Whinfield Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Key Findings

¦ This is a good school. Pupils enjoy learning and achieve well. They rapidly gain in self-confidence and from Reception to Year 6 contribute strongly to their successful learning by above-average attendance.

¦ Pupils leave Year 6 with attainment that is above average in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils of higher ability often achieve exceptionally well. Others make good progress overall but their rate of progress is not consistent in all classes.

¦ Teaching is good overall, although a few inconsistencies remain. In the majority of lessons, particularly those related to developing pupils' literacy skills, teachers use their accurate knowledge of how well pupils are doing to ensure that... tasks build well on what pupils already know. When teaching is less effective, links between prior learning and what pupils need to learn next in order to make good progress are not considered carefully enough.

These remaining inconsistencies in the quality of teaching are the main barrier to pupil achievement becoming outstanding overall. ¦ The behaviour and safety of pupils is good. Pupils say that misbehaviour is uncommon and when it does occur it is effectively dealt with by their teachers.

¦ The positive impact of the curriculum on pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is evident in the fascination and resilience they show when tackling new learning, their consideration of others and their enjoyment of new cultural experiences. The curriculum does not fully meet the needs of all pupils in mathematics, and at times there are insufficient opportunities for pupils to use their literacy and numeracy skills in other subjects. ¦ Good quality leadership and management have built an effective staff team.

In the main, monitoring is used well to provide teachers with pertinent guidance for improvement. However, leaders and managers do not always fully take into account the rate of pupil progress over time when observing lessons. As a result, opportunities are sometimes missed to identify precisely why progress is inconsistent in some classes.

Information about the school

The school is larger than most primary schools. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is below average as is the proportion of pupils with special educational needs. There are no disabled pupils currently in the school.

Most pupils are from a White British heritage. The school meets the current government floor standards on attainment and progress. The school has been accredited with Healthy School status and the Sustainable Travel bronze level award.

Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms