Templewood Primary School

Inspection of Templewood Primary School Pentley Park, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire AL8 7SD

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Inspection dates: 13 and 14 December 2023

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Requires improvement 13 and 14 December 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to this warm and welcoming school. This is a school where pupils value everyone’s differences. Pupils feel safe at school due to the positive relationships they have with adults and peers.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know that staff really care for them and want them to do well. Pupils work hard and have a positive attitude to their learning. They respectfully listen to each other’s points of view and respond accordingly. Pupils enjoy being challenged within the curriculum and achieve well overall.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils appreciate the wide range of clubs available to them, including sign language, magic, football and musical theatre as well as many more. If pupils would like to set up a club to run, then they can do this with support from the staff. This is just one of many leadership opportunities that they have. Pupils are proud to be ‘bronze ambassadors’, sports leaders or reading buddies. These opportunities develop pupils’ interests and their leadership skills.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils attend a vast number of sporting events, including trampolining and tag rugby. Pupils are active members of the community. They learn musical instruments, for example the piano. These are extremely popular with pupils.

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better?

Over the past two years, the school has brought about rapid improvements in many aspects of provision. The curriculum has been one of those areas. The school has put an ambitious, broad and balanced curriculum in place, starting in the early years. It is relevant for the pupils who attend the school. The curriculum sets out the knowledge that pupils should know, by clearly building on their previous learning. However, in a few subjects, the subject-specific vocabulary that pupils should learn is not as clearly planned for. Therefore, teachers do not teach the vocabulary as explicitly as they should.

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better?

The school ensures that it puts in place highly effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff are well trained to adapt the curriculum. They put suitable interventions in place for pupils who need them. Pupils with SEND learn alongside their peers and make strong progress.

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better?

Staff prioritise reading with the expectation that pupils will be able to read fluently and confidently by the time they leave the school. Pupils start to learn to read in Reception. Phonics is consistently and rigorously taught throughout the school. This is due to the high-quality training and support that the staff receive. Pupils’ progress is carefully tracked to ensure that they are reading books that match the sounds that they are learning. This ensures that they can practise the sounds at home and school. Pupils who need it receive targeted and effective support quickly. Many pupils leave as highly competent readers. 13 and 14 December 2023

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Pupils have access to a wide variety of rich texts through the class and school library, as well as the texts that teachers share with pupils. The school’s reading challenge encourages pupils to try new books and different genres. Author visits and the celebration of poetry day enhance the pupils’ experiences and further develop their love of reading.

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The school has introduced a new behaviour policy which is having a positive impact on the pupils’ behaviours seen in the school. The importance of behaviour starts in the early years where the children know the routines in their classroom. Pupils say that they know that staff will manage any issues that they might have, and staff feel better equipped to manage behaviours. Alongside this, the school has spent time sharing the new policy with parents. This ensures that school and parents align with the approach taken. There has been a considerable reduction in the number of reported incidents throughout the school. The school has worked hard to ensure the regular attendance of all pupils, and attendance is now high.

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The school has a wide range of opportunities for pupils beyond the curriculum. Well- chosen trips and visitors extend pupils’ knowledge of curriculum areas. Talks from authors and people who work in the science, technology, engineering and maths industries from the local community inspire pupils. Pupils like to be part of and contribute to the local community. They raise money and awareness of the local hospice, as well as collecting food for the local food bank.

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All leaders are clear on their roles and responsibilities and carry them out to ensure that the school has moved forward rapidly. Many parents state that staff are professional, visible and approachable. They can see the drive and vision demonstrated by the school. Staff receive regular and relevant training. The school considers staff workload when introducing new initiatives. Governors know the school well, which enables them to successfully support and challenge the school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In a few foundation subjects, pupils are unable to remember and use subject- specific vocabulary. Teachers do not teach this vocabulary explicitly. Therefore, pupils do not use the subject-specific vocabulary to accurately explain their knowledge. The school should ensure that vocabulary is explicitly planned for and taught.

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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 13 and 14 December 2023

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Parent View when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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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). 13 and 14 December 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Hillary Skoczylas

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 20 and 21 October 2021, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not currently use any alternative provision.  The school runs a breakfast and after-school club.

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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 educational provision.  Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The lead inspector spoke with governors from the governing body and the school improvement adviser.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics, geography and physical education. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with teachers, spoke with some 13 and 14 December 2023

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pupils about their learning and looked at samples of work.  Inspectors also discussed the curriculum in some 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 culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors gathered the views of pupils by speaking to them during lessons, in groups and at breaktimes. They also considered 25 responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey.  Inspectors spoke to groups of staff to gather their views of the school. They also considered 29 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey.  The inspectors considered 120 responses, including free-text responses, submitted to Ofsted’s online survey, Ofsted Parent View. An inspector also spoke to parents at the school gate.

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Inspection team

Katie Devenport, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Georgina Nutton Ofsted Inspector 13 and 14 December 2023

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