Westwood Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Westwood Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

At Westwood Primary School, pupils are encouraged to 'dream, believe and achieve' within a vibrant community. The school fosters a strong sense of belonging among pupils. Teachers know the pupils well and are quick to offer support if needed.

The school is ambitious for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils strive to meet the high expectations set by school leaders. Pupils actively engage in lessons and try their best.

As a result, pupils achieve well across a range of subjects.

Pupils understand and abide by the sch...ool's rules and routines. They behave well and play cooperatively.

The establishment of routines is swift in the early years. This helps to facilitate a smooth transition for the youngest children.

Pupils take great pride in taking on leadership roles.

They can be members of the school parliament, active all-stars and attendance ambassadors. Their involvement significantly contributes to school life. For example, the active all-stars coach younger pupils at after-school sporting activities.

The staff cultivate strong relationships with families, offering meaningful opportunities for parental involvement. For instance, parents and carers can join cooking lessons alongside their children. Families appreciate the school's efforts to engage them in their children's education.

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

The school is dedicated to nurturing a strong culture of reading among pupils. Pupils express their genuine enthusiasm and enjoyment when it comes to reading. Staff actively encourage and promote the habit of frequent reading.

Within the nurturing environment of the Nursery, children begin to learn the knowledge they need to prepare them to learn to read. In the Reception class, they begin to learn phonics straight away. Staff have undergone rigorous training to enable them to deliver the school's phonics programme.

Teachers adeptly identify any pupils who may be falling behind the pace of the programme. The school provides swift and effective support to ensure that pupils catch up quickly. Pupils benefit from reading books that align with the sounds they have learned.

The vast majority of pupils become confident and fluent readers by the end of Year 2.

The school has designed a rich and ambitious curriculum for children in the early years and pupils in key stages 1 and 2. Leaders have carefully thought about the order in which new information should be taught.

Leaders have made sure that staff receive the training they need to deliver the curriculum well. Drawing on their robust subject knowledge, teachers plan activities that help pupils to learn and remember new information. This helps pupils to build a secure knowledge, across a range of subjects, over time.

Children in the early years are well prepared for learning in key stage 1.

Most of the time, teachers use assessment well to identify gaps in pupils' knowledge. They make necessary changes to future lessons to ensure that pupils learn the information they should.

However, on occasion, teachers do not check that pupils have remembered the most important knowledge they should. This sometimes results in pupils not learning the important information that they need to help them to understand future learning.

The school has clear systems and processes in place for identifying pupils with SEND.

Teachers provide pupils with SEND with the help they need to access the same curriculum as their peers. Staff work in strong collaboration with parents to ensure that pupils with SEND achieve well. Leaders engage well with external agencies to provide further support for pupils with SEND when required.

Within the classrooms, low-level disruption is rare. Pupils said that they can concentrate on their learning in lessons. Pupils behave well at lunchtimes and take part in a wide range of organised activities, including badminton, skipping and football.

Pupils are courteous and respectful.

The school offers an extensive array of extra-curricular activities, for example computing, art and creative writing clubs. These provide pupils with opportunities to explore and nurture their individual talents and interests.

Leaders have devised a programme of opportunities, 'Westwood Wishes', that pupils will experience during their time at school. These opportunities significantly contribute to pupils' broader development. There is a strong focus on well-being for all members of the school community.

For example, 'time to talk' sessions allow pupils to have regular opportunities to discuss any concerns that they may have.

Staff feel that their opinions and ideas are valued. They appreciate the considerate approach of leaders, especially concerning the management of their workload.

Governors provide effective support and appropriate challenge.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Occasionally, pupils do not learn all the essential knowledge that they should.

This results in gaps forming in pupils' understanding, which hinders their ability to understand new information. The school should ensure that teachers receive the support they need to use assessment strategies consistently well to identify and address the gaps in pupils' learning.

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 October 2014.