Withinfields Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Relationships between adults and pupils are friendly and respectful. Pupils receive generous praise and rewards. They smile when adults greet them.

They follow the example adults set them, saying 'please' and 'thank you'. Adults manage pupils' conduct positively and maintain an orderly school. Pupils enjoy their lessons.

Leaders prioritise pupils' personal development. All this helps pupils, with few exceptions, to behave well, develop positive attitudes and feel safe.

Pupils learn to respect difference.

Bullying and the use of insulting language are not frequent. Pupils trust adults to help sort out problems and to keep them safe. Pupils at risk of ...harm get the help they need from determined adults.

Staff persist with the few pupils who struggle to behave well. These pupils learn to join in safely and engage with learning.

Most pupils learn to read quickly.

Pupils who fell behind because of the COVID-19 pandemic are catching up. Pupils acquire much knowledge and vocabulary in a wide range of subjects, such as history, science and art. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) get help to learn the same things as their classmates.

Nearly all parents responding to the online questionnaire, Parent View, were effusive in their praise of the school and staff.

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

Leaders make learning to read a high priority. Well-trained teachers and support staff are highly effective in teaching the youngest pupils to read.

Teachers make sure pupils have carefully chosen reading books to practise. As a result, most pupils learn to read with speed, fluency and confidence at an early stage. Those pupils who do not keep up get plenty of extra practice every day.

This includes pupils who fell behind during the pandemic. These pupils, including older pupils and pupils with SEND, are beginning to catch up.

Pupils of all ages have plenty of good-quality books to choose from.

Teachers keep a close eye on whether pupils read at home. Teachers encourage and reward regular independent reading. Most pupils develop positive attitudes to books and reading.

However, too many pupils do not choose to read a wide range of books often enough. Not all teachers make reading and story time as enjoyable an experience as it should be.

Leaders have planned a mathematics curriculum that helps pupils learn concepts, step by step, in the right order.

Teachers check pupils understand something before they move on to the next idea. They give pupils plenty of practice to help them remember number facts. Pupils practise using their mathematics knowledge to solve tricky problems.

Most pupils make strong progress. Those who struggle, including pupils with SEND, get the right help to make progress.

Leaders make sure pupils learn all the subjects in the national curriculum.

Leaders have laid out in detail what pupils should learn, in sequence, in each subject from Year 1 to the end of Year 6. This helps pupils learn and remember important information. For example, pupils in Year 5 link what they have recently learned in history lessons about Mayan civilisation to what they remember from previous years about Greek and Egyptian civilisations.

However, pupils sometimes do not remember the most important information. This is because teachers are not sufficiently clear about what information is the most essential for pupils to remember. In addition, the tasks teachers give pupils do not always help pupils to deepen their understanding of topics.

In the early years, in reading and mathematics, children learn and practise the right content that prepares them well to make progress in Year 1. In some areas of learning, leaders have not planned exactly what children need to know before they start Year 1. For example, it is not always clear enough what children will need to know and remember before they start doing key stage 1 subjects like history, geography and science.

Nevertheless, children in the early years enjoy a broad curriculum and acquire considerable knowledge.

The parts of the curriculum that aim to develop pupils personally and socially are very strong. Pupils, the vast majority of whom are White British, remember much of what they are taught about religious, cultural and gender diversity.

Staff help them develop open-mindedness and that it is 'okay to be different'. Leaders and governors understand the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on pupils' mental health. Leaders have taken, and are taking, effective action to support pupils.

Over the last few years, leaders at all levels have made great strides in improving pupils' behaviour and the quality of education. Staff value how senior leaders have helped them to be more effective without creating an intolerable workload.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff are vigilant. They are well trained to recognise signs that pupils may be at risk, for example from harmful online activity. Staff rightly report even the smallest concerns to the right people.

Safeguarding leaders keep meticulous records. They are persistent in seeking help. They work closely with other agencies, so pupils are protected.

The governing body takes its safeguarding duties seriously.

Safer recruitment procedures, for checking adults are suitable to work with children, are robust. The record of the checks made on adults is complete and well managed.

Leaders make sure pupils are taught about a wide range of risks. Pupils feel safe to confide in adults.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Subject leaders have done an enormous amount of work to create an appropriately detailed and comprehensive curriculum.

They have considered the most helpful sequencing of content. However, in the non-core subjects, the pre-requisite content, that is likely to be most essential for pupils in their future learning, is sometimes lost in the detail. Leaders should ensure the most essential component knowledge for pupils to remember is identified in each subject so that pupils' progress is not hampered when they revisit topics later in their school journey.

• The composite tasks teachers give pupils to do sometimes detract from what is most important. This means knowledge and understanding are not further developed. Leaders should ensure that teachers plan composite tasks that deepen pupils' understanding of the subject matter.

• The early years curriculum is stimulating, broad and balanced. However, the extensive curriculum progression that early years leaders have designed does not identify clearly enough the specific component knowledge children should learn. This is well developed in mathematics and early reading, but not in other areas of learning.

For each area of learning in the 'statutory framework for the early years foundation stage', leaders should identify the component knowledge that pupils will know and remember to prepare them for each subject of the national curriculum they will study in Year 1 and beyond. ? Leaders have done much to promote a love of reading. However, some unhelpful practices undermine the value of books and reading.

Story times are sometimes hurried while pupils prepare to go home at the end of the school day. Leaders have not done enough to get most pupils choosing to read. Leaders should take further effective action to develop a love of reading so that more pupils choose to read widely and often.