Wakefield Pinders Primary (JIN) School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Wakefield Pinders Primary (JIN) School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at this school live and breathe the school's 'Pinders' values.

The values are woven through everything they do. Pupils describe how they shape the expectations for everyone in the school community. For example, the 'e' in `Pinder' stands for equal.

Pupils have a secure understanding of equality and know that, while they may look different, everyone is treated the same.The school has high expectations for pupils. The school community is diverse, with many different languages, cultures and ethnicities represented.

Pupils who speak English as an additio...nal language (EAL) receive effective support to access the school's curriculum.Pupils know and understand the school's behaviour policy. Consequences for not following the school rules of 'be safe, be respectful and be ready to learn' are consistently applied by staff.

Pupils are proud of the school's outdoor space. They believe it is one of the best things about the school. At playtime, they have access to a stage, a gym, an adventure trail, a den and a variety of sports equipment.

The school council was instrumental in changing the playtime activities to have football-free days.The school provides many leadership opportunities for pupils, such as acting as a playground buddy, an art monitor, or an animal carer (for the guinea pigs, Blueberry and Muffin). Pupils enjoy the responsibility associated with these roles.

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

The school's wider curriculum starts in the early years and lays the right foundations for pupils' educational journey. The curriculum focuses on enhancing and enriching pupils' vocabulary. This helps to meet the needs of the community, as many pupils speak EAL.

The wider curriculum makes links, where appropriate, between subjects. For example, the geography unit on rocks and soils links well with the history unit on the stone age.The school has recently started to refine the knowledge and skills it wants pupils to retain over time, recognising that too much has been planned.

As a result, pupils are not remembering the most important knowledge in some units of work. For example, in art, pupils study the local artist Barbara Hepworth, but they struggle to identify the essential facts relating to her life. Further refinement will help to ensure that pupils are remembering the most important knowledge to use in future learning.

In the early years, children focus well and concentrate in self-chosen play activities. Children can independently select resources, indoors and outdoors. Adults interact positively with children and model good language and communication skills.

The school introduced a new phonics programme last year. Leaders are embedding this programme as new colleagues join the school. The school has non-negotiables, such as ensuring that pupils complete reading practice three times a week.

Teachers check the phonic knowledge pupils remember and use this information to identify the pupils who need extra daily phonic teaching. Pupils use the sounds they know to sound out unfamiliar words. The phonic outcomes achieved by Year 1 pupils in 2022 did not benefit from the improvements the school has made to its phonic teaching.

Mathematics starts in the early years with number rhymes and songs. In key stages 1 and 2, pupils experience the same lesson structure to ensure that they do not overload their working memory. If their knowledge of mathematics is weak, pupils benefit from the school's extra support in mathematics lessons.

The school encourages pupils to be independent, speedy and accurate in recalling multiplication tables and number facts. However, this skill was not reflected in the multiplication test check in Year 4 or key stage 2 outcomes in Year 6. Pupils struggle to fluently use these facts when solving mathematical problems.

The school recognises the need to improve the attendance of some pupils. The school has implemented strategies to reduce absence, such as promoting 'Here every day ready on time' (HERO) with pupils and working closely with the local authority educational welfare officer. As a result, the percentage of pupils who are persistently absent is reducing.

The school supports pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities well to access the curriculum. Pupils with sensory needs can use the garden or sensory room, a low-stimulus environment to enable pupils to work with less distraction. The school uses 'The Nest' and 'The Burrow' as dedicated spaces for some pupils who find self-regulation challenging.

The school ensures that pupils have experiences that extend beyond the curriculum, such as residential visits to build confidence and litter picking in the community. The school is passionate that pupils visit the theatre in every key stage. Pupils have opportunities to join a variety of extra-curricular activities, including football, dance, gardening and music.

This enables pupils to develop their talents and interests.Governors hold the school to account. They ensure that leaders at all levels can explain their actions.

Governors ensure that the school follows the processes and procedures outlined in the school policies.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school's wider curriculum identifies too much key knowledge for pupils to retain at the end of some units of work.

This means that pupils are not remembering what is important. The school recognises the need to refine this to ensure that pupils are securing the essential knowledge to build on over time. ? Pupils do not have the skills to recall multiplication and number facts with speed.

This means they struggle to answer more complex mathematical problems accurately. The school should ensure that pupils have opportunities to build an automatic recall of multiplication tables and number facts to help them fluently tackle mathematical activities.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in February 2014.