Setting

Mr Peter Burbridge Headteacher Western Church of England Primary School Browning Drive Winchester Hampshire SO22 5AR

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Short inspection of Western Church of England Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 15 December 2015, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in June 2011.

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Short inspection of Western Church of England Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have recruited and developed a skilled new leadership team to drive forward improvements so that the school can become outstanding in the future. Leaders are accurate in evaluating the areas that can be refined even further so that all groups of pupils receive an excellent education across a wide range of subjects. All staff are committed to this vision. Parents and staff are clearly supportive of your leadership and value your commitment and drive to improve the school further. Parents are pleased with the good and often rapid progress that pupils make and, in addition, welcome the wider values that the school promotes. One parent commented, ‘My children are making progress and are challenged but, more than that, they are being taught how to treat others with tolerance and respect – vital in today’s world’.

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Short inspection of Western Church of England Primary School

Pupils enjoy coming to this school and achieve well because you and other leaders ensure the curriculum promotes those skills that help them to become ‘confident individuals, successful learners and responsible citizens’. Leaders and staff model the values or ‘golden threads’ that hold the school community together – compassion, love and respect. Consequently, pupils show a strong desire to learn and behave well both in and out of lessons. Opportunities such as ‘play buddies’ and the ‘make a difference’ rota, where pupils can sign up to help in different aspects of school life, strengthen pupils’ sense of responsibility and service to others. Ofsted

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Short inspection of Western Church of England Primary School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk You and other senior leaders focus closely on removing any barriers which may hinder pupils’ success in the next stage of their education. Your deployment of resources and the use of additional adults ensure that pupils who may be at risk of falling behind catch up quickly. As a result, pupils’ overall outcomes, including those for disadvantaged pupils, are good.

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Short inspection of Western Church of England Primary School

When the school was last inspected, leaders were praised for the warm, caring atmosphere which contributed to ‘outstanding care, guidance and support’. Inspectors also identified the need to improve consistency in the quality of teaching so that lessons addressed the needs of all learners and to develop leaders’ skills in checking the impact of their work on pupils’ outcomes. Leaders have tackled these areas effectively so that:  new and established teachers are clear about leaders’ expectations for the way in which pupils learn in all year groups  leaders’ regular checks ensure pupils in every class receive good or better teaching in reading, writing and mathematics  staff know pupils well, can identify any gaps in their learning and plan successful additional support to help them catch up quickly.

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Short inspection of Western Church of England Primary School

You and your leadership team, although relatively newly formed, are clear in your pursuit of excellence. The skilled and dedicated governors are well placed to support this journey and are rightly ambitious for the whole school community. The governing body has not ensured, however, that the full information about the school’s use of additional funding, for example through the pupil premium, is reported to parents on the school’s website.

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Short inspection of Western Church of England Primary School

You know the areas that need improvement and have formed well-judged plans to tackle these. Senior leaders, crucially, know that too many disadvantaged pupils miss school regularly. They recognise that the actions they have taken so far have not successfully remedied this. They have identified that more-able pupils do not make the same rapid progress in reading as they do in writing and mathematics because teaching does not consistently provide the right level of challenge. Phonics teaching is not yet consistently meeting the needs of boys and too few of them reach the expected standard in phonics at the end of Year 1. In addition, leaders in subjects other than English and mathematics have not evaluated the extent to which their work has improved outcomes for pupils. This means that they are not able to pinpoint accurately the actions needed to secure good or better progress for pupils in a wide range of subjects.

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Short inspection of Western Church of England Primary School

Leaders take safeguarding seriously and attend regular training. All senior leaders hold recently updated qualifications designed for the designated safeguarding lead. The safeguarding governor has also undertaken recent training in all aspects of the most current national legislation. Parents, staff and pupils are united in their view that pupils are safe in school. There are well-planned opportunities for pupils to consider risk, including e-safety, through a range of subjects including science, computing, and personal and social education. As a result, pupils have a good understanding of the risks associated with accessing or sharing information online and other risks to their personal safety.

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Short inspection of Western Church of England Primary School

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of high quality. Staff take an active approach to safeguarding, following up concerns robustly. They ensure that they work together with a range of other agencies to reduce any possible risk of harm. All current policies reflect the most recent national guidance and leaders have a clear grasp of their new duties, such as keeping pupils safe from the risks of radicalisation.

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Inspection findings

 Since your appointment, you have maintained a strong focus on improving outcomes for all pupils and developing an exciting, ‘buzzing’ curriculum to inspire pupils’ love of learning. Your personal drive and commitment is highly valued by parents and respected by staff.  Your leadership motivates staff at all levels to take ownership of improvement. You have developed a strong leadership team to drive forward improvements and increase the pace of transformation in the quality of learning in the school.  Parents are united in their praise for the school. They value the contribution the school makes to pupils’ personal and academic development. They feel welcome in school and appreciate the time staff take to discuss pupils’ individual needs. Parents feel confident that staff know their children well.  The exciting and engaging curriculum inspires pupils to learn. Pupils are animated when they talk about topics such as ‘Vile Victorians’ and enjoy the wide

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Inspection findings

range of first-hand experiences the school provides, including visits to other places of worship such as the local synagogue.  Leaders make regular checks on actions they take to improve teaching in English and mathematics. While leaders in other subjects take effective action to improve teachers’ subject knowledge and support planning, they do not check how effective their work has been in ensuring pupils are making good or better progress as a result. Consequently, the school does not know precisely how well pupils are achieving in subjects other than English and mathematics.  Teachers take part in regular training which supports them very well to develop their practice. For example, they know which aspects of teaching, learning and assessment they need to improve and act quickly on leaders’ advice. Teachers who are new to the profession have made a successful start to their teaching career.  Leaders hold regular meetings with staff to review the progress pupils are

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Inspection findings

making. This ensures that pupils receive help quickly if they are at risk of falling behind. There is a clear plan for all the additional support that pupils receive. Leaders know which additional support is working effectively and make prompt changes when it is not working as well.  Governors are skilled and dedicated. They are supportive of the improvements leaders make. They regularly review performance information to ensure that groups of pupils, such as those who are disadvantaged, are achieving as well as other pupils nationally. However, the governing body has not shared the impact of any additional funding the school receives, including the pupil premium and sports funding, on the school’s website so that parents know the difference it has made.  Pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics across all year groups and increasing numbers of pupils make rapid progress. Their attainment

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Inspection findings

at the ends of the early years, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 is consistently above national averages. Disadvantaged pupils achieve at least as well as other pupils nationally.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs achieve well by the end of Key Stage 2. Parents praise recent changes to the support they receive. One parent felt that the new leader has ‘vastly improved the experience for pupils and parents where a child has special educational needs’.  The proportion of children achieving a good level of development in the early years has risen. However, last year the proportion of pupils securing the expected standard in the phonics check at the end of Year 1 dipped. This was because teaching did not ensure boys maintained the good start they made in the early years. Checks made on pupils’ current rates of progress and achievement in phonics show that, again, too few boys in the current Year 1 are

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Inspection findings

on track to reach the expected standard by the end of the year.  Increasing numbers of pupils begin Key Stage 2 at or above the standards expected for their age. Too few pupils make rapid progress in reading from these high starting points because teaching does not focus sharply on the higher-level reading skills these pupils need before they begin Year 6. Pupils feel they are not challenged as much as they should be and do not receive as much time from their teacher as other pupils to help them develop their skills.  Attendance is above the national average. Some groups of pupils, however, miss school regularly. Current information shows, for example, that three quarters of pupils who are disadvantaged attend less frequently than other pupils nationally. The school's work with families who may need additional help to ensure their children are in school is not yet fully effective. Additionally, leaders have not

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Inspection findings

checked to see the impact of this work on improving attendance.  Whole-school values of compassion, love and respect support pupils to develop their sense of moral purpose extremely well. Pupils enjoy additional responsibilities that they undertake and see themselves as ‘role models that others can look up to’. In addition, they value the weekly awards for ‘citizen of the week’ and aspire to achieve them.  Behaviour is good throughout the school and pupils are proud to be members of the school community. They are enthusiastic in their learning, complete work to a high standard and make good use of the feedback they receive from teachers to improve their work further.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and governors should ensure that:  they target actions to improve pupils’ attendance on those who are disadvantaged so that attendance improves quickly  teaching focuses more sharply on identifying the most appropriate next steps for pupils in phonics and reading so that: – more-able pupils are consistently challenged to develop higher-level reading skills and make rapid progress from their starting points – boys secure the expected standard in phonics at the end of Year 1  leaders regularly evaluate the impact of their work so that they can accurately pinpoint actions to secure good or better progress for pupils across a wide range of subjects  the governing body reports the impact of the additional funding they receive on the school’s website so that parents know how effectively it has been used.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for Hampshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

I met with you, other leaders, teachers, pupils and two governors including the Chair of the Governing Body. I also met with a representative of the local authority. I visited six lessons with you and scrutinised pupils’ work in phonics (the sounds letters make) and reading. We observed the individual support pupils who are disabled or who have special educational needs receive in four sessions. I took account of 22 responses to a staff survey and 79 responses by parents to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. In addition, I considered 83 responses by pupils to their online survey and a further 59 written comments from parents. I spoke with a group of pupils drawn from Key Stages 1 and 2. I analysed a range of the school’s documentation, including leaders’ checks on pupils’ current performance, plans for additional support and intervention, the school improvement plan, leaders’ checks on the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, and safeguarding policies and

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Information about the inspection

procedures. I reviewed current attendance information for groups of pupils and discussed your own evaluation of the school’s performance with you.

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