Welford Sibbertoft and Sulby Endowed School

Overview

The report describes a school where leaders have created a “calm and purposeful” environment with strong attendance and positive pupil behaviour. While safeguarding standards are met and early years provision is effective, the report identifies that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) often do not receive suitable adaptations, and there are persistent gaps in pupils’ writing knowledge.

Strengths

• Leaders promote regular attendance effectively, resulting in rates “in line with national averages” and low persistent absenteeism.
• Pupils exhibit positive attitudes, following “the Welford way” of being “ready, respectful and kind,” with bullying described as “rare.”
• Early years staff build “warm relationships” with families and use effective phonics teaching to help children get off to a “positive start.”
• The curriculum is “broad and ambitious,” and staff use helpful strategies to ensure all pupils engage in thinking and talk about new learning.
• Leaders provide a “well-balanced mix of instruction and coaching” for staff, prioritising wellbeing and supporting professional development.

Areas to improve

• Leaders must embed improvements to ensure pupils with SEND receive “precisely the right support” and that staff consistently refer to individual support plans.
• Staff need to make “consistently suitable adaptations” to overcome barriers to learning, particularly regarding pupils’ attainment and stage of learning.
• Leaders should continue work to improve writing achievement, ensuring staff address gaps in spelling, punctuation, and handwriting “consistently.”

Safeguarding

The report states that “safeguarding standards are met,” noting that leaders have established an “open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility” and that concerns are actively identified and managed.