Westfield Primary School

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

p.1

Mrs Karyn Hing Headteacher Westfield Primary School Bonsey Lane Westfield Woking Surrey GU22 9PR

p.1

Short inspection of Westfield Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 22 February 2017, 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 December 2012.

p.1

Short inspection of Westfield Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Despite an uncharacteristic dip in mathematics results last year, your leadership team has ensured that the school now provides effectively for current pupils. The school is aware of the challenges it faces in driving further improvement and is taking effective action through increased monitoring and working with parents to address them.

p.1

Short inspection of Westfield Primary School

The school’s caring and welcoming atmosphere is clear and when I talked to parents they confirmed that new pupils, especially from overseas, settle quickly and learn well. This ethos permeates all aspects of school life and underpins pupils’ effective personal, social and emotional development. The strong partnership with parents and carers means that they are supportive of the school, noting that all staff ‘strive for the best, [with] nobody resting on their laurels’.

p.1

Short inspection of Westfield Primary School

You have developed a relatively new team of strong and skilful senior leaders, all of whom are ambitious for pupils in the school. They work hard to look at the ways pupils learn best and seek ways to ensure that teaching is always as effective as it can be. Together, you have worked well to meet the recommendations from the previous inspection. As a result, pupils’ understanding of letters and the sounds to which they linked, and their skills as writers, have improved. Governors, many of whom are new, have developed their respective roles since the last inspection. This has strengthened the governors’ knowledge of the school, but sometimes they do not receive enough information about school performance to challenge leaders as effectively as they could.

p.1

Short inspection of Westfield Primary School

Pupils’ achievement is improving and evidence in classrooms and pupils’ books shows that current Year 6 pupils are on track to attain well in reading and writing, with broadly average results in mathematics. Uncharacteristically, fewer pupils reached the expected standard in reading and mathematics in 2016. This is because of a higher than average number of pupils with complex needs. Also, some who were disadvantaged did not make enough progress to reach expected standards. However, you have moved swiftly to improve these outcomes. As a result, the vast majority of pupils make at least expected progress from their different starting points and much higher proportions now do better than this than last year. Progress is not as consistent in mathematics. Some pupils’ mathematics books show a repetition of work that suggests that teachers do not consistently use the assessment information they hold to plan the most challenging tasks.

p.2

Short inspection of Westfield Primary School

You and your colleagues have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are robust. You are all acutely aware of your responsibilities to protect pupils. You ensure that staff attend training regularly so that they can spot any abuse or concerns swiftly and understand their responsibility to protect pupils. They are clear that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. Pupils who are at risk are supported well. Safeguarding leaders pursue positive outcomes for the most vulnerable pupils in the school’s care thoroughly, enabling these pupils to take a full and active part in the school.

p.2

Short inspection of Westfield Primary School

Almost all the pupils who responded to Ofsted’s online pupil questionnaire say they feel safe at the school. When asked, they know how to keep themselves safe and have a clear understanding of how to use the internet safely. Nearly all pupils feel strongly that there is an adult in the school to whom they can talk if something is worrying them. The high-quality work of your home–school link worker also contributes greatly to safeguarding pupils. Her strong relationships with the local community have enabled her to support families, for example, in getting children to school more regularly and on time. Parents and pupils agree and report that school is a safe and happy place which supports its local community.

p.2

Inspection findings

 You have acted swiftly to improve last year’s weaker mathematics and reading outcomes. Issues that limited pupils’ achievement in the past have been tackled effectively through staff training and changes in the way subjects are taught. These actions have secured stronger progress this year in reading. However, pupils’ performance in mathematics has not made the same rate of improvement over time. This is because teachers do not always use the assessment information that they hold to plan challenging tasks for pupils. You have recently introduced a different approach to teaching mathematics that is improving pupils’ progress.  You have significantly strengthened the leadership of mathematics, English and inclusion. You and other leaders monitor the impact of your plans closely through observations of teachers at work, scrutiny of pupils’ work in books and termly meetings with teachers to discuss the progress pupils make. Assessment

p.2

Inspection findings

information is analysed well by most leaders. However, this information is not collected in a way which means any underachievement is identified fast enough, and governors lack the most up-to-date information about pupils’ outcomes when challenging leaders on the impact of their work.  I looked at how effectively pupils are challenged in their reading. There is a sharp focus on reading across the school. The readers I listened to all enjoyed reading and did so frequently, both at school and at home. Most pupils read with confidence, they are able to predict what would happen in their stories and were able to talk to me about their favourite styles of fiction and non-fiction books. Some of the most able pupils said they enjoyed reading more than one book at a time because they did not want to be restricted in their enjoyment of a whole range of texts. The least able pupils used phonic skills effectively when they

p.3

Inspection findings

tackled difficult words.  You have correctly focused on improving the attendance of pupils, in particular pupils who are disadvantaged and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. You monitor pupils closely, follow up any absence swiftly and share any concerns immediately with the appropriate agencies. The home–school link worker tells families about the importance of coming to school regularly, and offers appropriate support to parents. Records maintained by the school indicate an improvement in the number of pupils who are attending more regularly. Effective approaches by office staff and others who are in frequent contact with parents highlight that coming to school is important and regular attendance is rewarded.  Training has enabled governors to better understand the information the school holds on pupils’ achievements. However, the quantity of information and a focus on barriers rather than the impact of the work, means that they are not as clear

p.3

Inspection findings

about what the school should have done to ensure more pupils made better progress last year.

p.3

Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

p.3

Next steps for the school

 they increase the effectiveness of assessment checks so that action can be taken more swiftly to address any shortfall in achievement, particularly for pupils who are disadvantaged  leaders support governors in improving their understanding of information relating to pupils’ outcomes so they can provide more effective challenge  teachers consistently use assessment information in mathematics to match work to pupils’ different starting points, so that more pupils are challenged by the work set. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Surrey. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

p.3

Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you, your deputy headteacher, members of the senior management team and five governors, including the chair of the governing body. A meeting was held with the adviser from the local authority. I spoke with pupils during lessons, while reading to me, and around the school. Attention was given to the information contained within responses to the online questionnaires for parents, pupils and staff.

p.4

Information about the inspection

I visited classrooms to observe pupils’ learning, looked at their work in books and discussed what they were learning. Information about pupils’ progress, attainment and attendance was reviewed. I scrutinised the school’s self-evaluation and action plans and considered safeguarding, including evaluating the impact of the school’s procedures and policies to keep children safe, recruitment checks and record- keeping.

p.4