Wetwang Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

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

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Mr Peter Richardson Executive Headteacher Wetwang Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Pulham Lane Wetwang Nr Driffield York YO25 9XT

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Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 16 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 January 2014.

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Primary School

This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have strengthened the school’s place in this village community by forging stronger links with the church and through wider participation in village events. The previous inspection report asked you to ensure that the work provided was challenging enough for all groups of pupils, and that more opportunities were provided for pupils to write at length. The report also asked you to improve the skills of middle leaders so that they can more ably improve the quality of teaching and learning. Since the last inspection, the school has had various interim headteachers. This period of instability meant that there was a delay in implementing some of the improvements. Since your appointment in January 2018, the pace of change and improvement has been rapid. I saw in pupils’ books that the work is sufficiently demanding, particularly for most-

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Primary School

able pupils. For example, Year 6 pupils have been studying the effect of reparations in Germany following the First World War. Their work now shows good opportunities for extended writing, where they are able to use and apply their writing skills well. In their mathematics work, pupils show good levels of fluency in their knowledge of times tables and how to add, subtract, multiply and divide. However, you agreed that more opportunities need to be provided for pupils to use these skills to solve problems. You have successfully developed the skills of your mathematics and literacy leaders. They have analysed strengths and weaknesses in their subjects, and are now having a positive impact on improving teaching. Moreover, you have pooled expertise between the two schools in the federation. This is so that teachers are able to share good practice and resources with the aim of reducing teachers’ workload.

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Primary School

The governing body offers high-quality support and challenge. The information they receive about pupils’ progress has improved significantly. This has enabled them to ask challenging questions and drive improvements. Pupils are well behaved, polite and courteous. They referred to the school as a ‘big happy family’. They said the work they did in school made them think hard, was always interesting and made them look forward to school each morning. This is reflected in their high attendance. However, there are gaps in their understanding of British values, and of cultures and faiths other than their own. You have already identified this as an area which needs further improvement and we discussed your plans to help pupils experience the world beyond the village. Parents who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, are positive about the changes you have introduced, particularly the improved flow of

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Primary School

communication between them and the school.

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Primary School

Safeguarding is effective. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose, and that records are detailed and of high quality. You have a strong culture of safeguarding in the school. In particular, you work very well with parents. For example, you have helped parents to manage their children’s behaviour through establishing routines at home. The records I saw showed me that you have a proactive approach to safeguarding. All staff, including dinnertime supervisors, are well aware of their responsibilities relating to safeguarding. Your records for the vetting of staff when they are appointed are robust and detailed. The pupils I spoke to understood how to use the internet safely. Their understanding of the potential dangers of drugs and alcohol was particularly good. This is the result of a visiting police officer, who is a former governor, working closely with the school. Pupils say that bullying is a rare occurrence and that there is

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Primary School

always a caring adult to turn to, should the need arise.

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Inspection findings

 First, I was curious to find out if outcomes in grammar, punctuation and spelling were improving. The work I saw in pupils’ books shows that this is taught within all subjects, and that standards have improved considerably since the last inspection. Pupils routinely use a variety of punctuation and grammar in their work. Moreover, teachers ensure that pupils extend their vocabulary as they get older. In science, for example, pupils use scientific vocabulary when evaluating their experiments.  Second, I looked into the quality of phonics teaching. This was because there has been a three-year declining trend in the proportion of pupils meeting the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics check. You believe that the decline was the result of a number of changes in how phonics was taught, and teaching which was not regular or systematic. Phonics is now taught every day and in a consistent way. However, some pupils have gaps in their understanding of

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Inspection findings

phonics as a result of past weaknesses in how it was taught. Together, we looked at their reading assessments. You agreed that these assessments lacked sharpness in identifying pupils’ next steps in learning.  Finally, I looked at the quality of mathematics teaching. This was because pupils’ progress in mathematics fell slightly in 2017. The mathematics leader, who has been in post only since September 2017, identified a number of issues which needed improving. He has ensured that classrooms are now well equipped so that pupils use apparatus such as cubes, dice and beads to support their understanding. The tracking of pupils’ progress indicates that they are now making good progress and this was also apparent in pupils’ work that I looked at. However, while pupils are reasonably fluent in mathematics, there is a lack of opportunity for pupils to use and apply their skills to solving problems mathematically.

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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

 there are good opportunities for pupils to experience the world beyond the village by: – improving pupils’ understanding of British values, which includes democracy, the rule of law and individual liberty – ensuring that pupils have a good understanding of cultures and faiths other than their own  assessments of reading in key stage 1 are sharper in identifying pupils’ next steps in learning  there are increased opportunities in lessons for pupils to apply their mathematics skills to solving problems.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of York, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for the 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, your subject leaders for literacy and numeracy, two members, including the chair, of the governing body and a representative from the local authority. I spoke to seven pupils from Year 6 and listened to two Year 2 pupils reading. While in classrooms, I observed teaching, spoke to pupils and looked through the work in their books. I considered a range of documents, including the school development plan, subject leaders’ quality assurance documents, the summary of self-evaluation, and safeguarding documents. I considered the comments of six parents who responded to Parent View.

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