Whirley Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Main findings

Whirley is a good school. It is an inclusive school where relationships are extremely strong.

Excellent partnerships with parents and carers together with outstanding care, guidance and support, ensure that adults know pupils exceptionally well. Consequently, pupils feel safe and are confident there is always an adult they can turn to for help if they should need it. Pupils behave well, enjoy learning and have an excellent understanding of healthy lifestyles.

All pupils take on responsibility willingly. They make an outstanding contribution to the school, and the immediate and wider community. Partnership arrangements are excellent.

The formal collaboration with local schools helps t...o raise pupils' aspirations and the quality of their learning. Links and support from external agencies have a marked impact on those pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, including those who have more complex needs. This results in notable improvements in their confidence and self-esteem.

Overall, pupils' progress is good. The rich curriculum adds depth and interest to pupils' learning. The outstanding range of activities beyond lessons is greatly enjoyed by pupils; the vast majority attends at least one activity each week.

Teaching is good. A number of outstanding lessons were observed during the inspection. By the end of Year 6, attainment in English and mathematics is above average overall.

Although attainment in mathematics is rising, pupils' progress in the subject is not as fast as in English. In Key Stage 2, pupils do not have enough opportunities to extend their mathematical skills in other subjects, and tasks are not always sufficiently challenging, especially for the more able. Leaders and managers are effective.

Amongst all staff there is a shared vision for the future. A cycle to monitor and evaluate the quality of education systematically and pupils' performance is well-established. It provides an accurate evaluation of the school's work.

As a result, the correct priorities for improvement are identified and carefully pursued. Systems to track the progress made by pupils have been refined and are now robust. These revised arrangements enable the school to focus more precisely on, and tackle, any potential underachievement.

The governing body is supportive and discharges its statutory responsibilities well, but is at an early stage of holding the school to account. Areas for improvement identified at the time of the previous inspection have mostly been successfully tackled. As a result, the school demonstrates a good capacity for sustained improvement.

Information about the school

This primary school is smaller than average. Almost all pupils are of White British heritage. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is much lower than average.

A below-average proportion of pupils has special educational needs and/or disabilities. The proportion which has a statement of special educational needs is well above average. The school is part of a formal collaborative arrangement with six local primary schools and a secondary school.

These schools do not share the same governing body or headteacher. The formal collaboration is overseen by a joint committee. The school holds Healthy Schools status and has achieved Activemark, Artsmark Silver Award and International Schools awards.