Wembdon St George's Church School

Wembdon St George's Church School

Address: Brantwood Road, Wembdon, Bridgwater, Somerset, TA6 7PS Unique reference number (URN): 144984

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Leaders prioritise pupils' attendance. This has ensured that over time, pupils’ attendance has been in line with the national average. Leaders follow the trust policies and check patterns of attendance closely. If pupils' attendance dips, leaders put in appropriate actions quickly and effectively. Leaders work with families to help remove barriers and make any reasonable adjustments as necessary. This tenacious work has seen the rate of persistent absence drop this year, including for disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

The school is a typically calm and orderly environment. Pupils have positive attitudes in lessons and most work hard. Occasionally, when teaching is less well matched to pupils' needs, their focus drifts. Staff sensitively support pupils, including those with SEND, who find their emotions hard to manage. This helps them to quickly refocus and return to their learning. Leaders deal with any incidents of bullying, or unkind behaviour between pupils, swiftly and effectively. Despite the high staff turnover, staff typically follow the school's behaviour policies consistently. They develop warm relationships with pupils, who speak highly of the care and support they receive from staff. This is reflected in suspensions reducing this academic year.

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Early years Expected standard

Children in the early years get off to a positive start to their education. Children thrive because they build trusting relationships with staff quickly. Leaders review the effectiveness of the ambitious curriculum to ensure that it meets children's changing needs. For example, leaders have strengthened the way in which children develop their communication and language after recognising that some children start school with limited speaking and listening skills. Staff have received additional training to ensure that they engage in high quality interactions with children. While leaders would like to improve this even further, staff typically model and promote children's spoken language effectively. For example, in mathematics, children explain their thinking to their peers articulately.

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Early years Expected standard

Leaders weave reading and writing throughout the provision. Leaders expose children to a rich range of texts through a carefully considered choice of books. Staff support pupils successfully to learn phonics well. They ensure that children practise applying their phonics knowledge to their writing. As a result, by the end of the Reception Year, children are typically ready for the demands of the Year 1 curriculum.

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Early years Expected standard

Staff in the early years involve parents and carers well in their child's education. For example, families are invited to join in the 'Secret Reader' sessions where they participate in a story time session alongside their child.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders and staff at all levels are committed to an inclusive culture. They identify pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) early and what is needed for them to be successful. This starts in the early years where staff use the information from children's previous settings to help them get the help they need to settle into the school. Staff receive a variety of high-quality training to help them understand how they can best meet pupils’ needs. They typically use the information from pupils' learning plans to provide the right support for pupils in lessons. This helps many pupils to be able to work in lessons with increasing independence. However, in a few classes, this support is less effective and pupils do not learn as well. Staff generally work with families and other professionals well to make any changes to pupils' provision as necessary. Leaders check that any alternative provision

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Inclusion Expected standard

used is safe and appropriate for those pupils who access it.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders use funding for disadvantaged pupils appropriately. They recognise, however, that they need to evaluate the impact on disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND more closely. This is so they can be assured that strategies to support learning are working as well as possible for all pupils.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders have established a well-considered and age-appropriate personal, social and health education (PSHE) programme. They have continued to refine it so that the content reflects both the school's context as well as responding to pupils' changing needs. For example, the school has interwoven a substantial focus on mental health within PSHE. Leaders evaluate the impact of this work to better understand how they can support pupils pastorally. As a result, pupils know how to keep themselves mentally healthy and recognise the importance of being resilient. Pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, can recall some of the important content of the PSHE curriculum. For example, they can discuss the dangers of drugs and alcohol. Pupils can also describe changes to their body as they get older. Pupils learn about international events such as war which helps them to develop an understanding of the complexities of the wider world. Staff regularly revisit the risks of digital

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

technology, such as social media, to help keep pupils safe both online and offline.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

While there are a sufficient number of clubs for pupils to develop their talents and interests, pupils and parents and carers would like more of these. The school ensures that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are disadvantaged have any barriers removed to help them attend. Pupils develop an appreciation for the arts through opportunities learn a musical instrument in a rock band.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

In the early years, staff's focus on social skills, such as turn taking, helps children to become polite and courteous individuals.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Pupils understand the principles of fundamental British values and how these link to their school values. Throughout their learning, pupils encounter and discuss people from different faiths and cultures. This helps to prepare them for life in modern Britain.

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Achievement Needs attention

Too many pupils do not learn well across the school, including some pupils who are disadvantaged. Over time, pupils’ achievement in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stage 2 has been below national averages. This means that too many pupils have started secondary school without the essential knowledge they need to be well prepared. This is particularly the case for writing. Leaders' actions to improve pupils' outcomes in writing are too recent to have had an impact. Too many pupils struggle to grasp the basics of spelling, grammar and punctuation. This then hinders them from writing increasingly complex pieces of work as they move up the school.

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Achievement Needs attention

Younger pupils are learning to read with greater fluency and accuracy. This is reflected in the 2025 published outcomes for the phonics screening check that are in line with the national average. However, while leaders' changes to the mathematics curriculum have improved pupils' outcomes in the Year 4 multiplication screen check, they remain below national averages.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Instability in staffing has led to inconsistencies in the quality of teaching across the school. This has led to a few staff lacking the expertise to implement the curriculum effectively. Some staff are still becoming familiar with the school's approaches to much of the curriculum. Furthermore, some teachers do not have high enough expectations of what pupils can do. However, pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities generally receive the adjustments they need in their learning.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Many older pupils have gaps in their knowledge, due to the lack of high-quality teaching over time, particularly in writing. While some teachers address these gaps effectively, this is not the case throughout the school. As a result, pupils continue to repeat errors, such as spelling and letter formation. The teaching of phonics is more effective. Staff follow a rigorous approach closely and support pupils appropriately who fall behind.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders recognised that the curriculum for writing and mathematics needed improving so that pupils learn more. However, many of these changes are in the early stages of implementation. In the wider curriculum, leaders have ensured the sequencing of the curriculum meets the needs of the mixed age classes and is sufficiently ambitious.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Since the last inspection, the school has experienced significant changes in senior leadership and staffing. Leadership capacity has been stretched thinly. This has impacted how effective leaders have been in tackling weaknesses in teaching. As a result, the pace of change to address these has been too slow. This has also led to parents and carers becoming unsettled at the number of changes in the school. A significant minority feel that leaders do not deal with their concerns or communicate effectively. Some staff's views around how leaders manage their workload and wellbeing are mixed. However, staff and leaders want the very best for pupils. They share the same vision to ensure that the school cares well for all its pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Greater stability in leadership is beginning to drive improvement across the school, although some of this work is at an early stage.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders' changes to the curriculum are in the very early stages of development. While they have provided training for staff to help them implement the curriculum better, the turnover of staff means the impact of this is limited. However, those teachers in the early stages of their career are well supported and receive the appropriate support they need to improve their practice.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

The trust, including the trust local committee, recognise that too many pupils have not learned well for too long. They have provided intensive support to the school to increase the rate of improvement. They hold leaders to account for the impact of these actions. Nevertheless, they recognise there is still much more to do to ensure that pupils' achievement improves. Leaders and the trust understand that the formation of a stable teaching team is a key priority. The trust ensures the school meets its statutory responsibilities.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

This school has a nurturing and compassionate ethos. Pupils feel safe and well cared for by staff. They typically show kindness and respect to one another. This helps pupils to enjoy their learning and attend well. Nevertheless, the high number of changes in staffing has meant that some pupils have experienced disruption to their educational journey. This has meant the quality of teaching has been too variable in key stages 1 and 2. As result, many pupils do not learn the curriculum well. For too long, pupils have not gained the knowledge they need to be fluent writers or to be confident with their times tables. This means they are not ready for their next stage of education. While pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) typically play a full part in school life and have their needs met, some disadvantaged pupils do not achieve as well as they could.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils generally behave well in the classroom. At social times, pupils use a range of equipment sensibly in a variety of activities to promote teamwork. They trust staff to help them if they have any concerns. In the words of one pupil, 'The adults give us good advice'. Bullying is not common but staff deal with it effectively when it occurs.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils enjoy a suitable range of experiences beyond the academic curriculum. Pupils develop their leadership skills through roles such as young librarians, play leaders and become members of the school parliament. In the early years, children welcome expert visitors, such as to enhance their learning about animals. Pupils become more independent and confident through a residential. Pupils develop a secure knowledge of how people can be different through assemblies and lessons. For example, they recognise that some of their peers require more support to help them with learning or behaviour. This helps pupils to become well-rounded and tolerant individuals.

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure that teachers are supported to teach the curriculum consistently well and have high expectations of what pupils can do, taking into account pupils’ differing starting points. Leaders should ensure that pupils secure the essential knowledge they need to write well across the curriculum, including addressing any historic gaps that they may have, so that more pupils meet the expected standard in writing by the end of key stage 2. Leaders should further strengthen relationships with staff and parents to ensure that changes in the school are understood and there is a shared vision of the school's improvement journey. Leaders and staff should rigorously monitor the progress of pupils with special educational needs and or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils to consistently ensure that any barriers to success are swiftly and effectively addressed to help these pupils to learn well.

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About this inspection

This school is part of The Bath and Wells Diocesan Academies 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), Nikki Edwards, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Beverley Hobbs.

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About this inspection

Inspectors carried out this full inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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About this inspection

Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with the headteacher and other senior leaders, the Deputy CEO, the chair of the trust, two members of the trust local committee, staff, pupils, a member of staff from the alternative provider and parents and carers during the inspection.

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About this inspection

The school makes use of one registered alternative provision.

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About this inspection

There is a before- and after-school club for pupils who attend the school.

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About this inspection

Since the last inspection, there have been significant changes in staffing.

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Team inspectors:

Julie Fox, Ofsted Inspector Peter Overton, Ofsted Inspector

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The data was used by the inspector(s) during the inspection. More recent data may have been published since the inspection took place.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils currently at this school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils who can attend the school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan. This covers pupils with more support than is available through special educational needs support.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with reported special educational support needs at the school.

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What does this mean?

Based on the English Indices of Deprivation (2019) and the school's location, we have calculated whether the school is located in a more or less deprived area.

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What does this mean?

Whether school has Resourced Provision or SEND unit (if applicable).

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standards in a combined reading, writing and mathematics measure.

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average

2023/24 (final) 56% 61% Close to average

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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average

2023/24 (final) 76% 74% Close to average

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing.

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average

2023/24 (final) 67% 72% Close to average

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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average

2023/24 (final) 71% 73% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics.

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national average

2023/24 (final) 35% 46% Close to average

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national average

2022/23 (final) 38% 44% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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average

2024/25 (revised) 63% 63% Close to average

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average

2023/24 (final) 53% 62% Close to average

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average

2022/23 (final) 62% 60% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing.

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average

2023/24 (final) 59% 58% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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average

2023/24 (final) 47% 59% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance gap

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after. The school disadvantage gap is the difference between the performance of the school's disadvantaged pupils compared to the performance of all non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics, including the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics and the disadvantaged gap.

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Overall absence

The percentage of all possible mornings and afternoons missed due to absence from school (for whatever reason, whether authorised or unauthorised) across all pupils.

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national average

2024/25 (2 term) 5.4% 5.2% Close to average

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Persistent absence

The percentage of pupils missing 10% or more of their possible mornings and afternoons.

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national average

2024/25 (2 term) 12.7% 13.3% Close to average

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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