Westfield Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are positive about the changes leaders are making at this school. They are enjoying getting to know new staff. Children in early years make a successful start to school life.

Pupils are keen to talk about their favourite lessons and the books they have read. They know that adults want to help them succeed. However, pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), do need more specific help to achieve fully what they are capable of.

Pupils like the fact that playtimes are now organised into play zones and quiet areas. They know that this has helped to improve behaviour. However, pupils are concerned that some pupils can still b...e unkind.

Pupils know that adults do address this, yet there remain instances where unwelcome behaviours continue.

Pupils benefit from a range of opportunities to broaden their horizons, such as residential trips and visits linked to the curriculum. Pupils enjoy singing together.

Pupils are excited to sing at a national arena and a cathedral. Older pupils learn to play an instrument. Pupils can become kindness ambassadors or librarians or be elected to the school council.

There is a variety of clubs, such as choir, football, rock band and art. Year groups take it in turns to participate in sports events and forest school sessions.

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

The school has been through a turbulent period.

New leaders have swiftly and accurately identified key areas for school improvement. They have successfully started to address these priorities. Staff feel well supported in their roles.

Governors know the school well. They make regular checks on safeguarding and fulfil their statutory duties. Governors access external quality assurance in order to strengthen their oversight of the school.

The school has revised the curriculums for reading, writing and mathematics. Staff are now clear about the key knowledge that pupils need to learn and when. These curriculums are suitably ambitious.

Subject leaders are knowledgeable. They have provided effective support to staff on how to deliver curriculum content. There are early signs of improvement in how pupils are achieving in these subjects.

Leaders have rightly prioritised reading. Staff are now more confident in teaching phonics. This means that younger pupils are getting better at securely recalling the sounds that letters represent and reading words.

Children in early years are immersed in stories to develop their vocabulary. Pupils practise the sounds they know. Pupils of all ages read often.

However, for some pupils who find reading tricky, gaps in their knowledge are still not being addressed quickly enough.

Pupils are taught all curriculum subjects. However, there are currently some foundation subjects that do not lay out clearly enough the detailed knowledge to be taught or what prior learning pupils need to have.

Leaders are addressing this.The school has improved the systems to identify the needs of pupils with SEND. There are currently more pupils with needs recognised than was previously the case.

Staff regularly review how these pupils are achieving their targets. The school seeks out and secures additional funding and resources for these pupils. They learn in class with extra adult support.

However, the work set for pupils with SEND is not adapted precisely enough to match their needs. Therefore, some pupils with SEND are not achieving as well as they could.

Staff address misconceptions in lessons.

However, there are insufficient systematic checks on what knowledge pupils have secured. This means that gaps in learning are not picked up or filled quickly enough. Sometimes, the work set for pupils does not build on what pupils can do already.

This limits how well pupils achieve across the curriculum.

In early years, the curriculum is well designed, and children's knowledge builds clearly over time. Adults use considered questions and engaging activities to extend children's language skills successfully.

They skilfully spot and fill learning gaps. Children learn to share and take turns. They are well prepared for Year 1.

The school has recently strengthened provision to support pupils with more challenging behaviours. Consequently, incidents of poor behaviour are reducing. However, some pupils are still not following the school rules.

Staff take swift and appropriate action when they are aware of pupils' concerns. However, some pupils do not always report their worries to staff. There are still instances of low-level disruption in some classes.

A new behaviour policy has just been finalised, which aims to tackle this.

Pupils are taught about healthy relationships and healthy lifestyles. They understand about respecting different faiths and beliefs and key British values, such as democracy.

They know how to stay safe when online. Staff diligently follow up any patterns of absence and put personalised help in place for pupils who need it. Overall, most pupils attend school regularly.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Checks on what pupils have learned and can recall are not robust enough. Staff are not precisely aware of the exact gaps that pupils have in order to best tailor support or set work that is well matched to pupils' ability.

This means that some pupils have gaps in learning that remain or complete work that they are already capable of doing. The school needs to ensure that there are rigorous checks in place to ensure that new learning is built on secure foundations, and work is well matched to extend knowledge for all pupils. ? Pupils with SEND do not have activities precisely adapted for their needs.

This limits how successfully they can achieve confidently and independently. Staff need to set work that is well adapted and have high expectations for pupils with SEND. The school needs to provide additional support to staff so that they know how best to do this.

• There remain incidents of unwelcome behaviours and low-level disruption. This means that pupils cannot fully concentrate on learning or feel unsettled. The school needs to ensure that staff understand how to apply the new behaviour policy and strategies consistently so that pupils behave consistently well.

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