Wavell Community Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 19 July 2022

Wavell Infant School has a distinct identity, underpinned by its strong links with the armed forces. This is a close community where pupils frequently arrive and leave at different points during the school year. All pupils are welcomed and quickly made to feel at home. Leaders understand the challenges this movement can pose for pupils and their families. This is a nurturing environment. Parents appreciate the care and understanding of staff in helping pupils to settle in. Pupils have a strong sense of shared values. They explain the school rules of 'look after yourself, look after each other and look after your school'. They understand how these values influence their behaviour. They take responsibility for each other's well-being. The friendship bench in the playground helps everyone to feel included. Pupils are happy and feel safe here. This firm sense of respect means that pupils believe bullying is not a problem here. Parents and staff agree. Staff have high expectations of what pupils can achieve, regardless of how long they stay. Pupils are keen to meet these expectations. They take pride in achieving 'Wavell stars'. These stars are awarded for progress or demonstrating the school values.

What the school should improve

• Assessment in the wider curriculum is not being used effectively to help teachers identify gaps in learning. This means that teachers are not able to use this information to inform their future planning and close gaps in pupils' knowledge as quickly as they could. Leaders should ensure that effective assessment systems are introduced that align closely to their new curriculum.
• Leaders' monitoring systems are not precise in identifying where there is inconsistency across school. This means that, in the wider curriculum especially, it is difficult to measure the impact of the new curriculum and how much progress pupils are making. Leaders should ensure that there is more precision in monitoring systems, so that they can accurately measure the effectiveness of the new curriculum.
• In the early years there is some inconsistency in the effectiveness of the communication between adults and children. Some adults do not consistently model high-quality language and questioning for children. Leaders should ensure that there is further training for staff, so that all adults interact with children with the same level of expertise.

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