Walkington Primary School

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

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Mr Chris Bullough Headteacher Walkington Primary School Crake Wells Walkington Beverley HU17 8SB

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Short inspection of Walkington Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 22 May 2018, 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 September 2013.

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Short inspection of Walkington Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Based on the evidence gathered during this short inspection, I am of the opinion that the school has demonstrated strong practice and marked improvement in certain areas. This may indicate that the school is improving towards being outstanding. Therefore, I am recommending that the school’s next inspection be a section 5 inspection.

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Short inspection of Walkington Primary School

Pupils enjoy coming to Walkington Primary School and they said that lessons are fun. They are confident and articulate young people who work hard and support each other well with their learning. From the youngest age, pupils develop high levels of independence and enjoy positive relationships with the adults in school. The school environment reflects the high expectations that leaders demand, and pupils are proud of being a part of a vibrant school community.

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Short inspection of Walkington Primary School

You are ambitious for the pupils in your school. Your commitment to ensuring that pupils have a broad curriculum means that they enjoy a wide range of experiences to widen their perspective on the world. Leaders, including governors, share your ambition and passion for the school and the community it serves. All members of the senior leadership team have a thorough and comprehensive knowledge of the school. You and your leadership team carefully examine all areas of pupils’ assessment information and school monitoring. This allows you to identify the areas that you need to improve. Plans to tackle these areas are not always detailed enough, and this means that leaders’ actions do not always address issues thoroughly enough. Nevertheless, the standards pupils achieve have improved since the last inspection and are above those expected for their age.

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Short inspection of Walkington Primary School

You have worked hard to address the areas for improvement identified in the previous inspection. Outcomes in writing have improved in both key stages. The proportion of pupils who reach the standards expected for their age is well above the national average. Similarly, more pupils now go beyond this and reach the higher levels. Teachers provide good opportunities for pupils to apply the skills they learn in English to other subjects. Books show that pupils are given opportunities to write for a range of purposes. For example, pupils used the knowledge they had gained in history to write newspaper reports about the onset of the Second World War. Pupils are sometimes given the opportunity to select the way in which they wish to present their learning. They said that they enjoy this because it allows them to take responsibility for their learning and it encourages them to work even harder. Pupils’ work in their topic books shows the same high standards that teachers

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Short inspection of Walkington Primary School

The previous inspection report identified that work planned for pupils was not always hard enough, particularly for the most able pupils. As a result, not enough pupils were reaching the higher levels. The proportion of pupils reaching the higher levels in reading, writing and mathematics in key stage 1 is now well above the national average. The proportion of pupils reaching the higher levels in key stage 2 is well above the national average in reading and has improved in writing and in mathematics. However, there is still work to do so that pupils’ attainment continues to improve, particularly in mathematics. When we observed teaching together, we agreed that the activities in mathematics lessons do not always challenge the most able pupils sufficiently. Sometimes, adults are not aware that these pupils need further challenge, and this means that they find work too easy. When we looked at books, we could see that these pupils sometimes spend too long completing tasks

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Short inspection of Walkington Primary School

that are too easy for them. This means that their progress is not as rapid as it could be.

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Short inspection of Walkington Primary School

You and your staff put pupils’ safety and welfare above all other considerations. School leaders and governors have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. There are clear systems in place to respond to concerns swiftly and robustly. Staff are vigilant in following up any welfare concerns they have about a child. Leaders have established strong relationships with external agencies.

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Short inspection of Walkington Primary School

Pupils said that they feel safe in school and are confident that there is someone to talk to, should they have any issues. They told me that bullying is ‘not a problem’ and they can talk about the difference between bullying and ‘falling out’. Pupils show a very good understanding of how to keep themselves safe online. The curriculum provides good opportunities for pupils to learn about different ways to keep themselves safe. Parents and carers spoke of a safe and nurturing environment, where pupils are well looked after and enjoy positive relationships with the adults in school.

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Inspection findings

 Information on your website shows that pupils across the school have a shared theme for their learning. I wanted to find out whether pupils make good progress in subjects other than English and mathematics. Pupils enjoy the themes they explore and they said that the visits and visitors that they experience motivate them to want to learn more. They were animated when talking about their visit to a Buddhist temple and could share their knowledge about Buddhism. You have put in place a new structure to improve the leadership of the curriculum. Your curriculum leadership teams are well organised and they work together to share their ideas about how to improve learning in different subjects. They have begun to check how well pupils learn and have begun to put in place plans to address any issues they have identified. They recognise that they now need to spend more time acting on what they have found out, in order to further improve the

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Inspection findings

quality of learning across the curriculum.  The curriculum leadership teams have worked hard to make sure that the work that is planned for pupils becomes more difficult as they move through the school. They have excellent subject knowledge and know the expectations for different year groups. Books show that pupils receive a broad curriculum and that they are making good progress. Teachers have high expectations of pupils, and the work pupils produce is of a good quality. Pupils produced some beautiful artwork as a stimulus for their poetry, which was also linked to a study of Greek gods.  Leaders have correctly identified the need to increase the progress that pupils make across key stage 2 in mathematics. Progress in mathematics has declined in recent years, and pupils made average progress in 2017. However, evidence in books shows that the majority of pupils are making good progress this year in

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Inspection findings

mathematics. An even greater proportion of pupils are currently meeting the higher levels than in previous years. This shows that they have made strong progress from their starting points. A range of interesting activities is planned by teachers. This enables pupils to enjoy their mathematics lessons. They persevere with activities and are diligent in the classroom. Adults question pupils skilfully and guide their thinking to ensure that they fully understand mathematical concepts. Teaching assistants are used effectively and they provide good support for individuals and groups of pupils.  Although progress is improving, there is still work to do. The plans that leaders write, to address the issues they have identified, lack detail. The actions they have taken have not been rigorous enough and have not been carried out with enough urgency. As a result, our visits to classrooms and our scrutiny of mathematics books identified occasions when the most able pupils are not

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Inspection findings

sufficiently challenged. There are not enough opportunities for pupils to develop their reasoning skills, or to apply their deepening knowledge of number to different problems.

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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

 they continue to increase the proportion of pupils reaching the higher levels in mathematics by ensuring that teachers plan more challenging tasks and intervene more swiftly so that pupils are stretched  the plans they make to further improve the school are well designed and lead to robust actions that further improve outcomes  the curriculum leadership teams use the information they gather about the curriculum to make further improvements to teaching and learning.

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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 and your senior leaders to discuss the school’s effectiveness and your use of the pupil premium funding. I met with members of your curriculum leadership teams. Together, we visited lessons to observe pupils’ learning and to speak to pupils. We also assessed the quality of pupils’ work in books. I met with a group of governors, including the chair of the governing body, and spoke to pupils about their school. I considered 89 responses from parents to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, and the accompanying free-text comments. Responses to staff and pupil questionnaires were also considered. I spoke with a representative of the local authority. I evaluated the school’s safeguarding arrangements. A wide range of documentation, including your self- evaluation and improvement planning, pupils’ progress information and policies, was examined.

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