Wellesley Primary School

Inspection of Wellesley Primary School Edgeworth, Yate, Bristol BS37 8YR

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Inspection dates: 30 April and 1 May 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 Previous inspection grade Good 30 April and 1 May 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Wellesley Primary School is a welcoming and inclusive school. It sits at the heart of the community. The school has a clear vision for the education it wants to provide. Pupils embrace this and are passionate to ‘aim high and reach for the sky!’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The curriculum is ambitious for all pupils. It has been designed from early years through to Year 6. The school ensures the learning is well sequenced. It sets out the important knowledge that pupils need to learn over time.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations for how pupils behave. Pupils meet these expectations and demonstrate positive attitudes to learning. Pupils celebrate difference. They state that everyone is welcomed and respected in Wellesley. Pupils are polite and respectful. There is a calm and purposeful environment in classrooms and around the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school prioritises pupils’ well-being and safety. Staff form positive relationships with pupils. As a result, pupils feel happy, safe and valued. They can talk to trusted adults if they have any worries or concerns. Pupils of all ages play well together. As one pupil stated, ‘Everyone can play together in an inclusive environment.’ Pupils show care and consideration towards each other. Playtimes and lunchtimes are enjoyable for all.

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better?

Reading is prioritised at Wellesley. From an early age, pupils learn phonics to help them to be able to read fluently. The school has established a new reading scheme which helps pupils to build their phonics knowledge well. The books pupils read match the sounds they have learned. This helps pupils to build their reading fluency. Staff have the expertise to ensure that there is a consistent approach to the teaching of phonics and reading. They use assessment effectively to check pupils’ phonics progress. Pupils are supported to enable them to catch up if they fall behind.

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better?

Pupils develop a love for reading. They enjoy listening to adults read. In early years, children enjoy joining in with rhymes and familiar stories. This enthusiasm continues as they move through the school. Texts are planned to develop pupils’ understanding of diversity and protected characteristics. Pupils develop their fluency and reading skills as they move through the school.

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better?

Pupils progress well through the curriculum. They can recall their recent learning well. In history, pupils study the coronation of William the Conqueror, as represented in the Bayeux Tapestry. They compare this with the recent coronation of King Charles. Pupils find it more difficult to reflect on their prior learning and make links to their current learning. The school recognises that the curriculum needs further embedding to enable pupils to build on what they already know and deepen their knowledge. In some subjects, assessment is not used effectively to check what all 30 April and 1 May 2024

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pupils know and remember to inform future learning. This makes it harder for pupils to build their knowledge over time.

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Staff morale is high at Wellesley and there is a collective determination to improve the school. The school has responded well to address the areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection. Self-evaluation is robust and the school seeks and embraces external support and challenge. The curriculum is adapted where necessary to ensure any gaps in learning are addressed. For example, there has been an increased focus on developing pupils’ mathematical fluency. This is in response to low outcomes in last year’s national multiplication times table check.

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The school has developed a nurturing and inclusive environment. The school swiftly identifies pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This means pupils with SEND are supported from the time they start school. Staff have the expertise they need to support and adapt learning for pupils with SEND. As a result, these pupils progress well through the curriculum.

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Pupils learn a well-devised personal development programme. They know how to stay safe online and how to keep themselves physically healthy. The school has a strong pastoral offer to support pupils’ mental health. Pupils learn about how the brain works. They are encouraged to consider their feelings and character strengths. They value the programme and recognise how it supports them. Pupils understand why it is important to treat everyone equally and with respect. They state that at Wellesley ‘whatever you believe, you are part of our school, so it doesn’t matter’. Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

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Governors know the school’s strengths and areas for improvement well. They provide appropriate support and challenge to the school. Parents are very positive about the school. They are supportive of the school and value its importance in the community.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, assessment is not used with enough precision to check what pupils know and remember. As a result, some pupils struggle to recall prior learning. They do not build their knowledge well over time. The school needs to ensure that assessment is used effectively across all subjects and use this information to adapt future learning. This will help pupils deepen their knowledge and understanding across the full breadth of the curriculum. 30 April and 1 May 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). 30 April and 1 May 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 7 and 8 February 2023, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school currently uses two unregistered alternative provisions.  The school runs a breakfast club for pupils.

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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.  The inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspectors met with the headteacher, deputy headteachers, special educational needs coordinator and early years leader for the school. Inspectors also met with a range of teaching and support staff.  The lead inspector met with representatives of the local governing board. 30 April and 1 May 2024

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 The lead inspector held a remote conversation with representatives from the local authority.  The lead inspector held phone conversations with both alternative provisions.  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.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, 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 curriculum in other subjects.  The lead inspector listened to pupils in Years 1, 2 and 3 read to an adult.

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 The inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school site.  The inspectors gathered parents’ views by considering the responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Ofsted Parent View, and by talking to parents before and after school. The inspectors also evaluated responses to Ofsted’s staff and pupil surveys.

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Inspection team

Matt Fletcher, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Caroline Musty Ofsted Inspector 30 April and 1 May 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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