Westfield Infant School

Inspection of Westfield Infant School Vincent Crescent, Brampton, Chesterfield, Derbyshire S40 3NW

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Inspection dates: 23 and 24 January 2024

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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

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Overall effectiveness Good

Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Overall effectiveness Good

Ofsted has not previously inspected Westfield Infant School as an academy under section 5 of the Education Act 2005 as, 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 graded inspection of the predecessor school.

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Overall effectiveness Good

The headteacher of this school is Adrian Whitham. This school is part of Learners’ Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Matt Freeston, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Steve Welsh. 23 and 24 January 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Westfield Infant School is a friendly, caring and welcoming school. The school has created an atmosphere where pupils are certainly ‘blossoming together through nurture and challenge’. It has high aspirations for all pupils, as reflected in its vision, where pupils are ‘happy, successful and confident, with an enthusiasm for life-long learning’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well in lessons and during social times. They know and model the school rule of ‘be kind’. They are proud to receive rewards, such as being nominated for the ‘brilliant bench’ and having afternoon tea with the headteacher. Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe, and they feel safe in school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are expected to try their best and produce work of good quality, which they do. They love learning new things. The school has a purposeful atmosphere and strong shared values. There is a real ‘family feel’ at Westfield. This enables everyone to work well together.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from a wide range of trips and external visitors, which enrich the curriculum. They contribute to their local community, for example by supporting a local hospice.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers are overwhelmingly positive about the school. Typical comments include, ‘Westfield is a wonderful school where children can really flourish.’

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better?

The school has ensured that pupils benefit from a broad, balanced and ambitious curriculum. From the early years to Year 2, the school has identified the important knowledge that it wants pupils to learn and by when. As a result of the well- designed curriculum, children in the early years are suitably prepared for Year 1. By the end of Year 2, pupils are ready for the challenges of the key stage 2 curriculum.

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better?

In some subjects, pupils revisit their learning regularly and link this knowledge to new ideas and concepts. This helps them to deepen their knowledge and understanding. Where this is successful, the school uses information about what pupils know and can do. However, some learning is not adapted quickly enough to enable some pupils to develop a deeper understanding. As a result, these pupils do not build their knowledge as well as they could.

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better?

The curriculum is typically well implemented. In most subjects, assessment is used effectively to check how well pupils are learning. A few subjects are in the early stages of being embedded. The school has recently introduced ‘wind-backs’ so that pupils can revisit prior learning. It is too soon to see the impact of this on pupils’ knowing and remembering more in these subjects. 23 and 24 January 2024

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Reading is a top priority of the school. The school has implemented an effective reading programme. This starts in the early years, where children get off to a flying start. Pupils practise reading books that are closely matched to the sounds they know. This means that most pupils become fluent and confident readers. Regular assessment identifies pupils who may be at risk of falling behind. They receive expert support to help them catch up. Pupils love to read books about significant people, for example Rosa Parks and Marcus Rashford. This helps them to expand their understanding of the world they live in.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are identified early on. Teachers make appropriate and thoughtful adaptations to enable pupils to access the full curriculum. All pupils from the early years onwards are well supported to become increasingly independent and to take responsibility for their own learning.

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Pupils display positive attitudes to learning. They enjoy school and work productively with adults and each other.

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The school places pupils’ wider development at the heart of what it does. Pupils learn the importance of values such as respect and tolerance. They gain age- appropriate knowledge about healthy relationships.

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The trust works closely with the school. It has played an integral part in supporting the school. Staff are proud to work at the school. They value the care and consideration that leaders give to their workload and well-being.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Learning is not always adapted quickly enough in lessons to enable some pupils to deepen their knowledge and understanding. As a result, these pupils do not build their knowledge as well as they could. The school needs to ensure that learning is adapted when necessary, and ensure that any misconceptions are addressed, so that all pupils achieve as well as they could.  A few foundation subjects are at an earlier stage of implementation than most. In these instances, pupils have not had sufficient opportunity to revisit and embed important concepts. This means these pupils do not deepen their knowledge as successfully as they could. The school should ensure that the newly implemented retrieval work is fully embedded across each subject area and that pupils are given sufficient opportunity to secure key ideas. 23 and 24 January 2024

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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). 23 and 24 January 2024

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School details

Dates of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school is part of Learners’ Trust.  Westfield Infant School converted to become an academy in June 2019. When its predecessor school, Westfield Infant School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be outstanding overall.  The school does not use any alternative providers.

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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.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school. 23 and 24 January 2024

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 During the inspection, the inspector met with the headteacher and a range of staff.  The lead inspector met with the chief executive officer of the multi-academy trust, members of the board of trustees, the trust improvement partner and governors, including the chair of the governing body.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics, history and computing. For each deep dive, the inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The inspectors also discussed the geography curriculum. The lead inspector observed pupils reading to a familiar adult.  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.  The inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around school. They considered responses to Ofsted Parent View, including free-text comments. The inspectors met with groups of staff and pupils and considered responses to Ofsted’s staff survey.  The inspectors examined a range of documentation provided by the school, including leaders’ self-evaluation and improvement plans.

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Inspection team

Kirsty Norbury, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Nadeem Shah Ofsted Inspector 23 and 24 January 2024

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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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