Wainstalls School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.

The majority of pupils achieve well. They reach the levels expected of them for their age, including in reading. This prepares them well for the next stage of their learning.

The headteacher is an inspiring, well-respected leader who has a clear vision for this thriving village school. She has worked effectively with the Whitehill Community Multi-Academy Trust to improve teaching and learning. Teaching has improved over time because there is a strong sense of teamwork.

Teachers share ideas and have high expectations for their pupils. They work enthusiastically to make sure that children make good progress. The school is well sup...ported by school governors and the Executive Principal of the Trust.

They know the school well because they work closely together. Governors challenge and support the school effectively. The deputy headteacher with support from the Trust has successfully improved the quality of information they have about pupils' achievement.

Senior leaders understand the importance of tracking pupils' achievement closely so that they can act swiftly to address any emerging weaknesses. The curriculum is interesting and pupils enjoy their learning. The spiritual, moral, social and cultural aspects are well taught.

Pupils understand about their local environment and the wider world. This helps the majority of pupils to show respect and tolerance towards each other. Pupils are delightful and have built good relationships with their teachers and other adults in school.

The majority of pupils behave well and enjoy coming to school. They are kept safe. The early years is well led and managed.

Children's progress is closely tracked. As a result, teaching and learning is good. It is not yet an outstanding school because : Teachers do not always provide enough time for pupils to respond to feedback about their work so that pupils can correct their work and learn from their mistakes.

Pupil information is not used consistently to help teachers and support staff fine-tune learning activities to help more pupils reach the higher levels. Not all teachers use engaging and interesting activities to encourage pupils to develop their writing skills for different purposes across the curriculum. The early years outdoor and indoor environment requires further development to support children to make even more progress in all the areas of learning.

Information about this school

Wainstalls School converted to become an academy school in September 2013 and is part of the Whitehill Community Multi-Academy Trust. It has kept its community identity. It works with the other school in the Trust and, more recently, the North Halifax Cluster of schools.

When the predecessor school of the same name was last inspected by Ofsted it was judged to be satisfactory overall. The Trust has provided additional support to secure improvements in leadership and management and to improve the quality of teaching, learning, behaviour and safety. This is a much smaller than average-sized primary school.

The early years comprises of one full-time Reception class. There is one mixed Year 1 and 2 class, a mixed Year 2 and 3 class, a mixed Year 4 and 5 class and a mixed Year 5 and 6 class. Funding has been used to split classes into single year groups for literacy and numeracy.

Most pupils are White British. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported through the pupil premium is well below the national average. (The pupil premium is additional government funding which supports pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals or those who are looked after by the local authority.

) The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is below average. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6. The school provides a daily breakfast and after-school club.