Willersey Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Willersey Church of England Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Being part of this small school is like being part of a large family. Pupils and staff get along harmoniously. They look out for one another's well-being and work together to make school life enjoyable and productive.

This means that staff work hard to ensure that pupils feel safe and happy and achieve teachers' high expectations. In return, pupils try their best and learn well.

Pupils embody the school's values: courage, compassion, friendship, truth, respect and creativity.

Consequently, they do not worry about being treated unkindly or being bullied.... Fallings-out do sometimes happen, but staff help pupils to resolve issues. Pupils feel very well supported.

The size of the school makes it difficult for staff to provide many extracurricular activities. They more than compensate for this by providing a wide range of enriching experiences during the school day. Many are woven into lessons and lunchtimes, including singing, dancing, creative activities and sporting competitions.

Pupils learn to behave well. Older pupils, in particular, take a great deal of responsibility for doing the right things at the right time. Younger pupils are learning to do this, although they do still get a little over-enthusiastic and boisterous at times.

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

Leaders are systematically improving the existing curriculum. This is, rightly, still a work in progress. Leaders are taking time to build and embed high quality.

They are going about this in an effective way. As they go through the process, leaders seek advice and expertise. This helps them to identify the detailed building blocks of knowledge that pupils need in order to understand each subject.

Leaders make sure that staff get the training they need to teach the curriculum well. Consequently, the already good quality of education is getting better all the time.

Teachers skilfully aim lesson content at the different year groups in each class.

The mixed-age classes enable teachers to revisit simpler content with pupils who need it. Similarly, teachers direct pupils to take their learning deeper if they are ready. Teachers can target their teaching in this way because they assess carefully who is learning what.

Teaching assistants support them well to do this.

Staff take care to understand each pupil's needs. This is why they are so adept at adapting their teaching to ensure that it meets the needs of all pupils.

This is also true for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. These pupils achieve well as a result.

Leaders are ensuring that the curriculum builds pupils' understanding gradually from Reception Year upwards.

For example, the mathematics curriculum gives pupils a secure grasp of basic facts and principles. This provides a strong basis from which pupils can apply knowledge when solving complex problems. Pupils' work shows that they have a firm grasp of what they study.

For example, pupils can give a convincing description of life in the Anglo-Saxon period.

Most pupils read fluently by the age of seven. Leaders have, rightly, identified that a few could progress more rapidly.

For that reason, leaders recently revised the approach to teaching phonics. The new programme aims to ensure that all pupils learn to decode words even more quickly. This work is in the very early stages, so it is not possible to determine the impact.

However, early signs are positive and show that the approach to training staff and implementing the programme is well judged. Pupils go on to enjoy reading. They are becoming discerning about what they choose to read and why.

Teachers help younger pupils to apply their knowledge about phonics to help them spell words correctly. As pupils get older, they are required to write for a wide range of purposes using correct spelling and grammar. However, pupils are not taught all the basic knowledge they need.

As a result, their writing lacks some accuracy.

Staff expect pupils to behave well and, usually, pupils do. Some younger pupils, however, can become unsettled in lessons.

This is not because they do not know how to behave. Rather, it is because they sometimes become over-enthusiastic. They are learning to channel this enthusiasm but, occasionally, it bubbles over.

In their time at the school, pupils develop towards being reflective, socially responsible adults.

Staff speak highly of the school's leadership. They feel supported and show high levels of commitment in return.

Similarly, governors support senior leaders to achieve the strategic aim of providing a high-quality education and a rewarding primary school experience for all pupils.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The headteacher and the governor with oversight of safeguarding make sure that the school is assiduous in fulfilling its duties towards pupils.

Staff and governors are trained to a high level to identify and respond appropriately to safeguarding concerns. Staff are highly attuned to signs that a pupil may be at risk. They work with the assumption that the worst could happen at any time.

Concerns are logged and responded to promptly. Leaders work closely with external agencies to secure the help that pupils need.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Pupils do not have a firm grasp of the rules of grammar and spelling that are set out in the national curriculum.

As a result, their writing is not consistently accurate. Leaders need to ensure that pupils learn these rules securely so that they can apply them when writing.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in September 2017.