West Lynn Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 8 October 2024

Pupils are happy, confident and enjoy their learning. They know how to keep themselves safe and have trusted adults to turn to. Pupils know how to make and maintain friendships. They play well together on the playground and school field. Pupils enjoy a curriculum enhanced by visits, visitors and experiences. During the inspection, a published author shared his journey to becoming a writer. Pupils responded enthusiastically to hearing him read his stories. The school has a well-sequenced English and mathematics curriculum that helps pupils learn to read and develop their mathematical knowledge. Basic skills in phonics are taught systematically. Pupils enjoy daily sessions that build on and consolidate prior knowledge. Staff are ambitious for their pupils. Pupils enjoy the challenge tasks they can move on to after completing the main learning activity. Some would benefit from moving on to these activities sooner. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported with additional scaffolds, prompts and adult input. The wider curriculum is interesting and broad. Latin is taught, and enjoyed by pupils, being the basis for several modern foreign languages. Opportunities to take up a musical instrument are offered. The school provides a wide range of after-school clubs that are well attended and enable pupils to develop their interests.

What the school should improve

• Some pupils do not move on to more complex learning or apply their knowledge in different contexts when they are ready to do so. This slows pupils' progress through the curriculum and their learning of more complex concepts, so some pupils do not achieve as highly as they could. The school should ensure that activities support pupils' learning effectively and that pupils move on to learning more complex knowledge, or applying knowledge in different contexts, when they are ready to do so to ensure pupils achieve as well as they can.
• The expectations of the quality of pupils' written work are variable. Some pupils do not get opportunities to practise and develop handwriting and punctuation and so do not secure important foundational writing knowledge. The quality of pupils' written work does not always reflect what some pupils are capable of. The school should ensure that all teachers have the same high expectations of letter formation, letter orientation, handwriting, punctuation and presentation and provide opportunities for pupils to practise applying this knowledge.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)