Whitecrest Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Whitecrest Primary School Whitecrest, Great Barr, Birmingham, West Midlands B43 6HQ

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Outcome

Whitecrest Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils say they enjoy school. They work and play together happily. Parents commented on the ‘family feel’ of the school and said this promotes a sense of belonging and security.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know they can always ask staff for help if they have any worries or concerns. ‘Talk and toast’ sessions support pupils’ emotional well-being well. They say bullying is rare but does happen from time to time. They say that staff deal with any behaviour issues quickly and fairly. They know how to stay safe, for example when they use the internet, because they are taught about it in school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well. They move around the school sensibly. Pupils are respectful to staff and polite to visitors. They settle down to learning quickly in lessons.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Teachers have high expectations of all pupils. They care about the pupils and want the best for them. Pupils know that their teachers expect them to try hard and they live up to these expectations. Adults teach pupils that sometimes they will find work difficult, so they may not get everything right first time. This builds pupils’ confidence to keep trying.

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

The headteacher and deputy headteacher form a strong team. They are passionate about making sure that all pupils are learning well.

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

Leaders have designed a curriculum that links many subjects together in topics. In these topics teachers plan work that helps pupils to learn more and remember more. This works well in geography and history because pupils carefully build up their knowledge and skills. But pupils do not remember their learning well enough in art. This is because pupils do not have the chance to practice what they have learned in topics that do not feature this subject.

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

Subject leaders are enthusiastic about their subjects and lead them well. Teachers 6–7 November 2019

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carefully plan what pupils need to learn. In mathematics, teachers do this very well. Teachers give pupils mathematical problems to solve which help pupils practise what they know. For example, in Year 6 pupils enjoyed competing to reach a target number by adding and subtracting positive and negative numbers.

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Together with governors, leaders ensure that all staff share their vision of developing ‘the whole child’. Staff make sure pupils have a wide range of experiences, such as visits, outdoor learning, clubs and special events. These help to develop each pupil’s individual talents and interests. Pupils run or walk three miles each week round the school grounds, which helps them to understand the importance of physical fitness.

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Pupils enjoy taking on responsibilities in school. They raise money for charities. They concentrate well and help one another in lessons. They show mutual respect to adults and each other. They know the difference between right and wrong.

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The content and sequencing of the phonics programme support pupils’ strong progress. Adults begin teaching phonics as soon as children start in the Reception class. Pupils in Years 1 and 2 have reading lessons every day and older pupils read regularly. Teachers read aloud at story times. This helps pupils to develop a love of reading. Teachers notice when any pupils fall behind, and they help them to catch up quickly by providing prompt help. Almost all pupils can read the expected phonic sounds by the end of Year 1. Pupils talk enthusiastically about the books they have read.

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Children settle quickly in Reception because adults plan interesting and exciting activities. Adults understand how children learn and help children to feel safe and secure. Adults involve parents in their child’s learning from the outset. For example, parents who attend the weekly ‘read with your child’ sessions say they value the chance to find out how their child is doing at school. Adults ask careful questions to help children solve problems they meet, such as choosing whether glue, sticky tape or string would be best to join two objects together.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive extra adult help. Teachers check these pupils’ progress regularly. Senior leaders have rightly begun to plan for proposed changes to the leadership of SEND so that adults continue to give the right support to these pupils.

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Staff are proud to belong to Whitecrest. They value leaders’ work to ensure that their workload is manageable.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders make all the required checks to make sure that adults are safe to work with children. All staff, including those new to the school, have regular training about protecting pupils from harm. This enables them to report in the right way any concerns they may have about pupils’ welfare. Leaders and teachers make sure that pupils know how to keep themselves safe, including 6–7 November 2019

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when online. Leaders carry out thorough risk assessments to identify potential hazards. Almost all parents who responded to the online survey Ofsted Parent View said their children feel safe in school.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 School leaders have designed, planned and sequenced the curriculum effectively in most subjects. In these subjects, particularly in mathematics and reading, teachers regularly check what pupils know and understand. However, in art leaders need to establish what pupils need to remember for a long time. This will help them to decide what pupils need to practise or revisit in order to recall key information in this subject.  School leaders have successfully made sure that the planning and sequencing of the curriculum support good progress. This is despite significant changes in staffing in the last four years. Leaders now need to make sure that planned changes to the leadership of SEND ensure that pupils with SEND continue to do as well as they can.

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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 Whitecrest Primary School to be good on 16–17 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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You can search for published performance information about the school.

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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. 6–7 November 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10111760 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 24 November 2015

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Information about this school

 The current headteacher took up her post in September 2016.  Four teachers have left the school and four have joined since the previous inspection.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector met with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, the leader for pupils with SEND, the early years leader and the subject leaders for reading, mathematics and art. She also met with a representative of the local authority and three members of the governing body including the chair and vice chair.  The inspector looked at a range of information about the school, including improvement plans and curriculum planning. The inspector also analysed published information about the progress and attainment of pupils in national tests and assessments.  The inspector focused deeply on reading, mathematics and art. The inspector visited lessons, spoke to teachers and pupils about pupils’ learning and looked at their work.  The inspector checked the school’s work to keep pupils safe. She looked at policies, procedures and the school’s central record of employment checks on adults working in the school to ensure that they are suitable to work with children. She talked to pupils

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and parents. She spoke to staff to check their knowledge and understanding of what steps they would take if they had a safeguarding concern about a pupil.  The inspector spoke to 12 parents who attended the ‘reading with your child’ session in the Reception class. She also took account of 62 responses to the online questionnaire, Ofsted Parent View, including 40 to the Parent View free-text service.  The inspector considered 18 responses to the staff survey and 61 responses to the pupil questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Helen Morrison, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 6–7 November 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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