Whitley Village School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love attending their small, friendly village school. They learn and have fun every day.

Pupils feel a strong sense of belonging. They feel that they are part of a caring family where adults know them well and always have their best interests at heart. Older pupils look after younger pupils.

Pupils thrive within this nurturing atmosphere, from when they start school in the early years foundation stage.

The school's vision is to 'produce adults who change the world'. Pupils rise to this expectation by doing their best in all aspects of school life.

They work hard in their lessons and achieve well as a result.

Pupils participate in a wid...e range of extra-curricular activities, such as fencing and Scottish dancing. Pupils are encouraged to take part in competitive sports and other creative events, whether they be skilled or less confident.

The school fosters pupils' aspirations for their futures by inviting visitors to talk about their career pathways.

Pupils' behaviour is exemplary. They always embody the school rules and show high levels of respect towards each other and to adults in school.

They take responsibility for their own behaviour, including during unstructured times such as playtime. The atmosphere in school is calm and positive.

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

The school has designed an exciting, well-ordered curriculum, which considers the local area and rural context.

There is clear ambition for all, including for disadvantaged pupils and those with special needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The curriculum is broad and offers a wealth of rich learning opportunities in many subjects. The school uses a range of effective strategies to check on pupils' learning.

It uses this information to correct misconceptions and gaps in learning swiftly. In a small number of foundation subjects, the learning activities sometimes do not support all pupils to build new knowledge on what they already know.

The school ensures that early identification of pupils with SEND is an absolute priority.

It works with parents and carers before children start in the Reception Year to ensure that there is appropriate provision in place. Teachers are well trained in supporting these pupils and make skilful adaptations to allow them to progress well through the curriculum.

The school has the expectation and determination that all pupils will learn to read.

Staff are well trained and deliver the phonics scheme skilfully. They identify any pupils who are in danger of falling behind and provide immediate support to keep them on track. Pupils read books which contain the sounds that they are learning and become fluent readers by the end of key stage 1.

The school places a real importance on developing a love of reading across the year groups. Older pupils are avid readers and talked about a wide range of books and authors with knowledge and enthusiasm.

The school's approach to managing behaviour ensures that pupils develop high levels of self-regulation and independence.

This is developed from when they start school in the Reception Year. Pupils are highly invested in their learning and uphold the principle that everyone has the right to learn. This helps to ensure that incidences of low-level disruption are extremely rare.

The school expects high levels of attendance and punctuality. It works hard with parents and families to achieve these. This means that the vast majority of pupils benefit from regularly being in school and on time.

The school is very aware that its location in a rural village could limit pupils' experience and understanding of other cultures. The wider curriculum is therefore carefully designed to thread through regular opportunities to strengthen pupils' knowledge and appreciation of other cultures and beliefs. Pupils know that they have rights and that these come with the responsibility to treat others as they would like to be treated.

They have an age-appropriate understanding of healthy relationships. The school ensures that pupils know how to keep themselves physically and mentally healthy, for example by agreeing a healthy snack policy with pupils. Pupil road safety officers lead assemblies for the school.

Professional development for staff is a high priority. The school continuously makes effective use of current educational research. The school engages exceptionally well with parents and involves them fully as partners in their children's education.

Staff feel that leaders have their well-being at the forefront of any decisions, for example when making changes to the curriculum. They are very proud to work at the school.

Trustees and the local governing body know the school very well.

The trust maintains a strong oversight while allowing the school autonomy to develop and deliver its curriculum. Governors have an accurate understanding of the school's strengths and areas for development and are involved in setting the strategic direction of the school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a minority of subjects, some staff do not select activities that support pupils to learn the intended curriculum sufficiently well. On occasion, this hinders how well pupils build on what they already know to make sense of new learning. The school should ensure that staff are equipped to design activities which support pupils to acquire new learning and deepen existing knowledge so that pupils know and remember more across the curriculum.