Eton Wick CofE First School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve teaching so that pupils, including the most able, make good or better progress in reading, writing and mathematics by ensuring that teachers:
  • have high expectations of what pupils can achieve
  • accurately assess what pupils can already do and what they need to learn next, so that no time is wasted
  • provide more opportunities for pupils to write at length, allowing pupils to build up stamina in their writing and develop more complex sentences and vocabulary
  • provide increased opportunities for pupils to develop reasoning and solve problems in mathematics.
• Improve the effectiveness of leaders, including governors, so that:
  • leaders at all levels are held to account for the progress pupils make, ensuring that pupils make the progress of which they are capable
  • leaders use a structured approach to driving improvements, ensuring that the pace of change is more rapid
  • there is a consistent approach for checking learning and improving teaching, identifying precise targets for improving practice
  • governors collect their own evidence to ensure that weaknesses are being tackled and pupils are making good progress.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• Leaders’ work to improve the school since the last inspection has not ensured that the school is good. To some extent, progress has been inhibited by a full change of teaching staff. However, leaders’ actions are often too broad to drive rapid improvement. The leadership team has been strengthened by the appointment of the deputy headteacher, who provides good support and challenge for the headteacher.
• Over time, leaders have not concentrated enough on how much progress pupils are making in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils’ progress has not been closely monitored, so where pupils have not made the progress of which they are capable, action has not been taken to help them catch up. Leaders at all levels now recognise that improving the outcomes for pupils is the school’s top priority.
• Leaders have successfully improved outcomes for disadvantaged pupils and those who have SEN and/or disabilities. Timely interventions and rigorous monitoring of these pupils’ progress have ensured that they are catching up in their learning.
• Although leaders undertake checks on teaching, they are not consistent in their approach to observations or feedback. Leaders’ suggestions for improvement are not precise enough to help teachers know what they need to do to be more effective. As a result, teachers are slow to implement changes, with leaders feeding back the same issues repeatedly.
• The small size of the school and the inexperienced teaching staff mean that the headteacher also leads special educational needs. The needs of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are met well, and these pupils now make good progress. Leaders work closely with outside agencies to make sure that these pupils and their families get the help and support needed for pupils to succeed in their learning. One parent commented on the ‘amazing support for my daughter and my family’. Senior leaders also take responsibility for mathematics and literacy but recognise that as newer teachers develop, they will have the capacity to take over the lead of these subjects.
• The local authority and the Diocese of Oxford have offered timely support over a difficult period for the school. The local authority brokered good-quality support for the school review of governance and a review of pupil premium spending.
• The curriculum is broad and balanced. Topics chosen with input from the pupils are imaginative and cultivate a love of learning. Topics such as ‘Extreme Earth’, which includes constructing an erupting volcano, emphasise the practical nature of the science curriculum. Computing supports learning in other subjects, such as in Year 3, where pupils are writing a newspaper report about the time a pig entered a teacher’s house. There are good opportunities to use the school’s extensive outside areas to enhance learning opportunities. The ‘bee zone’ and ‘mini beast’ areas enhance the science curriculum, while growing vegetables and designing recipes support design technology. The curriculum is appropriately enhanced, with a good range of visitors bringing topics to life, such as firefighters to support the ‘People who help us’ topic in early years. Pupils are particularly happy to have the opportunity to take part in a residential adventure trip in both Year 3 and Year 4.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is effectively promoted from the time children enter early years. The school celebrates the diversity of its community, reflected in the make-up of the school’s worship committee, which has representatives from different religious communities. Regular visitors, drawn from the school’s families and local community, help develop understanding of different faiths and cultures. British values are taught alongside the school’s ‘golden promises’, celebrating what is good about a multicultural Britain. Pupils experience values such as democracy when they vote for their class representative on the school council.

Governance of the school

• Governors have benefited greatly from a hard-hitting review of governance. Their committee structures and make-up have been overhauled and a skills audit has identified the most qualified people to be undertaking specific roles. A new, experienced chair of governors has been appointed. Governors have begun to implement systems for monitoring all aspects of the school, but these are not yet fully embedded, particularly those for checking outcomes. In the past, governors did not challenge leaders effectively enough with the required rigour. While this has improved, they do realise there is more to do in holding leaders and teachers to account for the progress pupils are making and for the outcomes they are achieving.
• Current performance management arrangements are not effective in driving required improvements in pupils’ progress. Targets linked to pupils’ progress are too broad and do not focus precisely enough on those pupils who need to catch up or those who are capable of reaching greater depth.
• Governors ensure that additional government funding for sport is used effectively. Specialist coaches work alongside teachers to develop teachers’ skills. This is working particularly well with gymnastics, where more pupils are improving their skill level. The improved progress of disadvantaged pupils, supported by the pupil premium funding, illustrates the effectiveness of the governing body in this area. It closely monitors where funding is spent and what impact it is having.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. The school has clear policies and procedures to make sure that pupils are safe from harm. Good induction procedures for staff, supported by appropriate training and updates, ensure that staff at all levels are confident in knowing how to react to keep pupils safe. A well-qualified governor ensures that all governors’ statutory obligations are fully met. Regular checks around the school site and effective monitoring of risk assessments ensure that the school environment is a safe place to learn.
• All parents and carers and pupils say that they feel safe in school, and this reflects the trust and care that the school extends to the community. One parent commented that they ‘never have a worry about safety. Everybody here looks out for one another.’
• Procedures for vetting staff are effective, and the single central register is checked termly and results reported to the governing body. All concerns about pupils are well documented and reviewed promptly. The school works in cooperation with outside agencies when required to do so.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is not yet good because the standard of teaching is too variable. As a result, pupils are not making consistently good progress and achieving all that they can.
• Over time, teachers’ assessment of pupils’ learning has not been consistently reliable. As a result, teachers have made assumptions about what pupils know and understand, which has resulted in pupils developing gaps in their knowledge. Leaders’ work to improve the accuracy of assessment has ensured that teachers are more precise in their assessment practices, but this is not yet embedded across the school.
• Teachers do not consistently plan tasks and activities that build on what pupils already know and understand. As a result, pupils often receive work that is either too difficult or too easy. This is clearly evidenced by work seen in books, where a number of pupils of all abilities, but particularly the most able pupils, are not making the progress they should.
• Teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve in lessons are not consistently high enough in all classes. Where teaching is most effective, the match of work to pupils’ ability reinforces understanding and promotes challenge. In a junior lesson, in which pupils were learning about reflection, all pupils were learning effectively and the most able pupils were suitably challenged to develop their thinking. However, this is not the case in all classes.
• Teaching assistants provide a good balance of support and challenge for those pupils who find learning difficult. Many are involved in providing extra intervention programmes to help pupils catch up. They support pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils well. Consequently, these pupils are now making good progress across the school.
• In the past, the school has not built upon the good phonics provision that exists in early years. This has led to below-average outcomes in the Year 1 phonics screening check. However, since September 2017, the increased frequency and improved organisation of lessons have ensured that current Year 1 pupils are on track to achieve standards similar to the national average.
• Children leave early years with good understanding of letters and the sounds they make. The teaching of reading builds upon pupils’ good understanding of letters and sounds. As a result, pupils now make better progress than they did. There is a range of effective reading interventions in place which help pupils catch up. Activities such as World Book Day promote the importance of reading to both pupils and parents. A focus on comprehension and the newly introduced reading lessons are beginning to raise standards of reading in the school.
• The teaching of writing is improving. Planned writing activities are now in every class, covering the full range of genres required. A focus on sentence construction and spelling is beginning to help pupils develop their writing. Opportunities for pupils to write at length to develop stamina and experiment with the full range of punctuation and sentence construction are too limited at present. This is particularly affecting the most able pupils, who do not have the opportunity to develop more complex writing styles and widen their vocabulary.
• Work in mathematics books shows that there is a strong emphasis on number and developing fluency in calculations. Pupils across the school do well in these areas. However, there are very few opportunities for pupils to develop mathematical reasoning to help them solve problems, particularly in the younger age classes. Where activities and tasks are provided that are stimulating and challenging, pupils thrive and make good progress. The school recognises that this is an area that it must improve, especially for most-able pupils.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. There is a strong emphasis on pupils’ personal development right from the point children enter the school’s Nursery, the importance of which is shared and cherished by the whole school community.
• A strong Christian ethos permeates the school and all who work within it. Pupils and staff promote the school values of respect, compassion and honesty in the way they conduct themselves in and around school. Pupils learn in an environment free from discrimination.
• Pupils show a very high level of care for one another. Older pupils comfort younger pupils when they are upset and they talk openly about how it is important to be a good friend. The culture of care is recognised by parents, one of whom commented, ‘I visit school often and the children always ask how I am and how I am getting on.’
• Pupils enjoy the many opportunities they get to take responsibility, and do so with great pride and dedication. As school councillors, they represent the views of their classmates, as sports leaders they organise games at playtime for younger pupils and as lunchtime monitors they help keep the dining hall ‘shipshape’, as one monitor put it.
• Pupils appreciate the different talents and experiences that different people bring to their local community, and this is positively reinforced in assemblies and class discussions.
• Pupils say that they feel safe in school because the adults look after them. They know that eating well and taking exercise will help them stay healthy. They are very knowledgeable about how to stay safe online and confidently say that they know this because of internet safety lessons in school.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils are friendly, inquisitive and polite and enjoy coming to Eton Wick School. This is reflected in the significant improvement in attendance since the previous inspection, which is now in line with other schools nationally.
• Pupils have very positive attitudes to their learning. They are resilient and try hard during lessons to persevere, learn and do their best.
• Some parents raised concerns about bullying. Pupils say that instances of bullying are rare, and if they do occur, they are dealt with swiftly and fairly. Checks on behaviour logs and talking to parents confirmed that on the rare occasions bullying does occur, the school’s response is proportionate and appropriate.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• In early years, children make good progress and achieve well. Current children are on track to reach standards that are above those achieved nationally. However, children’s strong start in the early years is not successfully built upon in key stage 1. Pupils fall behind in their learning and, as a result, by the end of Year 2, pupils’ achievement is not as good as it should be.
• In 2017, the proportion of pupils who passed the phonics screening test was below average. As a result of a focused and systematic approach to the teaching of phonics, the current Year 1 pupils are now on track to achieve standards similar to those achieved nationally.
• In 2017, the proportions of pupils who reached the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics were similar to the national average. However, too many pupils did not make the good progress in reading, writing and mathematics of which they are capable.
• The school’s own information and the work in pupils’ books confirm that pupils are not making the progress they should. They leave Reception with standards higher than the national average and by the end of Year 2 they are only similar to the national average in reading, writing and mathematics.
• In Year 4, where teaching is particularly strong, pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics, with a high proportion of pupils making accelerated progress. This was checked through the school’s assessment information and confirmed in work seen in pupils’ books. However, despite this strong progress, pupils have fallen too far behind to catch up before they leave the school.
• Outcomes for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils are good. Although they are small in number, they receive a high level of support and their progress is closely monitored to make sure that they achieve well.
• Outcomes for the most able pupils are not as good as they should be, and these pupils are not reaching standards of which they are capable. This is particularly the case in writing and mathematics, where progress is slower than in reading.

Early years provision Good

• The Nursery and the Reception class are well led and managed. The early years teacher manages both settings and has been without a nursery leader for two terms. Despite this, high standards have been maintained throughout. Leaders, including governors, recognise the high regard parents hold for the setting and the contribution it makes to Eton Wick School.
• The evaluation of the early years setting is accurate, and leaders are keen to improve practice and provision further to aid the children’s learning. Staff in both settings work effectively together for the benefit of the children and their families.
• Consistently effective teaching enables children to make rapid progress across all areas of learning. Children enter the Nursery with overall skills and knowledge below those which would be typically expected of a three-year-old. However, with effective teaching, they rapidly catch up so that by Reception their achievement is broadly in line with that of other children of the same age. The proportion of children who achieved a good level of development by the end of Reception in 2017 was higher than the national average, and current children are on track to achieve similarly strong outcomes.
• There are good systems in place for recording and tracking children’s progress. As a result, teachers plan activities that meet the differing needs of individual children, enabling them to make as much progress as possible.
• Adults provide a good range of activities to support children’s learning both inside the classroom and in the well-resourced outside area. Opportunities to write and mark- make are plentiful. Children are encouraged to use numbers when counting out. For example, some children were counting out stones to go into their imaginary cake mix and the assistant intervened to ask how many that would be if they added another. Staff are currently focusing on developing children’s independence in their learning.
• The teaching of phonics is regular, systematic and well matched to the individual needs of the children. As a result, their understanding of sounds and letters is strong and they are well prepared to develop their reading further in Year 1.
• Parents have great respect for what teachers do in the setting. They are confident in the leadership and are very happy with the positive experience their children have as they are introduced to their learning. ‘From the moment my daughter went to Nursery, she never looked back. What they do in early years is fantastic.’ This is typical of comments made by parents.
• Children are happy and secure in early years. They settle quickly in the settings and quickly develop the confidence they need to become happy learners. There are very good procedures in place to ensure that this confidence is maintained when they move from Nursery to Reception and from Reception to Year 1. There are consistent routines between settings, so that children understand how to behave and what is expected of them. As a result, they sit and listen with concentration, behave very well and show care for one another.
• Strong relationships at all levels are a consistent feature of children’s experiences. Teachers use every opportunity to develop children’s language. They skilfully drop questions into conversations to challenge children’s understanding and develop their vocabulary.
• All staff receive regular training on how to keep children safe. The setting is secure, daily risk assessments are carried out and all welfare requirements are met.

School details

Unique reference number 109996 Local authority Windsor and Maidenhead Inspection number 10040924 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school First school School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Voluntary controlled 3 to 9 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 158 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address David Stacey Rob Harris 01753 860096 www.etonwickschool.org.uk rharris@etonwickschool.org.uk Date of previous inspection 2–3 March 2016

Information about this school

• There has been a significant change in staffing since the previous inspection. A new deputy headteacher was appointed in September 2017. All teachers, with the exception of early years, have joined the school since the previous inspection.
• The school is smaller than the average-sized school. There is one class in each year group in key stages 1 and 2 up to Year 4. Early years comprises a Nursery, offering 30 hours’ childcare, and a Reception class.
• Most pupils come from White British backgrounds. The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is well below average, as is the proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors visited lessons, accompanied by senior leaders, to observe pupils’ learning.
• Discussions were held with senior leaders, members of staff, pupils, a group of parents, members of the local governing body, a representative of the local authority and a representative of the Diocese of Oxford.
• Inspectors examined a wide range of documentation, including that relating to attendance and behaviour, school improvement planning, assessment information, monitoring of teaching, minutes of governing body meetings, local authority reports and school policies relating to safeguarding.
• The inspectors listened to pupils read from Year 2 and met formally with a group of pupils to discuss their learning, behaviour and safety. Inspectors evaluated pupils’ books, displays of pupils’ work and the school’s assessments of the progress made by pupils.
• The inspectors took into account the views of 36 parents who responded to the online questionnaire, Parent View, as well as meeting a group of four parents. Inspectors also met two parents individually, received one written letter and talked to one parent on the telephone.
• The inspectors took account of 15 responses to the pupil questionnaires and 17 responses from the staff questionnaire.

Inspection team

Bill James, lead inspector Clare Haines

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector