Wykeham Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Wykeham Primary School provides a welcoming and nurturing environment in which pupils feel happy and safe. Pupils are confident that if they have any worries, there is always an adult in the school who will listen and help. Relationships between staff, pupils and their families are warm and supportive.

This creates a positive school environment with a real sense of community.

Behaviour around school and in lessons is positive. In lessons, pupils are attentive and try their best.

Pupils are thoughtful, polite and well mannered. They enjoy going to school and attendance is high.

Starting from the early years, pupils learn the school's values of excelle...nce, equality and enjoyment.

The school has high expectations for the achievement of all pupils. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) achieve strongly. Staff identify the needs of pupils with SEND quickly and adapt the curriculum successfully.

By the end of key stage 2, most pupils achieve well and are ready for their next stage of education.

Pupils are keen to take on roles of responsibility, such as being school councillors, eco-warriors or being a buddy for younger children. Pupils approach their roles with maturity and are proud to make a valuable difference to their school.

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

The school has designed a curriculum that is broad and ambitious. It has identified the important knowledge and skills pupils need to secure in each subject. Overall, the curriculum is well sequenced and assessed, ensuring that new learning builds on what has been taught previously.

For example, in mathematics, children in early years learn to recognise and count whole numbers up to 10. Older pupils use this knowledge to complete complex mental calculations and explain their reasoning. In design technology, children in the Nursery use a variety of tools, textures and techniques to make paper faces showing emotions from the book 'The Colour Monster'.

In Year 4, pupils explore levers, pivots and fulcrums when making Roman catapults.

Pupils achieve broadly at an age-appropriate level in reading and mathematics, but some do less well in writing. In some areas, the curriculum is not fully embedded.

This means that pupils in these subjects do not develop their understanding deeply.

The school's reading curriculum ensures that pupils experience high-quality texts from the early years to Year 6. Teachers use regular assessments to identify any pupils who fall behind.

These pupils are given the help that they need to catch up quickly. The school carefully matches reading books to the sounds that pupils know. The school has trained all adults in the phonics scheme.

However, sometimes the teaching of phonics and writing lacks precision and is not delivered consistently. This means that pupils are less confident in remembering sounds and letters and using these in their reading and early letter formation. As a result, some pupils do not learn how to write fluently and form letters well enough.

Pupils with SEND are supported effectively. They receive targeted help where needed. This includes in their lessons and in individual intervention sessions.

Staff are skilled at identifying pupils' educational needs and making necessary adaptations. This means that pupils with SEND flourish and achieve well.

The school sets high expectations for pupils' behaviour.

Staff get children into helpful routines as soon as they join the school. Pupils are keen to learn. They follow instructions, behave well and are attentive during lessons.

These positive attitudes play an important part in how well they learn. Pupils attend regularly and persistent absence rates are low.

The school's work to promote pupils' personal development is strong.

This work includes visits, residentials and after-school activities which pupils enjoy attending. Pupils speak with fondness about citizenship workshops and recent trips to the local reservoir for canoeing and the Houses of Parliament. The curriculum to support pupils' learning in personal, social and health education is well thought out.

Pupils talk about values such as respect, tolerance and kindness. They relish the diversity of their community and learning from each other. As a result, pupils are well prepared for their next steps in education and life in modern Britain.

Governance is strong and knowledgeable about the school's work. They provide effective challenge and support in planning for the future. Most staff, including those new to teaching, feel valued and are proud to work at the school.

They appreciate leaders' support for their workload and well-being. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the education and care their children receive.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Pupils are kept safe at school. Recruitment processes are rigorous, including pre-employment checks.

Pupils have an age-appropriate awareness of how to keep themselves safe.

The computing curriculum is designed to help pupils learn about keeping themselves safe online.

There are some weaknesses and inconsistencies in the school's record-keeping. Some staff are uncertain about where to report any concerns they may have.

Some records are incomplete or not easily accessible. To address this, the school is moving to a new system to record safeguarding concerns.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• There are inconsistencies in how early reading and letter formation are taught, even though the school has a systematic and well-planned approach to early reading and writing, including phonics.

This means that some pupils do not secure the key knowledge they need to become confident readers and writers. The school should ensure that staff have the skills and knowledge to implement the phonics programme consistently well. ? The curriculum in some subjects is not fully secure.

It is not at a point where it is implemented to a consistent standard. Because of this, pupils' learning is not reflective of the depth and ambition of the school's curriculum. The school should ensure that curricular aims are fully embedded in teaching so that pupils develop their knowledge and skills consistently.

• Systems for reporting and checking the school's work around safeguarding are not fully developed or understood by all staff. Information is not easily accessible at times. The school should ensure that record-keeping is coherent and well organised, and that staff have a clear, confident understanding of how to fulfil their responsibilities in this area.