Willow Tree Community Primary School

Inspection Report Wedderburn Infant and Nursery School

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121424 Unique Reference Number North Yorkshire LEA 281012 Inspection number 10 May 2006 to 11 May 2006 Inspection dates Mrs Lesley Clark CfBT Lead Inspector Reporting inspector

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This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Wetherby Road School address Primary Type of school Harrogate Community School category North Yorkshire HG2 7SG 3 to 7 Age range of pupils 01423 883551 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01423 886592 Fax number 265 Number on roll Mr Ged Roddam Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Ms B Leadbeater Headteacher 14 February 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 281012 10 May 2006 - 3 to 7 11 May 2006 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by three Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

This average sized school serves a socially and economically very mixed area. A third of the children have learning difficulties and/or disabilities, including 10% who are particularly vulnerable and 14 who are at an early stage of learning English. The take-up of free school meals is quite high at 20%. Attainment on entry to the Nursery is below average.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Wedderburn Infant and Nursery School, 10 May 2006 to 11 May 2006

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Grade: 3

This is a satisfactory school with some good features and outstanding promotion of emotional and physical health; judgements that match the school's view of itself. Children behave well, enjoy coming to school and say they like, 'playtimes and PE best'. Attendance is above average. Good care, support and guidance are given to children and outstanding pastoral support is given to those who are vulnerable. Standards are below average overall at the end of Year 2, indicating satisfactory achievement by most children, from their below average starting points, although children do not read with as much understanding as they should. This is because teachers do not give children enough opportunities to learn through discussing and asking questions or through explaining and talking about what they read. The quality of teaching is satisfactory. The tracking of children's progress is good and gives an accurate overview of achievement but children are not involved in checking their work

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Grade: 3

against small achievable targets so that they learn from their mistakes. The curriculum is satisfactory with an outstanding range of activities for children to do at playtimes. Provision in the Foundation Stage is also satisfactory. There are really good outdoor facilities but not all classes use these as extensively as they might. Consequently, boys at this stage tend not to do as well as girls because they are taught too formally too soon in the Reception classes. The school is satisfactorily led and managed, with suitable governor involvement. Improvement since the last inspection is satisfactory on balance. While some aspects have strengthened, progress on others has been slow as the school adapts to a different intake and falling rolls. There is a good partnership with parents and they are satisfied with the education their children receive. The school has a happy feel to it and gives satisfactory value for money.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Improve the Foundation Stage provision by making sure that all children have the chance to work and play outside as much as inside and provide a wide choice of stimulating and interesting activities well matched to children's needs which encourage boys to learn as well as girls. • Raise teachers' expectations and give children more opportunities to learn through discussing, asking questions and explaining and talking about what they read. • Explain to children what they are learning and involve them in checking their work against small, achievable targets so they understand what they have to do to improve its quality.

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Grade: 3

Achievement is satisfactory overall for all children. From a below average starting point, children make satisfactory progress in the Foundation Stage, gaining steadily in confidence. By the start of Year 1, overall standards are below those expected, with boys' achievement lagging slightly behind girls' because they are taught too formally 2 Inspection Report: Wedderburn Infant and Nursery School, 10 May 2006 to 11 May 2006 too soon. Opportunities to learn basic literacy and numeracy skills through play and exploration, for example, are limited. In Years 1 and 2, pupils continue to achieve satisfactorily with some good gains in mathematical understanding. In the 2005 national tests at the end of Year 2, standards were below average in reading and writing and close to average in mathematics. Standards in writing marginally improved following the school's intensive focus on this aspect. The trend in the school's results is

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Grade: 3

downwards, however, as fewer children reach above average levels than in previous years. Although this is due in part to increasing proportions of children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, there is some underachievement by more able children in reading. Teachers tend to underestimate what children can do and give children few opportunities to learn through discussing and asking questions or through explaining and talking about what they read. In addition, children are unaware of what they need to do to improve their work.

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Grade: 2

Children's personal development and well-being is nurtured well. Their spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness is good and they have good opportunities to learn about other cultures through special events such as the school's recent focus on China. They have satisfactory basic skills and good attendance which prepare them well for their future. Behaviour is good and children are keen to learn though they can become restless when kept sitting for too long. Best of all, they like to be active and have a very advanced awareness of what it means to live healthily. They are particularly enthusiastic about the enormous range of games and resources which, as well as providing outstanding facilities for enjoyment and fun in the school playground, ensure that levels of fitness are high. Some 85% of children attend an after school games club. One Year 1 child summed up the feelings of many children in the school when

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Grade: 2

she confidently said 'I enjoy school so much that I don't want to go home'! Relationships throughout the school are happy and harmonious and pupils with significant disabilities are fully involved in school life. Bullying is not a problem. Children have satisfactory opportunities to take on responsibilities around the school and they carry their duties out sensibly.

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Grade: 3

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. Throughout the school, teachers manage behaviour very well. The best teaching sparkles, challenges and holds the children's interest. In the most effective lessons, the work is carefully matched to children's different needs and activities include small group work, practical work and lots of opportunities for children to be curious learners. In less effective lessons, learning objectives are not made clear and children have relatively few opportunities to discuss, ask questions and work things out for themselves. This therefore limits 3 Inspection Report: Wedderburn Infant and Nursery School, 10 May 2006 to 11 May 2006 children's independence as learners and results in some underachievement. In the Foundation Stage, Nursery children benefit from a seamless interchange of indoor and outdoor activities but without a sharp learning focus these can become repetitive.

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Grade: 3

In the Reception classes, the balance of indoor and outdoor activities is uneven and some teaching is too formal for the developmental stage of the children. However, role play areas are used well and the wealth of outdoor resources are used very well for physical development but not as fully as yet for other areas of learning. Throughout the school, staff tend to underestimate what children can do and keep them listening for too long. The use of assessment to determine what is taught and the involvement of children in assessing their own learning need improving.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum meets all statutory requirements and gives due weight to developing skills in literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology. There is very good provision for physical development including regular swimming in the school's pool. The curriculum has been revised to provide a good range of work suitable for mixed age classes. The curriculum in the classroom, however, is not as exciting as that outside where an outstanding range of games and other resources available to children during school playtimes nurtures learning through enjoyment. The Foundation Stage curriculum, while satisfactory, is a little unimaginative and provision for different learning needs through extended play and practical activities both inside and outside varies from class to class. The curriculum is satisfactorily enriched through opportunities provided for children to visit and work in the local and wider environment.

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Grade: 2

The quality of care, support and guidance is good. There is outstanding pastoral care provided for children who have very complex needs and low levels of self esteem, in addition to those with English as an additional language or with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. Good child protection procedures are in place and appropriate checks are made on staff new to the school. Accidents involving children are quickly and effectively addressed by the school's staff who also provide high levels of support to children occasionally in need of medical administration. Academic support and guidance are satisfactory. The school's systems to track children's progress give a good overview of how well individuals and different groups are doing and the information is used to identify groups who need extra support. However, there is a gap between this and what is actually taught. Opportunities are missed to involve children in

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Grade: 2

discussions either in lessons or in class or school councils with the result that children are unused to listening and learning from each other. 4 Inspection Report: Wedderburn Infant and Nursery School, 10 May 2006 to 11 May 2006

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management are satisfactory. The headteacher, leadership team and governors have promoted and achieved a caring environment in which children feel secure and happy. They have created strong pastoral systems to care for children who are vulnerable or who have specific needs or disabilities. This area is well managed by the inclusion manager. Parents are warmly supportive of the care their children receive. Management is good: the school runs well with good financial management and effective deployment of resources. Some difficult issues such as staffing redundancies have been handled well and the school has adapted satisfactorily to its changing intake of children. Improvement since the last inspection has been mixed. Although most of the issues have been tackled and assessment procedures developed extensively, there is still a gap between the information these provide and what is actually taught. The

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Grade: 3

underachievement by more able children is in reading now rather than writing but overall improvement has been on the slow side. The school's self-evaluation is accurate and honest, and weaknesses rightly identified. The school improvement plan is less incisive and does not always give a clear direction based on raising achievement. The recently established leadership team means that decisions are now made more quickly. The leadership style is now robust and decisive with a sharper focus on learning. It is too soon to see the impact of this on raised achievement in reading though there is evidence of its effectiveness in writing standards. Capacity to improve therefore is satisfactory. Monitoring of teaching is of good quality and developmental points are sharply accurate. 5 Inspection Report: Wedderburn Infant and Nursery School, 10 May 2006 to 11 May 2006 .

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set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s

website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Wedderburn Infant and Nursery School, 10 May 2006 to 11 May 2006

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Overall

Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

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learners?

NA 2 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? NA 3 The quality and standards in foundation stage NA 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation NA Yes The capacity to make any necessary improvements NA Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

NA 3 How well do learners achieve? NA 3 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 3 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners NA 3 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

NA 2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 2 The behaviour of learners NA 2 The attendance of learners NA 2 How well learners enjoy their education NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles NA 3 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community NA 3 How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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needs and interests of learners?

NA 2 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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needs and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low.

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and supporting all learners?

NA 3 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 3 How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review NA 3 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can NA 2 How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money NA 3 The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities NA Yes The adequacy and suitability of staff to ensure that learners are protected

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The extent to which schools enable learners to be healthy

Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to eat and drink healthily Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to take regular exercise Yes Learners are discouraged from smoking and substance abuse Yes Learners are educated about sexual health

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The extent to which providers ensure that learners stay safe

Yes Procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements Yes Risk assessment procedures and related staff training are in place Yes Action is taken to reduce anti-social behaviour, such as bullying and racism Yes Learners are taught about key risks and how to deal with them

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The extent to which learners make a positive contribution

Yes Learners are helped to develop stable, positive relationships Yes Learners, individually and collectively, participate in making decisions that affect them Yes Learners are encouraged to initiate, participate in and manage activities in school and the wider community

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The extent to which schools enable learners to achieve economic well-being

Yes There is provision to promote learners’ basic skills Yes Learners have opportunities to develop enterprise skills and work in teams NA Careers education and guidance is provided to all learners in key stage 3 and 4 and the sixth form NA Education for all learners aged 14–19 provides an understanding of employment and the economy

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you for welcoming us to your school and for being so friendly and helpful. We really enjoyed our visit and want to share with you what we thought about your school. What we liked most about your school. - We think that you have really good playtimes and you all get on very well together. - You work hard and have a lot of fun in your outdoor activities. No wonder a lot of you say that you like sport and PE best. - You are well looked after and we can see why you enjoy coming to school. - Your parents and carers are very pleased that you come to this school. What I have asked your school to do now. - We would like your teachers in the Nursery and Reception classes to make sure that everyone has the chance to work and play outside as much as inside and to give you interesting activities to do which don't involve you sitting on the carpet listening for too long at a time. - We think it would help you to read with greater understanding, and to listen and learn from

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

each other, if your teachers gave you more time to talk in class and ask questions and to discuss what you read. - It would help you to learn better in some lessons if you knew what you need to do to improve. This would help you to learn from your mistakes. We wish you well for the future and hope you continue to enjoy your learning.

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