Ofsted have today released their second Section 8 report for Wootton Primary School since the school was deemed ‘Inadequate’ in March 2013.
The Inspector delivered good news to the school saying,
Having considered all the evidence I am of the opinion that at this time: the school is making reasonable progress towards the removal of the serious weaknesses designation.
Action being taken
The report reveals that three teachers will be leaving the school at the end of this term and that arrangements have been made to cover their classes until the new teachers who’ve been appointed start.
Some of the highlights of changes made include:
- The headteacher has focused strongly on improving teaching and learning and has set a clear direction for their continuing improvement.
- Weaker teaching is being tackled through support, training and, when necessary, professional challenge.
- The features of good teaching that the headteacher wishes to see in all lessons have been shared with staff.
- Pupils’ progress has been analysed carefully to find out which pupils need to make better progress this year, to catch up and fulfil their potential.
- The headteacher has developed a manageable way of analysing data, including checking the progress of different groups. She has made sure, in managing teachers’ performance, that
teachers’ targets are based on the progress pupils need to make. - The deputy headteacher is having a direct impact on improving mathematics teaching, which is becoming more consistent and effective.
- Governors are continuing to provide a strong strategic lead in supporting and challenging the school’s work.
Focus on mathematics
The Inspector highlighted the improvements being made in maths provision.
- In mathematics lessons, teachers and teaching assistants now use questioning well to tease out pupils’ thinking and support pupils when they are not sure.
- Pupils are routinely given the chance to choose harder tasks if they feel they can manage them.
- During the visit, many pupils were seen challenging themselves to have a go and this did not just apply to the more able pupils.
- In mathematics lessons, the teaching assistants are well briefed, they know the teachers’ intentions for the lesson and this guides them to use the right approaches with pupils to help them calculate or work out problems.
Improvements in English needed
The school must make efforts to improve the provision of English though. The Inspector found that “pupils’ attainment is not accelerating strongly enough yet”.
- Pupils’ books, in Year 6, show that not enough is being expected of pupils in writing; the teaching is not encouraging them to aspire to high standards.
- Pupils have individual short-term targets in the front of their books, but these are not being referred to, or used, regularly enough, so they have too little impact.
- Pupils’ keenness to learn and achieve success, clearly evident in the mathematics lessons, did not come through strongly in English lessons.
- Pupils were not as clear about what was expected of them, why they were doing tasks and what they were leading to. In one lesson, pupils spent more time drawing than writing.
