Wray with Botton Endowed Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Wray with Botton Endowed Primary School School Lane, Wray, Lancaster, Lancashire LA2 8QE

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Outcome

Wray with Botton Endowed Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a small school where everyone gets along together. Pupils told inspectors that they are happy at school and that the school is like an extended family. Staff know pupils well and what they need to flourish. Staff ensure that the school is a safe place for pupils.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Teachers expect a lot of each pupil. They make sure that pupils do their best in their learning and their behaviour. Again, teachers’ good understanding of each pupil enables pupils to achieve well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ behaviour is very good. They are pleasant and friendly to each other and to the adults they work with. We saw pupils trying hard and assisting each other in class. This meant that everyone was able to concentrate and learn. Pupils play together happily during their break times. They told us that there is no bullying and that, if friends fall out, teachers quickly help them to sort things out.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents are very happy with the school. Their comments to us were very positive. For example, one said: ‘Mostly I am happy that my son bounces into school with a huge grin on his face, ready for a day of playing with friends and learning new things.’

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders and teachers have a clear picture of the curriculum. Staff teach reading, writing and mathematics as individual subjects. Some other subjects, including geography and history, are taught as part of topics. Teachers carefully check to make sure that all topics cover the national curriculum in sufficient depth. They also check that pupils gain skills and knowledge in a logical order, which helps them to remember more. Teachers plan the topics to take account of pupils’ interests as well as the key learning in the national curriculum. This means that pupils remain motivated and learn about all the things they are expected to.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Teachers use the mixed-age classes to organise groups of pupils so that everyone learns 11 September 2019

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well. We saw that teachers challenge pupils. For example, in mathematics, teachers expect pupils to think hard and to work out the best ways to solve problems using ideas they have learned before. When pupils do this, they often work together. This approach builds pupils’ mathematical knowledge. Teachers also make learning fun. For example, they use songs and rhymes to help pupils to remember things. We saw that children in the early years make a quick start to their learning in mathematics.

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Teachers and teaching assistants skilfully teach pupils to read. We saw children in Reception, who had only been in the school for one week, starting to learn phonics. They were engrossed in learning their first sound, ‘s’, after being introduced to ‘Sir Hiss’, a shiny, sequined snake. Staff were already preparing these children to start reading by providing books for them to take home to share with their parents or carers. Teachers build on this very rapid start to reading as pupils get older. Over the last few years, nearly all pupils have been successful in reaching the expected standard in the national Year 1 phonics check. Teachers check how every pupil is doing and provide extra teaching if anyone needs some extra help. This approach means that pupils quickly become confident readers. However, they don’t forget the skills they need. An inspector saw how an older pupil was able to work out the word ‘symposium’ in a book they were clearly

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Leaders and teachers have noticed that, by the end of Year 6, pupils sometimes do not do quite as well in mathematics as they do in reading and writing. We saw that some older pupils did not know their times tables well enough to use these automatically.

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Pupils’ learning is not restricted to their subject lessons. The school provides all kinds of opportunities for pupils to learn in different ways. For example, each week, pupils take part in outdoor education. Pupils make lots of visits to interesting museums and exciting places such as the beach. Activities like these mean that pupils’ learning is broad enough to give them the knowledge they need to be successful in the future. Staff’s work in helping pupils to behave well and to be kind to each other adds to pupils’ success.

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Leaders are effective. They make sure that pupils know about the school’s positive values. Parents told us that the school meets the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) or with medical needs. The school’s success in doing this means that there is often pressure for the school to take more pupils.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff know how to keep pupils safe. Regular training means that staff are well informed and know what to look out for if pupils are at risk. Information about safeguarding is available for parents on a noticeboard in the school. However, the school does not use its website to provide safeguarding information as well as it should. The safeguarding policy available on the website is out of date. This could be unhelpful if someone had a safeguarding concern or question.

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Safeguarding

Pupils learn about how to keep themselves safe. For example, they know about the safest 11 September 2019

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ways to use the internet because online safety is part of the curriculum.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Ensure that pupils’ knowledge about key mathematical ideas, for example their times tables, is developed in a way which allows them to use these ideas automatically. Unless pupils can do this, they will find it harder build up their learning and achieve as well as they do in reading and writing.  Enhance safeguarding further by publishing up-to-date information about safeguarding on the school website. Without this, parents, carers and others do not have the easiest possible access to help them understand what they should do and who they should contact if they have a safeguarding concern or question.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called a section 8 inspection of a good school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged Wray with Botton Endowed Primary School to be good on 29-30 January 2015.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

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 11 September 2019

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pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. 11 September 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10058070 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Stewart Lawrenson

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School details

Date of previous inspection 29–30 January 2015

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Information about this school

 A new headteacher was appointed from the start of this school year. The headteacher was previously deputy headteacher at the school.  Children in the early years are taught in a mixed-age class that also includes pupils in Year 1. There are two other classes. One has pupils in Years 2 and 3 and the other has pupils in Years 4, 5 and 6.  The school has a breakfast club and an after-school club run by the governing body.  The school is supported by the Pooley Educational Trust. This is a local charitable trust without any religious affiliation or links.

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Information about this inspection

 We held discussions with the headteacher, teachers, other members of staff and governors. These discussions considered the quality of education, the wider experiences of pupils at the school and aspects of pupils’ behaviour, and leadership and management. An inspector spoke to a representative of the local authority by telephone.  In considering the quality of education, we concentrated on reading, mathematics and 11 September 2019

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history in depth. We discussed the arrangements for the curriculum and teaching with the headteacher and teachers. We visited lessons and then talked with pupils about what they had been learning. We looked at pupils’ exercise books in these subjects. As the inspection was very early in the school year, some exercise books only contained a small amount of work. We gained a longer-term view of pupils’ learning by examining large class record books that contained samples of pupils’ work and pictures of pupils’ experiences over the last school year.  An inspector heard pupils read and talked about how the school teaches reading with pupils.  We spoke to staff, governors and pupils about how the school keeps pupils safe. We considered the information available to parents about safeguarding online and in the school. An inspector examined the single central record of the checks undertaken to make sure that staff are suitable to work in a school. He also reviewed the school’s

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Inspection team

David Selby, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Julie Bather Ofsted Inspector 11 September 2019

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regulates and inspects to 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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