Welton Primary School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Mrs Nicola Pidgeon Headteacher Welton Primary School Elloughtonthorpe Way Welton Brough HU15 1TJ

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Short inspection of Welton Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 15 June 2016, 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 February 2011.

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Short inspection of Welton Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. The appointment of the new deputy headteacher has further strengthened the capacity for securing future improvements. Actions taken by senior leaders demonstrate that they know the school well and know how to move it forward.

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Short inspection of Welton Primary School

You have high aspirations for the school and are well supported by staff and governors. You have managed recent changes well, securing outcomes during a period of significant building work and changes to staffing. The ethos of the school remains ‘family’ orientated and this is something you value highly as numbers continue to grow rapidly. Pupils enjoy their ‘creative context’ lessons, allowing opportunities for older pupils to work alongside younger ones, forging friendships and invoking caring and supportive values. Parents feel this is a particularly successful aspect of the school’s work and say their children know each other, which helps to create a friendly community atmosphere. Because pupils work with all the staff throughout the year, they know different adults in school, which supports transition.

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Short inspection of Welton Primary School

The previous inspection report asked you to focus on raising attainment in writing, particularly in key stage 1. You have done this successfully and pupils’ achievements in writing are celebrated across school and are used as exemplars with other schools. Outcomes for writing remain high, with progress at the end of Year 6 being significantly above the national average. Pupils are rightly proud of their achievements and say that writing is one of their favourite subjects. You have worked to improve mathematics outcomes throughout the school and can demonstrate where key improvements have been made. The appointment of a key stage 1 leader and phonics champion is having a positive impact on ensuring that standards continue to rise. Improvements to reading standards have been more limited.

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Short inspection of Welton Primary School

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of high quality. Governors regularly check the single central record as part of their routine monitoring work.

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Short inspection of Welton Primary School

Links with other agencies are well developed and leaders follow up issues quickly. Case studies show that individual pupils are well supported and that leaders challenge decisions if they feel they are not in the child’s best interests.

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Inspection findings

 You, key leaders and staff are committed to ensuring continuous improvement across the school. You have turned previous areas identified as weaknesses into strengths. The writing on display and in books is of a particularly high standard throughout most of the curriculum. Handwriting and presentation are key strengths. The quality of pupils’ written work is reflected in the strong overall outcomes achieved by pupils at the end of key stage 2.  A high proportion of pupils achieve the higher levels of attainment at the end of key stage 2 in mathematics. However, reading is not as strong and although the school achieves at around the national average, the rate of progress is below that of other subjects. You have accordingly given your new deputy headteacher the responsibility for improving early reading outcomes and rates of progress. Initial indications show that work on reading is already having an impact and is supporting the work of the

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Inspection findings

relatively new English leader.  Internal rates of progress are monitored regularly through meetings in which you hold teachers fully accountable. Alongside this, you analyse the progress in workbooks and observe teaching and learning in the classroom. You use this information to create an overview of how teachers are performing which feeds into performance management. Sometimes you can be too positive in your overall assessment, as progress for the most able is not always consistent across the year groups.  Middle leaders are growing in confidence and are developing the skills needed to take on whole-school leadership roles. They provide written reports to governors to give updates on progress for their subject areas. This helps governors to deepen their understanding of how well groups of pupils are progressing. Both you and your chair of governors recognise the need for further leadership roles to be created across the school, to

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Inspection findings

strengthen accountability.  The curriculum is well thought out and allows pupils to have the opportunity to cover a range of subjects such as country dancing, cooking and music. Written topic work is well presented and pupils take pride and pleasure in creating special books to cover each theme. The use of a specialist art teacher is enabling pupils to develop a breadth of skills which are documented in beautifully presented sketch pads. You ensure pupils are offered a wide range of visits to support the curriculum and use these as a vehicle to enhance learning. In Year 2, pupils were using the wall hanging they had created at Normanby Hall as a stimulus for writing instructions.  Behaviour around the school and in lessons is good. Pupils show high levels of engagement because activities are well matched to ensure all pupils are working at the appropriate level. On one occasion when a child showed

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Inspection findings

signs of distress, the situation was dealt with very sensitively by the adult and other pupils continued with their learning. The behaviour policy is followed consistently throughout the school and detailed records kept of any incidents or concerns. Leaders monitor the information regularly and keep parents well informed.  The vast majority of parents agree that their children are happy at school and feel safe. The parents spoken to during the inspection feel the school works hard to ensure their children are happy and they find teachers very approachable. There are a few concerns about the differing amounts of homework on offer across the school, which has already been identified by leaders as an area for development from their own analysis. Parents feel that the regular parents meetings and an annual written report give them comprehensive information about their children’s progress.  Governors are enthusiastic in their support for the work of the school. They

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Inspection findings

meet regularly and visit the school through a robust cycle of monitoring work. Their written reports are then fed back to the whole team. The chair of governors has a realistic and accurate view of where the strengths and weaknesses lie.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 the teaching of reading skills is reviewed across the whole school to ensure progress rates are more consistent across all classes, particularly for the most able pupils.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for East Riding of Yorkshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you, your deputy headteacher, a middle leader and a group of governors. I spoke to the chair of the governing body by telephone. I visited several classrooms with you and your deputy headteacher to observe teaching. I spoke with a range of pupils in lessons and talked to a selected group of parents and reviewed information available on Parent View. I reviewed safeguarding information and analysed a range of documentation. I monitored the quality of pupils’ work in a range of books.

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