Wolsey House Primary School

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

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Mrs Helen King Headteacher Wolsey House Primary School Beaumont Leys Lane Leicester LE4 2BB

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Short inspection of Wolsey House Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 20 September 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 November 2011.

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Short inspection of Wolsey House Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

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Short inspection of Wolsey House Primary School

You are an effective headteacher. You value your staff team and recognise their qualities. You and your staff know the pupils well and the ethos of the school is one of success. You understand pupils’ social and emotional needs and help them to become successful learners. Your school is an attractive and purposeful place where pupils are expected to achieve and behave well. Pupils take a pride in their school and have positive attitudes to their learning. As one parent commented: ‘Our daughter loves coming to Wolsey House and she is constantly inspired to do her best and achieve in all she does.’

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Short inspection of Wolsey House Primary School

Since your appointment, you have carefully restructured leadership teams and enabled leaders to take full responsibility for their roles. Some leaders are new to key roles but they have quickly established what needs to be done to improve outcomes further. Their actions are already taking effect to address any differences in pupils’ performance, particularly in the early years and in key stage 2.

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Short inspection of Wolsey House Primary School

Your school improvement plan pinpoints clearly the main priorities and you are working towards realistic targets. You have identified writing as a key area for improvement and your actions are leading to better outcomes for pupils. You give staff the training they need and you use external expertise well to develop consistency in the teaching of this subject. Teachers celebrate pupils’ achievements and I saw good examples of writing on display around the school. Current unvalidated assessment information for the end of key stage 2 shows that the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in writing was above that reached by other pupils nationally in 2016.

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Short inspection of Wolsey House Primary School

The school’s systems for tracking pupils’ progress show that the differences in attainment between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils are diminishing in reading, writing and mathematics. Those disadvantaged pupils who need support receive extra help and resources, which benefit their personal and emotional development; because of this, they become confident learners. You have strengthened the ways in which you check how well this group of pupils is doing in order to ensure that their attainment and progress continue to improve.

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Short inspection of Wolsey House Primary School

You have made the most able pupils a major focus because you want to improve outcomes further for this group of pupils. You expect teachers to plan more precisely to help these pupils to reach their full potential in lessons. You have reorganised classes in upper key stage 2 to enable pupils to work in ability groups. Consequently, the most able pupils receive work that is well pitched to their abilities, with positive effect on their achievement. The most able pupils who read to me did so with confidence and fluency. They clearly enjoy reading and are well informed about popular authors. They told me that they like reading texts to gather information and the challenges their teachers set them to make sense of what they read.

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Short inspection of Wolsey House Primary School

At the time of the previous inspection, the school was asked to improve the rate of progress for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. You are addressing this well. Leaders are clear about how well this group of pupils is doing and what effect extra help and guidance have on pupils’ achievement. The school’s information shows that these pupils now make good progress.

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Short inspection of Wolsey House Primary School

Also at the time of the previous inspection, governors were asked to develop their monitoring role more fully in order to hold school leaders to account. Governors are now much more involved in monitoring the school’s work than previously. They ask challenging questions related to improving outcomes for pupils. Governors maintain regular links with leaders which help them to evaluate the effectiveness of leaders’ actions.

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Short inspection of Wolsey House Primary School

You and your designated leaders show rigour in keeping your pupils safe. Together with leaders and governors, you demonstrate a commitment to making the safeguarding of pupils the responsibility of all. Well-organised systems show good communication between staff that ensures a joined-up approach to dealing with any concerns. Leaders know that all staff training is up to date and relevant. They log any concerns about welfare and child protection thoroughly and follow up with staff, parents and external agencies. Paperwork is kept securely and is systematic. The vetting procedures for adults who work with children are robust.

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Short inspection of Wolsey House Primary School

You have introduced a new behaviour and reward system and you help pupils to recognise the different forms that bullying can take. You and your leaders help pupils to know how to stay safe when they use the internet and provide opportunities for parents to be involved in understanding how to keep their children safe. Leaders modify the curriculum to be sure that it helps pupils to understand how to stay safe, including, for example, from the risks associated with extremism and radicalisation. You involve outside agencies such as the community police force and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children to run workshops and assemblies for pupils. In this way, pupils receive good guidance on how to keep themselves safe from any potential risks and what to do if they have any concerns.

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Inspection findings

 Leaders are raising attainment in the early years. In recent years, the proportion of children reaching a good level of development has been below that found nationally. In 2016, the overall figure was much closer to the previous national average. Leaders know what needs to improve and take swift action, for example by ensuring that the curriculum promotes the development of writing in a wide range of ways. Some children, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, start in the early years with writing skills well below those typical for their age. Better-quality teaching has ensured that they are now making better progress. This means that children in the early years are now much better prepared for their learning in Year 1 than previously.

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Inspection findings

 In the 2015 statutory tests, the majority of Year 6 pupils reached the expected standards for their age in reading, writing and mathematics. However, not all of the disadvantaged pupils and the most able pupils made enough progress in reading and mathematics. Reorganisation of the way in which these subjects are taught is leading to improved outcomes for all pupils, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds and the most able pupils.

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Inspection findings

 Leaders are raising the profile of reading throughout the school. They encourage pupils to read regularly at home and in school. Teachers provide texts that are suitably matched to pupils’ abilities, including lower-attaining pupils, and develop pupils’ understanding and vocabulary well. They link writing to reading effectively. However, leaders do not yet make the best use of existing good practice in the school to ensure that reading is consistently well taught.

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Inspection findings

 Leaders provide a range of incentives to encourage pupils and parents to see the importance of good behaviour and good attendance. Attendance is improving and leaders are reducing the frequency with which some pupils stay away from school. The breakfast club is helping to improve punctuality to school. Leaders continue to work hard on various strategies to help them to improve attendance further.

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Inspection findings

 Senior leaders check the progress of all groups of pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and the most able pupils. They share this information with teachers and use it well to decide which pupils would benefit from extra help. However, as the system currently in use is relatively new, not all middle leaders, including in the early years, are yet fully conversant with the information it provides. This prevents them from maintaining an overview of the progress different groups of pupils are making so that teachers can intervene quickly to help those in danger of falling behind.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:  there is a more consistent approach to the teaching of reading by sharing with all staff the best practice that already exists in the school  all leaders, including in the early years, use the progress information gathered by the school more effectively to identify and support those pupils in danger of falling behind.

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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 Leicester. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

When I visited your school, I looked in detail at a number of key lines of enquiry:

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Information about the inspection

 Is safeguarding effective? How well do leaders ensure that safety is promoted through the curriculum and permeates the culture of the school?  How do leaders in the early years ensure that all children, including the disadvantaged, make good progress? What is being done to improve writing?  What are leaders doing to raise attainment in reading by the end of key stage 2? Are pupils making enough progress and are the most able pupils reaching their full potential?  How effectively are leaders improving outcomes for disadvantaged pupils and for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities?  Do leaders have good enough strategies to maintain good behaviour and to promote good attendance?

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you, the deputy headteacher and the leader for assessment. I met with the leader of the early years and the leader responsible for special educational needs and/or disabilities. I met with the chair and two other members of the governing body. I also met with a local authority representative. I visited some classes with you to observe the teaching of reading. I spoke to pupils about their work and I heard some of the most able and less able pupils read. I observed pupils’ behaviour around the school and in class. I scrutinised a range of documentation, including the school’s improvement plan and assessment information. I took account of the response to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, and the 10 free text responses from parents. I checked the single central record of recruitment checks and other documentation relating to safeguarding. The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its

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