Westwood-with-Iford Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The arrangements for keeping children safe are not good enough.

Leaders, including governors, do not check that agreed safeguarding procedures are followed. Weak communication between leaders, and delays in reporting concerns, could put children at risk of harm.

There are some deep issues that need to be rectified in the school.

Leaders do not have an accurate picture of the weaknesses that exist. As a result, they are not prioritising the right things. Expectations are not high enough.

Pupils could learn and achieve much more. In particular, the school is not making sure that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) have the ...right support.

The school has experienced a reduction in the number of pupils on roll.

However, leaders have failed to reorganise the curriculum to ensure that pupils learn well enough.

Parents and carers talk of generations coming through the school. Many say how happy their children are to come to school and how caring staff are.

Pupils are kind to each other and help one another out. They say that there is rarely any bullying, and they can rely on staff to support them if this happens.

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

Leaders have not identified the key concepts and most important knowledge that they want pupils to learn by the time they leave school.

The school's curriculum is designed to teach the requirements of the national curriculum. However, key learning points are not revisited methodically. Therefore, pupils are not helped to understand and remember the most important content.

This does not prepare them well for their next steps.

Staff choose high-quality books to read to pupils. However, time is not allocated to ensure that pupils who need to read more, including those in early years, do so.

As a result, some pupils who have fallen behind are not making the progress they should. They are not reading often enough to help them become fluent readers.

Expectations are not high enough.

Staff are not using assessment well to make sure that learning matches pupils' needs. As a result, some activities do not help pupils to learn more or remember more. Pupils can become restless when this happens and their attitudes towards learning weaken.

Leaders do not check the quality of learning with enough precision. Therefore, they do not know exactly what needs to be improved. In addition, professional development for staff is weak.

Staff do not have the up-to-date guidance they need to deliver an ambitious curriculum. For example, staff have not had the phonics training and guidance they should.

Pupils make links to visits around the community to develop their appreciation of where they live and what they could aspire to in the future.

They have access to a wide range of clubs. Pupils benefit from these varied and interesting experiences. To support preparation for adulthood, the personal, social and health education (PSHE) curriculum covers appropriate areas such as keeping safe and rights and responsibilities.

However, pupils do not remember the important learning points well enough. Too little is done to adapt the curriculum to make sure that pupils remember important learning.

The systems to support pupils with SEND are not effective.

Pupils' additional learning or social needs are sometimes not identified. When this happens, the right strategies are not put in place to support them. Pupils' behaviour in school can deteriorate as a result.

Individual plans for pupils with SEND are poorly organised and not effective. They are not evaluated often enough to keep them relevant and useful.

The governing body is going through a period of change and development.

The new chair of governors acknowledges the work that needs to be done and is determined to make the improvements needed. The governing body has been working closely with local authority officers to understand the school's weaknesses. However, governors' oversight is not rigorous.

As yet, governors do not have a thorough and robust approach to ensure that the quality of education that pupils receive improves rapidly.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.

Leaders have a weak understanding of their safeguarding roles and responsibilities.

The designated safeguarding lead (DSL) does not respond to safeguarding concerns using the latest statutory guidance. Consequently, leaders do not ensure that pupils get the support and help they need when they need it.

Record-keeping is haphazard.

When incidents occur, leaders do not learn from them so that safeguarding processes improve. Recruitment records are not checked regularly. Governors have not held leaders to account for keeping children safe.

As a result, the weaknesses in safeguarding arrangements are not identified or acted on.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Leaders are not sufficiently aware of their safeguarding responsibilities. Governors have not provided strong oversight of the arrangements for safeguarding.

Consequently, there is a weak culture of safeguarding. School leaders, governors and the local authority must work with urgency to improve the systems, procedures, roles and responsibilities so that pupils are safe. The provision for pupils with SEND is weak.

Some pupils are not identified as having additional needs when they should be. Individual plans do not support the strategies and adaptations needed to secure success for pupils with SEND. School leaders, governors and the local authority must work with urgency to improve the quality of provision for these pupils.

• Pupils who need to catch up with reading are not given enough time to read in school. This means that they do not build their fluency to read well and catch up with their peers. Leaders must ensure that there is a clear expectation that pupils who need extra help with reading have the time allocated for this.

• The professional development programme for staff is not well-tailored to ensure that staff have the training they need. As a result, expectations are not high enough across the school. Assessment practice is weak as it does not result in adaptations to the curriculum so that pupils achieve as well as they can.

• Curriculum plans do not ensure that key learning and concepts are identified and revisited throughout the school. Therefore, learning does not stick. Pupils do not make links across subjects to build a deep understanding of key concepts.

Leaders need to identify the important knowledge that pupils will learn and ensure that pupils acquire this. ? Leaders, including governors, do not have an accurate picture of the school's strengths and weaknesses. School leaders do not evaluate the quality of education and pupils' learning.

Furthermore, governors have not held leaders to account. They have not been curious enough. Leaders and governors must develop stronger systems to ensure that they have an accurate view of the school's effectiveness to enable rapid change.