Willington Primary School

Willington Primary School Inspection report

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112701 Unique Reference Number DERBYSHIRE LA Local Authority 310985 Inspection number 11 September 2007 Inspection date Patricia Cox Reporting inspector

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

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Primary Type of school Community School category 4 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 197 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Mark Watkins Chair Mrs Pam Stones Headteacher 26 April 2004 Date of previous school inspection Trent Avenue School address Willington Derbyshire DE65 6DN 01283 702156 Telephone number Fax number

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4-11 Age group 11 September 2007 Inspection date 310985 Inspection number .

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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 an Additional Inspector in a day. The inspection focused in particular on the achievement of boys; standards in mathematics at Key Stage 1 and science at Key Stage 2; the imaginative use of the curriculum and the involvement of pupils in setting their own targets and measuring the outcomes.

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Description of the school

Willington Primary is of average size with a low proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. The proportion of pupils entitled to free school meals is below average, reflecting pupils' relatively advantaged backgrounds. Almost all pupils are from White British backgrounds and all have English as their first language. Few pupils leave or join during their school career. Attainment on entry to the school is above national expectations in most areas of learning but similar to national expectations in communication, language and literacy and, often, in mathematical development.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 10 Inspection Report: Willington Primary School, 11 September 2007

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Grade: 2

This popular school provides its pupils with a good education. Care for their physical and emotional needs is exemplary, with very good arrangements for safeguarding them. As one parent stated, it is 'a caring environment where the children are safe and happy.' Pupils say there is always an adult they can talk to if they are upset. Staff are alert to their needs and have extremely effective procedures to encourage them to become mature and to take responsibility. Measures such as the provision of cycling proficiency and road safety lessons help guide pupils to gain a secure understanding of how to stay safe. As a result, their personal development and well-being are outstanding and they grow to be confident and thoughtful individuals. Pupils' spiritual, moral and social development is excellent, supported by the good programme for personal, social and health education. Their cultural development is good; they

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Grade: 2

have a very good knowledge of cultures throughout the world, and their understanding of life in a multicultural society is sound. As another parent wrote, 'There is a very strong sense that pupils should help, respect and care for each other.' Relationships between pupils and with adults are extremely good and they thoroughly enjoy their time at school, reflected in their above average attendance. Pupils make an excellent contribution to the community, often through strong links with the local church. The school council is particularly well involved in the life of the school, raising funds and managing them. The school works tirelessly to encourage pupils to lead a healthy lifestyle, and provides a good range of healthy lunches. Pupils have a good theoretical understanding but this is not always reflected in the contents of their lunchboxes. Behaviour is excellent and pupils say that they cannot remember any bullying. They are sure that staff would deal with any occurrence rapidly

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Grade: 2

and effectively. A parent reported that staff resolved an isolated case well and that it has not reoccurred. Pupils also do well academically because teaching is good, based on a well designed curriculum. The school is developing strong links between subjects and is using key questions to develop the pupils' knowledge and understanding. Topics are interesting and information and communication technology (ICT) is a key element in most of these. Spanish is taught throughout Key Stage 2 and there is a reasonable range of activities outside the school day. However, the way the timetables are planned could make more efficient use of time during the day. Teachers have a good knowledge of their pupils' day-to-day progress. They usually set tasks at the right level for each group, although this is not entirely consistent. Teaching is enthusiastic, lively and well paced, using a good variety of teaching methods that involve pupils and ensure that

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Grade: 2

they usually concentrate extremely well. Teachers often use questions well, to probe understanding and to promote thinking. They share the aims of the lesson with pupils and refer back to these so that pupils can see whether they have reached them. Pupils make good progress in reading and writing in Key Stage 1 and standards at the end of Year 2 have usually been above average. Pupils make satisfactory progress in mathematics, where standards are average, although they are rising. This improvement has occurred because the school has taken effective action to identify and tackle shortcomings. Pupils continue to make good progress through Key Stage 2 and standards at the end of Year 6 have usually been above average. They are sometimes exceptionally high, especially in English, where pupils' achievement is outstanding. Standards are above average in mathematics and achievement is good. Pupils throughout the school do not do as well in science, although

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Grade: 2

4 of 10 Inspection Report: Willington Primary School, 11 September 2007 standards are average and achievement is satisfactory. While pupils' scientific knowledge is secure, their skills of scientific enquiry are not developed sufficiently. The school sets very challenging targets for standards in English and mathematics and generally exceeds them each year. Girls and boys achieve equally well. Procedures for identifying those who have learning difficulties and/or disabilities work extremely well and their individual targets are focused sharply on the areas they need to improve. These pupils receive the good support they need to make similar progress to others in their classes. Academic support and guidance are satisfactory. There are good methods for setting targets for pupils in English and mathematics and for measuring their progress against these. The marking of pupils' writing gives them a clear understanding of how they have met the aims of the lesson and what they need to do

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Grade: 2

next. However, these strategies have not been implemented in other subjects. Pupils are not involved well enough in setting their own targets and measuring their progress towards these. The school prepares all pupils well for the next stage of their education and for adult life. The school's many strengths are due to good leadership and management that are never complacent. All concerned with the school are determined to ensure that pupils do as well as they can academically and personally. Under the good leadership of the headteacher and deputy headteacher, staff check the work of the school rigorously and systematically. As a result, they have a good understanding of its strengths and where improvement is necessary. All are well involved in planning for improvement, which is of mostly good quality. Action taken to bring about developments is effective. For example, previous work on writing has raised standards

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Grade: 2

throughout the school. Raising standards in science and improving target setting have already been identified as areas to be developed. The school works well with parents, who are appreciative of what it offers their children. Most governors are new to their role and are rapidly developing their knowledge of and involvement in the work of the school. The school provides good value for money and has progressed well since its previous inspection. It is therefore well placed for further improvement.

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Grade: 2

Children do well in the Reception class. Even though they had only been in school a few days, the good support and knowledge of the staff ensured that they have settled very well. There is a good range of activities, with a suitable balance of independent and adult led opportunities for this early time of the year. The use of ICT, including the interactive whiteboard, helps to engage children in classroom activities. They often become engrossed in these and in the carefully planned role-play area, concentrating well. Children enter the class with attainment overall higher than expected for their age in their personal and social skills, knowledge and understanding of the world, creative and physical development. Many play well together, discussing how they will undertake an activity. Their behaviour is good and they learn very quickly to take turns and share. Most have a good general knowledge that they build on rapidly. Communication, language and literacy are generally less developed

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Grade: 2

although similar to that expected for their age. This is often the case for their mathematical development. Some children have a good vocabulary and talk in well-constructed sentences and a few write their own names. While the children make good progress in all areas, the gap between the areas of learning has not been reducing in the past. New initiatives, particularly through learning letter sounds, are helping to bring about more rapid progress. By the time they enter Year 1, most children have reached the expected levels in all areas of learning and many have exceeded them. The school does not have a suitable outdoor area for the children 5 of 10 Inspection Report: Willington Primary School, 11 September 2007 to play and to explore their learning but work is due to start on a suitable scheme in the next few weeks.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Ensure that pupils throughout the school achieve as well in science as they do in English, particularly in relation to the skills of scientific enquiry. ■ Further develop target-setting procedures and marking to include all subjects and ensure that pupils are involved in setting their own targets and measuring their progress towards them. 6 of 10 Inspection Report: Willington Primary School, 11 September 2007 .

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What the school should do to improve further

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 7 of 10 Inspection Report: Willington Primary School, 11 September 2007

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Inspection judgements

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

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Overall effectiveness

How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 2 The effectiveness of the Foundation Stage 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

2 How well do learners achieve? 2 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

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

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and interests of learners?

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

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and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average to below average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low. 8 of 10 Inspection Report: Willington Primary School, 11 September 2007

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and supporting all learners?

How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education 2 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities Yes Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? No Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 9 of 10 Inspection Report: Willington Primary School, 11 September 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

12 September 2007 Dear Children Inspection of Willington Primary School, Willington, Derbyshire, DE65 6DN It was good to meet you yesterday when I visited your school and I really enjoyed talking to you and the children who were on the school council last year. I thought you might like to know what I found out about your school. I agree with you that your school is a good one, and that's because Mrs Stones and the staff work hard to make sure that you do the best you can. These are the best things about your school:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You do really well in reading and writing.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ The teaching is good and you have lots of interesting things to do.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Your behaviour is excellent and you are very sensible.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ The school takes very good care of you.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You don't do as well in science as you do in English and mathematics so I've asked your teachers to help you do more practical work. ■ Your teachers give you targets in English and mathematics and mark your work to help you to do even better. I think it would be a good idea if they did that in other subjects as well, and involved you more in deciding how well you've done. Thank you for making my visit so interesting and helping me to find out so much. I am sure that you'll carry on doing well. Best wishes Pat Cox Inspector 10 of 10 Inspection Report: Willington Primary School, 11 September 2007

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