Wayfield Primary School

Inspection of Wayfield Primary School Wayfield Road, Chatham, Kent ME5 0HH

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Inspection dates: 29 and 30 October 2024

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The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good

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The headteacher of this school is Ria Henry. This school is part of The Primary First Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Lorna Hamilton, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Stephen Rumbles. 29 and 30 October 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel cared for by the adults at school. All pupils feel treated equally and have someone that they trust to talk to. The school makes sure that pupils with any disadvantage are looked after. Pupils rush into the school in the morning and punctuality has greatly improved.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils aspire to do their best. Their aspiration reflects the school’s expectations and values. However, these aspirations are not realised. Older pupils do not achieve as well as they could. The school has an inconsistent approach to help them to do their best. However, the youngest pupils have enthusiasm and a love of learning. They are focused on doing their best and achieve well with the help of the adults around them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know the school rules and understand right and wrong. Some pupils do not routinely treat each other with respect. Some pupils do sometimes have worries about bullying. The school now acts swiftly and effectively to address these concerns.

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

Pupils make a positive start at the school in Nursery and the Reception Year. The school has a clear curriculum for what children will learn and when. This includes how children will behave towards each other and communicate. Staff have been well trained. They use key vocabulary consistently, and this supports children to understand and learn more effectively. Children show an enthusiasm for reading and mathematics in lessons and through their play. They are able to work together collaboratively to solve problems. Throughout the whole school, pupils who need extra support are swiftly identified. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported.

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

The school has a coherent approach for teaching pupils to read. This includes checking carefully what sounds they know and can use. Pupils read books that match the sounds they know. They enjoy a wide range of stories. Not all staff follow these plans as thoroughly as they should. This leads to inconsistencies between classes. As a result, not all pupils learn to read as well as they could. The school helps pupils to catch up with their peers, but this work has not yet been fully effective. As a result, not enough pupils are fluent and accurate readers by the end of Year 6.

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

The curriculum matches the full breadth of the national curriculum. In some subjects, the school’s chosen content is taught with fidelity and care. However, in other subjects, staff do not follow the curriculum closely or choose activities to support pupils well enough. Staff checks of what pupils know and can do are thorough sometimes, but not consistent. Pupils’ misconceptions are not addressed swiftly enough. This means that pupils’ achievement is variable, including those with SEND. Pupils’ attainment at the end of Year 6 is significantly below the nationally published average.

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

There is tangible improvement in the attendance of some pupils, including those with SEND. The school makes effective use of information to understand the causes of absence. Some of the school’s initiatives to improve this are relatively recent and are not 29 and 30 October 2024

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yet having a wider impact, and some disadvantaged pupils do not yet attend school often enough. Pupils’ attitudes to learning and each other are typically positive, but there is some variability. Generally, staff promote positive behaviour, but this is not yet consistent. Consequently, pupils’ behaviour in lessons is mixed. This occasionally leads to learning being disrupted. The school is taking effective action to address this.

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The school prioritises pupils’ personal development, but there are gaps in what pupils know about their place in modern Britain. Pupils have a clear understanding of right and wrong. There is a coherent approach to teaching relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education. This helps pupils to understand ideas such as positive relationships. The school has a comprehensive curriculum for personal, social and health education (PSHE). However, at times, pupils are confused about some fundamental British values and other important issues. As a result, pupils’ ability to act as informed modern citizens is inconsistent.

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Leaders at all levels are committed to developing the school. Governors and trustees have previously not been sufficiently robust in their challenge and support for the school. Staff are dedicated to supporting the work of the school and feel that their workload has been well managed. However, the school has not assured itself of the effectiveness of actions taken to improve the curriculum, including the impact on pupils’ learning. More recently, actions to improve the curriculum, SEND provision and behaviour have been more sharply focused. This is beginning to have a positive impact.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Over time, the school’s work to evaluate the curriculum has lacked urgency. More recently, this has strengthened but needs continued focus. This means that the school has not previously had an accurate view of the impact of its actions. The school should continue to identify the key actions to bring about the most important changes for pupils, and routinely evaluate the impact of its work.  Pupils who are disadvantaged, including those with SEND, do not attend school often enough. This means they miss out on key learning and do not achieve as well as they should. The school must redouble its efforts to promote good attendance, so that all pupils are fully prepared for their next stages of education.  Some pupils’ attitudes to learning and each other are not consistently positive. As a result, some pupils do not always treat each other with kindness and respect. The school should model and promote a positive culture of mutual respect towards other

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

people and learning. 29 and 30 October 2024

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 The teaching of some curriculum content is inconsistent. This means that pupils do not achieve as well as they should, including those with SEND. The school must ensure that all staff benefit from high-quality training and support to teach all subjects across the curriculum effectively.

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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). 29 and 30 October 2024

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 21 and 22 May 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school has been part of The Primary First Trust since September 2016.  The school nursery caters for children from the age of two years old.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision. 29 and 30 October 2024

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 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  During the inspection, the inspectors met with the headteacher, CEO, trust representatives and members of the governing body, including the chair of the trust and governing body.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, history, art and design and physical education. For each deep dive, the inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, 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 some other subjects and looked at case studies of the work of some pupils with SEND.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single

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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 views of parents and carers were considered through their responses to Ofsted Parent View and on-site activity. Further views of pupils and staff were gathered through Ofsted’s online surveys, interviews and discussions conducted throughout the inspection.  The inspector reviewed a range of the school’s documents, including self-evaluation reports, governing body meeting minutes, attendance records and behaviour incident logs.

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Inspection team

Toby Martlew, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Tash Hurtado Ofsted Inspector 29 and 30 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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