The Weald CofE Primary School

Inspection of The Weald CofE Primary School Newdigate Road, Beare Green, Dorking, Surrey RH5 4QW

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Inspection dates: 13 and 14 September 2022

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Previous inspection grade Inadequate 13 and 14 September 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Everyone is proud to be part of this vibrant, harmonious community. Pupils are settled and happy. They flourish because adults take great care of them. Parents and carers are overwhelmingly supportive of the school. As one parent said: ‘All of the staff genuinely care about the children and go the extra mile to help them.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are kind and considerate. The school’s values of love, responsibility, respect, trust and forgiveness are an integral part of daily life. Pupils behave well and bullying is uncommon. They know that staff will help them solve any worries they may have. Consequently, pupils feel safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders’ high expectations shine through all aspects of the school’s work. There are no limits placed on what pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), can accomplish. Leaders ensure that all pupils have the ‘space to learn and grow’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are expected to conduct themselves well and they rise to this challenge. There is a purposeful buzz of learning around school. Pupils work well together and are keen to share their ideas. There is a strong emphasis placed on encouraging pupils to question, debate and reflect on the world around them.

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better?

Leaders, trustees and governors have high aspirations for all pupils. Leaders have made significant improvements to the curriculum to ensure that it is interesting and engaging. They have made careful decisions about what pupils should learn, and the order in which they should learn it. Most subject leaders know how well pupils are achieving across all year groups. However, this is not consistent across all subjects in the school’s curriculum. This is because some subject leaders are in the earlier stages of their development. A robust programme of training is under way to address this.

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better?

From the moment pupils join the school, they are immersed in reading. The curriculum includes an exciting range of diverse and challenging texts. Pupils learn about an array of different authors and genres. This inspires pupils to read widely and enables them to develop their vocabulary and comprehension. Staff ensure that the small number of pupils who are at the early stages of learning to read receive well-targeted support. Reading books match the sounds that pupils know. Pupils become confident, fluent readers.

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better?

Leaders provide effective training for staff. This means that, over time, the teaching of the curriculum is becoming increasingly expert. Many teachers use their strong subject knowledge to present information clearly. They skilfully check how well pupils have understood what they have learned before moving them on to new ideas. Nevertheless, in a small number of subjects, the quality of curriculum delivery is still variable. In these subjects, pupils do not achieve as well as they could. 13 and 14 September 2022

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Pupils’ personal development is at the heart of the curriculum. They learn how to be credible and active citizens. For instance, pupils take on responsibilities such as being members of the ‘tech team’, ‘playground buddies’ and as school councillors. They participate in local events, including visiting residents at a retirement complex and raising money for causes they support. Pupils value the importance of mutual respect and individual liberty. As one said, ‘It doesn’t matter who your family is made up of, what counts is that you love and trust each other.’

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Pupils are keen to learn. They concentrate well and have positive attitudes towards their learning. This means that pupils’ learning is rarely disrupted. Leaders ensure that pupils’ individual needs are identified appropriately. Well-trained staff make sure that pupils with SEND get the tailored support they need to learn well.

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Trustees and local governors have an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and priorities for improvement. They challenge and hold leaders to account effectively. Staff are overwhelmingly positive about the specialist training and support they receive from leaders. They appreciate the steps leaders take to look after their well-being and ensure that staff workload is well balanced.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders are tenacious in their work to keep pupils safe from harm. Effective and regular training enables staff to identify pupils who may be at risk and report any worries promptly. Leaders keep detailed records of concerns and take swift action, involving external agencies when appropriate. This ensures that pupils and their families get the help they need. Arrangements to recruit staff are robust. The correct checks are carried out on adults working at the school. Pupils are taught how to identify risks, so they are more able to keep themselves safe. This includes keeping safe online.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some subject leaders do not have a clear enough oversight of how well pupils are learning the intended curriculum. Leaders are addressing this. They should continue to implement the programme of professional development to ensure that subject leadership is consistently strong across all subjects.  In a small number of subjects, teachers’ implementation of the curriculum is variable. This sometimes limits how well pupils develop their knowledge and understanding. Leaders need to continue to develop staff’s pedagogy so that they understand how pupils learn across the different subjects in the curriculum. 13 and 14 September 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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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 September 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10200895 Type of school Middle deemed primary

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School details

Date of previous inspection 25 and 26 May 2021, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 This is a small Church of England primary school. At the time of inspection, there were pupils in Years 3, 4 ,5 and 6 only.  The school is currently using one alternative provider.  The school is part of the Diocese of Guildford. As a school with a religious character, the school was last inspected under Section 48 of the Education Act 2005 in May 2017. The next Section 48 inspection is due by 2025.

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

In accordance with section 13(5) of the Education Act 2005, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that the school no longer requires significant improvement.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school. 13 and 14 September 2022

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 Inspectors met with the headteacher, school leaders, staff and pupils.  The lead inspector met with the chief executive officer and the director of education for The Good Shepherd Trust. She also met with representatives of the board of trustees and the local committee.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, history and physical education. For each deep dive, 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.  To inspect safeguarding, inspectors checked the single central record of recruitment checks and talked to leaders responsible for safeguarding. Inspectors also talked to a range of staff and pupils informally.  The inspection team considered the responses to the confidential staff survey and spoke to a range of staff about their views of the school.

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 Inspectors took account of the responses to Ofsted Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, and the additional free-text responses. An inspector talked with some parents on the morning of the first day of the inspection.  The inspection team met with a range of pupils to discuss their views about the school and talked to pupils informally during social times and in lessons.  Inspectors reviewed a range of documentation, including the school development plan and pupil premium funding plan.

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Inspection team

Louise Walker, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Fiona Henderson Ofsted Inspector 13 and 14 September 2022

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