St Wilfrid’s CofE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of St Wilfrid's CofE Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 13 March 2019, 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 good in December 2015.

This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the previous inspection. You, the assistant headteacher and governors have worked with determination and commitment to make sure that the school has continued to develop since then.

Staff work well together and understand your vision for the school. U...nderpinning all of your work is the motto for the school, 'Promote Christian Practices, Aspire to Excellence, Realise Potential, Foster Creativity.' This drive to respond fully to the academic, social, spiritual and emotional needs of your pupils is reflected in all aspects of the school's work.

The vast majority of parents and carers I spoke to were pleased with the school. Typical comments included, 'The school has been very good for my family', 'There are fantastic opportunities for children at the school' and, 'My child is making really good progress.' These views were endorsed by the large majority of parents who responded to Parent View.

Pupils flourish both socially and academically and are a credit to the school. They are friendly, confident and articulate. They behave sensibly throughout the day, including when attending the well-organised after-school club.

Pupils are keen to learn and thoroughly enjoy school. They are especially positive about the school's music and sport provision and the opportunities they have to visit places of interest. For example, older pupils recall with pleasure their residential visits and taking part in a 'Shakespeare experience' with other schools.

Leaders and staff prepare pupils well for secondary school and for later life. Positive, nurturing relationships between pupils and staff successfully help to support pupils in becoming confident learners who are proud of their school. You and your staff model and teach key values such as tolerance, respect and kindness.

You give pupils many opportunities to take responsibility, for example by being school council members, house leaders and sports captains. Leaders have addressed the areas for improvement identified at the last inspection. Boys now attain standards in writing that are similar to the national average for boys at the end of key stage 2.

Teachers ensure that all pupils have regular opportunities to practise their writing skills by writing at length for different purposes, across the curriculum. From my scrutiny of a range of pupils' books, I could see that the quality of writing in pupils' books is typically good. You rightly continue to prioritise boys' writing to ensure that it matches the high standards achieved by girls.

The outdoor areas for children in the early years have improved since the previous inspection. Teachers now provide a range of activities across the indoor and outdoor environments to help children develop their early reading and writing skills. For example, I observed children practising writing simple words using chalk boards outside.

They talked with confidence about letters and the sounds they make. However, from my discussions with leaders, it was clear that the improved provision to help children develop their writing skills is not yet fully embedded and does not enable all children to make consistently strong progress. During our discussions, we identified that the school's strategic planning does not reflect, in detail, how improvements are to be made and precisely monitored to ensure that leaders are held to account for further improving pupils' outcomes.

Safeguarding is effective. Senior leaders and the governing body ensure that safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Leaders at all levels, including the governing body, give safeguarding the highest priority.

They ensure that staff are well trained and know what to do if they have a concern. The school is diligent in utilising outside agencies when necessary to support vulnerable pupils. You regularly review procedures and make changes if needed.

For example, leaders and governors have improved the site security and plan further improvements to playground arrangements. Pupils are clear about what the school does to keep them safe and to teach them to keep themselves safe. They talk with confidence and knowledge about how to remain safe while using the internet.

Pupils express full confidence in the response of staff if they have a concern. Inspection findings ? In 2018, the proportion of pupils who achieved the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stage 1 fell to below the national average. During the inspection, we visited classrooms together and observed teaching across key stage 1.

Pupils were engrossed in their work, often undertaking practical activities such as problem-solving in mathematics. There is an appropriately broad and challenging curriculum in English and mathematics. Pupils are acquiring basic skills and becoming proficient in using their phonic knowledge, for example.

They are given opportunities to extend their thinking with additional challenges. Pupils present their work carefully, take pride in doing their best and meet their teachers' high expectations about what they can achieve. ? The quality of teaching, learning and assessment of subjects other than English and mathematics is not as strong as in English and mathematics.

Leaders are ambitious and want to ensure that the school offers a curriculum that appropriately meets the needs of all pupils. ? Leaders are working hard to strengthen the progress made by disadvantaged pupils currently in the school and a good range of social, emotional and academic support is in place. Intervention groups and additional support provide regular opportunities for pupils to consolidate their skills.

Additional government funding is used effectively to enhance the learning experiences of disadvantaged pupils, including access to educational visits and residential experiences. One pupil described how a visit to the Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club ground, Trent Bridge, had inspired her to write at length about the experience. ? Leaders' plans to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils are not thoroughly evaluated to ensure that pupils make consistently strong progress and attain the standards of which they are capable.

Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? they improve the strategic use of assessment information and the quality of school improvement planning so that all leaders can be held to account for how effectively they improve outcomes for all pupils, including those who are disadvantaged ? plans to improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment of subjects other than English and mathematics are effectively implemented to meet the needs of all pupils ? strategies to improve the development of writing in the early years are consistently embedded and thoroughly monitored to increase the proportion of children reaching a good level of development by the end of the Reception Year. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Southwell, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Nottinghamshire County Council. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

Yours sincerely Phil Garnham Her Majesty's Inspector Information about the inspection During this inspection, I made observations of teaching and learning across the school during learning walks with you. I held meetings with school leaders and members of the governing body. I had discussions with parents at the start of the school day and scrutinised the 59 responses to Ofsted's online questionnaire, Parent View.

I analysed the nine responses to the Ofsted staff survey. I considered a range of information supplied by the school, including the school development plan, school policies and records relating to attendance and safeguarding procedures. I listened to some pupils reading, talked to a group of pupils and scrutinised pupils' books in different subjects and school assessment information from the current academic year.