Whitley Village School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school. Outstanding leadership and management have significantly raised pupils' achievement by ensuring better teaching since the previous inspection, despite substantial disruption to staffing.

Achievement and teaching continue to improve through the clear leadership provided by all the teaching staff and the very effective governing body. Progress has been particularly strong in writing over the last year because staff have focused on this aspect of pupils' learning. Extensive work with the partner school in the federation has greatly supported the many improvements in the last two years.

Staff keep a very close eye on the progress of each ind...ividual pupil, and intervene swiftly with extra help if any starts to fall behind. Pupils' behaviour has also improved and is exemplary. Pupils of different ages get on extremely well together.

They greatly enjoy learning as well as the social aspects of school. They work together exceptionally well in class. Pupils feel safe and secure in school and enjoy all aspects of school life.

Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is excellent. It is not yet an outstanding school because : There is not enough outstanding teaching to make achievement outstanding. Although teachers routinely prepare different work for pupils of different abilities, sometimes this is not done accurately enough and a few pupils have tasks that are too hard or too easy.

Occasionally, more-able pupils work their way through the same tasks as the rest of the class before tackling work that is more challenging. Progress in mathematics, although good, is not as consistently strong as in English; pupils have too few opportunities to solve problems in mathematics lessons. Pupils' written work is marked regularly, but teachers' comments do not always explain just how well pupils have done, or tell them clearly how to improve in the future.

Information about this school

This is a very small primary school in a rural location. Most pupils come from the wider surrounding area, including from several nearby villages. The vast majority of pupils are White British and none speaks English as an additional language.

The proportion of pupils who are supported at school action is a little below average. The proportion who are supported at school action plus or who have statements of special educational needs is slightly above average. The proportion of pupils entitled to support from the pupil premium, which is extra funding provided for pupils who are looked after by the local authority or who are known to be eligible for free school meals, is very small.

The school's most recent results cannot be compared with the current government floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress, because : there were not enough pupils to make such a comparison meaningful. Just before the last inspection, the school had entered into a federation with a much larger, urban school, some distance away. The two schools share a headteacher, who works in Whitley for one day a week, but have separate governing bodies.

The deputy headteacher serves as acting headteacher on days when the headteacher is at the partner school. In September, the two schools plan to become a 'hard' federation with a single governing body. There have been considerable changes to staffing since the previous inspection.