Setting

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Mrs Joanne Roach Headteacher Wattville Primary School Wattville Road Handsworth Birmingham West Midlands B21 0DP

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Wattville Primary School

This letter sets out the findings from the monitoring inspection that took place on 12 and 13 June 2024, on behalf of His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills. The monitoring inspection was carried out under section 8(2) of the Education Act 2005 and was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require special measures following the graded (section 5) inspection that took place in July 2023.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Wattville Primary School

The purpose of a monitoring inspection is not to grade the school's overall effectiveness, but to identify and report on the school's progress. It is to highlight to the school and parents any improvements that school leaders have made since the school's previous graded inspection.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Wattville Primary School

During the inspection, Rob Hackfath, His Majesty's Inspector (HMI), and I discussed with you and the acting headteacher, staff, governors, the local authority and a representative from a multi-academy trust you are working with the actions that have been taken to improve the school since the most recent graded inspection. We discussed the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also carried out visits to lessons, spoke to staff and pupils and looked at a range of documents. I have considered all this in coming to my judgement.

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Leaders have made progress to improve the school, but more work is

necessary for the school to be no longer judged as requiring special measures.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

There have been changes in staffing since the previous inspection. Since January 2024, you have been headteacher for two days each week and the previous deputy headteacher is now acting headteacher for the remaining three days each week. The leadership team members now have a clear understanding of their roles and work well together. Two teachers have left the school and you have several long-term supply teachers. Two members of the governing body have left, and two new members have joined. In this time, you have set about taking the right actions to bring about improvements in some of the key areas which were identified in the previous inspection. However, you are aware that there remains a significant amount of work to do to ensure that all pupils receive the high-quality education you want them to have.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

You have, rightly, focused your attention on ensuring that pupils learning to read get off to the best possible start. The training that staff have had to deliver the phonics programme is starting to pay off. Pupils now practise their reading using books which are matched the sounds they know. This gives them more chance of reading successfully. However, not all staff teaching phonics use the pure sounds pupils need to hear to help them blend sounds into words effectively.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

You have begun to look more closely at how teachers deliver the curriculum. You have used external support to help with this. Staff have had additional training and you have made some positive changes to leadership roles to clarify curriculum responsibilities. This training has not yet had sufficient impact and staff are continuing to develop their expertise in how to teach many subjects of the curriculum. You have correctly identified the need for a shared understanding of how teachers should deliver the curriculum consistently well.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Improvements to provision for children in the early years are in their infancy. Although provision for pupils’ early reading is improving, the environment, activities and interactions between staff and children do not yet fully meet children’s needs in developing language and communication.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Since the last inspection, there have been improvements to the process by which pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are identified. External support has been particularly effective in bringing about these positive changes. There are now more robust systems in place to help identify pupils’ needs and to share important information with staff. This is still a work in progress. For example, staff do not yet consistently and effectively adapt the curriculum to enable pupils to access the same learning as their classmates.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Your focus on improving attendance has been effective. Your new systems to promote good attendance and challenge poor attendance are understood by staff, pupils and parents. Expectations are now clear, and this has had a positive and sustained impact. Many pupils now attend school more regularly. However, attendance for some groups of pupils remains an area of focus and you have identified that some pupils still do not attend punctually.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Governors care about the school. However, they have not yet acted on recommendations for how they can help to challenge and support you and the leadership team as you drive forwards with improvements. They do not yet evaluate the school’s actions well enough and have not accessed training or support to enable them to understand this crucial aspect of their role.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

You have made successful use of the support from the local authority. Effective support has also been welcomed from a multi-academy trust commissioned to work with you and the local English hub. Engaging with external support has enabled you to sharpen your improvement planning and focus on the right things, in the right order. This has meant that the actions you have taken so far have brought about sustained improvement in some of the areas you have been focusing on. External support has been welcomed in helping you to identify what to focus on next. You are in the process of academisation and the school will become an academy in the future.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

I am copying this letter to the chair of the board of governors, the Department for Education's regional director and the director of children's services for Birmingham. This letter will be published on the Ofsted reports website.

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