Wootton Community Primary School

School report Wootton Community Primary School Church Road, Wootton Bridge, Isle of Wight, PO33 4PT

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Inadequate 4 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Early years provision Good 2

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

 Until very recently, turbulence in staffing has hampered the efforts of senior leaders to make sure that actions taken have led to consistent improvements.  There have not been enough middle leaders at the school to support senior leaders to bring about improvements as quickly as needed.  Some leaders are not making sure that planned changes are taking place and resulting in improvements required.  Behaviour requires improvement because pupils too readily wait for adults to help them when they get stuck. Pupils do not make enough effort to work hard, grapple with challenging tasks or improve the work they have done. At times they are too easily distracted.  Teaching has too few strengths. Some teachers do not expect pupils to work hard enough or quickly enough and this slows the progress pupils make.  Marking sometimes lacks detail and does not help pupils improve.  At times, adults provide answers too quickly and

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

pupils are not encouraged to think for themselves.  Pupils do not always make as much progress as they could. In particular, the most able pupils are often set work which is not challenging enough. As a result, too many pupils do not reach the standards they are capable of, particularly in Years 1 and 2 and in their writing.

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The school has the following strengths

 Teaching has improved over the past year; any inadequate teaching is tackled quickly. Teachers understand more clearly what they need to do to ensure good learning, particular for older pupils.  Since the previous inspection, most pupils have started to make faster progress. At the end of Year 6 in 2014, standards improved and were in line with national figures.  The school keeps pupils safe and secure. Pupils are polite and courteous around the school and know how to keep themselves safe.  Actions to improve the Early Years Foundation Stage have been effective and this aspect of the school is now good. Children make a good start in developing their skills in learning.  Governors have an accurate understanding of where the school needs to improve further, and have been a key factor in bringing about improvements over the past year.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors visited the school for two days and observed the pupils’ learning in 16 lessons. They looked at the work pupils have done in their books over the past year, listened to pupils reading, and spoke to pupils about the work they were doing.  Inspectors met with senior leaders, governors, teachers who lead aspects of learning and with groups of pupils, as well as with an advisor from the local authority. They reviewed documentation provided by the school, including documents about the progress and attainment of pupils, policies to keep pupils safe, and documents minuting the work of senior leaders and governors.  Inspectors spoke to parents informally before and after school and considered the 31 responses to the online survey for parents, Parent View, alongside the responses to a survey undertaken by the school themselves. Inspectors also considered the responses to a survey for staff working at the school.

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Information about this inspection

 During the inspection, pupils in Year 4 were away on a residential trip. Inspectors considered the work these pupils have done in their books. Pupils in Year 6 were away for the second day of the inspection. Children in the Reception class have been attending in smaller groups for part of the school day. The second day of the inspection was the first day all the Reception children were in school together for the whole day.

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Inspection team

Andrew Saunders, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Full report

In accordance with section 13 (5) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that the school no longer requires significant improvement.

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Information about this school

 This is an average–sized primary school with one class in each year group.  Almost all pupils are White British. There are very few pupils who speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is average.  The proportion of pupils who benefit from support through the additional funding known as the pupil premium is average. However, the proportions are larger in some year groups, while in other groups there are very few of these pupils. This includes pupils who are known to have been eligible for free school meals and children looked after by the local authority.  There have been a number of changes in staffing since the previous inspection.  A privately-run nursery is located on the same site as the school. This is inspected separately to the school and was not part of this inspection.  In 2013, the school met the floor standards. These are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment

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Information about this school

and progress in reading, writing and mathematics set by the government.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so it is consistently good by:  Raising teachers’ expectations about how much work pupils can complete, and about the level of challenge pupils can manage  making sure pupils are set more challenging targets and tighter timescales in which to achieve these, reinforcing a sense of urgency about the quality and quantity of work pupils do

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Develop further the confidence and skills of leaders across the school. So that all leaders take responsibility for making sure that plans to improve the school are effective.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Develop pupils’ determination to grapple with more challenging work so that they are less reliant on the help of the adults around them, by:  increasing their ability to use the resources around them before asking for help  making sure that pupils take more responsibility for making improvements to their work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve pupils’ achievement, particularly in Key Stage 1, in writing and for the more able pupils, by making sure that:  pupils are clear about what they are expected to learn during lessons  teachers give good quality detailed guidance, including in marking, on what pupils need to do to improve.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The headteacher and governors have brought about improvements which mean that the school is no longer inadequate. However, improvements have not yet had enough time to result in the achievement of pupils being good. Senior leaders have tackled inadequate teaching, and made clear their expectations of teachers. However, teaching is not yet consistently good.  Plans to bring about improvements have been significantly hampered by changes in staffing and the difficulties the school has faced in recruiting new staff. This means that leadership other than at senior level has been limited and senior leaders have had to undertake many of the tasks and responsibilities that might otherwise be shared. Other teachers are now taking on these responsibilities but some are new to such roles and are not always confident in checking that the planned improvements are taking place or are effective.  Senior leaders’ judgements about how well improvements have been embedded have been too optimistic

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The leadership and management requires improvement

at times. For example, despite improvements, marking is not always as effective as it could be, where teachers’ advice to pupils is not detailed or specific enough to help them improve quickly.  The support for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs has improved. The progress of these pupils is reviewed each half term, and any who are not making up ground are identified quickly. Leaders have made sure there are appropriate programmes of support, depending on the needs of particular pupils.  The school has adapted the curriculum and plans for teaching to meet the new national requirements. Teachers have made sure that this continues to contribute well to the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of the pupils. The school’s systems for collecting, analysing and using data about the performance of pupils is ready to support the assessment of the new curriculum, although this has not yet

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The leadership and management requires improvement

been implemented.  The teaching of physical education has improved because teachers have benefitted from teaching alongside a qualified sports coach. Teachers and pupils say this has greatly improved the teaching and opportunities to take part in sports. Consequently the school’s participation in competitive sports has increased, with particular success in tennis.  The headteacher has worked well with advisors provided by the local authority and other partners to tackle the key issues identified at the previous inspection and improve the quality of teaching. However, her efforts have been hampered by the turbulence in staffing.  The governance of the school:  Governors are well informed about the strengths and weaknesses of the school and have a clear grasp of the things that still need to improve. They have challenged and supported the school well, making sure that there is a strong focus on the progress pupils make. Members of the governing body support

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The leadership and management requires improvement

the senior leaders in checking the progress of pupils and make sure that teachers are held to account for this. They also work with senior leaders to make sure all the requirements, policies and training to keep pupils safe are in place and reviewed regularly. Governors and senior leaders make sure that there are appropriate systems to make sure that any adults working with pupils are safe to do so. They ensure that any discrimination or racism would not be tolerated.  Governors have kept a close check on how the financial resources of the school are used, and have eliminated a deficit budget. They have made sure that the school has taken care over the use of the additional funding available to support pupils who are eligible so that their progress has improved. Together with senior leaders, they make sure that decisions about pay for teachers are informed by evidence about the quality of teaching and leadership.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement. While pupils are polite, courteous and kind to one another around the school, they do not show enough determination to work hard during lessons. Pupils in the older year groups show more determination, but even the oldest pupils do not always take care over improving their own work.  During lessons, pupils in Key Stage 1 and the earlier part of Key Stage 2 too often wait for adults to help them, without making enough effort to find resources that they can use to help themselves. In some classes this means pupils wait with their hands up or follow the teacher around the classroom, when they are often capable of thinking through the problem for themselves. Their books show that, at times, this means they have completed only limited amounts of work.  At other times, younger pupils do not always listen carefully to what teachers or teaching assistants are

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

saying, unless the adult is addressing them individually. This means adults have to repeat instructions numerous times and the pace of learning slows.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. They feel safe at the school and they appreciate the steps the school takes to make sure they are. Pupils know how they can also help to keep themselves safe, including when using the internet.  Pupils say that there is always someone they can talk to if they are worried about anything. They say that any kind of bullying is extremely rare and if it did happen they know what they should do about it. They are confident that it would be dealt with quickly.  Attendance is above average; pupils like coming to school. They like the topics used by teachers to link subjects together and particularly like the clubs, activities and sports they can take part in.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching is not yet consistently good. Senior leaders have tackled inadequate teaching, which is now infrequent. However too much teaching still requires improvement. The work in pupils’ books and the observations of senior leaders show that this is typical of teaching over time.  In some classrooms, there is a lack of urgency about getting work completed and pupils work at a leisurely pace. Pupils are not always sure how much time they have for a particular task and too frequently stop to chat about social things rather than their work. While they are given the chance to choose which step of a task they will start on, these steps sometimes lack ambition and some pupils quickly go beyond the planned steps, or run out of work to do. Other pupils choose to do steps which are too easy for them; some teachers pick this up and challenge the pupils, but this is not always the case.  Teachers have had training and are developing their confidence in providing pupils with more difficult

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

work. Teachers’ knowledge of more complex topics has improved, particularly in mathematics. Where teaching is most effective, teachers make sure that pupils do not waste time doing questions they are confident with. This is more evident in mathematics but is not yet consistent in all classrooms.  The teaching of writing has recently started to improve but has not yet had as much impact on pupils’ progress. The school is also improving the way teachers promote pupils’ skills in writing across other subjects. However, teachers do not all expect enough of pupils’ work in these other subjects.  The school has developed a clear set of guidelines about marking, which most teachers now follow. In the best examples, pupils receive helpful comments which tell them how to improve their work. However, the quality of other comments is variable and some remain congratulatory without telling the pupils how to

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

improve. At times marking lacks detail and is not specific enough to help pupils make faster progress. Pupils often correct spelling mistakes that are pointed out, but some pupils do not take care over this, repeating the same mistakes.  Adults teaching pupils to read use a common approach across the school. Older pupils who are not as confident in reading get extra help and there are well planned activities to develop pupils’ wider skills in understanding what they read. However, some adults do not always check that all the pupils in their group are using phonics (letters and the sounds they make) correctly. This means a few pupils take longer to become confident readers.  Teachers make sure that pupils have homework which is linked to the work they are doing in class. However, this work is not always hard enough for some of them.

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The achievement of pupils

 The progress pupils make is inconsistent. While it has improved for some pupils, including the oldest and youngest pupils, there is still too much variation. Improvements have been more marked in mathematics and reading than in writing. Progress slows where pupils are not sure what they need to learn that lesson, or what they need to improve once they have done their work.  In classes where there has been turbulence in staffing, pupils have not made as much progress as they should over the past year. Work in their books shows that the many changes these pupils have faced have hampered their progress, despite the efforts of senior leaders.  The good start that children make in the Reception class means they are ready for Key Stage 1. However, their progress in Key Stage 1 then slows because teaching has not been good enough. In July 2014 more pupils reached the expected standards at the end of Year 2 compared to the previous year. The

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The achievement of pupils

proportion of pupils who met the required level in the Year 1 phonics screening check improved and was above average. However, far fewer pupils than average reached the higher levels in reading by the end of Year 2, and none in writing or mathematics. Very recent improvements are beginning to have an impact but this is too soon to be evident in all their work.  In the early part of Key Stage 2, progress has also been variable, but begins to accelerate as pupils get older. Work in their books shows that the more able pupils, in particular, do not get enough opportunities to do work that is substantially harder than the work other pupils are doing. Opportunities increase as they get older, particularly in reading and writing, so that the proportion reaching the higher levels at the end of Year 6 has improved and is closer to the average. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs have made progress which is similar to other pupils in the school, considering their

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The achievement of pupils

starting points and their particular needs.  Pupils who receive support through the additional funding known as the pupil premium have made better progress over the past year. For most year groups, this means that the gap in their attainment has reduced and they are now about four months behind other pupils. For the oldest pupils, their particular needs meant that there remained a gap of just over a year. They reached standards which were higher than similar groups of pupils elsewhere, but not as high as other pupils in the school.

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The early years provision

 When children join the school in the Reception class, they have skills and knowledge which are in line with those typical for their age. Children make a good start to their learning because there are well planned routines and exciting resources available. Children in the reception class last year, made good progress and were well prepared for the next stage of education.  Adults have a good understanding of the needs and interests of each child and closely monitor how well each child is learning. They encourage children to try new activities and to persevere when they find something difficult. These activities and resources are carefully focused on what the children need to learn.  Since the previous inspection, the school has taken successful action to improve the quality of teaching and learning in the Reception class. Leadership in the Early Years Foundation Stage is good. New systems are being used well to keep track of information on children’s learning and share it with parents. Parents

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The early years provision

said that their children enjoy coming in to school in the morning, and are keen to show what they have been learning.

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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 failing

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Grade Judgement Description

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 118172 Local authority Isle of Wight Inspection number 447710

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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 201 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Deborah Blake Headteacher Peta Mather Date of previous school inspection 19–20 March 2013 Telephone number 01983 882505 Fax number 01983 882505 Email address admin@woottonpri.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

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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