Great Wishford CofE (VA) Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy at this school and feel safe. They get on well with each other and with staff.

Pupils are calm and well behaved. They say that bullying is rare and that staff help them to resolve any issues if they occur. Pupils enjoy taking on responsibility.

This includes being pupil councillors and helping younger pupils develop their games skills.

The curriculum is not implemented well enough across the school, including in early years. This means that pupils do not learn as well as they should in a range of subjects.

Pupils celebrate the school's Christian values and learn how these are reflected in a range of other religions. Pupils have a str...ong understanding of democracy and the rule of law. Staff teach them to be tolerant of people whose views may vary from their own.

Pupils take part in a range of activities to develop their talents and interests. This includes sports club, instrumental music tuition and taking part in a choral singing project in Salisbury Cathedral. However, several parents and carers commented that they would like to see a greater range of clubs and activities.

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

Leaders are determined that every child in the school will be well cared for and will achieve their potential. This includes for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Leaders have designed a curriculum that sets out carefully structured steps of learning in all subjects.

However, the implementation of the curriculum has slowed and is at an early stage in some subjects. This is partly due to recent staffing instability. In these subjects, assessment is not used precisely enough to help pupils to do, know and remember more.

This means that the curriculum is not leading to effective learning in some subjects across the school, including in early years.

The learning environments and provision of resources do not support pupils to learn well. For example, in early years, the role-play area is not used effectively to promote learning, and resources do not support the understanding of key mathematical concepts at key stage 2.

The school promotes a love of reading and pupils enjoy their daily story time. The phonics programme is designed and structured well. All staff have received recent training and deliver effective phonics sessions.

Pupils learn to read from books that are carefully matched to the sounds they are learning. Staff give pupils who fall behind with their reading the extra support they need to catch up. This helps pupils to learn to read well.

Staff support pupils with SEND effectively. Leaders ensure that pupils' individual plans inform teaching and classroom support. Leaders check that pupils with SEND have the support they need and that they learn well.

Pupils are polite and well mannered. They behave well around the school and at social times. They are confident and keen to communicate their ideas to their friends and staff.

Pupils can concentrate well in their lessons as they are rarely disturbed by behaviour issues. Pupils have positive attitudes to learning, but at times their work is not precise enough and this leads to errors.

Staff teach pupils about the importance of a balanced diet and an active lifestyle.

Pupils regularly learn how to stay safe, including when online. Staff teach pupils about the dangers of drug misuse and addiction. Pupils understand what makes a healthy relationship.

They understand their responsibility to seek help if they witness or hear about anyone being harassed. Pupils understand the terms 'stereotype' and 'prejudice'. They know that it is wrong to judge someone because of their appearance, ethnicity or gender.

Leaders have recently improved the way they communicate with parents about what their children are learning. They have stressed the importance of good attendance to parents, and this has led to less pupil absence.

Leaders and those responsible for governance have a clear understanding of the school's strengths and areas for development.

School leaders work effectively with the trust to identify the actions that will lead to improvements. They are determined to secure these rapidly.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

There is a strong culture of safeguarding in the school. Staff know that they all have responsibility for safeguarding. They know how to recognise signs of abuse or neglect.

They record their concerns diligently. Leaders follow up any concerns appropriately and work effectively with other professionals and agencies to minimise the risk of harm to pupils.

Staff carry out thorough pre-employment checks on adults working in the school and keep detailed records.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Leaders have not fully implemented an effective curriculum across all subjects, including in early years. Assessment is not used effectively. Learning across the curriculum does not always build consistently or securely on what pupils have previously learned and understood.

This slows pupils' progress through the curriculum. Leaders should ensure that the curriculum is fully implemented and that assessment is used effectively. This will help pupils to build on their prior knowledge, so they know more and remember more across all subjects.

• The learning environment and resources are not used effectively to support pupils to learn the curriculum, including in early years. They do not help pupils to develop their knowledge and understanding. Leaders should ensure that staff are confident to create learning environments and to provide resources that support effective learning.