Westglade Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Westglade Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 14 May 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 January 2016.

This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Your highly effective leadership has been crucial in ensuring that Westglade continues to serve its community so successfully.

It is a friendly school where pupils make good progress. High levels of disadvantage in the local community provid...e particular challenges for you and your staff, but your ambition for your pupils is unwavering. Your expectation is that pupils will reach standards in reading, writing and mathematics at least as high as other pupils do nationally.

As a result of consistently strong teaching, your pupils meet this target. They leave Westglade with the skills and self-belief essential if they are to succeed at their secondary schools. Staff morale is high.

They are proud to work at the school and value the consideration you give to both their professional development and their well-being. Working with them you have created an attractive and stimulating school environment where learning across the whole curriculum is celebrated. All of the parents who I spoke with at the start of the day praised your school.

Their views were reinforced in Ofsted's online parent questionnaire. One parent wrote: 'All staff are friendly, professional and approachable. I am always greeted with smiles and well wishes.

Children are praised for their achievements and encouraged to strive for their goals. I would absolutely recommend Westglade to others.' Among the many areas of improvement since the previous inspection, some stand out: ? the leaders of English, mathematics, early years and special educational needs drive school improvement more strongly than in the past ? all subject areas now have identified leaders who are developing carefully sequenced programmes of study in their subject ? systems for checking the quality of teaching and learning have been improved and their findings are promptly acted upon to bring about better outcomes for pupils ? the quality and extent of pastoral support for pupils and their families have increased and are highly valued by the community ? pupils benefit from a wider range of educational visits and experiences that enrich the curriculum.

Pupils enjoy school and talk with great enthusiasm about their learning. Their behaviour has improved since the previous inspection. They have positive attitudes to their work, and this contributes to the strong progress that they make.

They get on extremely well with one another and the adults who teach them. They readily accept that some of their peers require careful support, and sensible adjustments to the curriculum, so that they too can thrive at Westglade. There is an above-average proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in the school.

Your improved strategies for checking on pupils' progress clearly identifies the barriers to learning that put individual pupils at risk of underachieving. Class teachers have responsibility for removing these barriers. Working with the leader for SEND, they adapt their teaching as necessary and put in place targeted support.

The impact of any additional support is evaluated carefully to ensure that it is effectively addressing pupils' needs. Throughout the school, pupils with SEND make good progress, with many attaining in line with, or above, their peers in reading, writing and mathematics. The previous inspection asked you to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils.

Through the very effective use of the pupil premium you have ensured that this group of pupils make good progress and now reach standards that are close the national average. Safeguarding is effective. The arrangements for safeguarding pupils are fit for purpose.

You work effectively with the two other designated safeguarding leaders to ensure that the school has robust safeguarding arrangements in place. All staff have appropriate and up-to-date training so that they can spot and deal with any concerns quickly. You are proactive, liaising with external agencies, and challenging them where necessary, to ensure that vulnerable pupils receive timely and appropriate support.

Pupils say they feel safe in school. They know the school staff will do all that they can to ensure their well-being. Staff provide strong support for pupils with emotional and behavioural needs.

Inspection findings ? The previous inspection asked leaders to increase the proportion of pupils who attain the higher standard in reading at the end of Year 6. This led to a review and revision of the approach to teaching reading. There is a greater focus now, right from Year 1, on developing skills such as inference, explaining and predicting.

As a result, pupils are now reading with greater insight and understanding. In 2018, one third of pupils attained the higher standard in reading at the end of Year 6. However, you are keen to continue improving reading outcomes.

Extending pupils' vocabulary and increasing the time pupils spend reading at home are the next steps towards meeting this goal. ? The proportions of pupils meeting the expected standards in writing, at key stages 1 and 2, have increased since the previous inspection. In 2018, the proportions were above the national averages.

Factors contributing to this improvement include: – highly effective training, including coaching from the subject leader, to increase teachers' expertise when teaching writing – teachers skilfully modelling writing and explaining the choices they make when writing for a range of purposes – teachers giving helpful feedback to pupils on the effectiveness of their writing – additional teaching for pupils who require support when they are editing their writing – older pupils building up lengthy pieces of writing over two or three weeks, regularly revising and editing their work. ? In each of the last three years, pupils have made above-average progress in mathematics. Strong subject leadership and effective quality assurance procedures ensure that teaching is consistently good across the school.

Pupils have good knowledge of number bonds and the multiplication tables. Teachers ensure that pupils of all abilities regularly apply their reasoning skills to solve suitably challenging problems. Nevertheless, as pupils move through the school, a minority struggle to retain their understanding of key mathematical concepts such as place value.

Ensuring that all pupils have a strong grasp of the mathematical concepts expected for their age is a next step for the school. ? Boys start in the Nursery with skills well below those typical of children their age. Despite making good progress, by the end of Reception they are less well prepared for Year 1 than girls.

The early years leader has prioritised improving outcomes for boys. Activities throughout the day are planned carefully to improve their skills across all learning areas. For example, the 'Rainbow Challenge' effectively ensures that boys happily work on activities that develop their reading, writing and number skills.

• All staff in the early years, are skilled at working alongside children to improve their speaking skills, widen their vocabulary and teach them how to listen carefully to others. Staff use the outdoor area very effectively to help boys make good progress in developing their physical skills and their personal, social and emotional skills. The records kept of the progress boys are making this year show strong gains towards meeting all of the early learning goals.

Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? pupils gain a wider vocabulary and read more regularly to improve their reading skills ? pupils gain a firm understanding of the mathematical concepts expected for their age. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Nottingham. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

Yours sincerely Anthony O'Malley Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During this inspection, I met with the headteacher and deputy headteacher. I also held meetings with the subject leaders for English and mathematics. I met with the chair of the governing body and had a telephone conversation with the school improvement adviser.

I spoke with a group of pupils and with others I met in classes and around the school. I spoke with parents as they brought their children to school in the morning. Together with the headteacher and deputy headteacher, I paid a visit to each class to see the learning taking place.

I looked at work in pupils' books and heard pupils read. I read a range of documents, including information about the progress pupils make, pupil premium spending and the school development plan. I also read documents relating to safeguarding.

I considered the 10 responses to the online survey, Parent View, including the seven free-text comments. I also considered the 11 responses to the staff survey. There were no responses to the online pupil survey.