Westacre Infant School

Inspection of Westacre Infant School Finchfield Hill, Finchfield, Wolverhampton, West Midlands WV3 9EP

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Inspection dates: 14 and 15 November 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 Requires improvement 14 and 15 November 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Westacre Infant is a friendly and welcoming school. The school’s values of kindness, friendship, respect, honesty, teamwork and perseverance are strong features of school life. Pupils work and play together well. The school teaches pupils to celebrate their differences. Pupils said that learning about different cultures and faiths helps them to treat each other with kindness and respect.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well around school and in lessons. Staff build strong, positive relationships with pupils. Consequently, pupils are happy and feel safe at school. They are confident that staff will listen to them and help them if they have any concerns or worries. Bullying is rare, but when it occurs, staff deal with it quickly and effectively.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is ambitious for all pupils, and they achieve well. Those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive the extra help they need so they make good progress.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love contributing to school life. They enjoy taking on responsibilities as reading ambassadors and members of the pupil leadership team. The school encourages pupils to try out new things. Pupils spoke excitedly about having their achievements recognised on the wall of fame.

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better?

The school’s broad and ambitious curriculum reflects its high aspirations for all pupils. Beginning in the Nursery Year, the school has identified the essential knowledge that pupils need and the order in which they learn it. Consequently, pupils build their knowledge and skills well. For example, adding groups of objects helps pupils to understand mathematical concepts before they begin to write calculations.

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better?

Reading has a high priority. Daily phonics lessons ensure that pupils learn and practise new sounds in their reading. Well-trained staff use their skills to teach phonics consistently and effectively. Staff quickly identify pupils who need extra help, and ensure that they receive the support they need to catch up. Adults carefully match the books that pupils read to the sounds they know. This builds pupils’ confidence and helps to develop a love of reading. The school encourages pupils to read widely. They avidly complete their coloured bookworms and wear their bookworm badges with pride. The school uses books well to engage pupils in their learning. For example, Year 2 pupils recalled extracts from the diary of Samuel Pepys when learning about the Great Fire of London.

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better?

In reading and mathematics, staff skilfully check what pupils know and remember. Teachers make sure that pupils recall previous learning. This helps to develop pupils’ knowledge over time. In other subjects, these checks are at an earlier stage of 14 and 15 November 2023

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development. Consequently, in these curriculum areas some pupils are less confident to recall knowledge as fluently as they should.

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The school identifies pupils with SEND quickly. Staff provide the extra support these pupils need so they achieve well. The school ensures that pupils with social and emotional needs are well supported, for example by time in the Rainbow Room.

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Pupils behave well in lessons and around school. They are polite and well mannered. They enjoy the wide range of experiences on offer. The Westacre Wonders initiative promotes pupils’ personal development well. It ensures that pupils have opportunities to learn new skills, such as performing for others. Pupils enjoy a wide range of visits, including a residential experience in Year 2. Visitors from the local community enhance the curriculum. Many pupils participate in after-school activities such as football, drawing and computer clubs.

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Staff plan outdoor activities that develop pupils’ curiosity and imagination. Children enjoy playing and learning in the garden and in forest school. For example, they hunted for dinosaurs hidden among the trees. Skilful questioning from an adult extended children’s vocabulary as they watched the patterns made by the flames in the fire pit.

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The school has been through a period of change. Leaders, including governors, have taken very effective steps to improve the quality of education at Westacre. They know its strengths and weaknesses. They recognise that they do not always identify quickly enough when things are working well so they can concentrate on aspects that need further improvement.

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All parents and carers who responded to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, said they would recommend the school to others. There are many opportunities for parents to visit the school to see what their children are learning. For example, parents enjoy the Nursery Year stay-and-play activities.

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Staff are proud to belong to Westacre. They feel valued and very well supported. Highly effective senior leaders inspire the staff’s commitment to working together for the benefit of all pupils.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school’s work to establish an assessment system is in the early stages of implementation in some foundation subjects. This means that teachers’ checks on what pupils know are not as effective as they could be. The school should ensure 14 and 15 November 2023

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that assessment is used to check what pupils know and remember and that staff use this information to plan pupils’ next steps in learning.  The school has used wide-ranging monitoring as the basis for significant improvements since the previous inspection but has not refined the use of information gained from monitoring activities. Consequently, this information is not used precisely enough to focus on the most important things the school needs to do next. The school should review its approach to school improvement planning to ensure that leaders and governors concentrate on the key actions that need to be taken to further improve the school.

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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’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 14 and 15 November 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 14 and 15 September 2021, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The deputy headteacher, who was seconded to the school at the time of the previous inspection, took up a permanent post in January 2022.  A new chair of the governing body has been appointed since the previous inspection.  The school does not make use of any 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

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors spoke to the headteacher and deputy headteacher throughout the inspection. 14 and 15 November 2023

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 The lead inspector met with representatives of the governing body, including the chair of the governing body. She also met with two local authority representatives.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, art, geography and music. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The lead inspector also listened to pupils reading with a familiar adult.  Inspectors also held discussions with the leaders responsible for pupils with SEND and the early years. Inspectors also spoke to leaders about the curriculum in several other subjects.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive

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culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour around school, in classes and at social times.  The lead inspector reviewed a wide range of documents, including the school’s development plan and information on the school’s website.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free- text comments. An inspector also spoke to parents at the beginning of the school day. The lead inspector spoke with a parent by telephone.  Inspectors considered the responses to the Ofsted staff survey and spoke with staff about the school’s support for their workload and well-being.  Inspectors spoke with groups of pupils about school life.

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Inspection team

Helen Morrison, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Mary Maybank Ofsted Inspector 14 and 15 November 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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