Wareham St Mary Church of England Primary School

Inspection of Wareham St Mary Church of England Primary School Streche Road, Wareham, Dorset BH20 4PG

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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 Requires improvement 11 and 12 May 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Everyone is proud to be a part of Wareham St Mary’s School. The Christian vision and values are threaded through school life. Developing pupils’ characters is a key aim of leaders.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff are ambitious for every child. They want all pupils to reach their potential and offer a wealth of opportunities for each child to succeed.

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What is it like to attend this school?

All members of the school share a firm understanding of the high expectations for behaviour. Pupils and staff talk clearly about the use of the school’s behaviour system. There is rarely any low-level disruption and pupils say that teachers deal swiftly with this if it should happen.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There is a positive and caring culture within the school. Everyone treats one another with respect. Pupils say there is no bullying at the school. They can talk about difference. One child said, ‘it doesn’t matter what’s on the outside, it matters what’s on the inside’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents are overwhelmingly supportive of the school. Many describe it as a place where pupils ‘flourish’ and ‘thrive’. They appreciate the care and nurture staff give to pupils.

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better?

Leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum. It has been deliberately built so that pupils experience a wide range of cultures, artists and remarkable people of different genders and orientations. This is so they can understand and appreciate people and other influences that shape their local and global world.

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better?

The curriculum is well sequenced. Knowledge is broken down in each subject. This helps teachers to be clear about what pupils need to learn and when. In early reading, teachers use the curriculum plans to ensure pupils secure their knowledge of sounds over time. As a result, they are able to segment and blend unknown words when reading. They read books that match the sounds they are learning. Teachers identify accurately any gaps in pupils’ phonic knowledge and put support in to make sure they catch up quickly.

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better?

The teaching of mathematics, including in the early years, ensures that pupils build understanding over time. They are able to use their prior knowledge to ask questions, reason and solve problems. Pupils’ mathematical vocabulary is developed through careful questioning and adults using important terms. As a result, pupils are able to discuss their mathematical thinking clearly, using specific words.

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better?

Leaders foster a love of reading for pupils. Teachers read frequently to pupils. They can talk about a wide range of books they have enjoyed reading. Younger children enjoy taking home books they have listened to in the classroom.

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better?

Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), have their needs well met. Leaders use clear processes to identify these pupils’ needs. They support teachers to adapt the curriculum, which means all pupils learn well. 11 and 12 May 2022

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Leaders provide pupils with a wealth of opportunities and experiences for personal growth. All pupils enjoy the opportunity to learn in the forest school. Right from the early years, pupils learn to take responsibility and build independence. The curriculum offer is enriched by a variety of popular clubs. Pupils understand equality and are supported to understand life in modern Britain. Older pupils say they appreciate the work staff do to help them prepare for high school.

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Governors and the trust know the school well and provide effective challenge and support. They receive accurate information from leaders which helps them to understand what is going well and what needs to improve.

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Staff are positive about leaders’ support for them. They appreciate the opportunities for professional development and leaders’ pastoral care. Staff morale at the school is high.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure there is a culture of safeguarding pupils. They know their pupils and families well. They build positive relationships and enable information to be shared appropriately. Leaders work well with external agencies to get help and support for pupils when they need it.

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Safeguarding

Staff receive a rigorous induction when starting at the school. Regular training ensures that they know what signs of abuse to be vigilant for and how to log any concerns.

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Safeguarding

Pupils learn about risk and how to keep themselves safe. Leaders ensure that pupils are knowledgeable about specific local risks and shape the curriculum and pupils’ experiences to give them opportunities to learn about these too.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have implemented the curriculum. However, this is not always delivered as leaders intend. In some subjects, including phonics, there is too much variety in the way pupils experience the curriculum and this reduces learning at times. Leaders must ensure teaching strategies are consistent across subjects and year groups.  Although subject leaders have sequenced the knowledge they want pupils to learn in each subject, they do not know how well this is being delivered. As a result, they cannot be confident that pupils are making the progress they intend. Senior leaders need to develop subject leaders’ ability to accurately monitor and evaluate their subjects so that they can secure high-quality implementation across the curriculum. 11 and 12 May 2022

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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. 11 and 12 May 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10211739 Type of school Primary

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School details

Date of previous inspection 1 – 2 May 2018, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is a Church of England Primary school within the Diocese of Salisbury.  The school joined the Coastal Learning Partnership Trust in March 2020.  The headteacher was appointed to her current role in April 2022.

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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. The inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, design technology and history. For each deep dive, the inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. 11 and 12 May 2022

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 The inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, lead practitioner from the trust, special educational needs coordinator, pastoral leader, curriculum leaders and teaching and support staff.  The lead inspector met with the chief executive officer and the lead practitioner of the trust.  The lead inspector met with members of the governing body and spoke with a representative from the Diocese of Salisbury.  The lead inspector met with the designated safeguarding leaders to discuss how they keep pupils safe in school. They considered the school’s recruitment procedures, staff induction and training, records of concerns and their engagement with external agencies. The inspectors also spoke with staff and pupils throughout the inspection.  The lead inspector listened to pupils read to an adult.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school site. In addition, they met with pupils informally and formally to hear their views.

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 Inspectors considered responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Ofsted Parent View, including free-text responses. Inspectors also took into consideration responses to the staff and pupil surveys.  Inspectors examined a range of documentation provided by the school, including the school’s self-evaluation document, evaluation reports and documentation relating to safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Angela Folland, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Richard Vaughan Ofsted Inspector 11 and 12 May 2022

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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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