Walton-on-the-Hill Primary School

Overview: Walton-on-the-Hill Primary School is a well-run school with a strong focus on teaching and learning, where pupils feel safe and supported to achieve their best. The school has made significant improvements in recent years, particularly in the areas of safeguarding, inclusion, and personal development and wellbeing.

Strengths:

• Pupils feel safe and supported, with a strong sense of belonging and a calm, positive learning environment.
• Leaders have developed effective systems to identify and support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
• The school's personal development and wellbeing programme is carefully planned and well-matched to the needs of pupils and the school's context.
• Pupils develop a secure understanding of fundamental British values and are taught how to keep themselves physically and mentally healthy.
• The school's curriculum is broad and well-structured, starting in the early years, and gives staff and pupils a clear understanding of what is taught and when.

Areas to improve:

• Leaders should ensure consistent implementation of the handwriting curriculum across year groups and that staff routinely identify and address errors, so pupils embed early writing skills securely.
• Leaders should continue to focus sharply on attendance, sustaining and refining actions to reduce persistent absence for key groups, including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND.

Safeguarding: The safeguarding standards are met, with leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfilling their specific responsibilities and having established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed.