Withington Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

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

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and well behaved. Older pupils enjoy their role as young leaders. They show younger pupils how to play games successfully.

The youngest children quickly learn to share and take turns. Pupils play and learn together well.

Staff and pupils have positive working relationships built on trust and respect.

Pupils say they feel safe in school. Bullying is extremely rare. Pupils have a strong sense of fairness.

They learn about cultures and religions different from their own. Pupils believe everyone should be kind to each other.
<...br/>Pupils read a wide variety of books that help them to become passionate and knowledgeable readers.

For example, pupils use the information they have read to debate issues such as global warming. They learn to understand people's different points of view.

Parents say staff are compassionate and encouraging of their children.

Pupils know how to be physically and mentally healthy. They value after-school clubs such as sports, art and science. Pupils in key stage 2 enjoy the residential visit where they try new and exciting activities.

They like to represent their school in sporting events. The school's enrichment opportunities develop pupils' resilience and self-confidence effectively.

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

Leaders, including governors, know the school's strengths and areas for development thoroughly.

There are systems in place to check the effectiveness of leaders' actions accurately. Leaders show careful consideration of staff workload and well-being. Staff appreciate leaders' care and support.

Leaders prioritise pupils learning to read well. There is an ambitious reading curriculum in place. Staff introduce children to the joy of books in the early years.

The youngest pupils read books that closely match the phonics they learn. Staff's subject knowledge is secure.They use this to check pupils' phonic knowledge regularly.

Pupils who need help to read well have appropriate extra practice.

Pupils frequently listen to stories read by their teachers. Together, they talk about high-quality texts.

This improves pupils' knowledge of different text types and vocabulary. Visits by authors and the well-stocked libraries inspire pupils as readers and writers.

Leaders have developed a well-sequenced curriculum from the early years to Year 6.

The curriculum identifies the essential knowledge pupils must know and remember. Teachers use the curriculum to plan appropriate learning activities successfully. Pupils secure new knowledge effectively.

This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Teachers regularly check what pupils know and remember. Teachers do not introduce new concepts until pupils have secure subject knowledge.

For example, in mathematics, pupils who struggle to learn a concept attend additional sessions. This ensures pupils keep up with leaders' curriculum expectations.

Nevertheless, assessment is undeveloped in some wider curriculum subjects.

Teachers do not check that essential knowledge is remembered. This means that in some subjects pupils have gaps in their knowledge so do not build new skills, vocabulary and understanding securely.

Each year, leaders carefully plan pupils' personal development.

This includes pupils' understanding of British Values. For example, they learn about the rule of law. Pupils write classroom and playground rules.

Right from the start, staff encourage and help children to be independent. Staff show the youngest children how to toilet and dress themselves successfully. Staff use praise to develop pupils' self-esteem and help them make the right choices now and in the future.

Pupils in Year 6, for example, know the impact addiction can have on someone's life. They are confident to stand up for themselves and each other. Pupils' personal development is supported well.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Appropriate safeguarding checks are completed before staff begin working at the school. Leaders, including governors, regularly check recruitment records to assure themselves they are accurate.

Staff and governors attend safeguarding training regularly. This helps them to carry out their safeguarding roles and responsibilities. Staff know how to report and record concerns for pupils' safety and welfare.

Leaders follow up on concerns swiftly. Leaders work with appropriate external agencies when necessary.

Pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe.

This includes online safety.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, leaders have not set out how they want pupils' learning to be assessed. This means assessment information is collected and used in different ways.

This does not help teachers adapt the learning to meet pupils' needs sufficiently. Leaders need to agree on assessment methods across these subjects and support teachers to use the information to ensure pupils know and remember more.

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 second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in April 2012.