West Huntspill Community Primary School

West Huntspill Community Primary School New Road, Huntspill, Highbridge, Somerset TQ9 3QE

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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

 Effective partnership working across the two schools in the Huntspill Federation has strengthened the school’s leadership. Improvement planning is precise and focuses resources on the right areas for development.  The headteacher provides inspirational leadership. An ethos of respect and aspiration permeates all of the school’s work. As a result, the school has improved significantly since the previous inspection.  Leaders have taken decisive and effective action to improve attendance, which is now in line with the national average. Teachers have adopted the headteacher’s passion for progress. They provide very good guidance for pupils to improve their work.  Teachers plan a broad curriculum which interests and motivates pupils. As a result, pupils develop positive attitudes to learning and make good progress.  Pupils’ conduct is good. They develop a strong sense of their own self-worth and a deeply-rooted

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This is a good school

respect for others.  Pupils’ presentation in books is of a high quality across the school. Handwriting in Key Stage 2 is particularly good.  The teaching of reading is highly effective, particularly in the early years.  The Autism Base provides high-quality support for pupils. As a result, they thrive and achieve well.  Children speak enthusiastically about their school and their learning. They say they are very happy and that the school keeps them safe.  Parents say that they appreciate how school staff keep them informed about their child’s progress. They are pleased with the quality of education and care their children receive.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Governors’ checks on the school’s work are not systematic enough to enable them to hold leaders fully to account.  Teachers do not always provide activities that challenge and extend pupils’ thinking.  Teachers in the early years do not always have the very highest of expectations of children’s writing.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen teaching to improve pupils’ achievement, by: – challenging and extending pupils’ thinking to the full – ensuring that teachers have consistently high expectations for children’s writing in the early years.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen the leadership and management of the school by making sure that: – governors systematically check the work of the school for themselves to enable them to hold leaders to account with greater effect.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 Since the previous inspection, school leaders have made significant improvements to the quality of teaching. The school now has high aspirations for all pupils’ achievement.  The headteacher has been resolute in his drive for improvement. He has developed a committed team that shares his drive and aspiration. Teaching and pupils’ achievement are improving strongly because there is an unwavering commitment from all staff to provide a high-quality education.  Subject leaders make regular checks on the quality of teaching by visiting lessons, looking at the work in pupils’ books and reviewing information about pupils’ progress. The helpful advice and training they provide have been effective in improving teachers’ skills.  Effective partnership working across the Huntspill Federation has strengthened the school’s leadership and management. The consistent approach and aspiration across the two schools enables teachers to challenge

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

each other’s expectations. As a result of this work, standards of presentation in pupils’ books have improved.  School leaders advocate strong moral principles such as respect and kindness and these pervade the school. This was exemplified in an assembly led by the headteacher where pupils were introduced to new phrases meaning ‘thank you’ in many different languages. Pupils are encouraged to make connections between their values, cultures and traditions and their understanding of others. The school takes positive steps to widen pupils’ understanding of different cultures and religions. This helps to prepare pupils well for life in modern Britain.  The curriculum has improved since the previous inspection. It is broad and provides rich opportunities for pupils to apply their skills in writing and mathematics. For example, in humanities, pupils have drawn pie charts to compare populations of the USA and UK. The curriculum makes learning interesting and plays a

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

strong part in ensuring that pupils develop positive attitudes to learning. Over time this is resulting in better levels of achievement and progress for all.  Visitors coming into the school and trips out of school have broadened pupils’ perceptions of communities that are very different to their own. The school’s ethos promotes equality and embraces diversity. Discriminatory behaviour is not tolerated. Pupils told inspectors that, ‘being different is interesting but actually we are all the same on the inside’.  Leaders make sure that everyone has an equal chance to do well and attend all the activities on offer at the school. Additional funds to support disadvantaged pupils are spent carefully to support these pupils in achieving their potential.  Funding for physical education and sports is used effectively to develop pupils’ knowledge and experience of competitive games and activities. Pupils energetically participate in games during break and lunchtimes,

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

often inventing their own activities. Good links with other schools and providers have helped to increase levels of pupils’ participation in sport and clubs outside of the school.  Communication with parents is effective. The great majority of parents express their satisfaction with the school. Parents view their children as being happy, achieving and well cared for by the school.  External support from the local authority and a local leader of education has helped leaders to sharpen their monitoring of teaching.  The governance of the school – Governors contribute effectively to school improvement. Since the previous inspection, the effective training governors have received has resulted in them providing a greater level of challenge to senior leaders. Governors now monitor aspects of the school’s improvement work to greater effect and speak knowledgeably about the school’s strengths and weaknesses. However, their monitoring is not yet

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

systematic enough for them to hold leaders robustly to account for the quality of the teaching and pupils’ progress. – Governors have an accurate understanding of how well the school is doing in comparison to national standards, including how well disadvantaged pupils are making progress compared to others in school and nationally. – Financial management is sound and governors are fully involved in making decisions about how to spend additional funds. They are aware of the difference these funds are making to pupils’ academic and physical well-being. Governors are still developing their strategic role in evaluating their own work.  The arrangements for safeguarding and protecting pupils are effective. All staff speak knowledgeably about what to do and whom to go to if they have concerns about a pupil’s welfare. The headteacher is tenacious in ensuring that staff are well informed and up to date. Arrangements for child protection are rigorous and

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

consistently applied. The very rare instances of bullying and poor behaviour are dealt with the same level of rigour. Timely and effective relationships with parents and other agencies ensure that pupils are kept safe and their welfare needs are met.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 Teaching has improved since the previous inspection and is now enabling pupils to do well across the school, particularly in Key Stage 2. As a result, pupils make good progress in all subjects.  Some good use of questioning, together with helpful feedback to pupils, helps them know how to improve their work. For example, in a Year 3 and 4 mathematics lesson on perimeter, the most-able pupils were able to explain their understanding of perimeter and went on to apply their knowledge to solve other problems.  Occasionally, however, pupils are not offered sufficiently challenging activities to deepen their thinking or to use their initiative to seek out new information to consolidate their understanding.  Teachers plan learning well. As a result, pupils know what they need to do and respond well to any advice they are given. They show a great determination to succeed and meet their targets.  Teaching assistants make a valuable contribution to the work of the school. They receive appropriate

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

training and, as a result, are adept at encouraging pupils’ thinking. The excellent support they provide in the early years effectively reinforces children’s vocabulary and helps them to make good links between literacy and mathematics.  Teachers use their strong subject knowledge to plan interesting topics and lessons that extend pupils’ knowledge and skills. Pupils apply their writing and mathematical skills well across all subjects. Pupils’ work in science includes extended pieces of writing describing how the heart works, mathematical tables and charts of pulse rates and detailed scientific diagrams.  The teaching of phonics (letters and the sounds that they make) and pupils’ reading is good. Children become proficient readers in the early years and continue to make good progress throughout the school. Support for pupils who struggle with reading is effective, which helps these pupils do well.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 Teachers attest to the benefits of joint training events with the other school in the federation. The resulting improvements have contributed effectively to pupils’ good progress.  The school’s approach to assessing pupils’ gains in knowledge, skills and understanding is well established. It is contributing strongly to pupils’ improving performance over time and helping teachers to raise their expectations. It is also helping teachers identify the next steps in pupils’ learning with greater precision.  In the early years, teachers and other adults do not always develop children’s writing skills quickly enough. As a result, pupils’ progress in writing is not as strong as in other areas of their learning.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. Pupils benefit from the strong moral ethos established by the headteacher and the school’s effective pastoral care.  Pupils of all ages speak knowledgeably about how to keep themselves safe and how visits from people such as the local police officer and road safety officer have helped their understanding. Even the very youngest pupils are aware that they should not communicate with strangers on the internet.  Pupils feel well supported and say that adults in the school always listen to them.  Pupils value their education and are proud to be at the school. Older pupils speak passionately about their roles in the school council. They speak knowledgably about democracy and give examples of how they work together to help each other improve.  Pupils are adamant that bullying ‘does not happen in our school’. They know about different kinds of bullying

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Personal development and welfare

and speak with maturity about how it must feel to be bullied and how bullies might need to understand ‘the point of view of others’.  The school provides a safe and orderly environment in which pupils can learn. Pupils of all ages exude a high level of confidence and demonstrate their enjoyment of learning. They have a strong sense of self-worth and demonstrate the greatest respect for adults and their classmates.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils enjoy coming to school. Their conduct around the school is often exemplary. There is a culture of respect which pupils understand and appreciate.  In lessons, pupils are eager to participate and are very responsive to adult instruction. They apply themselves and cooperate well in paired talk or shared tasks.  Attendance is much improved and is now in line with the national average. The attendance of many pupils is consistently high. The school works closely and successfully with families and other agencies to improve attendance of the few pupils who continue to have significant absences.  Play and lunchtime activities are well supervised. Pupils are creative in making up games and all ages play happily together.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 Historically, from starting points that are mainly typical for their age, children in the early years make good progress. The improved teaching of phonics has led to an improvement in the proportion of Year 1 pupils achieving the expected standard in phonics, which is now in line with the national average.  Improvements in teaching since the previous inspection, together with additional individual support, have enabled pupils to make rapid progress from their various starting points.  In 2015, the well-planned support and improvements in teaching led to a greater proportion of Year 6 pupils achieving better than expected progress, particularly in writing. There are no gaps in attainment between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils in the school.  Pupils who have special educational needs or disability and those who need to catch up are given carefully planned support. As a result, these pupils make substantial progress. Pupils who attend the Autism Base

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Outcomes for pupils are good

often make exceptional progress from their starting points as a result of the high quality of the provision.  By the end of Key Stage 2, an increasing number of pupils are achieving at the very highest levels. Consequently, pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education.  Current information shows that in almost all year groups, pupils are on track to achieve the standards expected of them. There are no patterns of weak attainment in subjects, with the exception of writing in the early years. Leaders have credible plans in place to address this issue.  Pupils quickly become confident and fluent readers. They speak positively about reading and share information about their favourite authors. The new reading resources are proving successful at supporting more-reluctant readers. As a result, pupils’ enthusiasm for reading has soared, as have their reading ages.  Pupils’ learning in subjects such as science, geography and history is good. They cover a good range of

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Outcomes for pupils are good

topics and write for different purposes. Pupils’ work on diverse topics, such as the Treaty of Versailles and the theory of evolution, demonstrates good levels of general knowledge and pupils’ understanding of different points of view.

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Early years provision is good

 Good leadership ensures that children settle quickly into school. Effective induction arrangements and close partnerships with parents and pre-school supports children’s readiness to learn.  Adults are vigilant in ensuring that children are safe. Children are exceptionally well cared for and as a result quickly develop confidence in speaking and gain appropriate social skills. Risk assessments are detailed and the learning area is safe from hazards. The well-organised classroom and outside areas allow children to use equipment independently and safely. For example, when they were cutting out ‘Billy Goats Gruff’ images they used scissors with care and collaborated well. They praised and encouraged each other to cut carefully.  Interactions between staff and children are good. Adults use questioning effectively to extend children’s learning.  Well-established routines help children understand what is expected of them and encourage them to behave

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Early years provision is good

well. They listen carefully to each other, cooperate well and demonstrate an eagerness to learn. Children have beaming smiles as they focus intently on their activities. They giggle with delight as they learn and play safely alongside each other.  Records of children’s achievements are accurate and cover all areas of children’s learning. Teaching staff know the children very well and plan activities effectively to motivate and engage them. However, expectations of what children can achieve in writing are not always high enough, and they do not always achieve as well in writing as in other learning activities.  Children make particularly good progress in reading and phonics. Tasks in mathematics are well structured and offer appropriate challenge for all abilities. For example, some children correctly identify one more and one less while others are equally well challenged to learn number bonds to 10 and 20.

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Early years provision is good

 Leaders ensure that additional government funding is used effectively to support disadvantaged children. Well-planned support for individual children and close work with families result in disadvantaged children making good progress.  Parents speak positively about the school. They point out that their children settle quickly, are happy to come to school and that staff are very helpful and supportive.  Adults are effective in adapting tasks to meet children’s individual interests. Consequently, children acquire mature levels of confidence and strong self-awareness that ensure that they are ready for Year 1.

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School details

Unique reference number 123696 Local authority Somerset Inspection number 10008183

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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 Maintained Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 62 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair John Mickelwright Headteacher James Peate Telephone number 01278 783842 Website www.huntspillfederation.co.uk/westhuntspillschool.aspx Email address office@westhuntspill.somerset.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 26–27 September 2013

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Information about this school

 West Huntspill Community Primary School is smaller than the average-sized primary school. It is federated with East Huntspill Community Primary School, which is approximately two miles away. A headteacher leads, and a single governing body serves, both schools.  Until recently, the school received support from a local leader of education from St Michael’s Academy in Yeovil.  About one third of pupils attend from outside West Huntspill.  Pupils are taught in three mixed-age classes.  Due to the very small size of the school, the numbers in identified groups for each year are often individual pupils. The report will refer to pupils in key stages to avoid identification.  The school has specially resourced provision for pupils with autism, which currently has one Key Stage 1 pupil attending.  Nearly all pupils are of White British heritage.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs or disability is below the national average

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Information about this school

and the proportion of those who have a special educational needs statement, disability or an education, health and care plan is also below average.  The proportion of pupils who are disadvantaged and supported by the pupil premium is in line with the national average. The pupil premium is additional funding for those pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and those pupils who are looked after by the local authority.  The school meets the government’s floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  There is a breakfast club managed by the school, which was visited during the inspection.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection took place over two days. This was a coordinated inspection with East Huntspill Community Primary School, the partner school in the Huntspill Federation. Each school was inspected independently by an inspector and receives its own inspection report.  Inspectors visited all classes and observed teaching and learning in nine lessons. One lesson was observed jointly with the headteacher. A short number of visits to classrooms were made to look at pupils’ work in their books and the range of activities on offer to pupils. Inspectors talked informally to pupils and heard some read.  Inspectors also observed breakfast club, a school assembly and talked to parents at the start of each school day.  Discussions were held with the headteacher, teachers and support staff. Both inspectors of the Huntspill Federation met together with senior subject leaders across the two schools. Two telephone discussions

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Information about this inspection

took place, one with the Chair of the Federated Governing Body and the second with a representative from the local authority. Inspectors met with two representative groups of pupils from Years 3 to 6 to gather their views about the school and talk to them about their learning.  The lead inspector held a joint meeting with the lead inspector of East Huntspill Community Primary School when speaking to representatives from the governing body of the Huntspill Federation.  Inspectors analysed 12 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire (Parent View) about the school and carried out a scrutiny of the school’s own questionnaires.  Inspectors looked at a range of documentation, including senior leaders’ plans for improvement, information on pupils’ progress and records relating to attendance, safety and welfare.

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Inspection team

Tracy Hannon, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Fiona Allen, team inspector 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

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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