Whiteways Primary School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Whiteways Primary School Whiteways Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire S4 8EX

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Inspection dates: 22 and 23 October 2024

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Outcome

Whiteways Primary School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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Outcome

The headteacher of this school is Anna Ross. This school is part of Cascade Multi 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, Sue Bridges, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Pamela Smith.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to attend this school. They value the school's nurturing and caring ethos. They feel, and are, safe. Strong relationships between staff and pupils are evident across the school. A significant proportion of pupils join the school at different times of the academic year. The school’s well-established routines enable pupils to settle quickly and meet the school’s high expectations of them. Most pupils demonstrate positive attitudes and behaviour in class and around school. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are exceptionally well supported. The school provides a range of carefully considered, and appropriate, support so that all pupils develop the skills they need to flourish.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers appreciate the regular communication they receive from the school. This, along with events such as curriculum workshops and stay and play sessions, help them to find out how to support their child’s education.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy opportunities to learn about the area in which they live. They visit places of interest as part of their studies. These, along with residential visits from Years 2 to 6, enrich pupils’ understanding of the world around them. The school’s ambition for all pupils is successfully promoted by staff. This encourages pupils to work hard and strive for success. Consequently, pupils achieve well during their time at the school. 22 and 23 October 2024

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

The school has clearly thought about the curriculum from the start of Nursery through to the end of Year 6. It has clearly identified the important knowledge that pupils must learn as they progress through the school. Teachers present new learning clearly. They carefully break learning down into manageable steps. Teachers check that pupils understand the important knowledge required to achieve what is intended. Within lessons, teachers provide regular opportunities for pupils to revisit prior learning. Pupils across the school, and particularly those who are disadvantaged, benefit from this established and consistent approach.

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

Staff ensure that pupils learn to read from the very start of their time at the school. Adults skilfully support children in the early years to develop their vocabulary. Children benefit from frequent, high-quality interactions with adults. They listen to stories and enjoy singing songs. In Reception, children develop their phonics knowledge from the start of the year. Pupils who join the school at different times quickly learn to read. Staff across the school are confident in teaching phonics. Their strong subject knowledge ensures that lessons are sharply focused on learning how to read accurately. Older pupils enjoy reading. They recognise how it helps them to learn. The school has become increasingly successful in teaching pupils to quickly become confident readers. Over time, the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in reading has increased. Published outcomes in phonics do not fully reflect the positive impact of the school’s curriculum.

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

This is also true for other published outcomes. This is because they do not take into account the different points in which pupils join the school. The school’s analysis, and pupils’ work, demonstrate that the longer pupils attend the school, the better they achieve.

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

The school’s provision for pupils with SEND is a strength. It quickly identifies their needs. Pupils benefit from appropriate levels of support in class and small group work. Pupils with SEND play a full and active part in lessons and in the life of the school. Teachers carefully structure learning activities to ensure that they are well adapted to meet the needs of pupils. Consequently, the majority of pupils with SEND access the full curriculum well. These pupils increasingly demonstrate the skills to become successful, independent learners. Pupils who attend the school’s integrated resource, nurture provision or Caterpillar Room benefit from a bespoke curriculum. These areas of provision meet the needs of pupils well.

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

Pupils learn about matters relating to social justice and equalities. The school provides purposeful experiences to enable pupils to understand how these apply in their own lives. Pupils benefit from regular opportunities to debate and discuss topics from the news or events in history. They recognise the importance of being respectful of other people’s beliefs and cultures.

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

In recent years, the school has refined its strategies to reduce historic high levels of absence. Pupils’ work and outcomes in national tests provide compelling evidence that pupils who frequently miss school do not achieve well. There are some early signs that 22 and 23 October 2024

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actions taken by the school are resulting in some improvements in attendance. However, it is too early to see the full impact on groups of pupils.

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Leaders, including those with responsibility for governance, have a realistic understanding of the context of the school. Staff enjoy working at the school. Morale is high. Staff value the support they receive from leaders and each other. Leaders, in conjunction with the trust, take appropriate consideration of staff workload in the decisions they make. They work in partnership with staff to ensure that the school's ambition for all pupils to achieve well is consistently maintained.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some pupils do not attend school regularly or they have significant periods of absence. These pupils miss out on important learning opportunities and achieve less well than their peers. The school should continue to work with families to reduce rates of absence.

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Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted's website. From September 2024 graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade. This school was, before September 2024, judged good for its overall effectiveness.

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Background

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. 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's work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection 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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the predecessor school, of the same name, to be good for overall effectiveness in March 2016. 22 and 23 October 2024

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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, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 22 and 23 October 2024

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School details

Dates of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Whiteways Primary School converted to be an academy school in April 2020. When its predecessor school, of the same name, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be good for overall effectiveness.  The school has an integrated resource provision, ‘The Hive’, for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. This provision is for pupils with communication and interaction needs. The local authority commissions places for this provision. There are currently eleven pupils accessing this resource. In addition, some pupils with additional complex needs access the ‘Caterpillar Room’ at the school. This area is used by seven pupils in early years and Year 1. The ‘Acorn Room’ is accessed by a group of 10 key stage 1 pupils every afternoon.  The school has provision for two-year-olds.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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 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.  The inspector spoke to the CEO, headteacher, deputy headteacher, assistant headteachers, special educational needs coordinator and the trust’s inclusion lead.  The inspector met with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  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.

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 The inspector held separate meetings with representatives from the local governing board, the chair of the board of trustees and the school’s improvement adviser.  The inspector reviewed responses to Ofsted’s parent survey, Ofsted Parent View, and Ofsted’s staff survey.

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Inspection team

Matthew Harrington, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector 22 and 23 October 2024

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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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