Wingate Primary School

Inspection of Wingate Primary School Church Street, Wingate, County Durham TS28 5AQ

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Inspection dates: 17 and 18 January 2023

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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

The school was last inspected 10 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. 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. 17 and 18 January 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

The rights of children are central to the school’s ethos. Pupils are passionate about their human rights and how the school puts these into practice. They know what rights they have as individuals. They know that staff respect these rights. Pupils who are ‘lead ambassadors’ are proud to have a say in how the school is run and led.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is split across two sites. The Reception and key stage 1 site and the key stage 2 site. On both sites, there is a friendly and lively atmosphere. Pupils greet visitors politely. They are keen to share their views on life in school. Pupils are kind to one another. Bullying rarely occurs. It is well managed by adults when it does. Pupils know that if they put their name in the ‘worry box’ that a member of staff will help them. This helps pupils to feel safe and be safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff expect pupils to try their best and behave well. The vast majority of pupils do. Teachers expect pupils to use subject-specific vocabulary when they talk about their learning. Most pupils do this well. However, some pupils find this hard because they do not fully understand some of the words that teachers use. Very occasionally, pupils lose focus in lessons. When they do, staff quickly step in to re-engage pupils in their learning.

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better?

The school has been through a period of significant change. In September 2018, Wingate Infant School merged with Wingate Junior School to create Wingate Primary School. Several staff left. Other staff took up new roles in school. Work to bring the two schools together was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite these challenges, leaders have managed this change well. There is increasing consistency between what pupils experience across the two sites.

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better?

Leaders have strengthened the curriculum, particularly in key stage 2. There is an ambitious and well-considered curriculum across the school. The music curriculum is a notable strength. Subject leaders give effective support and guidance to teachers. This helps them to plan well-sequenced and engaging lessons that build pupils’ knowledge over time. Some subject leaders are new to their role. They need more training to further refine the curriculum in their subjects. More time is needed for leaders to embed the improvements to the curriculum in key stage 2 so that the outcomes for older pupils are as strong as they are for younger pupils.

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better?

Leaders prioritise the development of pupils’ vocabulary. Pupils are expected to talk about their learning maturely. This includes in the early years where children explain their reasoning in early mathematics by saying ‘I know this because…’. Teachers use subject-specific vocabulary in their lessons. However, they do not always check that all pupils have sufficient understanding of the vocabulary being used. This means that some lessons are less effective because some pupils do not know exactly what these words mean. Teachers are better at checking pupils’ understanding of new subject knowledge in lessons. Teachers spot when pupils have misunderstood new 17 and 18 January 2023

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concepts and give further explanations to pupils. However, they do not follow this up to check that this additional teaching has corrected pupils’ misconceptions.

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Around a quarter of pupils on roll have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They are well supported and fully included in school life by all adults. Appropriate in-class support is used to help pupils to access the curriculum. Where necessary, additional intervention is undertaken outside of lessons. For example, some pupils do extra reading with teaching assistants. This helps to prepare pupils with SEND for their next step in education.

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Reading is led and taught well. Leaders’ investment in time and resources over the last year has supported the introduction of a new early reading curriculum. Staff who teach phonics have been well trained and teach phonics effectively. Pupils who fall behind in reading are quickly identified and helped to catch up to their peers. Pupils across the school adore reading. They look forward to ‘dream time’ each day when they get to read for pleasure as a class.

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There is a well-planned curriculum in the early years. Adults make excellent use of the wide range of resources in Reception to deliver the planned curriculum effectively. Children join the school in Reception. They are well supported to transition into the school. Leaders quickly settle children into routines when they first arrive. Adults in the early years ensure that children learn to build strong relationships with one another. As a result, children go into Year 1 in a strong position.

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Pupils behave well. Rare incidents of disruption are tackled swiftly. Leaders teach pupils to understand bullying and its impact on others. Incidents of bullying are very rare because pupils respect each other’s individuality.

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Leaders place great importance on pupils’ personal development. Staff and pupils are proud to be a ‘UNICEF Rights Respecting School’. This is tangibly promoted around school and is a key focus for pupils’ social and moral development. The religious education curriculum helps pupils to compare different faiths, as well as non-religious views. Pupils are active citizens in the community.

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Leaders engage well with parents, staff and pupils. Their views are carefully considered by leaders when making decisions. Staff are keen to praise senior leaders. They appreciate the opportunity to undertake ‘peer reviews’ of each other’s teaching. This supports their professional development. Some subject leaders who are new to their responsibilities have not accessed sufficient training to support them to develop professionally in their roles.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Safeguarding is well led. There are many staff across both sites with responsibility for safeguarding. Non-teaching pastoral staff build strong relationships with families 17 and 18 January 2023

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in the community. This helps leaders to provide support to pupils who need it and engage effectively with multi-agency work.

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Regular training ensures that staff have sufficient expertise in safeguarding. Adults in school recognise the tell-tale signs that suggest a pupil might be at risk of harm. When concerns are raised, leaders respond appropriately and swiftly.

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Pupils benefit from visits from the emergency services to learn about risks that they may face in the community.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 There is inconsistency in how adept teachers are with the use of assessment in lessons. Although teachers check for misconceptions among pupils, teachers do not adapt their teaching well enough to check that these misconceptions have been fully corrected. This means that pupils are occasionally moved on to new learning too quickly. Leaders should ensure that teachers receive training in the use of assessment to inform their teaching.  Some teachers do not ensure that pupils have secure knowledge of the subject- specific language being used in lessons. This means that some pupils do not fully understand the explanations and instructions that teachers give them. Leaders should ensure that all teachers check that pupils have an accurate understanding of the vocabulary that they are using in lessons across the curriculum.  Some teachers have recently taken on new subject leadership responsibilities and

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

have not accessed relevant training. As a result, some of these teachers are in the early stages of developing their subject-specific knowledge. Leaders should ensure that staff get appropriate professional development to enable them to develop their curriculum knowledge of their subject.

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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. 17 and 18 January 2023

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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. 17 and 18 January 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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Website

www.wingateprimaryschool.durham.sch. uk Date of previous inspection 19 and 20 September 2013

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Information about this school

 The school was previously known as Wingate Infant School. In 2018, the school amalgamated with Wingate Junior School, which was judged ‘good’ when it was inspected in October 2014 under a previous inspection framework.  The headteacher of the school was the headteacher of Wingate Infant School prior to the amalgamation.  The school does not make use of alternative provision.

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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

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into their account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher and middle leaders throughout the inspection. The lead inspector met with members of the governing 17 and 18 January 2023

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body, including the chairperson. They also spoke with a representative from the local authority by telephone.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics, music and religious education. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. They also listened to pupils in Years 1, 2 and 3 read to a familiar adult.  Inspectors met with the leaders responsible for English and personal, social and health education, as well as the special educational needs coordinator. They visited English lessons and looked at samples of pupils’ English work. They also visited additional phonics sessions.  To inspect safeguarding, the lead inspector met with the headteacher and reviewed a range of safeguarding documentation. This included the school’s single central record and safeguarding logs. They also spoke to pupils and staff

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about their safeguarding knowledge.  Inspectors observed lunchtime arrangements, breakfast club and after-school club.  Inspectors spoke to pupils and staff, formally and informally, throughout the inspection. This includes pupils who have leadership responsibilities in school.  Inspectors considered the views of parents, pupils and staff who responded to Ofsted’s surveys.  Inspectors reviewed a range of school documentation such as the school development plan, attendance data and behaviour logs.

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Inspection team

Graham Findlay, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Andrew James Ofsted Inspector 17 and 18 January 2023

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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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