Whytemead Primary School

Inspection of Whytemead Primary School Dominion Road, Worthing, West Sussex BN14 8LH

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding 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

The headteacher of this school is Richard Waddington. This school is part of Schoolsworks Academy Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Catherine Williams, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Norman Rose. 11 and 12 June 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a very happy school. Pupils enjoy their time here and are keen to talk to visitors about their many experiences, both inside and outside of the classroom. The warm and respectful relationships between pupils and staff are very clear to see. Pupils also treat each other with kindness and consideration. They understand why this is important and the role they play in making the school a welcoming place for everyone.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have many opportunities to take on leadership roles in the school. This includes selecting books for the school library and acting as peer mediators. Pupils, and the wider community, have also been very active in helping prepare for the arrival of the school’s goats. These responsibilities form part of the way that pupils are taught to demonstrate the school’s values of determination, curiosity and collaboration.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There are high aspirations for what pupils should be able to achieve. Pupils are reaching these high expectations, particularly in writing and mathematics. Pupils who are disadvantaged often achieve even more highly than their peers. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are very well supported. The school makes sure that all pupils are fully included in everything that the school offers.

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better?

The school’s ambitious curriculum is helping pupils to achieve highly. Pupils are confident in their use of mathematics, and they know how to write well and for different purposes. Pupils at the earliest stages of reading are very well supported and they make excellent progress. Pupils who fall behind in their reading are helped to catch up and then to keep up. The school uses effective interventions to ensure that this happens. This work begins early in the Reception class. Here, the teaching of children to read is very effective. Children are also helped to communicate and there is a focus on developing vocabulary that is working well.

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better?

The school identifies the barriers to achievement that pupils may face, especially pupils who are disadvantaged in some way. They then work with pupils to overcome these barriers and to provide additional support where required. This is helping them to achieve well. Teachers have a good understanding of how to support pupils with SEND. They are experts at using different strategies to help meet their needs.

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better?

The curriculum for foundation subjects has been well planned. The school has been ambitious in deciding what pupils should know and be able to do. Pupils are encouraged to think back to their previous learning and to build on it over time. However, at times, pupils do not have the knowledge that they need to complete the work they have been asked to do. Teachers do not always check what pupils have understood. This means that pupils do not always produce the quality of work that matches the school’s ambitions for them. 11 and 12 June 2024

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Pupils demonstrate excellent attitudes towards their learning. They try hard and want to do well. The school teaches them about positive character traits and rewards them when they get things right. There is very rarely any disruption to learning.

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The school works very well with parents to ensure that pupils attend school regularly. Attendance rates for most pupils is very high. The school is working to address the poorer attendance of a very small group of pupils. They have identified why they are not attending school often enough and are making sensible adjustments to overcome these issues. This is proving effective.

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The school is rightly proud of its commitment to the personal development of its pupils. They have planned a comprehensive curriculum for personal, social, health and economic education. The school is also flexible with this curriculum and makes changes to address any emerging concerns that pupils might have or to deal with events in the local community or further afield. As part of this curriculum, pupils learn about healthy relationships in an age-appropriate way. Pupils are also given many opportunities to learn about, and to learn from, people of different faiths and from different backgrounds. This is all helping to prepare pupils well for the future.

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The school is well led. The trust and the school’s leadership team work closely together and the trust have provided effective assistance in helping the school to improve. Teachers feel very well supported by their leaders. Workload is well managed, and this allows teachers to focus on those things that will bring the greatest benefit to the pupils in their class.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some pupils, when studying some subjects, do not have the prior knowledge they need to do what has been asked of them. As a result, they are not always able to complete work to a high standard. The school should ensure that teachers are clear about what pupils need to know in each lesson and how to check pupils’ knowledge before pupils start independent work. 11 and 12 June 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). 11 and 12 June 2024

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school is part of Schoolsworks Academy Trust.  Whytemead Primary School converted to become an academy in October 2021. When its predecessor school, also called Whytemead Primary School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to require improvement overall.  The school does not currently make use of 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. 11 and 12 June 2024

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 Inspectors met with leaders, including the headteacher, special educational needs coordinator and other leaders. The lead inspector also met with the chair of the board of trustees, the chair of the school community council and with members of the trust.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, history and science. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  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 also met with leaders to discuss their strategies for behaviour and

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attendance. They also considered a range of information about the school, including published outcomes and the support provided for pupils with SEND and with other forms of disadvantage.  Inspectors met with a range of staff and considered their views through the confidential online staff survey.  Inspectors met with pupils formally and informally around the school, in lessons and at breaktime. Inspectors took account the views of parents through the responses to Ofsted Parent View and a letter sent to the inspection team.

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Inspection team

Mark Enser, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Ed Mather His Majesty’s Inspector 11 and 12 June 2024

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