.  Pupils enjoy the opportunities to take part in physical activities. For example, a class of Year 3 pupils participated eagerly in a well-judged movement lesson, linked to the Rainforest theme. They experienced a variety of activities, including exploring the characteristics of such animal

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The achievement of pupils is good

movements as ‘hunting’ or ‘prowling’.  The gaps in attainment in 2013 between those Year 6 pupils supported by the pupil premium and other pupils widened in reading, writing and mathematics in comparison with the previous year. This represented a gap of more than two terms in reading and mathematics, and more than three terms in the case of writing. These gaps are a little larger than those found nationally in reading and mathematics, but smaller than that in writing. By contrast, inspection evidence shows that those pupils supported by the additional funding are currently making faster progress than their peers, particularly in reading.  Leaders ensure that the school spends its additional funding in appropriate ways, in keeping with the promotion of equal opportunities and with the commitment to tackling discrimination. They have used the funding mainly to provide additional tuition for pupils who are identified as

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The achievement of pupils is good

needing further support. In addition, the funding has provided speech and language therapy, and specialised staffing such as a family support adviser and emotional literacy support assistant.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The good quality of teaching, including in literacy and mathematics, leads to the good progress that pupils make. All the parents who took part in the online survey agree that their children are well taught. Almost all think that they make good progress.  The school’s warm and supportive atmosphere is the result of the particularly good relationships that the school fosters between pupils and their teachers and teaching assistants. School leaders and teachers set high expectations for good behaviour, attentiveness and pupils’ involvement in work. These factors make an important contribution to the positive climate for learning in all the classes.  Teachers’ planning for lessons regularly builds on their assessments of pupils’ prior learning. Consequently, teachers match tasks well to pupils’ previous attainment. This ensures appropriate levels of challenge for pupils, including the more able.  Pupils are involved in their learning because teachers use a range of strategies to engage them.

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The quality of teaching is good

For example, in Year 6 English sessions, teachers insisted pupils think hard, as they improved the phrasing of sentences. Similarly in a Year 4 mathematics session the teacher involved all pupils well, so that they were quickly able to identify successfully acute, right and obtuse angles. Meanwhile, more able pupils worked with the teaching assistant to learn about reflex angles.  The quality of presentation in pupils’ books is good. Pupils show pride in their work. Teachers expect pupils to produce a good quantity of work in English and in other subjects, so that they develop the skills involved in more extensive writing. However, the quality of pupils’ writing dips when pupils are less interested in or stimulated by the writing tasks that teachers set.  Not all pupils are clear about the targets set for them or what they need to do to reach higher levels of attainment. The school has developed a way of guiding pupils’ learning. However,

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The quality of teaching is good

pupils do not yet sufficiently understand the range of new features to build into their writing in order to progress more rapidly.  Teachers are diligent and conscientious in their marking, and pupils typically respond to their teachers’ advice through further notes underneath that piece of work. However, pupils’ progress towards the next steps in developing their writing is sometimes hindered. This is because the school does not set clear expectations that pupils will act on teachers’ advice in their subsequent work.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils typically behave well in lessons and are attentive to their teachers. They are responsive to questions and prompt in starting to work on their tasks. Pupils show positive attitudes to learning. School logs show very few behaviour incidents or exclusions.  Pupils’ behaviour around the school is also good. At breaktimes, they associate happily with others in the playground, and re-enter the school in an orderly way and ready to learn. The atmosphere in the school at lunchtimes is calm and relaxed. Pupils behave well with little need for close supervision by adults.  Pupils enter and leave the school hall quietly for assemblies, showing respectful attitudes to others. They are highly involved because assembly leaders engage their interest well.  Just occasionally in lessons, adults have to remind a pupil about good behaviour, though there is little negative impact on learning.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 In the online survey of parents, all agree that the school makes sure its pupils are well behaved. Almost every member of staff who completed a questionnaire agrees that pupils’ behaviour is good and is consistently well managed.  Attendance is above average, and has improved considerably in the last year.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils know how to stay safe. They understand the need to exercise care when using the internet or when crossing roads. Both parents and staff agree that pupils are safe in school.  Almost every parent, and all the members of staff, think the school deals effectively with bullying. Pupils say that there is some bullying, but that the ‘peer mediators’ (pupils trained to support others) help to sort it out. However, a few pupils do not understand clearly that what distinguishes bullying from other difficulties between pupils is its persistent nature.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Those pupils who attend the breakfast club say that they find it fun. It helps them with their learning, in addition to providing a morning meal. Teaching assistants organise the club, based on plans devised by teachers. The assistants are skilled at using games and practical activities to support classroom learning, for example spellings and arithmetical tables.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher has a very clear vision that is focused on helping pupils to realise their potential academically and socially. It is encapsulated in the school’s motto, ‘Working together for excellence’. The vision is widely shared. This is shown by the expression of pride in the school by all the members of staff who completed questionnaires. They unanimously agree that they know what they are trying to achieve as a school.  The headteacher sets high expectations for staff as well as for pupils. All members of the leadership team undertake activities to check the quality of teaching, planning and pupils’ work. Self-evaluation is accurate and is based on good evidence gathered from this well-developed range of activities. Leaders also regularly check pupils’ progress. The resulting whole-school improvement planning is of high quality. As well as driving improvements to teaching and learning, this rightly has a specific focus on improving pupils’ progress in writing.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school makes effective use of the annual arrangements to set targets for the teaching staff to improve their practice. These currently include a target to improve pupils’ progress in writing.  Leadership and management are good and not better because achievement in writing does not yet match that in reading and mathematics. The extent of staffing turbulence has until comparatively recently hindered the leadership’s efforts to improve the school more rapidly. Currently, greater stability in staffing is helping the school’s leadership successfully to drive the improvement evident from pupils’ good progress.  The local authority has provided effective support for improvement. Because of the systematic and rigorous approach adopted by the leadership team, the authority is confident in the school’s capacity.  The school lays emphasis on helping pupils to acquire desirable characteristics as learners, such

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The leadership and management are good

as ‘adaptability’ and ‘resilience’, and on exploring a range of cultures. Along with a close link formed with a local church, these approaches do much to promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  The school makes effective use of its primary sport funding. The funding provides qualified coaches to teach sporting activities. The school is also focusing on improving teachers’ skills in teaching the subject, and their confidence to do so. The accolade of the Healthy Schools (Enhanced) award recognises the school’s promotion of pupils’ physical well-being.  The school actively participates in the ‘Quadrivium Partnership’ which it has formed with three other local primary schools, as part of their strategy to raise pupils’ attainment.  Leaders are assiduous in their focus on all aspects of child protection and safeguarding, which fully meet requirements. They are meticulous in ensuring that pupils at risk of not doing as well

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The leadership and management are good

as others are particularly well supported.  The governance of the school:  The governing body is now more tenacious in its approach, and contributes more effectively to the school’s strategic direction. Governors have a good understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement. They are aware of the implications of the national information about the school’s performance, and have a good overview of the quality of teaching and of pupils’ progress. Governors recognise the importance of their responsibility for setting the headteacher’s targets. They also ensure that they are well informed about setting targets for other members of staff, and about whether salary progression is merited. Governors know about the pupil premium, and assure themselves that the school is using the additional funding appropriately. They are increasingly rigorous in holding the school to good account.

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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 116018 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 442455

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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 Junior School category Community Age range of pupils 7–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 174 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Derek Beesley Headteacher Jillian Myers Date of previous school inspection 16–17 October 2013 Telephone number 01420 473142 Fax number 01420 478915 Email address j.myers@weyford-jun.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 and 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

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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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