Wigmore Primary School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Wigmore Primary School Ford Street, Wigmore, Leominster, Herefordshire HR6 9UN

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Outcome

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

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What is it like to attend this school?

This school is a welcoming, calm and an organised place in which to work and learn. Pupils’ conduct in lessons and around the school is exemplary. They are keen to learn and respond well to teachers’ clear and high expectations. Everyone knows and understands the school’s values, which guide all to be kind and considerate. Pupils and staff are proud of the school. Pupils feel secure and valued.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy lessons and play an active part in school life. They take on responsibilities that help others and have access to a wide range of after-school clubs and extra events. From sport to choir, and from dance to art, there are activities that appeal to a broad span of interests. This is a notable feature of the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff encourage pupils to be active and keep fit. Sport is a regular part of school life. Pupils also learn how to keep themselves safe in different situations.

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What is it like to attend this school?

In reading and mathematics, pupils reach consistently high standards. There are strong links with the next-door secondary school. This helps with curriculum continuity and means pupils are well prepared for key stage 3.

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What is it like to attend this school?

At Wigmore Primary School, pupils are supported to be confident, responsible and respectful individuals.

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

This school has many strengths. It has effective leadership that is building further on the school’s successes. 11 and 12 March 2025

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Pupils’ success in reading and mathematics are rooted in the secure attention paid to early number and language in the early years. In Nursery, staff teach pupils to listen carefully and to explore, use and develop their language. In the Reception year, phonics and number work are taught with reliable consistency and lots of helpful repetition. This sets up pupils well, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), for learning in key stage 1 and beyond.

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Staff check how well pupils are doing and provide extra input if anyone falls behind, for example in phonics. This works well. In addition, an evaluative approach enables the school to identify specific development areas. For instance, the school recognises that the teaching of handwriting could be improved.

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Beyond the core subjects, there is a broad curriculum. Along the way, classroom learning is regularly enriched by trips to places near and far. This helps to capture pupils’ interest and broadens their knowledge of the wider world. Pupils benefit from this.

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The school has made decisions about what pupils should learn and remember. However, the curriculum in some foundation subjects does not provide enough opportunities for pupils to use and embed essential knowledge. This makes it harder for pupils to remember some content, or to connect aspects of new learning with earlier learning. This affects their achievement in some foundation subjects.

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The school’s leadership is committed to ongoing school development. Priorities for further improvement are routinely shared with trustees and staff. The trustees understand their role well and pay close attention to information about the school’s work and performance. They make effective use of this to shape their discussions, make decisions and set school strategy. This helps to maintain the school’s united and ambitious vision.

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The school monitors pupils’ attendance carefully, and takes timely and constructive action to reduce any unnecessary absence. As a result, the rates of persistent absence are reducing. Most pupils attend regularly and on time.

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Parents are highly supportive and complimentary about the school’s work. Even so, there are some mixed views from parents about provision for pupils with SEND. The school has effective systems in place to identify and meet the needs of most pupils. It works well with agencies to provide the specific support pupils’ need.

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Pupils live up to the school’s high expectations for behaviour. This allows everyone to get on with their learning in class. It also means breaktimes run safely and smoothly. Many pupils have special jobs or leadership roles. Pupils can be ‘values ambassadors’, sports leaders, buddies, house captains and more. They are proud of these roles, take them seriously and set a fine example to their peers. Such roles also help pupils to take responsibility and think of others. Beyond the school day, there is an extensive and varied range of clubs. Many pupils take part, including pupils with SEND.

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Staff like working at the school. They are very positive about the support they get from leaders. In turn, they are supportive of the school and its aims. 11 and 12 March 2025

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The curriculum in some foundation subjects does not provide enough deliberate opportunities for pupils to use and embed essential knowledge. This makes it harder for pupils to remember some content or to connect aspects of new learning with earlier learning. The school should refine aspects of curriculum design and implementation to ensure teaching revisits and embeds key knowledge.  The teaching of handwriting is inconsistent. This means that some pupils do not establish good handwriting habits. This limits the fluency and legibility of their writing. The school should continue to review its approach to handwriting teaching and practice so that handwriting improves.

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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 to be 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 second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in June 2015. 11 and 12 March 2025

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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). 11 and 12 March 2025

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 22 and 23 October 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Wigmore Primary School is one of the two schools in the Wigmore School Academy Trust. The other school, Wigmore High School, is situated on the same site.  The school provides childcare at a breakfast club.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation 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 considered published performance data about the school. The inspector also looked at a range of school documents. These included information about pupils’ behaviour, attendance, the curriculum, extra-curricular activities, school improvement planning, SEND, governance and documents published on the school’s website. 11 and 12 March 2025

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 During the inspection, the inspector met with the executive headteacher, the headteacher, other leaders, school staff, pupils and trustees. In addition, she spoke on the telephone with an external education adviser.  The inspector 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.  The inspector talked with pupils, parents and staff to gather general information about school life. She took account of the responses to Ofsted’s surveys of staff’s, pupils’ and parents’ views.  The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons, at lunchtime, on the playground

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and at other times during the school day.

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Inspection team

Diane Pye, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 11 and 12 March 2025

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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 looked-after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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