Wroot Travis Charity Church of England Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Wroot Travis Charity Church of England Primary School Field Lane, Wroot, Doncaster, South Yorkshire DN9 2BN

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Outcome

Wroot Travis Charity Church of England Primary School continues to be a good school. However, inspectors have some concerns that standards may be declining, as set out below.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Most pupils achieve well by the end of key stage 2 but could be doing so much sooner. Leaders have not acted with enough urgency to make sure that every pupil can read as soon as possible. Some pupils who have fallen behind are not catching up quickly enough. This leaves pupils unable to read independently with sufficient accuracy and fluency. Across the curriculum, pupils sometimes produce work which is not of the standard they are capable of.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff have created a calm and positive atmosphere in school. Pupils behave well in lessons. They follow instructions from adults and work with concentration. They confidently support each other when they are learning something new. Pupils said behaviour has really improved this year. They feel safe and well looked after by staff and are confident about reporting any issues. Pupils say adults take their concerns seriously and do not tolerate bullying.

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What is it like to attend this school?

This small village school is at the heart of the local community. Parents and carers welcome how closely staff work in partnership with them. Parents feel the school prepares their children well for moving to secondary school and beyond.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school offers clubs such as art and craft, sports and homework. Pupils also enjoy attending the daily breakfast club.

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

The phonics curriculum needs urgent attention. It limits pupils from accessing more challenging reading material at an earlier stage. Ultimately, this affects pupils’ ability to reach their potential across the curriculum. Most pupils meet the early learning goal for reading by the end of Reception. They then go on to reach the expected standard in the phonics screening check in Year 1. However, too few read with fluency as soon as they 31 October 2019

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should. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Phonics lessons are too short and pupils do not get enough practice. For example, practice in blending sounds to read words is too infrequent. Pupils move on without having secured the basics. There is not a consistent approach to the teaching of phonics. Staff revert to approaches they are most familiar with. This leads to inconsistencies which slow the pace of pupils’ learning.

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When learning to read, not all of the books are matched to the sounds which pupils know. This means that pupils struggle to read them with enough accuracy. They need a lot of adult support to get through each page. Some of the weakest readers are not getting enough extra practice to help them quickly catch up.

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In the early years and key stage 1, staff read to pupils on a daily basis. This helps develop pupils’ language comprehension and fosters a love of reading. In key stage 2, pupils are keen to read. They enjoy choosing several books, which they take home to read. The classrooms, library and displays celebrate the importance of reading. Pupils told us how they are fond of choosing books from the ‘booknic’ when they have some spare time during the school day. However, the books teachers read to pupils do not routinely expose pupils to rich literature and significant authors.

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Leaders have developed a well-sequenced curriculum for mathematics. It is taught with a consistent approach throughout the school. It builds pupils’ knowledge effectively over time. Regular recall of number facts leads to pupils knowing these basic skills well. This helps pupils to focus on understanding the new concepts they are being taught.

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In the foundation subjects, leaders have identified that knowledge is not as well sequenced and structured. Pupils do not always have secure prior knowledge. This prevents them from understanding age-related subject content. For example, pupils in key stage 1 were learning about continents but did not have a firm understanding of a country. Teachers do not have consistently high expectations of the work in pupils’ books. This results in errors, such as with letter formation and poor-quality handwriting, which continue over time.

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Leaders ensure that pupils’ personal development is a priority. For example, pupils have plentiful opportunities to take responsibilities, be healthy and keep themselves safe. The school makes use of external support, for example from the school nurse and a learning mentor, to provide more specific support for vulnerable pupils.

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Leaders have made improvements to pupils’ behaviour. Pupils recognise these changes and say that bullying is rare. They know adults will help them to resolve any issues. Governors have secured a sustainable future for the school’s leadership by federating with a larger local school. This has created greater capacity for staff training and the sharing of good practice and resources. Staff can see the benefits of this. They also gain from working with staff from other schools in the area.

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The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Leaders use the curriculum effectively to help pupils understand how they can keep themselves safe. For example, pupils learn about road safety, water safety and how to protect themselves online.

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Staff receive regular safeguarding training. This makes them feel confident in recognising any potential signs of abuse. They know how to report concerns. The designated safeguarding lead follows these up appropriately.

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Pupils told us they feel safe. They know they can talk to any adult in school if they are worried at all.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Too many pupils do not read with fluency as soon as they should do. This is because pupils do not spend enough time learning phonics. They do not get enough practice to secure what they have learned. Staff have not been trained to use one approach with consistency. Leaders should urgently improve the curriculum for phonics. Staff should be trained to use a consistent approach. It should fully incorporate the national curriculum requirements. Pupils need to be given sufficient time to learn phonics and practise what they have been taught. When learning to read, pupils’ books should be matched to their phonics knowledge. This will help them to read with accuracy and growing confidence and fluency. Pupils who fall behind the pace of the phonics programme need to be given additional support that helps them to catch up quickly.  In key stage 2, the books staff read to pupils do not give pupils access to the rich and

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

challenging literature which provides a wealth of vocabulary and exposure to high- quality reading material. Teachers need to read whole books that introduce pupils to books and authors they might not otherwise choose to read for themselves. Leaders should make sure that books are specifically chosen and are read to pupils regularly.  In the foundation subjects, leaders’ plans are in the early stages of development. At present, it is not clear to teachers what they should teach and when. Consequently, pupils are not building well enough on their prior knowledge and gaining the necessary readiness to be able to access the next stage of their learning. Not enough pupils have an age-appropriate understanding of a range of subjects across the curriculum. Leaders have identified the changes needed and should make sure that these are implemented as soon as possible.  The work in pupils’ books is not always presented with pride and care. There are many

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

examples of inaccurate letter formation and poor-quality handwriting. In these cases, pupils are not demonstrating a secure understanding of the English curriculum which has previously been taught. Leaders need to make sure that staff have consistently high expectations for the work in all pupils’ books. Teachers should address any errors or misconceptions as soon as they arise so that they are not allowed to persist. 31 October 2019

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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 second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in May 2011.

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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 pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. 31 October 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10110818 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 Mrs Sarah Winkley

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School details

Headteacher Mrs Sarah Groves (executive headteacher)

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School details

Date of previous inspection 13 April 2016

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Information about this school

 The school is much smaller than the average-sized primary school.  In May 2019, the school formed a federation with a larger local school. The headteacher of the other school was appointed as executive headteacher in June 2019, having held out this post at Wroot Travis on an interim basis following the promotion of the previous postholder in September 2018.

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Information about this inspection

 We held meetings with the executive headteacher, the senior teacher, subject leaders and a group of five governors, including the chair and vice-chair. Telephone conversations also took place with representatives of the local authority and diocese.  Reading, mathematics and geography were considered closely in order to evaluate the quality of education. In each of these subjects, inspection activities included: lesson visits; discussions with staff and pupils; meetings with subject leaders; and work scrutiny. The lead inspector also listened to pupils read.  A range of documentation was considered. This included the school’s self-evaluation and plans for improvement. 31 October 2019

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 The six responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, were taken into consideration. An inspector also spoke to parents informally at the start of the school day. There were no responses to the staff or pupil surveys.  Many of the inspection activities gave inspectors the opportunity to evaluate the culture of safeguarding in the school. Additionally, we asked staff about the impact of the safeguarding training they have received. Child protection records and the single central record were also scrutinised.

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Inspection team

Kirsty Godfrey, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Rebecca Clayton Ofsted Inspector 31 October 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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