Welford-on-Avon Primary School

Inspection of Welford-on-Avon Primary School Headland Road, Welford-on-Avon, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire CV37 8ER

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Inspection dates: 13 and 14 October 2021

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness Good

This school was last inspected 15 years ago and judged ‘Outstanding’ under a previous inspection framework. This reflected the school’s overall effectiveness under the inspection framework in use at the time.

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Overall effectiveness Good

From then until November 2020, the school was exempted by law from routine inspection, so there has been a longer gap than usual between inspections.

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Overall effectiveness Good

Judgements in this report are based on the current inspection framework and also reflect changes that may have happened at any point since the last inspection. 13 and 14 October 2021

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What is it like to attend this school?

Welford-on-Avon Primary School provides pupils with a very caring and nurturing environment to learn in. There are very positive relationships between staff, pupils and families in this close-knit school community. Pupils’ attendance rates are high because pupils love coming to school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff are deeply committed to helping pupils achieve their full potential. In the majority of subjects, especially English and mathematics, pupils make progress and achieve very well. However, while pupils do make progress in all subjects, they do not make as much progress as they should. This is because the work does not build well enough on what they have learned before.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders make sure that mental health and well-being are prioritised for staff, pupils and families. For example, ‘Wellness@Welford’ provides information about a range of services to help anyone in need of support. Pupils enjoy taking part in a rich set of experiences outside of school, such as residential trips to Norfolk and visits to the seaside. Pupils are also proud of their maypole dancing, which is well known throughout the community.

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What is it like to attend this school?

In the rare instances where pupils fall out or are unkind to one another, staff deal with this quickly and help pupils to overcome their differences. Pupils say that bullying is dealt with very well.

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better?

Reading and phonics are taught well right from the start of school. Children get off to a flying start in the Nursery Year. They settle quickly and make rapid progress in their learning. This is because staff are highly skilled at spotting what children can do and then helping them to build on this learning, especially their communication and language. Pupils continue to develop their reading and phonics skills across Reception Year and key stage 1. Staff know straight away if a pupil needs extra help to keep up with the phonics teaching. They give pupils the right support to make sure any gaps are closed quickly. Pupils really enjoy reading and staff ensure that they take every opportunity to promote a love of reading. Pupils have many opportunities to read independently, with others and as a whole class every day. As a result, pupils read very confidently and fluently by the end of key stage 2.

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better?

Teachers ensure that they provide pupils with a broad and balanced curriculum. Pupils continued to benefit from this curriculum throughout the pandemic, and do so when they are unable to attend school currently. Parents praise highly the commitment of staff to minimising any disruption to their child’s education.

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better?

Pupils achieve high academic outcomes in English and mathematics. The curriculum planning helps teachers to know what pupils have learned before and what they need to learn to prepare them for the next year. Teachers check what pupils can do and then provide work that helps them to practise and build upon their learning 13 and 14 October 2021

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successfully. However, in some subjects, pupils do not achieve as well as they could. This is because the curriculum planning does not set out what knowledge and skills need to be learned, and in what order, clearly enough. Consequently, teachers do not always have a precise enough understanding of what pupils know and can do. On occasion, this leads to teachers providing pupils with work that is too easy or too hard.

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Subject leaders have developed detailed curriculum plans that set out the range of themes to be taught in their subjects from the early years through to Year 6. In the majority of subjects, leaders have identified the knowledge and skills that pupils should learn and in what order. However, in some subjects, leaders have not considered this carefully enough. They lack some understanding of how to plan and sequence the learning from one year to the next.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) achieve particularly well. There is a very inclusive ethos across the school. Teachers take time to ensure that pupils with SEND can access the full curriculum successfully. Staff understand pupils’ needs and difficulties and adapt learning to meet those needs. Staff in the resource provision are particularly skilled at this and these pupils are achieving very well.

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Pupils have many opportunities to develop their social and emotional skills through wider curriculum experiences. Leaders make sure that pupils’ mental health is supported where needed through play therapy and mentoring. Trampolining and climbing activities supplement pupils’ physical education. However, meaningful opportunities to help pupils learn about other faiths and cultures are more limited. While pupils’ understanding of respect is clear, they do not have a strong understanding of different ethnic communities and the diversity of Britain. The teaching of fundamental British values is also not embedded so pupils’ understanding about values such as democracy is not as well developed as it should be. However, the school’s values, for example kindness, are promoted well.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Pupils trust the adults in school and know that staff will help them if they are worried about something. Staff know what to do if they have any concerns that pupils may be suffering from harm. Leaders respond quickly to any concerns staff report and work closely with outside agencies to find the right support and help to keep pupils as safe as possible.

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Safeguarding

The personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) curriculum helps pupils to learn about how to keep themselves safe. For example, pupils learn about what a healthy relationship is and how to keep themselves safe online. 13 and 14 October 2021

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Teachers do not give pupils sufficient meaningful opportunities to learn about fundamental British values and diversity. Consequently, pupils have a limited understanding and appreciation of other faiths and cultures and the importance of British values in society. Leaders should ensure that the PSHE curriculum is developed further so that pupils have a range of experiences to learn about other faiths, cultures and fundamental British values in order to ensure that pupils are fully prepared for life in modern Britain.  Some curriculum planning does not set out what knowledge and skills pupils need to learn from one year to the next well enough. As a result, in some subjects, pupils are not able to build on what they learned before as well as they should. Leaders should make sure that all curriculum planning carefully sequences the knowledge and skills pupils need to learn in each year group. This

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

will enable pupils to build on their prior learning more successfully.  Some subject leaders lack sufficient understanding of how to sequence curriculum planning to enable pupils to know and remember more over time. This means that, in some subjects, pupils do not make as much progress as they could. Leaders should provide subject leaders with training and support to enable them to plan an effective curriculum in their subject that enables all pupils to make strong progress.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View 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 are the school and you are 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. 13 and 14 October 2021

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School details

Inspection number 10199288 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 27 September 2006

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Information about this school

 The school has a small resource provision for pupils with SEND. Most pupils who attend the provision have an education, health and care plan. The provision caters for pupils with communication and language difficulties.  The school makes use of one unregistered alternative provision.  The school has a before- and after-school care provision that is managed by the governing body.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, who is also the special educational needs coordinator, the deputy headteacher, the English, mathematics, PSHE and history leaders, other subject leaders and the early years leader. Inspectors also met with 13 and 14 October 2021

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class teachers and teaching assistants. The lead inspector met with seven members of the governing body.  The lead inspector met with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors carried out deep dives into reading, mathematics, history and PSHE. For each deep dive, inspectors looked at curriculum planning and spoke to leaders about their subjects. They conducted joint lesson visits with leaders, including to the resource provision, spoke to pupils about their work and wider school experiences and looked at a range of pupils’ work.  Inspectors scrutinised a range of safeguarding information, including the school’s safeguarding policy, spoke to staff and pupils about safeguarding and looked at how pupils learn how to keep themselves safe. The lead inspector spoke to the designated safeguarding lead about the reporting and recording of any safeguarding incidents.  Inspectors took account of the parent free-text comments and the responses on

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Ofsted Parent View. Inspectors also considered the responses to the pupil and staff surveys.  Inspectors visited the before-school provision and spoke with the leader of the alternative provision that the school uses.

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Inspection team

Ann Pritchard, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Jane Edgerton Ofsted Inspector 13 and 14 October 2021

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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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