Westwood Infant and Nursery School

Inspection of a good school: Westwood Infant and Nursery School Palmerston Street, Westwood, Jacksdale, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire NG16 5JA

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Outcome

Westwood Infant and Nursery 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?

This is a welcoming and caring school. Parents and carers value this, with one saying, ‘Westwood is a warm and nurturing place. There is a lovely sense of community.’ Pupils smiled as they told us how much they enjoy coming to school. They play and learn together happily throughout the school day. Pupils are polite and friendly. They show respect to everyone by greeting them with a friendly ‘hello’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy being together. They behave well. Pupils know what bullying is. They told us that it does not happen in school. They say that they feel safe and know that staff care for them greatly. Pupils enjoy listening to the ‘proud of Westwood’ poem. They say it reminds them to be proud of themselves and each other. Staff make sure that pupils try new things. Pupils enjoy trips to the zoo, going to ‘fun club’ and being litter pickers at breaktimes.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Some staff do not always have high expectations of what pupils can achieve. Pupils should be doing better than they are in some subjects. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are not accurately identified. They do not always get the right help that they need.

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

The school has recently experienced some disruption to staffing. The new headteacher has worked hard to stabilise this. She has a high ambition for pupils. She works with staff to raise the expectations of what pupils can achieve. However, the quality of education that pupils receive in some subjects is not good enough.

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

Leaders know the importance of getting pupils to read from an early age. They have set out what phonics knowledge pupils should gain and by when. They make sure that pupils read with an adult every day. However, some staff have not received enough training to 3 December 2019

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teach reading well enough. They do not always model or explain learning effectively in phonics lessons. Pupils enjoy reading. Leaders have created the ‘library lodge’ where pupils go to read their favourite stories. Pupils told us that they enjoy reading books from the Harry Potter and the Meg and Mog series. The books that pupils read at home are well chosen. Pupils read them fluently.

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Leaders know what they want pupils to learn in physical education (PE). They make sure that pupils’ knowledge and skills build year on year. Teachers deliver exciting lessons and tell pupils how to improve. We saw teachers showing pupils how to correctly hold a hockey stick to strike a ball with control. Children in the early years enjoy threading activities to build muscle tone in their hands.

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Pupils enjoy music lessons. Children in the early years join in with songs and make sounds with instruments, such as bells and castanets. However, leaders do not know what important knowledge pupils need to learn in music. Pupils’ musical skills do not improve over time. Staff’s subject knowledge is not good enough to teach music effectively.

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Leaders do not accurately identify pupils with SEND. They do not consider the specific difficulties that prevent these pupils from achieving their best. While pupils receive some support to help them to learn to read, they do not get enough help to address other needs.

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Children in the early years make a good start to school. They learn routines quickly. Staff know children well. They plan a curriculum that builds on what children already know. Pupils enjoy learning through play. They are curious and independent learners. They listen attentively to stories such as ‘Percy the Park Keeper’.

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Staff have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. Pupils behave well. Pupils enjoy earning stickers for doing the right thing. They get postcards sent home celebrating their hard work. Staff have positive relationships with pupils. A typical parental comment was, ‘My children really like their teachers. It is obvious that staff have a clear passion for what they do.’

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Leaders work hard to improve pupils’ wider development. They plan exciting events such as Bollywood dance workshops and African drumming lessons. Pupils enjoy learning about the arts. Pupils in Year 2 have recently studied the artist, Giuseppe Arcimboldo.

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The headteacher is resilient and dedicated. She makes sure that staff are valued and have a manageable workload. However, governors have not done enough to ensure that there is enough leadership capacity to improve the quality of education that pupils receive in all subjects.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders make sure that staff are well trained and can spot the signs that a pupil may be at risk of harm or abuse. Leaders know pupils and families well. They act quickly to get 3 December 2019

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the right support for vulnerable pupils. Parents told us that their children feel safe in school.

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Pupils told us that they know how to stay safe in and around school. They learn how to stay safe online and when crossing roads in the local area, for example. Pupils can identify a trusted adult they can share their worries with.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Pupils with SEND are not always identified accurately or early enough. Some of these pupils do not receive the most effective help and support that they need to achieve well across the curriculum. Leaders should ensure that the special educational needs coordinator and teaching staff are well trained. They should use this training to identify pupils with SEND. They should put the right support in place so that these pupils catch up and keep up.  Staff have not received enough training in phonics. Some staff do not model and explain learning well enough. Leaders should ensure that staff receive further training. Leaders should check that the phonics programme is implemented effectively.  The school does not provide a good quality of education in all subjects. The curriculum for PE is effective, but the curriculums for other subjects, such as music, are not. Leaders should develop a more ambitious curriculum. They must identify the most

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

important knowledge that pupils should learn in each subject and by when. Teachers must understand what pupils should achieve by the end of each year so that they are able to plan well sequenced lessons that build pupils’ knowledge over time. Governors need to check that this is happening and hold leaders to account.  Governors have not ensured that there is enough leadership capacity within the school. The quality of education pupils receive in some subjects is not good enough. Governors must ensure that this is addressed quickly so that pupils achieve well in all subjects.

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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 on 6–7 October 2010. 3 December 2019

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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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How can I feed back my views?

If you’re not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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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. 3 December 2019

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School details

Local authority Nottinghamshire County Council

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School details

Inspection number 10110145 Type of school Infant

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website http://www.westwood.notts.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 1 March 2016

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Information about this school

 The headteacher was appointed to her substantive role in April 2019. She had been the acting headteacher since January 2019.  The school provides a breakfast club each morning. This is managed by the governing body.

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Information about this inspection

 We met with the headteacher, a representative from the local authority and four members of the governing body.  We examined the quality of education that pupils receive in reading, music and PE. We visited lessons, scrutinised pupils’ work, listened to pupils read and spoke with pupils and teachers about their lessons.  A wide range of documents was scrutinised, including those relating to safeguarding, attendance, the school’s plans for improvement and minutes from meetings of the governing body. We considered information about pupils’ achievement from published information and information on the school’s website.  We spoke with parents informally at the start of the day. We considered the 12 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire. We took account of the seven 3 December 2019

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responses to the staff survey. There were no responses to the pupil survey.

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Inspection team

Steve Varnam, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Aileen King Ofsted Inspector 3 December 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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