Weedon Bec Primary School

Inspection of Weedon Bec Primary School West Street, Weedon, Northampton, Northamptonshire NN7 4QU

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 6 and 7 June 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are polite and enthusiastic about coming to this school. They describe the staff at the school as kind and caring. Pupils feel that the school is an inclusive environment where everyone is welcome and accepted. This helps pupils feel safe and happy.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know and demonstrate the school’s six values. Teachers encourage pupils to be respectful, compassionate, honest and resilient. Many pupils develop independence, and have high aspirations.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are keen to learn in all of the different subjects that they study. When teachers ask questions, many hands shoot up so they can engage with the learning. However, the curriculum is not yet fully developed. Pupils do not benefit from a high enough quality of education.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Teacher and leaders celebrate pupils’ achievements, small and large. This is a common theme in assemblies. Pupils are also given bands of recognition for when they do well. Pupils are proud to achieve these.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Many parents and carers have positive views about the school. A parent comment that summed up the views of many was: ‘My child has grown and developed into an independent, kind and very clever girl. She misses school when she is not there.’

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better?

Leaders have ensured that the curriculum is broad. All pupils are now working towards ambitious goals in each subject. In several subjects, leaders have not yet identified the most important knowledge that pupils need to achieve the ambitious curriculum goals. Teachers do not teach this explicitly enough and pupils do not achieve as well as they should in these subjects.

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better?

In English, mathematics and reading, most teachers use their expert knowledge to teach the curriculum well. They use effective modelling and present new information clearly. The tasks that teachers choose match what pupils need to learn. As a result, pupils learn well. This is not consistently the case across all subjects. Teachers do not always use activities and resources that allow pupils to learn as well as they could.

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better?

Teachers use assessment well in several subjects. For example, in mathematics, teachers check that pupils have learned important facts and methods before they move learning on. When necessary, teachers adapt the lesson and address the gaps in pupils’ knowledge. This is not firmly the case in several other subjects. Although there is a clear approach to assessment, teachers do not use this consistently well in all subjects. 6 and 7 June 2023

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Leaders have ensured that they are ambitious for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils with SEND get the support they need to access the full curriculum. Teachers are well prepared with the understanding they need to help these pupils achieve. Teaching staff deploy additional adults well to make sure that pupils with SEND can achieve.

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The reading curriculum is well embedded. Teachers are early reading experts. Children start to learn the sounds that letters make in the early years. The books that pupils read are closely matched to the sounds they know. This helps pupils become fluent and confident readers. All pupils benefit from the school’s ‘text of the year’. This exposes pupils to diverse literature which helps them develop cultural capital. It also ensures that pupils continue to develop a love of reading.

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Children in the early years and nursery get off to a flying start. Staff skilfully interact with children as they play, to develop their language and communication skills. Adults choose activities well to help pupils develop across all areas of learning. For example, children work hard to extract magic stones from the sand using tweezers. This helps children develop fine motor skills. Children in the early years are very well prepared for the next stage.

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Pupils behave well. The school is calm and orderly. There are positive relationships between all staff and pupils. Most pupils attend well. However, too many pupils are persistently absent.

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The school places much emphasis on pupils’ moral development. Pupils know how to stay safe. They learn about friendships and different types of families. Pupils benefit from attending a wide range of clubs. A strength of the school is the support it gives to pupils with social and emotional needs. The school helps build pupils’ strength of character.

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Leaders have considered staff’s workload and well-being as they bring about change. Staff are proud to work at this school. Directors of the trust and governors understand the school’s strengths and weaknesses. They continue to hold leaders to account to bring about further improvement.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff at this school are vigilant. Leaders have ensured that staff know the procedures they must follow when they have a concern about a pupil. Staff know that reporting small changes might help build a bigger picture that will help keep pupils safe.

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Safeguarding

Leaders work closely with external agencies to ensure that the most vulnerable pupils and families get the support they need. Records of safeguarding incidents and actions taken are robust. 6 and 7 June 2023

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Trust directors and governors ensure that the safeguarding policies and procedures meet statutory guidelines. They seek regular assurances that the school maintains a strong culture of safeguarding.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In several subjects, leaders have not identified the essential knowledge that builds towards curriculum goals. As a result, teachers do not teach this knowledge well enough and some pupils do not achieve. Leaders must ensure that each subject is sufficiently well planned and that essential knowledge is identified.  Teachers too often choose resources or activities that are not well enough matched to what pupils need to learn. These activities do not allow pupils to learn the curriculum as well as they should. Leaders must ensure that teachers know how to select resources and activities that allow pupils to learn consistently well.  Leaders have not ensured that teachers check that pupils have acquired the knowledge they need for future learning in several subjects. Assessment is not used well in these subjects. Pupils have gaps in their understanding and do not gain a depth of knowledge. Leaders should ensure that teachers check and

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

address gaps in pupils’ knowledge before learning moves on.  Too many pupils are still persistently absent from school. These pupils are not benefiting from the work of the school. Leaders are tracking and monitoring these pupils. There is a lack of evaluation of the impact of the strategies being used. Leaders should ensure that they continue to support pupils who are persistently absent, and evaluate their strategies to ensure that they are having an impact.

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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. 6 and 7 June 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority Board of directors

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 7 and 8 June 2017, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not use alternative provision to educate pupils.  The school has a nursery provision for children aged 2 to 4 years.  This school is a part of Innovate Multi Academy Trust (iMAT).

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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 account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in reading, mathematics, history and music. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with leaders, visited lessons, spoke with teachers and pupils and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The lead inspector listened to a sample of pupils in key stages 1 and 2 reading to a familiar adult. 6 and 7 June 2023

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 The lead inspector scrutinised the work pupils had produced for a range of other subjects.  Inspectors met with leaders responsible for behaviour, personal development, the early years foundation stage, the pupil premium and the provision for pupils with SEND.  Inspectors met with groups of pupils from key stages 1 and 2.  The lead inspector met with the safeguarding leader to discuss the actions taken to keep pupils safe. He reviewed a range of documents related to safeguarding, including the school’s single central record.  The lead inspector reviewed a range of documents, including the school’s self- evaluation and improvement plan.  The lead inspector met with the directors of the trust board and local governing board.  The lead inspector met with executives of the trust board, including the chief executive officer and director of education.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Ofsted

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Parent View, and considered the results of the Ofsted staff and pupil questionnaires.

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Inspection team

Rakesh Patel, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Luella Manssen Ofsted Inspector 6 and 7 June 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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