Wadsworth Fields Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Wadsworth Fields Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 28 February 2018, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be in good in May 2013.

The school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You and the capable senior team clearly understand what is required to ensure continual development of the school, including in the quality of teaching.

All leaders, including governors, bring clarity and purpose to their work. Sta...ff willingly take their share of responsibilities for bringing about the improvement priorities identified by leaders. Parents and carers are very supportive of the school's work.

This is shown during their meetings with me before school and in their responses to Ofsted's online questionnaire, Parent View. They are highly appreciative of the work the school carries out to keep children safe, care for them and help them to become successful learners. They are overwhelmingly positive about the consistently good standards of teaching and learning at the school.

For example, one parent wrote of the 'great school' and that it is 'really well led'. Parents report how easy it is to raise a concern should they have one, and praise the school's quick actions to deal with any problems. The vast majority of parents say that they would recommend the school to others.

Governance at Wadsworth Fields is highly effective. The governing body is well led and shares your vision for the success of the school. Through frequent visits to the school, governors have a breadth of information with which to challenge and commend your hard work.

Governors are acutely aware of the school's strengths and areas to develop. They work effectively to strengthen the provision for all pupils. Pupils' behaviour is good.

They are kind, thoughtful and respectful of the needs of others. As a consequence, the school provides a harmonious learning environment. Pupils are enthusiastic learners, very positive advocates for the school and strive to rise to the high expectations that staff have set.

You have embedded a broad and well-balanced curriculum. Pupils develop key skills in a range of subjects, such as history, Spanish and physical education. You correctly judge early years to be a strength of the school.

Highly effective leadership in early years has ensured that children are well prepared for study in Year 1. The learning environment is bright and engaging. Children in both Nursery and Reception classes develop crucial early reading, writing and mathematical skills, which enable them to successfully access the curriculum.

Following the previous inspection, leaders were asked to further improve the quality of teaching across the school and raise pupils' achievement in writing. You and the team have tackled both of these areas with success, as demonstrated by recent results and current teaching. In addition, the quality of pupils' writing has improved.

You and leaders work decisively together to identify areas for improvement and take effective action. For example, as result of developments in the teaching of reading and mathematics, outcomes at key stage 2 rose sharply and were significantly above the national average. However, you are not complacent and recognise that the teaching and learning of writing require improvement in some subjects in order to improve the range and styles of pupils' writing.

Pupils have insufficient opportunity in some subjects, such as science, to write at length. In addition, you know that disadvantaged pupils do not achieve as well other pupils nationally, and you have strengthened the pastoral and academic support for these pupils. Safeguarding is effective.

Leaders and governors have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose, and records of staff's suitability to work with children are clear and well organised. There are well-understood systems in place for staff to report any concerns. The designated safeguarding leaders act quickly and resolutely to follow up referrals made to other agencies.

The pupils I spoke with informally around school and as a group told me that they feel very safe and happy at school. Parents' views were also positive. The vast majority agreed that pupils are safe and well cared for at school, with many choosing to praise the school for the safe, secure, community feel the school has established.

Inspection findings ? To ascertain whether the school remained good, two of my lines of enquiry were about the quality of teaching and the outcomes in writing in key stage 2. In 2016, outcomes dipped compared with those of previous years, with standards in writing falling below the national average, but greatly improved in reading and mathematics in 2017. During the inspection, you and I visited classrooms and observed teaching across all key stages.

It was clear that pupils were making good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils were engrossed in their work, often undertaking practical activities, which helped them to apply their skills in problem solving. ? The school's accurate assessment records show that pupils in all year groups currently at the school are making secure progress in writing, including grammar, punctuation and spelling.

Information about pupils in key stage 2 shows that the proportions reaching greater depth or higher standards have improved, including those with average and higher starting points. ? Visits across classrooms quickly confirmed the differences that improvements to teaching have made, particularly in key stage 2. Teachers make effective use of assessment information to plan activities that help pupils of different abilities overcome previous barriers.

In English, pupils write with imagination, but show great purpose and control, especially in the structure of sentences, punctuation and the use of different tenses. Standards in spelling have improved for most pupils because : teaching helps pupils to understand and use the rules involved. ? Other key lines of enquiry were to examine the support in place for disadvantaged pupils, including for their attendance.

The school receives specific funding for eligible pupils and their progress is tracked. Nevertheless, the last set of key stage 2 results, in 2017, showed that a small number of disadvantaged pupils had not achieved as well as their peers in writing. As a consequence, you have ensured that disadvantaged pupils' progress, attendance and attainment are a very high priority in the school improvement plan.

• Leaders are working hard to accelerate the progress made by disadvantaged pupils currently at the school and a good range of social, emotional and academic support is in place. Effective support and interventions enable pupils to consolidate their basic skills if they are falling behind. Leaders ensure that pupils are assessed regularly to ensure that support is effective.

• There is a clear and detailed plan setting out a clear strategy to improve the attainment and progress of disadvantaged pupils. You ensure that this provision is reviewed frequently, and adapted depending on each pupil's level of progress. Current progress data across the curriculum shows that these pupils are making improved progress.

However, when evaluating these strategies, you acknowledge that you are having mixed success, and in some subjects, including science, history and geography, the expectations of disadvantaged pupils' writing are not as rigorous as those found in English books. I asked you to continue giving high priority to improving the progress and attainment of disadvantaged pupils. ? You address the emotional and social well-being of disadvantaged pupils where necessary, for example by providing additional support for pupils struggling to learn and helping remove identified barriers to learning.

You have also focused successfully on improving the attendance of these pupils to ensure that they access the curriculum as fully as possible. Pupils regard the 'golden ticket' system for improving attendance as very successful. Through a range of strategies, the attendance rates for disadvantaged pupils have improved.

I agree with you, however, that there is still work to be done to improve the attendance of disadvantaged pupils further. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? across the curriculum, disadvantaged pupils make at least the same progress and attain in line with other pupils nationally, and continue to improve their attendance ? all pupils are provided with opportunities to develop their writing skills at length in other subjects across the curriculum ? all teachers share the same high expectations about the accuracy and quality of pupils' writing in their subject books as in their English books. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Nottinghamshire.

This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Philip Garnham Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During the course of this inspection, I held meetings with you, other senior and middle leaders and a group of three governors. I spoke with pupils informally in classrooms and when walking around the school site.

I also met with a group of Year 6 pupils. I visited a range of classes across early years, key stage 1 and key stage 2. I undertook a scrutiny of pupils' work in their books.

Policies and procedures for the safeguarding of pupils were examined, along with the school's record of checks carried out on staff working at the school. A range of documents was analysed or discussed: the school's self-evaluation; monitoring procedures and improvement plans; documents relating to pupils' achievement, attendance and behaviour; minutes of governing body meetings; and curriculum plans. I considered the views of 81 parents who responded to Ofsted's online questionnaire, Parent View, as well as 40 views expressed via the free-text service.

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