Wentworth CofE (Controlled) Junior and Infant School

Wentworth CofE (Controlled) Junior and Infant School Churchfield Lane, Wentworth, Rotherham, South Yorkshire S62 7TX

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Effective leadership, especially by the headteacher and deputy headteacher, has secured continuous improvements since the previous inspection, most notably in developing the curriculum, teaching and achievement.  Teaching, learning and assessment are good and improving. Staff are committed and able. They plan relevant and engaging lessons that enable pupils to work with increasing confidence, knowledge and understanding, especially in mathematics. Occasionally, the most able pupils are not challenged sufficiently in writing tasks.  Reading is taught consistently well throughout the school. Pupils quickly develop the habit of regular reading from the letters and sounds of good phonics teaching in the early years and Year 1 to the extensive texts read in Year 6.  Most pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics during their time at school. Even so, children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

making slower progress than other groups of pupils.  Pupils’ progress in a wide range of subjects is developing but new assessment systems are not yet embedded throughout the school.  Pupils are respectful, polite and keen to learn. Their behaviour is consistently good in lessons and around school.  Pupils are safe and secure. They feel well cared for and are confident that staff deal quickly to put a stop to the very rare cases of bullying.  Children enjoy learning and make good progress in the early years class. This is due to good teaching and exceptionally well-planned activities that stimulate their curiosity and enthusiasm for learning. The provision is well led and managed.  A substantial proportion of parents are critical of the quality of the school’s communication, especially when they have concerns.  Plans for improving the school do not always make clear enough what difference they are intended to have on pupils’ learning and

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

progress. Consequently, leaders and governors are not evaluating the performance of teachers and of the school sharply enough to drive further improvement.  The new governing body challenges and supports leaders well. Governors have a good overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching and learning and outcomes for pupils by: – ensuring that work, particularly in writing, challenges the most able pupils – making better use of the school’s new curriculum assessment criteria to ensure that the most able pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make strong progress in a wide range of subjects.  Improve leadership and management by: – developing strong and effective communication with parents by responding quickly to concerns, consulting before changes are made and explaining the reasons for them – including precise success criteria in all development plans and performance management targets in order to evaluate sharply the impact actions are having on pupils and where school performance could be improved.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

 The headteacher is ambitious for pupils to do well and committed to providing a high- quality education for all pupils. The vision and ethos of the school is shared by all staff, governors and many pupils.  The headteacher and deputy headteacher make an effective team and together they are providing strong and effective leadership to several new staff. Subject leaders are very clear about what is required of them. As a result, the school is improving.  The leadership of teaching is effective. Checks by senior leaders and subject leaders identify strengths and areas for development. Training and support for teachers is effective and has a positive impact on pupils’ progress. The school’s current focus on improving spelling and the use of technical language are recent examples identified from the extensive ‘book looks’, ‘drop-ins’ and learning observations that take place throughout the school.  The curriculum, reviewed since the previous inspection, ensures suitable breadth to

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

learning. It has led to a sharper focus on academic work, including learning a language and playing instruments. The school’s wider curriculum is lively and interesting, providing increasing extra-curricular opportunities. Art and singing in the choir are especially popular with pupils.  British values of tolerance, respect and upholding the law are firmly integrated into the Christian ethos of the school. Pupils are learning about other religions, respecting others and their local community. Such work makes a strong contribution to pupils’ good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  Leaders and governors have acted upon all recommendations from an external report into last year’s national tests. They have made significant changes to the administration of such tests with the support of the diocese, local authority and their partner schools.  Assessment systems have been reviewed recently. Regular training and moderation is

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

helping to develop teachers’ confidence and security in assessing pupils’ work in reading, writing and mathematics. A clear system of progression in knowledge, understanding and skills in all other subjects has been developed. However, this is not sufficiently embedded and used by leaders to be able to identify and report on the progress pupils are making across a wide range of subjects.  Much work is taking place to include and involve parents in their children’s learning. Despite the work the school is doing to restore parents’ confidence in the school, communication requires improvement. Parent View results and discussions with parents indicate some concerns in this respect. New governors are aware of the need to improve communication.  Leaders review the school’s performance regularly and performance management systems are in place. However, staff appraisal targets and success criteria in school

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

development plans lack precision. Consequently, leaders and governors are not evaluating sharply the difference they are having on pupils’ achievement and personal development.

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Governance of the school

 Following the recent retirement of all governors, the new governing body have quickly gained a realistic and accurate view of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. They challenge and support leaders well.  Use of specialist funding is having a positive impact on disadvantaged pupils, and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Both groups are making progress and disadvantaged pupils make good progress and have caught up with other pupils from similar starting points.  Governors ensure that sports and physical education funding is used appropriately. Pupils are learning to play a wide range of sports activities and are developing physical skills and fitness.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders have created a culture where safeguarding is a core responsibility of all adults in the school.  Systems to secure the well-being and safety of pupils are in place. The required employment checks are made. The site is secure and well supervised. Staff are appropriately trained and there are regular updates throughout the year. Consequently, all staff, including lunchtime supervisors, are clear about procedures for passing on concerns about pupils’ welfare.  Staff who are new to the school quickly receive a thorough induction and training so that all staff know what to do and can react quickly to any concerns. Designated safeguarding leaders value the enhanced training they have received. They say it has helped them to understand threats such as radicalisation and situations where this may occur.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 Teaching, learning and assessment are typically good across all key stages. Teaching is planned well to engage pupils and build on what they know and can do. Learning is purposeful and most pupils enjoy lessons and find them interesting.  Most teachers and teaching assistants are new to the school since the previous inspection. They work well together and teachers build effective partnerships with assistants and use them well to support pupils’ learning.  Relationships in lessons between pupils and with staff are harmonious. Pupils feel their teachers are interested in them and listen to what they have to say. Teachers and teaching assistants use questioning effectively to check and develop pupils’ understanding.  Reading is consistently taught well throughout the school. Teachers and teaching assistants are effective in developing pupils’ phonic skills, particularly in Years 1 and 2.  Pupils’ writing is extensive and, in line with school policy, reading is used well to

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

support writing in all classes. For example, Year 5 pupils drew upon their reading of ‘Cosmic’ to inform their writing. Pupils’ use of language adds colour and verve to the conversations they describe in their stories. Children in the Reception class do likewise to write descriptions of dinosaurs.  Generally, pupils engage in activities and collaborate readily to tasks that require them to work in groups or teams. For example, pupils in Year 3 and 4 worked together well to contribute ideas when reviewing their research into the water cycle. As a result, most Year 3 pupils gained a deeper understanding of how to structure and connect information in their writing.  Pupils’ learning and progress in mathematics has continued to improve since the previous inspection. A review of mathematics’ teaching has resulted in a greater focus on pupils demonstrating their calculations and explaining their thinking when solving

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

problems. As a result, pupils are working confidently in mathematics, especially in key stage 2. For example, one pupil explained, ‘I used to find it confusing last year, but now I’m learning quite a lot and I’m starting to enjoy it.’  Pupils are becoming more resourceful and independent, especially in Year 6, and have learned a range of strategies to use in mathematics to help them when they get stuck. They are developing the skills to organise key information in other subjects and use their previous knowledge to solve complex problems.  Good use is made of resources such as different technologies, including those online, to stimulate pupils’ engagement in learning. For example, Year 1 pupils quickly grasped how to save their written work to their folder when using computers and when and why they needed to do so.  Sometimes, written tasks are well within pupils’ capability, particularly for the most

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

able. Consequently, they are not learning as quickly as they could or recognising the importance of pushing themselves. Teachers’ expectations of pupils could, on occasion, be higher to ensure that these pupils are provided with and encouraged to do their best and attempt more challenging work.  The school is starting to take action to improve pupils’ handwriting and spelling. Some pupils do not always apply the techniques they are taught in daily sessions to form their letters accurately. Spelling and the use of technical language are beginning to be used more explicitly across the curriculum. Although pupils use specialist terms, they do not always use them correctly or are not able to explain them. For example, some Year 3 pupils struggled to understand the concepts of condensation and evaporation in recent work.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Most pupils express themselves confidently. They are developing enthusiasm for learning and take a keen interest in finding out how to improve their work. Pupils are proud of their achievements and the school provides many opportunities for them to celebrate their individual successes and, increasingly, to share their work with their parents and families.  Pupils in key stage 2 are developing a sense of responsibility and social skills as a result of a wide range of opportunities such as e-cadets, play leaders and library monitors. Such opportunities are carefully considered to support pupils’ development. School council members are reflective and take their duties seriously.  Pupils say they feel safe at school. They are well supervised and pupils say there is always an adult around that they can talk to if something is troubling them. The school

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Personal development and welfare

teaches pupils to stay safe online and they are encouraged to make healthy choices at lunchtimes and to look after their physical health.  Most parents have no well-founded concerns about pupils’ care and well-being. All pupils who responded to the inspection survey said they are happy at school. In discussions with the inspector, pupils spoke about teachers ‘being kind’. They explained, ‘When you have to take medicine, they don’t forget to give it to us.’  Bullying incidents are rare, and pupils say that when they happen teachers tackle them effectively. Mostly pupils are well mannered, respectful and considerate towards each other and staff. However, some children are upset when they fall out with friends. In discussions, school council members reflected that sometimes pupils could try to be better friends and include others in their games.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  The school is calm and orderly and pupils’ conduct and attitudes to learning are good. Pupils are motivated to do well and they follow instructions and settle quickly to work in lessons.  Most pupils move sensibly around the school site and they take care in the games they choose to play at breaktimes and lunchtimes so that everyone can make use of the small playground.  Teachers manage behaviour well in classrooms and age-appropriate rules are displayed prominently and discussed with pupils. School policy in this regard is applied consistently in all classes. For example, in the Reception class, children follow their ‘code for learning’. They share, listen, use quiet voices and try their best.  Pupils’ attendance last year was above the national average but fell short of the school’s own target due to holidays taken during term time. Work with parents to help to improve pupils’ punctuality and encourage their support of regular daily attendance

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Behaviour

during term time is taking place.  The attendance of disadvantaged pupils remains strong. The school is supported by specialists in the local authority in helping individuals who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and their families in overcoming barriers to attendance. Attendance since September 2016 is slightly up on the previous year and persistent absence rates are reducing.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 From their individual starting points on entry to the school, most pupils make good progress to achieve age-appropriate knowledge, skills and understanding in reading, writing and mathematics.  Improvements in the teaching of phonics over the last two years have resulted in sharp increases in the number of pupils reaching the expected standard in the phonics screening check. Reading continues to be taught effectively throughout the school. Current Year 1 pupils are making swift progress in understanding words, sounds and spelling.  In 2016, at the end of Year 2, pupils’ attainment was well above average in reading, writing and mathematics for all groups of pupils. Current pupils are working at an advanced rate and are keen to demonstrate what they know.  The latest school performance data shows that pupils in key stage 2, particularly Year 5 pupils, are making fast progress to catch up following slower progress earlier in the

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Outcomes for pupils Good

school. This is reinforced by the contents of pupils’ books. In lessons, pupils were observed by the inspector making fast progress in their learning.  Results for Year 6 pupils were annulled in 2016. School data for current pupils shows they are making swift progress in reading and mathematics. Although the structure and quality of writing has improved, work in books shows handwriting and accuracy in spelling are weaker aspects of their literacy work.  Pupils are working more confidently in mathematics at both key stages. In key stage 1, pupils know the key operations of adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing numbers. Pupils recall number facts well as a result of systematically learning their times tables. They are progressing in Year 6 to solve problems fluently. For example, pupils demonstrated how to use their knowledge of ratio and symmetry to complete challenging problems.  Although cohorts are small, the attainment and progress of disadvantaged pupils over

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Outcomes for pupils Good

time is improving. Differences between the progress and attainment of disadvantaged pupils and those of other pupils nationally are diminishing. This is due to careful use of the pupil premium funding to support their needs. The latest school performance information shows little variation between disadvantaged pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, and others in the school.  Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities currently in school are making slower progress than other pupils in the school. Leaders are currently reviewing the reasons why and they are checking whether barriers to learning and their needs are identified as well as they should be. Adults working alongside pupils are breaking down work into manageable steps. Consequently, pupils are completing their work successfully in lessons.  The number of most-able pupils who are making good progress and who are working

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Outcomes for pupils Good

at the highest levels has risen. However, a small number do not consistently work at the level they are capable of, especially in writing.  Pupils are developing knowledge, skills and understanding in relation to a broad range of subjects through their work on topics. However, new school assessment systems are currently not embedded well enough to show the progress they are making over time.

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Early years provision Good

 Most children enter the early years with skills and abilities that are broadly typical for their age and some are more advanced. By the end of the Reception Year, the proportion of children attaining a good level of development is above the national average and the number who exceed this measure is steadily increasing. Historically, there is an improving trend in outcomes for all groups, including disadvantaged children.  Children are well prepared to enter Year 1 as a result of the good progress they have made from their starting points. A number of children who arrive at school already well advanced in their development have opportunities to work alongside pupils in Year 1 and this helps them to learn quickly, particularly in writing.  The quality of teaching, and especially of phonics, is strong. Pupils make rapid progress in learning to read and to write. Children form letters well and use their developing

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Early years provision Good

knowledge of letters and sounds to make plausible attempts at spelling words. Some children learn harder spellings, including ‘tricky words’. One child remarked, ‘We just have to think about our words and we know how to read.’  Children make secure progress and enjoy learning in response to well-planned activities, within the classroom and outside, that stimulate their curiosity. Their interest in their current topic was stimulated by a visit from a dinosaur, and children were enthusiastically debating whether it could be real, ‘because it moved’. Children are busy and productive in their activities and devour facts and stories about them.  Children enjoy sharing their home learning and demonstrating what they can do. In preparation for writing, a group of children, working with the teacher, recalled the colour of dinosaur skin, ‘like a cucumber’, and descriptions of them, ‘rough, huge and scaly’. Children later read their stories to their teacher and then followed her advice to

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Early years provision Good

correct misspelled words or where capital letters or full stops had been missed.  Children respond well to the learning and social opportunities provided by staff. They quickly learn routines such as getting ready for outside play, lining up for lunch, and listening and standing smartly, eyes facing forward, to go to assembly or to lunch.  Leadership and management are effective, and agreed systems, policies and procedures are followed consistently. Constant records of children’s achievements are made during the day and assessments shared with parents. The new leader monitors how children use the provision and has changed the outside space to make sure that resources match the topic children are following in the classroom. Consequently, children are able to continue their learning to master basic skills.  Parents are involved in their children’s learning and are pleased with their progress. Opportunities to see the class in session, such as a recent ‘Fabulous Finish’ singing and

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Early years provision Good

dancing performance, are well attended.  Arrangements for safeguarding in the early years are effective and all welfare requirements are met. Staff have undergone appropriate training and also receive update training.

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.wentworthchurchofenglandschool.co. uk Email address wentworth-cofe.junior- infant@rotherham.gov.uk Date of previous inspection 4–5 June 2013

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Information about this school

 The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information on its website about the attendance of governors and their business interests, or the effectiveness of its provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders are aware of these omissions and have undertaken to rectify them.  The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school. The vast majority of pupils are White British. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is below the national average.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is below the national average, as too is the proportion that have a statement or an education, health and care plan.  The proportion of pupils who are eligible for support through the pupil premium funding is below the national average.  The school has experienced a significant change of staff since the previous inspection,

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Information about this school

including the headteacher who joined the school shortly after that inspection in September 2013.  Following an investigation by the Standards and Testing Agency, the schools’ 2016 results were annulled. Therefore there is no judgement about whether or not the school meets the government’s current floor standards.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector carried out observations of learning in all classes. Some of these observations were carried out with the headteacher or deputy headteacher.  The inspector spoke to pupils about their learning and analysed pupils’ work in books and the computer presentations they made. She also looked at the work of children in the early years and listened to them read. The inspector looked at pupils’ progress records and a sample of reports sent to parents.  The inspector held discussions with the headteacher, deputy headteacher and subject leaders, other members of staff, governors, representatives of the diocese and the local authority. She also met with pupils representing the school council and spoke informally with parents.  A range of documentation was scrutinised, including the school’s self-evaluation summary, development plans, records of leaders’ checks on teaching and learning, the most recent information on pupils’ attainment and progress, and information relating to

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Information about this inspection

safeguarding, attendance and governance.  The inspector also analysed 72 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, as well as 73 responses to the Ofsted pupil survey and 11 responses to the staff survey.

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Inspection team

Gina White, lead inspector Her Majesty’s 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

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. www.gov.uk/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and- alternative-provision-settings .

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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

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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