Whoberley Hall Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Whoberley Hall Primary School Overdale Road, Coventry, West Midlands CV5 8AJ

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Outcome

Whoberley Hall Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Whoberley Hall is a school with a family feel. Everyone is welcome and valued. Pupils appreciate the level of care and support that staff provide, which makes them feel safe. Positive relationships between staff and pupils, and among pupils, create a tangible sense of unity.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are friendly, polite and enjoy attending school. They are rarely absent. Pupils embody the school values, including ‘compassion’, ‘respect’ and ‘determination’, which they say supports them to learn and behave well. In lessons, pupils focus on their work, and they enjoy working together to help each other with their learning. Pupils love being with their friends. Whether it is playing with the equipment on the playground or enjoying activities on the field, pupils make the most of their breaktimes and enjoy every minute.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school wants the very best for all the pupils. Leaders, supported by governors and staff, are always looking for ways to improve the school. They are continuing to develop the curriculum to further improve the quality of education that pupils experience.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers are overwhelmingly positive about the school. In particular, they appreciate the community feel of the school, which they themselves feel a part of.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

In many subjects, the school has carefully considered the content and order of what pupils will learn within and across year groups. Teachers appreciate this because it clarifies what they need to teach and when they need to teach it. This supports them to plan lessons that build on what pupils have learned before. Moreover, what children learn in the early years provides them with a firm foundation for what they will learn in Year 1 and beyond. However, in a small number of subjects, the curriculum lacks clarity about the knowledge and skills that pupils will learn. In these subjects, the curriculum is not as well ordered. 10 and 11 July 2024

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Teachers and teaching assistants have secure subject knowledge. They explain new learning clearly in a logical manner. Across the curriculum, especially in mathematics, staff model subject-specific vocabulary accurately, which pupils mirror when explaining their own understanding. Teachers use questioning well to check that pupils recall previous learning and understand new learning, and they adapt their teaching if required. Typically, the choice of learning activities and the deployment of teaching assistants support pupils to achieve well.

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Reading is the school’s top priority. Most pupils enjoy reading, and many can name a favourite book or author. Phonics lessons follow a set structure, which pupils are familiar with. Staff check that pupils remember previously taught sounds before moving on to learning new sounds. Where required, staff give pupils extra help so that any gaps in pupils’ phonics knowledge are filled. As a result, pupils at the early stages of reading are developing into fluent readers.

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The school has established a graduated system to identify the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) accurately. This process involves parents every step of the way. Pupils with SEND are fully included in lessons and all aspects of school life. Supported by leaders, teachers set individual targets for pupils with SEND. Teachers use these targets to inform how they plan and organise learning activities, so they are matched to pupils’ needs. However, some of these targets are too general. In these instances, staff are unclear how the targets can be used to inform their teaching.

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Pupils say the best things about the school are the staff, the pupils and learning lots of new things. There is a menu of sporting and non-sporting after-school clubs on offer, which pupils appreciate. In addition, pupils speak enthusiastically about the range of trips they have been on this year, both locally and further afield, including the residential visits. Pupils understand the importance of a healthy lifestyle, underpinned by a healthy diet and regular exercise. They are very knowledgeable about internet safety and explain how they keep themselves safe when working online. However, pupils’ knowledge of other faiths and cultures is not as well developed.

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The governing body is right behind leaders in their drive to improve the school even further. Governors receive a range of information about school performance, which they use to hold leaders to account, while at the same time providing support if required.

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Staff at all levels feel valued. Leaders are always available to listen to them and offer help where required. Staff enjoy working in the school. Teachers welcome the range of training they have received, which supports them in their role.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 10 and 11 July 2024

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In a small number of subjects, the curriculum lacks clarity about the knowledge and skills that pupils will learn. As a result, in these subjects, the curriculum is not as well ordered, and pupils do not achieve as well as they could. In these subjects, the school should map out the knowledge and skills that pupils will learn within and across year groups.  In some cases, the individual targets for pupils with SEND are too general and lack specificity. Consequently, teachers are not clear how best to support pupils’ needs. The school should ensure that targets for pupils with SEND are specific and closely matched to their needs.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in July 2014.

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How can I feed back my views?

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, 10 and 11 July 2024

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looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 10 and 11 July 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.whoberleyhall-coventry.org.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 12 March 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school has a breakfast club and an after-school club. This provision is operated by the school.  The school has a nursery that admits three-year-olds.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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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. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector: 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. 10 and 11 July 2024

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 The inspector met with the headteacher and the deputy headteacher. He met with six members of the governing body, including the chair. The inspector held a telephone conversation with a representative of the local authority.  The inspector held meetings with relevant leaders to discuss provision for pupils with SEND and attendance.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, he held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The inspector observed pupils reading to a familiar adult.  The inspector considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, and the free-text responses received during the inspection. The inspector considered the responses to Ofsted’s staff survey.  The inspector looked at a range of documents. These included the school’s self-

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evaluation form, school improvement plan, school policies, curriculum documents, SEND records, attendance records and minutes of meetings held by the governing body.

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Inspection team

Wayne Simner, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 10 and 11 July 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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