Weyford Nursery and Primary Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and safe at this inclusive school. They know the school's values and they want to achieve them. These include respect, kindness and teamwork.

Everyone wants to live up to the school's motto of 'working together for excellence'. Pupils appreciate all the exciting opportunities the school gives them. This includes a vast range of clubs, trips and musical opportunities.

The school has increasingly high expectations for pupils. It has recently revised its curriculum. It is clear what teachers are to teach and in what order.

The new curriculum is ambitious but is being implemented gradually. This means pupils do not yet achieve as well as they sho...uld. Children make a good start to their time at the school in the early years foundation stage.

While many pupils engage well in lessons and want to achieve their very best, some pupils do not behave as well as they should. Staff have started to make some considerable changes to behaviour management processes. These include working closer with pupils and their families to encourage better behaviour.

This is helping to improve the atmosphere in the school.

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

The school aims to provide a good education for all its pupils. The curriculum is well sequenced.

It details the key knowledge, skills and vocabulary pupils should learn. However, the work on this is very recent. Teachers are still developing the best way to teach each subject, such as science, history and physical education (PE).

Some teachers need more support to ensure that all pupils achieve as well as they should. The school does not always monitor the impact the provision has on pupils' learning effectively enough.

The quality of the new curriculum is not yet reflected consistently enough in what pupils learn in each subject.

Pupils have not learned what they need in order to achieve well overall. For example, key knowledge and vocabulary in reading and in history are not remembered well by pupils. In contrast, teachers make the right adaptations for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in English and mathematics.

While the school prioritises reading, the programme to teach early reading is not delivered consistently well. Some teachers do not check that pupils are engaging and learning the key points in lessons. All pupils, including those in key stage 2, have books they can read.

When pupils need more reading support in the younger years, they get the help they require. However, support for some older pupils who struggle to read is not provided quickly enough.

Children in the early years make a good start to school life.

They achieve well and settle into the routines swiftly. Parents recognise this and appreciate the school's help when their child starts at the school. Staff check how well each child is learning by making careful observations throughout each day.

They use this information to take children's learning on to the next step. Staff consider the needs of each child in the early years and care for them as individuals.

Some pupils' behaviour can disrupt the learning of others.

At times, this has made other pupils feel uncomfortable. Recent changes in the school's approach to behaviour management have enabled more support for those pupils who need it. Staff have had additional training, work with outside agencies and are developing the wider pastoral support available to pupils and families.

A more consistent approach to improve pupils' behaviour is, therefore, developing and is starting to have an impact.

The school has increased the variety of clubs pupils can take part in to learn new skills beyond the classroom. Pupils and parents appreciate this.

However, some pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, are yet to make the best use of these opportunities. Pupils treat each other equally, irrespective of beliefs or background. Pupils think about others in the community, for example by collecting for food banks at harvest time.

The trust has a good strategic oversight of the school's work and its challenges. It has clear and specific plans in place to improve achievement and behaviour. Parents recognise the positive developments at the school.

As one parent said, 'I feel that the staff are very caring and want to enable the children to succeed and behave well. I have seen an improvement in curriculum subjects that my child is being taught.'

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The impact of the school's new policies and procedures is not always monitored effectively enough. As a result, the impact they have is not as strong as it should be. Leaders should ensure that actions taken to improve the quality of education and behaviour are robustly monitored and evaluated.

• The curriculum is not delivered well enough, including in reading. As a result, pupils are not acquiring all of the knowledge that they need to achieve consistently well. Leaders should ensure that teachers implement the curriculum effectively so that pupils achieve good outcomes across the curriculum.

• Some pupils disrupt the otherwise calm and orderly environment. This can lead to pupils' learning being disrupted. Leaders need to continue to provide high-quality training and support for staff so that behaviour management systems are consistently applied.

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