West Park Primary School

West Park Primary School Devon Road, Whitmore Reans, Wolverhampton, West Midlands WV1 4BE

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Overall effectiveness Good Effectiveness of leadership and management Good Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good Outcomes for pupils Good

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Early years provision Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Pupils are confident, articulate, polite and well behaved. Support for pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding. Parents value highly the support the school provides for pupils and families.  The school’s commitment to equality and diversity is evident in the way all members of the community are welcomed and supported to succeed. Leaders have ensured that learning across the curriculum is well planned and reflects pupils’ experiences. Leaders have a clear picture of pupils’ progress in most subjects but, in one or two subjects, pupils’ progress is not checked rigorously enough.  Over recent years, pupils’ progress and attainment in writing by the end of key stage 2 have been very strong.  In 2018, pupils’ attainment and progress in reading and mathematics at the end of key stage 2 dipped. Leaders responded robustly and put in place carefully selected training for staff and interventions for pupils. As a result,

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

standards are rising.  Pupils love reading. Most read fluently with good understanding. Younger pupils apply their phonics skills well. A higher proportion of pupils achieved the expected standard in the phonics screening check than the national average in 2018.  Governors have a good understanding of the school’s strengths and priorities. They support leaders well, applying their expertise. However, governors do not currently challenge leaders effectively.  Disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) make strong progress from their starting points.  Pupils are well supported to understand how they learn and how they can improve their work.  Attendance has improved and is now in line with the national average. The proportion of pupils with low attendance has dramatically reduced.  Teaching is good across the school. However, the least able pupils do not always have access

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

to the practical equipment they need to succeed in mathematics. The standard of some pupils’ handwriting and presentation does not currently showcase their achievements well.  Children make good progress in early years as a result of effective adult support, established routines and well-planned activities. Children, particularly the most able, are not given sufficient independence as their confidence grows.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that outcomes for pupils improve further, by ensuring that: – pupils’ progress is checked effectively in all subjects across the curriculum – all teachers provide the support and equipment needed for the least able pupils to succeed in mathematics – the school’s policy and support for pupils to improve their handwriting and presentation are implemented effectively – children in early years, particularly the most able, are supported to develop greater independence as soon as possible – governors develop their skills so that they provide greater challenge to leaders about the impact of their decisions.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

 The headteacher, senior leaders and governors have ensured that the ethos of the school is inclusive and welcoming for all pupils and their families. The rich diversity of pupils’ cultural backgrounds is celebrated and valued.  Leaders and governors are ambitious for every pupil to achieve to the best of their ability, as demonstrated by the school motto, ‘Be the best you can be’. Pupils are supported effectively to understand how to improve their work and to develop important attitudes to learning, such as resilience, curiosity and collaboration.  All staff benefit from a wide range of professional development. Leaders are supported effectively to develop in their roles through accredited leadership courses. Teachers and support staff receive targeted training and support to help them enhance their practice. Teaching assistants, for example, have received training to support pupils’ language development more effectively. The impact of this training is evident in

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

lessons where support staff ask pupils well-structured questions to prompt deeper thinking. As a result of effective support and sharing of good practice, teachers have honed their skills and subject knowledge. There is a culture of professional dialogue. Teachers and support staff, like leaders, are committed to continually reviewing and improving their practice.  Leaders have planned the curriculum for each subject well, linking themes and sequencing learning effectively. Pupils’ progress is tracked closely by leaders in most subjects across the curriculum. Subject leaders produce impact reports for leaders and governors. Work in pupils’ books shows in-depth study of national curriculum subjects. In a minority of subjects, pupils’ progress is not checked as closely as it should be. Where this is the case, pupils’ progress in these subjects is less clear.  The school’s work to engage parents and carers is exemplary. This starts with effective

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

communication in a wide variety of languages. There are plans to extend this to podcasts, texting and translated newsletters. Three parent ambassadors, who speak the most prevalent of pupils’ home languages, have been appointed to engage parents, particularly those newly arrived in the country. Parent ambassadors host weekly coffee mornings, where parents can drop in, get advice and find out about life in Britain, as well as how to support their children’s education.  With support from an arts specialist, parents recently produced a moving production for the whole school, telling the stories of their journey to Britain. Parents talked passionately about how this had helped them to feel included and valued as part of the community. One parent summarised the views of many when she said, ‘This school is the best thing that has happened to my family.’  British values of tolerance and respect permeate all aspects of school life. Pupils

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

understand democracy by voting for school council members. The school council has a direct impact on pupils and communicates clearly about its work and decisions. For example, the school council recently wrote to all pupils and parents to outline its plans for improvements to the playground equipment. In addition, all classes vote for class rules.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is supported by the wide range of extra-curricular activities offered, as well as through trips and visits that enhance the curriculum. For example, at the time of the inspection, pupils in Year 2 were enjoying a residential trip to an outdoor education centre. Pupils are encouraged to reflect on different faiths and beliefs. For example, in a recent project, ‘West Park Welcomes the World’, the school took the opportunity to demonstrate to the world its commitment to inclusion and equality by celebrating the diversity in the community.

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Governance of the school

 Governors are committed to the school. They have a range of expertise and experience, from newly appointed parent governors to very experienced governors who have been associated with the school for many years. The governing body is representative of the community served by the school. This direct link to the community is a key feature of the school and one that is highly valued by leaders, governors and parents.  Governors have a clear understanding of the strengths of the school and the areas for improvement. They receive detailed information from the headteacher and other leaders, for example on attendance, pupils’ progress, staff training and spending decisions. However, governors do not currently interrogate this information with sufficient depth to be able to challenge leaders effectively about the impact of their work.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  Leaders have ensured that safeguarding practice is robust. All staff have a good understanding of the risks to pupils and the signs of abuse and neglect. Staff at all levels are able to explain their responsibilities and the school’s procedures well. Leaders ensure that the designated safeguarding leader has the time and expertise to carry out her role effectively. Any concerns raised about pupils are followed up rigorously with external agencies where appropriate. Staff challenge decisions made by external teams if they believe a child is at risk.  Pupils say that they feel safe in school and that bullying happens rarely. If it does happen, they know that adults will stop it quickly. Pupils look after each other well, for example at breaks and lunchtimes. Pupils learn how to stay safe online and know that they should not share personal information over the internet. Pupils act as digital

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Safeguarding

ambassadors. They run assemblies to ensure that internet safety has a high profile across the school. They also serve on the governors’ internet safety committee.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 Teaching across the school is effective because leaders provide clear direction and effective support for staff to develop their skills. Teachers’ subject knowledge is strong, which helps teachers to spot pupils’ errors and provide prompt and effective verbal feedback. Teaching assistants have received training and support to develop their practice in providing effective verbal feedback too. These, together with a school-wide project to help pupils understand how they can learn more effectively, are having a direct impact on pupils’ progress.  Teachers make the learning objectives clear and pupils talk with confidence about how well they have achieved them. This was seen clearly in mathematics, where pupils chose bronze, silver, gold or platinum challenges. Pupils told inspectors they enjoy choosing the ‘metals’, as they call them.  Positive relationships between adults and pupils and between pupils, together with

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

pupils’ positive attitudes to learning, create a purposeful atmosphere in lessons. Teachers usually ask challenging questions to assess pupils’ progress and move learning on quickly. As a result, learning time is often used productively and pupils make good progress.  Although teachers generally use assessment information well to plan appropriate activities to address pupils’ needs, in some cases, less able pupils do not have ready access to practical resources, for example in mathematics, to help make concepts more visible. In some cases, teachers do not model the activity for pupils explicitly enough.  The teaching of reading is becoming highly effective. Reading has a high profile across the school. Most pupils read widely and often. They are expected to read regularly to their parents or another adult at home. When reading at home, pupils complete activities in workbooks designed by teachers to address specific reading skills such as

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

inference and prediction. In small-group interventions, pupils are supported well to read more fluently.  Challenging vocabulary and contextual knowledge are taught in advance so that pupils can understand the text more easily. For many pupils across the school, particularly disadvantaged pupils and those who speak English as an additional language, especially those new to the UK, this is crucial to their success in reading.  Phonics teaching is well structured and targeted to address pupils’ needs. Even the youngest children use and apply their phonics knowledge well to decode unfamiliar words, blending sounds effectively. Teachers model the letter sounds accurately. They pick up on pupils’ misconceptions quickly.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.  Pupils say that bullying rarely happens, and if it does, adults stop it quickly. Digital ambassadors work closely with teachers to make sure that pupils use the internet safely and sensibly and that no online bullying occurs.  Instances of racist or other derogatory language are very rare. Leaders ensure that restorative conversations happen quickly with any pupils who use such terms. The school’s commitment to equality, respect and tolerance underpins its chosen behaviour policy, which is clearly understood by pupils and parents. Pupils have a sophisticated understanding of fairness and tolerance and why it is so important to life in modern Britain. As a result, the school is a harmonious, happy place to be.  Pupils are encouraged to take on responsibility in a number of ways, for example through the school council, or by being a reading buddy, or a digital or sport

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Personal development and welfare

ambassador. Pupils are involved in fund-raising activities and charitable work in the community. Consequently, pupils make an active contribution to the school and wider community.  An increasing number of pupils participate in regular activities after school or take part in sporting competitions with other schools. Transport and kit are provided to ensure that all pupils can participate. Pupils from the school have been selected to represent Wolverhampton in regional competitions. The sports coaches provide a range of opportunities for pupils to take part in physical challenges in school, to beat their personal best. As a result, pupils are well supported to be active and keep themselves healthy.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Across the school, pupils are confident, polite and welcoming to visitors. They hold doors open and say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. During the inspection, pupils attended an assembly with the theme ‘choose kind’. Pupils were encouraged to reflect on their behaviour and consider why it is important to be kind to others, not just at school but in all aspects of their lives.  In lessons, pupils behave very well, responding to teachers’ instructions promptly and collaborating together. Pupils are engaged well in their learning. They know their targets in most subjects, which helps to keep them focused. Pupils’ positive attitudes contribute to their academic success.  At lunchtime, pupils conduct themselves well, waiting in the queue for lunch in an orderly fashion and chatting with friends as they eat. On the playground, most pupils behave well, socialising with friends and using equipment such as hoops and skipping

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Behaviour

ropes sensibly. The behaviour of some boys can become boisterous during this less structured time, but staff intervene when this occurs.  Attendance, which has been below the national average, has improved significantly this year. There are no groups of pupils with poor attendance. As a result of leaders’ actions, the proportion of pupils who are persistently absent has also reduced substantially, to be below the national average.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 Over the last three years, pupils’ attainment and progress by the end of key stage 2 in writing have been very strong. This success is particularly noteworthy because a high proportion of pupils speak English as an additional language, many of whom speaking limited English when they join the school.  Pupils’ writing is celebrated across the school, with displays of pupils’ best work that act as a model for others to aspire to. Pupils use a broad range of linguistic devices and sophisticated vocabulary to express their ideas. They develop a secure understanding of different text types and language features and apply these in their own writing fluently and confidently.  In reading, pupils’ progress has been more mixed over the last three years. In 2017, pupils made very strong progress in reading, which was a significant improvement on the progress made by pupils in reading in 2016. However, in 2018, pupils’ progress in

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Outcomes for pupils Good

reading dipped. Leaders’ analysis of the outcomes for reading identified pupils’ speed and fluency in reading and their understanding of different reading skills, such as inference and deduction, as areas for improvement.  Leaders have since put in place effective interventions to support pupils to develop their reading skills and, crucially, to develop a love of reading. Current pupils read fluently with confidence and good intonation. They have benefited from new teaching approaches, focusing specifically on reading skills. Targeted interventions help pupils to improve their reading fluency and speed. As a result, pupils love reading and are now making stronger progress in reading.  At the end of key stage 2 in 2018, pupils’ progress in mathematics was not as strong as in 2017. Current pupils have many opportunities to apply their skills in problem- solving and reasoning tasks. Teachers employ the ‘five rule’: if pupils have done five

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Outcomes for pupils Good

calculations correctly, they move on. As a result, pupils are now making strong progress in mathematics. Work in pupils’ books shows that, in mathematics across most classes, a high proportion of pupils are on track to achieve at least the standard expected for their age in most year groups and some are likely to exceed that.  Pupils achieve very well in writing as a result of teachers’ strong subject knowledge and clear leadership of the subject. However, the school’s recently introduced handwriting policy is not yet consistently implemented. As a result, the quality of pupils’ handwriting and presentation is variable.  At key stage 1, the proportions of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics have been just below the national average for the last three years. However, pupils achieved well at the higher standard in 2018, particularly in writing. In addition, the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in the

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Outcomes for pupils Good

phonics screening check in 2018 was above the national average. These achievements represent strong progress from pupils’ very low starting points on entry to the school.  Pupils with SEND make strong progress in reading, writing and mathematics. Interventions are well thought out and carefully targeted to address pupils’ needs. The special educational needs coordinator makes sure that the impact of interventions is evaluated effectively. She regularly reviews provision. If an intervention has worked, then pupils move on to harder work. If it isn’t working, the intervention is changed.  Disadvantaged pupils make strong progress from their starting points. This is because leaders identify barriers to learning quickly and provide effective support to overcome them. For example, adults support pupils’ language development effectively with targeted interventions for speed reading and by broadening the range of challenging

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Early years provision Good

 Children in early years make good progress from their starting points. A high proportion of children have skills below those typical for their age when they enter Nursery and Reception. By the end of Reception, the proportion of children achieving a good level of development for their age is in line with the national average. This represents strong progress.  The early years leader is experienced and knowledgeable about children’s learning and development. She has correctly identified that children’s weak language and communication skills when they start school are a barrier to their learning. She has therefore ensured that a focus on language development is threaded through learning activities across the curriculum. Adults model language well and children have plenty of opportunities to reinforce their learning by speaking and listening to others. Pupil premium funding is used effectively to support children’s language development.

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Early years provision Good

 The day-to-day organisation of the provision is well led. All welfare requirements are met and the safety of children is a priority. The stimulating environment is well organised and resourced. The outdoor area is carefully managed to encourage exploration and an awareness of risks so that children develop independence. Children are taught how to keep themselves safe, particularly about stranger danger and how to stay safe online.  Effective routines are established quickly which promote good behaviour and positive attitudes to learning. Children are engaged in their learning and listen to adults and each other well. They collaborate together happily. They develop confidence in their learning very quickly as a result of effective support from adults. There is room for the most able children to be challenged further through, for example, by reducing adult direction sooner.  Engagement with parents is a strength of the provision. The early years section of the

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Early years provision Good

school’s website is updated regularly, and parents receive homework via email. Parents are encouraged to choose a book with their child each week. The school runs regular workshops for parents about reading, writing and mathematics to help parents support their children’s learning at home. As a result, parents say they are better able to help their children to succeed in learning.  The learning journeys include intended outcomes and capture evidence of children’s progress, which is shared with parents. As well as this, each child has a homework book with tasks to complete with parents, such as spotting and reading road signs or helping with the family’s shopping. As a consequence, children develop good learning habits from the start.

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Email address westparkprimaryschool@wolverhampton.gov .uk Date of previous inspection 23 January 2018

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Information about this school

 West Park Primary School serves a very diverse community in the heart of Wolverhampton. A high proportion of pupils speak English as an additional language.  A much higher proportion of pupils are eligible for free school meals than is typical nationally.  A high proportion of pupils join the school mid-way through the year.  The proportion of pupils with SEND is higher than the national average. The proportion of pupils who have education, health and care (EHC) plans is in line with the national average.  The school has achieved a number of awards, such as School Sports Silver Award and School of Sanctuary status.  The school has one form of entry. However, the current Years 2 and 3 each have two classes.

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Information about this inspection

 Prior to the inspection, the lead inspector analysed published assessment information for the school and reviewed the information on the school’s website. The school’s self- evaluation and development plan were considered.  During the inspection, inspectors observed learning in all classes. Many of the observations were carried out jointly with senior leaders.  The lead inspector met with the headteacher, senior leaders and other staff to gather evidence about the impact of their work.  Inspectors met with subject leaders for mathematics and English, the early years leader and the SENCo.  The lead inspector held meetings with a co-chair of governors and two parent governors, as well as with the local authority school improvement adviser.  Pupils’ views were gathered throughout the inspection, in lessons and during breaks and lunchtimes. There were no responses to the online pupil survey.  The 25 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, were considered, along with

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Information about this inspection

three free-text responses and inspectors spoke to parents to gather their views as they dropped off their children at school. The lead inspector met with parent ambassadors and a small group of parents during their coffee morning. The lead inspector met with one parent and took account of a letter from another parent.  Inspectors took account of 28 responses to the staff survey.

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Inspection team

Jane Spilsbury, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

John Bates Ofsted 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

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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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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