Wawne Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are very proud of their school. They especially enjoy the way the school feels like a big, happy family. Staff care for pupils and know each individual pupil very well.

One parent, echoing the view of others, commented that the staff 'really care about all the pupils, their development as individual people, as well as their education'.

Leaders have been successful in their efforts to improve pupils' behaviour more recently. Pupils told inspectors that the behaviour in the school is positive.

They enjoy studying a broad range of subjects and learning new knowledge. However, some pupils would like the chance to delve more deeply into the topics they stud...y.

Staff have high expectations of how well pupils behave.

As a result, pupils treat each other and staff in a courteous manner. Bullying is exceptionally rare. Pupils are generally very kind to each other.

They are aware of the hurt that can be caused by unkind words. Pupils feel safe in school.

Pupils are enthusiastic about the additional opportunities provided for them.

They enjoy honing their talents in the range of sports, art and drama clubs offered.

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

Leaders and teachers have worked successfully together to develop the curriculum. The curriculum is ambitious in the most part.

It supports pupils to acquire new knowledge and skills across a broad range of academic and practical subjects. However, assessment could be improved. The different approaches to assessing what pupils know do not allow teachers to see how well pupils deepen their knowledge over time and whether they can apply that knowledge to different situations.

The curriculum in English, science and mathematics is strong. For example, the curriculum in mathematics enables children in the early years to gain a secure understanding of the numbers one to 10. As pupils get older, they develop high levels of fluency in calculations.

This means that they can solve the challenging mathematical problems that teachers give them. Leaders have also improved aspects of the English curriculum, especially reading in key stage 2. However, not enough focus is placed on developing pupils' knowledge of spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPaG).

This means that pupils' writing is not always spelt and punctuated accurately. Sometimes, pupils' lack of grammatical knowledge means that they cannot express their ideas clearly enough in writing.

Leaders and teachers have developed the wider curriculum effectively.

Some subjects are further developed than others, such as art. The art curriculum enables pupils to learn and apply different techniques for shading. In some curriculum subjects, pupils do not have strong enough knowledge of subject-specific ideas.

For instance, from their study of the Second World War in history, pupils know about D- Day and VE Day. However, they do not understand the historical concepts that connect events, such as the idea of liberating countries from a foreign power. Plans for teaching subject-specific concepts in the wider curriculum were delayed by COVID-19.

Leaders and teachers are currently improving this aspect of the curriculum.

The programme for teaching phonics is effective. It is overseen very well by leaders.

Leaders make sure that children in Nursery are familiar with basic letters and the sounds they represent. This helps children get off to a flying start in their phonics learning in Reception. Leaders closely check children's and pupils' progress.

Pupils who have any misconceptions or who struggle to match letters to sounds, receive extra help. Leaders provide precise feedback to staff, having observed them teach phonics sessions. This assists staff in refining their delivery.

Staff support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) extremely well. They identify pupils' specific needs carefully and adjust teaching methods so that they support individual pupils well. Teachers and teaching assistants make sure that pupils with SEND have the additional help they need to keep up.

Across all areas of school life, there is an emphasis on treating everyone equally. For example, pupils with SEND frequently share their own experiences in whole-school assemblies. Through the strong personal, social and health education (PSHE) programme, pupils learn how to be inclusive.

This means that pupils respect each other as individuals. Unkindness and poor behaviour of any kind are extremely rare. Through the curriculum and additional 'themed days', pupils explore the spiritual, moral, social and cultural dimensions of their learning.

Pupils also benefit from opportunities to debate with their classmates on a range of issues.

Governors have undergone a lot of training since the previous inspection. They keep a close eye on how the curriculum is being developed.

They are aware that some aspects need further refinement. Governors challenge leaders to make improvements in a timely manner.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The designated safeguarding lead (DSL) carefully reviews all safeguarding concerns that staff share. Pupils get the support they need. This includes sessions with a member of staff who assists pupils in managing their own emotions.

The DSL has developed strong links with parents over time and works closely with them to ensure pupils' safety. All referrals to the local authority's welfare services are tightly monitored by school safeguarding leaders.

The content of the PSHE curriculum focuses on many aspects of safeguarding, such as peer-on-peer abuse.

Pupils can talk confidently about what peer-on-peer abuse is and why it is wrong.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school's curriculum is not yet sufficiently well planned in some subjects. However, it is clear from leaders' actions that they are in the process of bringing this about.

For instance, leaders are currently developing curriculum content in several subjects so that there is a greater emphasis on subject-specific concepts. Leaders need to complete this process in their identified timescale. They should monitor how well plans are implemented to ensure that they are having the intended impact.

For this reason, the transitional arrangements have been applied. ? Pupils' writing is not as strong as it should be. This is because the curriculum in English does not enable pupils to gain a secure knowledge of SPaG.

The English curriculum needs further development so that it emphasises SPaG. Teachers and leaders should ensure that pupils acquire the SPaG knowledge that they need in order to express their ideas clearly. ? Current summative assessment approaches do not enable teachers to gain a detailed picture of how well pupils have built up layers of knowledge over time.

They also do not establish whether pupils can apply their knowledge in subject-specific contexts. Leaders and teachers need to ensure that their development of the wider curriculum goes hand in hand with developing meaningful summative assessment. These need to enable teachers to gain a more detailed picture of the depth and breadth of pupils' subject knowledge.