William Law CofE Primary School

Inspection of a good school: William Law CofE Primary School Twelvetree Avenue, Werrington, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire PE4 5DT

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Outcome

William Law CofE Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at William Law embody the school’s Christian values of learning, living and loving together. There is a palpable sense of community. Pupils learn respect. Even those who are less self-confident are notably friendly and polite. There is little bullying. Any occasional issues are resolved well. Pupils look out for each other if anyone gets upset. Pupils get strong support for their well-being, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). As a result, they are safe and happy, and they praise their school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well and take pride in their learning. Expectations of what they can learn are high. This is the case from the moment they start in early years. Children quickly learn to self-regulate and concentrate. Consequently, they develop enthusiasm and assurance as learners. In Year 4, for example, pupils can explain how knowing about rivers is important for understanding climate change.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy an exciting range of opportunities. These extend what they learn in lessons. For instance, pupils describe how a trip to Bletchley Park helps them to understand their history better. There is a rich musical culture. Pupils perform regularly, often to a high standard.

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

Leaders have revised and improved the curriculum. They have thought carefully about why key stage 2 results in summer 2022 were disappointing. Leaders have used what they found out about the curriculum to review and change what they want and need their curriculum to offer. Following this work, the curriculum is now ambitious and well designed. 22 and 23 March 2023

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Leaders identify what they want pupils to know in all subjects. This is broken down step by step. Leaders’ starting point is to ensure that they embed key knowledge in the early years. This means that older pupils have a firm grounding as they move on to learn new concepts. In most cases, this is effective, and pupils develop detailed knowledge. Occasionally, leaders do not plan as closely as they could how pupils are given the opportunity to revisit what they have learned in previous years. Where this is the case, pupils do not always make the appropriate connections they might between the different things they learn.

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Overall, teachers deliver the curriculum consistently and well. They are well trained and have appropriate subject knowledge. Activities in lessons are matched carefully to learning intentions. Teachers give pupils time to practise what they learn and apply it to increasingly complex tasks. If pupils have misconceptions, teachers correct these effectively. As a result, pupils build successfully on what they already know. In mathematics, for example, they use vocabulary about number to develop confidence in mathematical reasoning.

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The reading curriculum is effective. Staff teach the phonics scheme well. In early years, children use the sounds they learn to help them read new words. Any who need extra help are supported. Leaders work closely with parents to support reading at home. Consequently, children quickly learn to read with fluency, including those children with SEND. There is a culture of reading throughout the school. Pupils enjoy their books and stories. This in turn leads to accurate and well-crafted writing.

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Pupils with SEND mostly receive the support they should. Leaders, supported by the trust, have recently increased the capacity of leadership of pupils with SEND in the school. Leaders have acted to ensure that they identify pupils’ needs accurately so that pupils with SEND are supported to access the ambitious curriculum. The consistent delivery of the curriculum helps these pupils understand it. However, at times, leaders do not give teachers enough precise guidance about the right strategies to use. This means that some pupils with SEND do not routinely benefit from the very best help to learn. Because of this, they do not always make as much progress as they could.

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Pupils behave well around the school. Leaders have identified what positive behaviour looks like. Leaders educate pupils in how they should behave and why. Staff understand the agreed policy and apply it consistently. Clear communication and routines support learning well. There is little disruption in lessons.

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The curriculum content supports pupils’ personal development effectively. As a result, pupils develop positive attitudes and character traits. They learn about the rule of law, for example, and can explain how this makes them think about the importance of rules in their own day-to-day experiences.

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Staff appreciate the support they get from leaders, including with their career development. Staff value the way teams collaborate to lighten the workload expectations.

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The trust has helped the school to improve. Trustees have supported leaders to develop a strong curriculum that meets the needs of the pupils. The trust has revised governors’ 22 and 23 March 2023

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roles effectively. Governors are knowledgeable and know how to support and challenge leaders effectively when needed.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders are vigilant about keeping pupils safe. They train staff well. Consequently, staff know how to spot and log concerns. Leaders take the right actions to ensure that pupils are safe, such as liaising with external agencies when necessary. They consider the risks pupils with SEND may face and plan carefully how to pre-empt these.

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Safeguarding

Leaders know the local risks and teach pupils to avoid these. Pupils learn how to keep safe through the curriculum content. They know a lot about online safety, for example, including about the privacy and security of information. Pupils know who to talk if they have any worries or concerns.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In a few cases, leaders do not provide teachers with as precise and well-considered information and guidance as they should to support pupils with SEND. As a result, while these pupils access the full curriculum, occasionally, they develop less detailed knowledge than they might. Leaders need to ensure that teachers have the information, guidance and training they need to support pupils with SEND effectively.  In some instances, leaders have not planned as effectively as they could how pupils will revisit aspects of knowledge that they learned previously. As a result, pupils sometimes have a less clear memory of what they have learned in the longer term. This means that in a few areas they do not develop the rich connections they might between the different strands of learning. Leaders should plan more closely how pupils revisit prior learning, especially from previous years, and ensure that teachers use retrieval well to

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

support pupils to embed learning more deeply in their long-term memory.

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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. 22 and 23 March 2023

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This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the predecessor school, then called William Law CofE (Aided) Primary School, to be good in November 2013.

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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. 22 and 23 March 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10241643 Type of school Primary

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School details

Date of previous inspection 25 April 2017

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Information about this school

 The headteacher was appointed on 1 September 2021. The deputy headteacher was appointed on the same date.  The school joined the Peterborough Diocese Education Trust in June 2021.  The chair of the Academy Governance Committee was appointed in September 2022.  Leaders do not use any alternative providers.  The school has a Christian character and was last inspected under Section 48 of the Education Act 2005 on 5 March 2019.

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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 their evaluation of the school.  The inspector held meetings with the chair of governors, other governors, the chief executive officer of the trust, and other trust representatives. 22 and 23 March 2023

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 The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and geography. For each deep dive, the inspector met with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with teachers, spoke with some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. In early reading, this took the form of listening to pupils read to a familiar adult.  As part of the evaluation of the school’s safeguarding processes, the inspector reviewed the school’s single central record, met with the designated safeguarding lead, and looked at the recording of safeguarding information.  The inspector reviewed a range of school documents, including the school’s self- evaluation form and improvement plan, curriculum plans and school policies.  The inspector reviewed the responses that were submitted by parents to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, and considered the 65 free-text responses from

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parents. The inspector also considered 56 responses to the Ofsted questionnaire for school staff and the 247 responses to the Ofsted questionnaire for pupils.

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Inspection team

Charlie Fordham, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 22 and 23 March 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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