Winnall Primary School

Winnall Primary School Garbett Road, Winnall, Winchester, SO23 0NY

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Overall effectiveness Good

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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This is a good school

 Adults and pupils alike paint a picture of complete transformation at Winnall Primary since the previous inspection. Inspectors agree.  The excellent leadership of the headteacher has established a strong culture and ethos of greater expectations and ambition. There is now a strong sense of pride across the whole school community.  Standards across the school are rising securely.  The school champions disadvantaged pupils with a determination to improve their life chances. Gaps between their outcomes and other pupils nationally close or reduce well.  Pupils are enthusiastic about their learning. They enjoy lessons and work hard. The confidence and positivity of pupils with special educational needs are striking. More-able pupils also do well.  Teaching, learning and assessment are good across the school. Teaching assistants make an important contribution, helping to make sure that all pupils do well whatever their starting points.

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This is a good school

 Pupils feel safe and most behave well throughout the school day. Their attendance is much better than previously and very few are frequently absent.  A wide range of rich experiences, reflected in the vibrant school environment, contributes well to pupils’ good personal development.  Leaders at all levels, including governors and local authority advisers, have united to make sure that improvements are secure.  Strong leadership of the early years provision helps to ensure that children get off to a good start and are well prepared for Year 1.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teaching is not consistently strong enough to secure the highest possible learning and outcomes.  Although there is clear evidence of strong improvement, not all pupils and parents have complete confidence in the school’s ability to tackle bullying effectively.  While children’s outcomes are good overall, the early years provision does not promote all areas of learning equally well.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Make sure that teachers always set precisely the right challenge at the right time to maximise learning, especially for the most able.  Gain the full confidence of all pupils and parents in the school’s anti-bullying strategy by: ensuring record-keeping systems are used and followed through in the same way by all staff giving pupils a greater variety of ways to express any concerns tackling rough play further so that this does not become part of actual or perceived bullying behaviour.  Improve the early years provision by making sure that the opportunities and environment for children to develop all aspects of their learning, inside and out, are of equally high quality.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 There has been a relentless trend of improvement across all key aspects of the school’s work since the previous inspection.  The headteacher is highly respected by staff as a teacher as well as a leader. His ambitious vision for pupils has been infectious because he shares it with passion and credibility. Teachers relish the detailed discussions around the best ways to improve teaching. ‘Teaching and learning communities’ give teachers opportunities to work in teams of three to analyse how teaching can be improved. This culture provides a firm foundation to build on as staff work towards securing the best possible teaching.  Leaders that are responsible for particular phases or subjects (middle leaders) have embraced the headteacher’s aspirational approach. They carry out regular checks to monitor the quality of teaching and learning. This has helped secure a good deal of consistency, including among staff new to the school.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

Middle leaders are confident that the improvements have been ‘made to last’ because ‘all the staff are now driving the school forward’.  Staff morale is high. The large number who expressed a view were unanimous that the school is ‘a lot better’ than at the time of the previous inspection.  Local authority support has played a significant part in helping the school to move forward. Working closely alongside school leaders, input from advisers has strengthened the school’s leadership capacity. Inspectors agree wholeheartedly with the local authority’s view that the school demonstrates a strong capacity to sustain this improvement with only light-touch external support.  The wide-ranging use of additional funding for disadvantaged pupils (the pupil premium) has ensured that disadvantaged pupils are doing at least as well as their peers or catching up quickly. Leaders check carefully that additional help, such as individual or small-group tuition, makes enough difference.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 Leaders and teachers work closely together to track forensically the progress of every pupil. Leaders have rightly begun to find ways to use new assessments of how well individuals are doing to compare the performance of different groups as they have in past. For example, how well disadvantaged pupils are doing overall compared with others.  The school’s rich and inspiring curriculum promotes pupils’ academic and personal development well. It is consistent with British values and prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain. The breadth and variety of opportunities provided promotes spiritual, moral, social and cultural development effectively. Recent diverse curriculum projects have included the Hampshire Illustrated Book award, opportunities for contemporary dance, music projects giving pupils opportunities to play violins and ukuleles together and opportunities to grow and sell healthy produce. Leaders are now rightly prioritising provision within

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

lessons other than English and mathematics to ensure that it is of equally high quality.  Leaders report that the use of additional sports funding has made a big difference. Parents agree. Pupils can now access a greater range of physical activities at lunchtime and through after-school clubs, and many more do. Pupils also now take part in more sports competitions between schools. Much of this comes through the work of the sports development officer, known to the whole community as ‘Coach’. There is a general recognition that the impact of this work on pupils’ self-esteem and attitudes is as evident in the classroom as beyond it.  The governance of the school Governors are passionate, enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the school. Their regular attendance at meetings and events reflects their commitment and dedication. The governing body has a realistic view of both the school’s strengths and ways it can be even better.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

As well as checking closely that the school improves in the short term, governors also keep a strategic view of the school’s longer-term journey. The governing body makes effective use of a variety of data about the school’s performance. They add to this through their own visits and checks of how well the school is doing. They use this information to ask pertinent questions of school leaders about why things are as they are and how they can be improved. Systems to manage the performance of staff at all levels, including the headteacher, are rigorous.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Procedures for checking and recording the suitability of staff are robust. There is no sense of complacency regarding safeguarding systems. Leaders and governors use local authority audit tools to keep them under review and check that nothing can slip through the net.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 The bright, vibrant and well-organised learning environment throughout the school sets the perfect tone for the purposeful and productive lessons that take place within.  Attractive displays in classrooms not only celebrate pupils’ achievements, but also visually capture different aspects of the learning process for pupils. For example, this might include ideas from previous lessons that pupils can use in their work, or how pupils have edited and improved their writing, rather than just the finished article.  Pupils enjoy learning and find lessons engaging. Teachers take care to give their learning a real context or purpose, from writing a recipe for pumpkin soup to debating whether a multi-storey car park should be built next to Winchester Cathedral.  Teachers and teaching assistants are skilled questioners. Teachers pitch their questions well to pupils of different abilities to challenge their thinking, including the most able. Both use questioning well to check

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

pupils’ understanding so that they can identify and address any gaps or misunderstandings, including for pupils with special educational needs.  The strong subject knowledge demonstrated by teachers promotes pupils’ use of technical vocabulary well. Pupils’ wider vocabulary develops strongly across the school. This helps their spoken language, but also makes their writing lively and interesting. Teachers plan carefully to develop advanced reading skills of older and more fluent readers to deepen their understanding of the books they read.  Pupils receive frequent and often precise verbal feedback about how to improve their work. This means pupils, including those with special educational needs, can identify their progress.  Teachers’ marking moves pupils’ learning forward well, identifying the right next steps for pupils in writing, for example. In mathematics, teachers identify mistakes or misconceptions and model clearly for

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

pupils where they have gone wrong by giving them an example to work through. Pupils report that the green and pink marking system is helpful and easy to follow.  In mathematics, teachers are making increasingly effective use of apparatus, equipment and visual images to help pupils to grasp key concepts. This is part of leaders’ current drive for further improvement.  Teachers use a range of ways to check how well pupils are doing during lessons. While they use this information to make decisions about what to do next, this is not always sharp enough to promote the highest level of learning for all pupils, especially the most able.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  The very popular breakfast club gets the day off to a good start for those who attend, almost one quarter of all pupils. This includes a high proportion of disadvantaged pupils. The family link worker plays an important role supporting disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils and families, working hard to strengthen links between home and school.  Pupils report that they feel safe when they are at school. Their regular attendance, confidence and conduct support this view. They have a good awareness of how to keep themselves safe, but some pupils and parents report that play can sometimes be too rough. There is plenty for pupils to do at playtime, for example ball games, an activity trail and table-top activities. Pupils report that adults, including lunchtime staff, sort out any problems that arise.  Pupils understand bullying and the different forms it can take. Leaders and teachers take the issue

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Personal development and welfare

seriously and have a policy and systems in place to tackle any problems that arise. The large majority of parents and pupils report that these work. Most also speak of improvements, but not all pupils and parents yet have the complete confidence that systems are fully effective. Staff use the school’s procedures for recording incidents, but the consistency and monitoring of this are not as tight as they could be.  Relationships between adults and pupils are very strong. During the inspection, pupils consistently demonstrated and reported their confidence in approaching teachers and leaders with any concerns that they may have. However, the range of different ways for pupils to express any concerns is not as wide as it could be.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Pupils are enthusiastic and keen to learn. They work industriously and have produced a considerable amount of work already this year. Pupils are rightly proud of their achievements and were very keen to share their work with inspectors.  Attendance levels have risen markedly since the previous inspection, including for disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs. No pupils were frequently absent across the whole of the previous academic year, a significant improvement from preceding years.  Pupils are proud that the school ‘is much better than it was’. As they move through the school, pupils are given a wide range of opportunities to develop their leadership skills. This includes as school council ‘Voice Reps’, community leaders, junior road safety officers and library captains, to name a few.  There is a general recognition across the school that pupils’ behaviour is much better than it was in the

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Behaviour

past and is now good. Pupils respond quickly to adults’ instructions. Occasionally, a few pupils lose interest in lessons particularly when the level of challenge is not quite right. This slows their progress.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 Different groups of pupils do well across the school. This includes boys, girls, disadvantaged pupils, those that need to catch up, pupils with special educational needs and the most able.  Standards across the school have risen securely since the previous inspection. From typically lower starting points, pupils now catch up with other pupils nationally by the time they leave. This puts them on an equal footing with others as they start their secondary education.  Pupils’ rates of progress have accelerated strongly in reading, writing and mathematics. They are now good overall. Work in pupils’ books and on display shows a range of learning across other subjects as well. Pupils benefit from opportunities to develop their English and mathematics skills through other subjects. Teachers often link learning across subjects using themes that interest and motivate pupils, such as ‘castles’ or ‘rainforests’.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 Younger pupils build their knowledge of letters and sounds (phonics) steadily and securely. They use these skills well as they learn to read. The proportion of Year 1 pupils meeting the expected standard in the national phonics screening check has risen year-on-year, closing the gap with the national average. Last year, all of the pupils that did not meet the standard in Year 1 caught up in Year 2.  Strong leadership of provision for pupils with special educational needs and the generous deployment of trained and skilled teaching assistants mean that these pupils are doing much better than at the time of the previous inspection. They make at least similar progress to their peers and, overall, they are catching up with the standard of work expected for their age.  Disadvantaged pupils make especially strong progress compared with other pupils nationally. This enables them to start to catch up, and sometimes overtake their peers, even if their starting points are lower as is

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Outcomes for pupils are good

often the case. The gap between the proportions reaching the expected level in reading, writing and mathematics compared with others nationally has reduced dramatically over the last three years.  The most-able pupils achieve well. A similar proportion of pupils as seen nationally attained the higher Level 5 in all of reading, writing and mathematics. The proportion of pupils that made accelerated progress to reach these levels from lower starting points was good.  This year, staff have rightly increased the focus on pupils’ spelling. This is evident in pupils’ work, although it is too soon to see the full impact of this in their independent writing.

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Early years provision is good

 The early years provision prepares children well for Year 1. Children make good progress from their varying starting points. The proportion that reach the level expected nationally by the end of Reception Year is above the national average.  There is a strong focus throughout the teaching and environment on developing children’s basic language, literacy and mathematical skills. Adults regularly reinforce children’s phonics skills, for example, taking the opportunity to ask children to identify the initial sound of ‘triangle’ when learning about shape.  Children have settled well and mostly cooperate and share with each other. A small group of boys helped each other build a model from small bricks, while two girls followed the example given by an adult to help each other to tear masking tape off the roll to make a telescope. This is typical of children’s good behaviour.  The atmosphere is calm and purposeful inside and out. The environment and activities are well organised

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Early years provision is good

and adults work well together to meet the differing needs of the children. Teaching assistants ask effective questions so that children learn as they play, or suggest new ideas to challenge them. However, the activities that children can select for themselves to promote some aspects of learning, for example their creative or physical development, are not equally rich. Similarly, the quality of the environment is not equally strong in all areas both inside and out.  Links with home and pre-school settings help to identify potentially vulnerable children quickly. This involves the family link worker (partly funded by pupil premium) and the special educational needs coordinator as well as the teacher. Careful planning ensures that everything is in place to help these children settle quickly so that no time is wasted in helping them to start to catch up with their peers. Where necessary, staff seek specialist advice from other professionals so that pupils with particular needs

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Early years provision is good

get the right support, such as speech and language therapy.  Strong leadership means that the early years provision is improving. Support from the local authority has helped to make sure that the checks on how well children are doing are accurate.  Parents that spoke with inspectors were very happy about how their children are settling in and getting on already in school.

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School details

Unique reference number 115963 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 10002377

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School details

This inspection 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 181 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Peter Brown Headteacher Jon James Telephone number 01962 853889 Website www.winnallprimary.com Email address j.james@winnall.hants.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 12–13 September 2013

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Information about this school

 This school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  Most pupils are of White British heritage.  Nearly half of pupils are eligible for pupil premium funding, much higher than the national average. This is additional government funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals or looked after by the local authority (disadvantaged pupils).  The proportion of disabled pupils or those identified with special educational needs is above average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations of pupils’ attainment and progress.  The school provides a breakfast club for pupils in partnership with the Salvation Army.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching and learning in all classes, mostly alongside the headteacher or deputy headteacher.  They reviewed a wide range of pupils’ work and spoke with them about their learning and views of the school.  Inspectors also held meetings with teachers, school leaders, governors and a representative of the local authority.  They spoke informally with parents and took account of 19 responses submitted to Parent View as well as previous surveys conducted by the school. They also analysed 21 questionnaires returned by staff.  Inspectors observed the work of the school and reviewed a range of the school’s documentation including information about how well current pupils are doing, the school’s own checks about its performance and paperwork relating to safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Clive Dunn, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Sean McKeown Ofsted Inspector guidance 'Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . 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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Inspection team

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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Inspection team

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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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Inspection team

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, further education and skills, 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Inspection team

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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

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