Wheatfield Primary School and Nursery

Inspection of a good school: Wheatfield Primary School Woodward Close, Winnersh, Berkshire RG41 5UU

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Outcome

Wheatfield Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s values of ‘being the best you can be, being kind and making the right choices’ are lived up to by pupils and staff. The values help pupils to know right from wrong. Consequently, pupils are polite and kind to one another. They behave well. One pupil commented, ‘School is like home, because everyone is welcoming.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders and staff have high expectations of pupils. Staff ensure that pupils know the difference between bullying and falling out. Pupils say that if another pupil were to be unkind, staff would help them sort it out. Pupils feel safe at school. They said that this is because they have trusted adults around them to listen and to help them if they have any concerns or worries. Pupils are adamant that in Wheatfield Primary, everyone is treated equally.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents say that their children thrive at this school. Older pupils are proud to take on leadership roles such as reading champions, anti-bullying ambassadors and playground leaders. They make a positive contribution to important school matters. Staff ensure that pupils’ personal development, talents and interests are nurtured well.

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

The curriculum is ordered sensibly to help pupils build what they know in appropriate steps. In most subjects, leaders have provided enough guidance for teachers to plan and deliver appropriate learning activities. Staff teach effectively, so that pupils remember most of what leaders expect. In some subjects, however, leaders have not outlined exactly what pupils must know and remember over the long term. For these subjects, some pupils forget or get confused about what they have been taught.

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

Leaders have rightly made learning to read a priority. Children start their journey in learning to read as soon as they join the Reception class, where they begin listening carefully to sounds that make up words. All staff are well trained to teach the phonics programme effectively. The books that staff choose for pupils to read precisely match the 2 and 3 February 2023

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sounds that they learn in class. This helps pupils to work out unfamiliar words and to quickly become independent readers. Teachers provide extra support swiftly if pupils need to catch up with any aspect of their reading.

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Leaders and teachers inspire pupils to enjoy reading. Pupil reading ambassadors are involved in supporting younger children with their reading. Leaders ensure that texts are carefully chosen for each year group to ignite a passion and love for reading. This helps pupils to gain a broad understanding of different novels, characters and plots in stories. Older pupils speak enthusiastically about their favourite books and authors.

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From the early years onwards, pupils approach their learning with enthusiasm and curiosity. Children try their very best and are proud of what they achieve. The early years curriculum appropriately reflects the way young children learn. It is effective in laying strong foundations for children to flourish as they move through the school. Children delight in the well-planned activities which help them to learn well.

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Staff support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) effectively. Leaders quickly and accurately identify pupils’ needs and provide staff with helpful training and guidance. Staff usually follow leaders’ guidance and deliver learning activities and assistance well. Occasionally, staff do not follow all leaders’ guidance or do not provide exactly what these pupils need. When this happens, some pupils with SEND do not learn as well as they could.

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Governors know the school well. They are supportive of leaders. They are not afraid to ask challenging questions about the quality of the education the school provides. Most staff feel that leaders support them well. They are able to discuss any concerns with them and feel listened to and looked after. Staff said that leaders made reasonable and fair adjustments to their workload.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff know leaders’ safeguarding systems and procedures well. They have regular training to keep up to date with the latest developments in safeguarding arrangements. Staff act quickly on anything that may indicate a cause for concern.

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Safeguarding

Staff know pupils and their families well. This helps them to notice any changes in pupils that may alert them to potential signs of concern. Leaders act on concerns quickly. They work effectively with external agencies to secure appropriate and timely support for pupils and their families, when needed.

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Safeguarding

Leaders and governors make sure that the curriculum helps pupils to learn how to keep themselves safe. For instance, pupils know how to keep themselves safe when online.

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 In a small number of subjects, leaders have not made clear the precise content that pupils should know and remember. This means that key knowledge is not taught, or learned, as well as it could be. Leaders should ensure that curriculum planning in all subjects identifies the precise content that pupils should learn and understand as they move through the school.  Leaders’ systems to check and monitor the delivery of the curriculum are not carried out consistently or with enough accuracy. As a result, leaders are unsure of the impact of the curriculum on pupils’ learning in some subjects. Leaders should ensure that systems are in place to routinely check that the curriculum is being delivered effectively. This will allow them to make any necessary changes to the curriculum so that pupils learn more and remember more over time.

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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 an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in May 2017.

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How can I feed back my views?

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. 2 and 3 February 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10227919 Type of school Primary

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School details

Headteacher Lee Parsons (executive headteacher) Tamara Brown (head of school) Website www.wheatfieldschool.org

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 16 and 17 May 2017, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Wheatfield Primary School is an academy sponsored by GLF Schools, which is a multi- academy trust.  The school is part of a cluster of 4 schools, including Windmill Primary, Lightwater Infants and Hammond Junior School, which, together, form the Swinley cluster of schools. The cluster has one executive headteacher.  The school does not use alternative providers.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and has taken that into account in the evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the executive headteacher, the headteacher, the special educational needs coordinator (who is also the assistant headteacher), staff, pupils, parents, governors (including the vice-chair of the local governing body), the chair of the trust board, the school’s education partner and a director of education from the trust. 2 and 3 February 2023

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 The inspector listened to pupils from Years 1, 2 and 3 read to a known adult.  The inspector carried out deep dives in reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. She also observed pupils during breaktimes and spoke with pupils about their personal development.  The inspector reviewed the school’s safeguarding documentation, including records of safeguarding checks carried out on staff working at the school. She considered how well the designated safeguarding lead acts on concerns about pupils’ safety and welfare. The inspector also spoke to pupils, staff and governors about safeguarding practices.  The inspector considered the responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Ofsted Parent View.

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She also took into consideration the responses to the survey for staff and the pupil survey.

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Inspection team

Mineza Maher, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 2 and 3 February 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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