Setting

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

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Miss H Wyatt Principal Worth Primary School Birch Road Poynton Cheshire SK12 1QA

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No formal designation inspection of Worth Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 12 March 2019, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the inspection findings.

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No formal designation inspection of Worth Primary School

This inspection was conducted under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 and in accordance with Ofsted’s published procedures for inspecting schools with no formal designation. The inspection was carried out because Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector was concerned about outcomes for pupils at the school.

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Evidence

I carried out joint learning walks with you and senior leaders, observed teaching and learning, spoke with pupils and looked at the work in pupils’ books. I looked at a range of documents, including those relating to governance, self-evaluation and school improvement planning.

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Evidence

I also scrutinised the records of checks completed on staff and other documents relating to safeguarding and child protection arrangements. I met with you, groups of pupils and members of the board of governors.

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Evidence

Having considered the evidence I am of the opinion that at this time:

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Evidence

The school continues to be outstanding and safeguarding is effective.

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Context

Worth Primary is an average-sized school, which opened in April 2013. The proportions of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds and of pupils who are at the early stages of learning English as an additional language are much lower than average. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium funding is lower than average. The proportion of pupils who have support for special educational needs and/or disabilities is below the national average. The proportion of pupils supported with an education, health and care plan is also below the national average.

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Main findings

The inspection took place due to concerns about the strength of pupils’ progress at the end of key stage 2 from 2016 to 2018. In 2017 and 2018, pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics at the expected standard was well above national averages. Attainment in reading and mathematics was also well above at the higher standard. Leaders have already identified improving progress as a priority in the school development plan. In both English and mathematics, they have put in place successful strategies to enhance pupils’ learning further. As a result, current pupils make strong progress from their starting points in a wide range of subjects.

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Main findings

Pupils read a wide variety of high-quality texts. Similar texts are also read to the pupils regularly by staff. The reading I observed showed that adults read with enthusiasm and all pupils are inspired as a result. Pupils are provided with appropriate reading material across the curriculum, which develops and widens their vocabulary. Adults demonstrate strong subject knowledge when reading texts, using excellent questioning to develop pupils’ understanding. Teachers provide opportunities that develop pupils’ comprehension and inference skills. As a result of these actions, a large proportion of pupils reach the higher standard in reading at the end of each key stage.

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Main findings

The teaching of phonics is also a strength. The proportion of pupils who meet the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check has been above the national average for several years. The high-quality teaching of phonics underpins the exceptional progress that pupils make in English by the end of key stage 1.

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Main findings

Leaders ensure that the teaching of writing has a clear sequence. Pupils value this structure and talk about how it helps them to improve. Their use of grammar, punctuation and spelling is particularly effective. Work in their books also shows how teachers encourage them to use ambitious vocabulary to improve their writing compositions. As a result, pupils in key stage 2 write with flair.

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Main findings

Many opportunities are taken to practise writing. The quality of work in pupils’ books shows that they make very strong progress in writing across the curriculum. A large proportion of middle-ability pupils also write at the higher standard, demonstrating substantial progress. However, the quality of handwriting and presentation across the curriculum in some year groups sometimes falls below the standards of which the pupils are capable. This sometimes lowers the quality of their work.

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Main findings

In mathematics, learning provides opportunities for pupils to reason about their findings. This promotes their thinking and problem-solving skills. Learning is enhanced because they understand what they are learning due to the clear instructions they are given by teachers. In the classrooms we visited together, we observed how teachers plan lessons which build on pupils’ previous learning. Our observations, the work in pupils’ books and teachers’ assessment information show that activities develop pupils’ calculation and number skills well.

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Main findings

Teachers use skilful questioning to develop pupils’ reasoning skills in calculation. This enables them to be confident mathematicians. They enjoy working through a variety of mathematical problems across the curriculum, for example in science and computing. Pupils are therefore fluent across all strands of mathematics.

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Main findings

In the early years, there was a dip in the proportion of children achieving a good level of development in 2018. However, this proportion was still in line with the national average. Leaders have now addressed the reason for this decline.

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Main findings

Children enter the school with skills and abilities that are broadly typical. Some start school with skills and abilities above those expected for their age. Teachers and other adults check and monitor their progress carefully and plan activities which take account of what they know and can do. Adults develop children’s independence exceptionally well. They gain confidence from their good relationships with staff and collaborative play with others. Staff are very well deployed and play an effective role in supporting children’s progress. They encourage the use of language by modelling key words for children to repeat. Consequently, children are very well prepared for key stage 1.

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Main findings

Across the curriculum, teachers ensure that pupils learn very well from well- sequenced activities across the different subjects. For instance, they learn to make sensible deductions from historical evidence based on their prior learning. When not being directly taught, pupils get on with their work productively and explain things supportively to each other. Scrutiny of their work across many subjects shows that their learning over time is very strong.

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Main findings

Pupils are proud of their school and the ‘Worth Way’. They feel the sense of belonging which is a strong feature of the school. They are very polite and well mannered and their behaviour is exemplary. They socialise well and older pupils take responsibility for younger ones. They are highly committed learners and achieve very well. Their very positive attitudes to learning lead to a focused, calm environment which, in turn, has a positive impact on their outcomes. One pupil’s comment, typical of others, was: ‘Learning gets harder every year, but we can do it because of what we have learned before.’

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Main findings

The senior leadership team works very well and has a blend of skills that complement each other. Its members are highly reflective and analyse their own performance. They constantly strive to do even better. Leaders ensure that, when evaluating their actions, the impact on pupils’ outcomes and well-being comes first.

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Main findings

The governors are highly committed and know the school well. They hold you and your team firmly to account to ensure that leaders and teachers continue to provide outstanding education for pupils. They have a detailed understanding of the school’s priorities and challenge leaders to ensure that pupils get the best education possible. As a result, they contribute to the vision and direction of the school very well.

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Main findings

Governors also ensure that the school meets all its statutory requirements for safeguarding. A strong safeguarding culture runs throughout the school. This includes the robust checking of the suitability of adults to work with children. You also ensure that checks on adults before they start to work or volunteer at the school meet statutory requirements. Staff receive relevant training, for example in the ‘Prevent’ duty. Pupils told me that they feel safe and know how to stay safe. They told me that learning at school helps them keep themselves safe in a range of situations, including when online. They were able to discuss the dangers of social media.

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Priorities for further improvement

 Leaders should continue to embed their recent strategies for improving handwriting and presentation so that pupils’ work is of a consistently high quality across the curriculum.

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Priorities for further improvement

I am copying this letter to the chair of the board of trustees, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Cheshire East. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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