Weeke Primary School

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

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Mr Jonathan Kirkham Weeke Primary School Stoney Lane Weeke Winchester Hampshire SO22 6DR

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Short inspection of Weeke Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 8 May 2019, 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 July 2015.

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Short inspection of Weeke Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

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Short inspection of Weeke Primary School

You have used your time very wisely since joining the school two months ago and have got to know the school community well. Staff, pupils, parents and carers appreciate this, and they have already developed a high level of respect and trust for you as Weeke School’s headteacher. Parents and pupils particularly appreciate the time you spend with them at the start and end of the school day as you greet them and get to know them better.

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Short inspection of Weeke Primary School

You lead and manage the school well. You and your senior leaders have a very good understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses and check carefully on the quality of teaching and learning. During the inspection, we agreed on the strengths and weaknesses in the teaching we jointly observed. Teachers assess pupils’ progress regularly and you use the results well to provide additional support for those pupils at risk of falling behind.

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Short inspection of Weeke Primary School

You are effectively developing leadership at every level of the school. You see this, quite rightly, as the key to ensuring further sustained improvement. You have created an atmosphere of supported autonomy so that all the leaders of the key areas and subjects in the school feel well supported. You communicate well, listening hard and challenging staff so that they can fulfil and develop their roles effectively. As a result, all staff feel part of, and key to, the school’s continued improvement. They want the school and every pupil in it to do well.

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Short inspection of Weeke Primary School

The governing body is effective. It has recently overseen your appointment as headteacher and is working with you to develop your leaders of learning. Governors understand well how to support leaders and hold them to account. They ask searching questions about the progress pupils make.

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Short inspection of Weeke Primary School

High-quality provision in the early years ensures that most children are ready for the Year 1 curriculum. The outcomes of Year 1 pupils in the phonics screening check are consistently strong. Attainment for pupils at the end of key stage 1 and the end of key stage 2 has been above national expectations for three years. Historically, too few pupils who are working at greater depth by the end of key stage 1 have made above-average progress by the end of key stage 2. Pupils currently in Year 6 are making strong progress from their starting points at the end of key stage 1 and are well placed to achieve the higher standards of which they are capable.

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Short inspection of Weeke Primary School

Your school provides a vibrant and caring environment for pupils to learn. The relationships between staff and pupils are warm and respectful. Pupils are focused on their learning in class, move around the school calmly and are keen to tell visitors about themselves and their school. They are very polite and very proud of their school. They know that if anyone behaves badly, adults will manage it well. You are making sure that members of the school community are involved in the current review of the school’s behaviour policy. This is a good example of the way you ensure that everyone’s views are heard.

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Short inspection of Weeke Primary School

Leaders have tackled successfully the areas for improvement since the last inspection. Learning objectives are very clear and teachers and learning support assistants are very skilful in moving around the room to check on pupils’ learning. For example, in a Year 2 class, pupils were encouraged to talk about why a calculation was wrong and explain their reasons, using apparatus to demonstrate their understanding.

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Short inspection of Weeke Primary School

At the time of the last inspection, you were also asked to accelerate the progress pupils made in writing and to support disadvantaged pupils to make stronger progress. Talking to pupils and looking at their work showed that this is no longer a concern. Leaders rightly focused on developing communication skills across the school to support pupils well in engaging with high-quality texts and writing for a range of purposes. Current pupils have a rich vocabulary which they use well to enhance their writing. For example, pupils in Year 3 collected some wonderful synonyms to describe a character from ‘The Secret Garden’. Currently, more pupils are exceeding the levels expected of them for their age in writing, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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Short inspection of Weeke Primary School

Safeguarding is effective. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Pupils feel safe in school and know that if they have any problems, an adult will always help them. Leaders have established systems that ensure that each member of staff understands his or her role and responsibility for safeguarding pupils. Staff, including those new to school, are well trained in safeguarding and child protection procedures. Regular updates at meetings ensure that staff and governors are kept up to date. You plan to carry out a review of these and other systems and processes to ensure that they are most effective and time-efficient.

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Inspection findings

 During the inspection, we focused on how leaders’ actions are ensuring that more high-attaining pupils are challenged to make even stronger progress than in the past, with a focus on mathematics. We also explored your curriculum and discussed how well it was supporting pupils’ progress. In addition, we looked at the accuracy of leaders’ evaluations and your plans for further improvements.  You have successfully established your leaders of learning, who share in your commitment to make the school the best it can be. They are taking effective action to improve teaching, learning and assessment. As a result, current pupils, including those with SEND, are making strong progress in reading, writing and mathematics. Assessment information is accurate, and teachers refer to it and use the information effectively.  Your commitment to teamwork means that you are using colleagues’ strengths and experiences well. You also show an absolute commitment to making the

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Inspection findings

most of research and training. As a result, staff are very reflective about their practice and are not afraid to change things if they are not delivering the best for pupils.  Your deputy headteacher has worked hard to ensure that attainment in mathematics has been consistently high over the last three years. This work needs to be developed further so that the most able mathematicians are making strong progress from their starting points.  The broad curriculum is a strength of the school, although this is not evident from looking at the school’s website. Pupils told me that they enjoyed the range of subjects they studied, and mentioned art, mathematics and drama in particular. Teaching often combines subjects in imaginative ways. For example, I entered an archaeological dig taking place in Year 6, where pupils were combining their historical and geological knowledge with drama to gather evidence about what was in the Egyptian tomb.

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Inspection findings

 You are quite rightly beginning to review the curriculum. You know that leaders need to work with staff to set out the specific knowledge and skills that pupils must acquire in all the subjects taught so that teachers can track pupils’ progress in detail against these outcomes.  Most pupils take advantage of before- and after-school sessions, which include opportunities to reinforce academic learning, as well as clubs for sports and artistic activities.  It is time to review some of the systems and processes that you have inherited to ensure that they are fit for purpose.  The school’s website meets statutory requirements but we agreed that it does not do the school justice.

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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

 school leaders consider how they can more effectively support the progress made by the most able pupils, particularly in mathematics  the school’s curriculum is developed further by planning learning that allows pupils to develop their skills and knowledge across a broad range of subjects  an in-depth review of systems and processes is carried out so that working practices are as efficient as they can be. This will complement the current website review.

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

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Information about the inspection

I met with you and senior leaders to review your evaluation of the school’s effectiveness. I accompanied leaders into several classrooms across the school and spoke to pupils as I moved around the school. I had a meeting with six pupils and considered responses to the school’s most recent pupil survey. We evaluated a range of work in mathematics books. I met with your leaders of learning and a group of support staff. I checked the effectiveness of your safeguarding arrangements, including those related to recruitment. I met with five governors and a representative from the local authority. I looked at 31 responses to the staff survey. I spoke to parents in the playground at the start of the day and considered 108 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire, Parent View.

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