Whitfield Valley Primary Academy

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About Whitfield Valley Primary Academy


Name Whitfield Valley Primary Academy
Website http://www.whitfieldv.org.uk/
Inspections
Ofsted Inspections
Co Headteacher Suzanne Rawlings
Address Oxford Road, Fegg Hayes, Stoke-on-Trent, ST6 6TD
Phone Number 01782234570
Phase Academy
Type Academy sponsor led
Age Range 3-11
Religious Character Does not apply
Gender Mixed
Number of Pupils 459
Local Authority Stoke-on-Trent
Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school Leaders, staff and governors foster a very positive and supportive school community. The headteacher, assistant headteachers and governors provide highly effective leadership. Together with a skilled and dedicated staff team, leaders are transforming the school.

Governors and the multi-academy trust (trust) provide highly effective support and challenge. Leaders and governors carry out accurate evaluations of teaching and pupils' learning. Staff provide exceptional support and care for pupils, particularly those that are vulnerable or disadvantaged.

The school is very effective in ensuring pupils' safety and well-being. Good teaching in Y...ears 1 to 6 includes some outstanding practice. This is helping pupils to achieve well.

The strongest teaching makes very good use of assessment information about pupils' learning and progress. There is scope now for teachers in all classes to learn from best practice. In some lessons the most able pupils are not provided with work that helps them reach the highest standards.

Some teaching goes over too much work that pupils already know and can do. Pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities make good progress. Pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics from their starting points, but could be learning better in other subjects.

In some lessons, pupils do not have enough opportunities to read and write independently. Disadvantaged pupils achieve as well as other pupils. When leaders and staff identify any differences in progress, they are very good at planning appropriate interventions and catch-up programmes that quickly close or narrow these gaps.

Early years provision is strong. Children make rapid progress in their development of early language, literacy and mathematics. The early years is led and managed extremely well.

Standards compare very well with national figures at all key stages. The school has rightly identified the need to improve still further pupils' handwriting and spelling. There are excellent relationships between pupils, parents and carers, and staff.

Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is supported very well. Pupils behave exceptionally well and are taught British values of respect, tolerance and understanding of different faiths, customs and traditions.

Information about this school

Whitfield Valley converted to academy status in April 2015 and this is its first inspection since conversion.

The predecessor primary school was inspected in November 2013 and was placed in special measures. Two subsequent monitoring inspections took place in April and September 2014 and judged that the school was making reasonable progress towards the removal from special measures. The school is one of three primary academies in the Inspirational Learning Academies Trust (ILAT).

An executive headteacher manages all three schools and each school has its own headteacher. The school's senior leadership comprises the headteacher and three assistant headteachers. The headteacher was formerly head of school before being appointed as headteacher.

One assistant headteacher joined the school in April 2016, another in September 2016 and the third joined in September 2017. There have been significant changes to staffing and leadership since conversion and most of the teaching and support teams were appointed after conversion to academy status. Each school in the ILAT (trust) has its own governing body and some members of each of these bodies, including the chairs, are members of the board of directors of the trust.

The board of directors, through the scheme of delegation and funding agreement with the Department for Education, has oversight of the three academies. The board has direct responsibility for the management and devolvement of governance, finances and human resources for all three schools. Each school has a business manager who is employed by the trust.

Whitfield Valley is larger than most primary schools. Most pupils are from White British backgrounds and others come from a range of heritages that include African, Caribbean, Pakistani and Eastern European. Very few pupils join the school learning English as an additional language.

The school's early years provision comprises a Nursery class for three-year-old children and two Reception classes for four- and five-year-olds. The children in the Nursery attend full time. The percentage of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is in line with that of most schools and includes mainly pupils who have moderate learning difficulties and/or speech, language and communication needs.

The school has close links with an off-site alternative provider of special educational needs. A very small number of pupils who have education, care and health plans have in the past attended this special school part time as well as attending Whitfield Valley. Currently, no pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities attend this alternative provision.

The proportion of pupils eligible for pupil premium funding is well above average. The school met national floor standards in 2017, which are the minimum requirements for pupils' attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6. Senior leaders and governors work in close partnership across the three primary academies in the trust and with Stoke local authority.

In addition, they commission support from a range of sources, including the school improvement service of Stoke local authority which provides regular objective reviews of the school's work. The partnerships are part of an extensive range of training and professional development for staff. These include opportunities to share best practice and moderate assessments of pupils' work and progress.

Also at this postcode
Right Step Nursery & Kids Club

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