West Hill Primary School

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

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Miss Kelly Bracebridge West Hill Primary School High Mount Street Hednesford Cannock Staffordshire WS12 4BH

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Short inspection of West Hill Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 19 September 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 October 2012.

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Short inspection of West Hill Primary School

Along with other school leaders, you have maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You joined the school in September 2013. Along with your recently appointed senior leadership team, you show a determination to ensure that standards continue to improve. The school’s mission statement, ‘we respect, we learn, we achieve’, underpins the culture and ethos of the school. Pupils feel valued and are at the heart of the school community; as a result, pupils’ conduct and their attitudes to learning are highly positive across the school. Parents’ comments reflect this view. They believe that their children thrive at West Hill because of the strong commitment to pastoral care and academic achievement. As one parent commented: ‘The school does everything it can to meet the needs of each individual child.’

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Short inspection of West Hill Primary School

Since the previous inspection, you have experienced some significant changes to staffing in both the leadership and the teaching team. However, you have ensured that this has not had a negative impact on the quality of education you provide. You clearly identified the areas of the school that need to be developed and have tackled these issues with resolve. You have rightly focused on improving writing. The impact of this is seen in pupils’ work, where strong spelling, grammar and punctuation skills are evident. You know that further work is needed to allow pupils to demonstrate these skills in longer pieces of writing.

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Short inspection of West Hill Primary School

In 2016, the performance of middle-ability pupils was not strong enough. During the inspection, evidence seen in pupils’ books and lesson observations showed that there is no significant difference between this group and their peers. However, it is important that you continue to track the performance of these pupils so that any dips in performance can be addressed quickly.

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Short inspection of West Hill Primary School

You have worked relentlessly in order to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. You and your leaders carefully track pupils’ academic performance and swiftly identify any pupils who are at risk of falling behind. You ensure that these pupils have a high profile across the school. As a result of this continual focus, the progress made by these pupils is improving quickly. You are aware that this drive needs to continue to ensure that these improvements are sustained, especially in mathematics.

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Short inspection of West Hill Primary School

The school’s website does not meet statutory requirements because it does not contain enough information about pupils’ academic performance, including the required link to performance tables.

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Short inspection of West Hill Primary School

Safeguarding has the highest priority across the school, and systems for checking staff’s suitability to work with children are robust and well organised; as a result, pupils are well cared for at all times. Appropriate training is undertaken by all staff so that their knowledge of good practice in safeguarding is kept up to date. You keep careful records and make sure that any concerns are reported to the relevant agencies so that the needs of pupils and families are met.

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Short inspection of West Hill Primary School

Pupils take an active role in promoting ways to stay safe. I was particularly impressed by the school’s use of digital leaders. These pupils work alongside their peers and promote ways in which all pupils can stay safe online. As one pupil remarked: ‘Doing this role has made me realise how important it is to know about online safety.’

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Inspection findings

 You and your senior team have a very clear understanding of what the school needs to do to improve further. You had already identified the focus areas for this inspection and have made improvements to your provision. Your detailed monitoring of the quality of teaching, along with effective systems to manage performance, has supported you in making the necessary improvements.  You are ably supported by your governing body. Governors are highly skilled and are clear about what the school needs to do in order to improve further. They are fully supportive of the school’s vision and undertake careful analysis of their own performance.  The senior team shares your determination and passion for continuous improvement. Assessment and monitoring systems have been developed and continually improved, thus enabling you and your team to have a clear overview of school performance. Senior leaders are knowledgeable about their areas of

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Inspection findings

responsibility and have a range of information about the impact of their actions.  There is a consistent approach to the teaching of mathematics across the school. Teachers focus on ensuring that pupils have the required skills such as fluency and reasoning. As a result, pupils can apply these skills to the mathematical problems they are solving. Pupils’ development in these skills is well supported through adept questioning, allowing them to make links within their learning and solve problems independently. However, while the majority of pupils make positive progress in mathematics, there is still a minority of disadvantaged pupils whose progress is not yet strong enough.  Outcomes in writing are improving. Pupils have a strong grasp of the technicalities of writing, such as spelling, grammar and punctuation, and this is evident within pupils’ books, especially in key stage 1. Leaders have focused on

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Inspection findings

providing more opportunities to write at length within subjects such as history and science. However, some pupils do not yet have sufficient stamina to write at length and as a result progress is uneven.  Pupils have a positive attitude to learning and behaviour is good. This is because teachers are very clear about their expectations and set work that provides appropriate challenge for the most able pupils. Pupils tackle tasks with enthusiasm and resilience and enjoy having the opportunity to grapple with problems.  Teachers quickly identify if pupils have any misconceptions and take action to address these. Pupils appreciate the feedback that they receive and use it to good effect to improve their work.  Some statutory information was missing from the school website at the start of the inspection. However, you were able to demonstrate that the information was available within school. You are aware that there are shortcomings with the

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Inspection findings

current format of the website and you are in the process of addressing this.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that they:

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Next steps for the school

 further increase the progress of disadvantaged pupils in order to raise attainment in mathematics  improve outcomes in writing by making sure pupils apply their spelling, punctuation and grammar skills in longer pieces of work  make sure the website meets all statutory requirements and is kept up to date.

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

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Information about the inspection

During this inspection, I spoke with you and your senior leaders about developments since the last inspection, your evaluation of the impact of your work and the effectiveness of safeguarding. I also spoke to four representatives of the governing body.

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Information about the inspection

I took account of 33 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire. I also spoke to a number of parents at the school gates. There were no responses to the staff or pupil questionnaires. I spoke to a number of pupils at lunchtime and took their views into account.

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Information about the inspection

You accompanied me to observe teaching across the school. We also conducted a work scrutiny together. I scrutinised assessment information, school improvement documentation and records relating to the monitoring of teaching and learning.

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