All Saints CofE (Aided) Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Ensure that pupils achieve their full potential in writing during key stage 2 by strengthening their spelling skills.
• Ensure that leaders make better use of information about pupils’ progress and attendance to gauge the school’s impact and to shape future developments.
• Improve the attendance of the small number of disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities who attend less regularly than they should.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Everyone in the school has the highest aspirations for all pupils. Since the previous inspection, the headteacher, leaders and governors have challenged and eradicated a culture of low expectations and complacency.
• All members of staff are more accountable for pupils’ learning and well-being than at the previous inspection. They recognise the vital part they play in making sure that every pupil achieves well.
• Senior leaders manage staff performance well. They work alongside teachers, evaluating the quality of teaching against the teachers’ standards and giving teachers feedback about the quality of their work.
• The headteacher has eliminated the weak teaching that meant that, in the past, some pupils did not achieve as well as they should.
• Staff morale is very high. All members of staff who completed the online questionnaire say that they are proud to work in the school. One commented, ‘It’s such a good team here’. All say the school has improved since the previous inspection.
• The headteacher has built a strong team of knowledgeable and committed leaders. This has increased the pace of improvement substantially.
• Middle leaders are more knowledgeable about how to teach their subjects of responsibility than at the time of the previous inspection. They regularly check the quality of teaching and learning in the classrooms and in pupils’ books. As a result, they know about the quality of teaching in different classes and are clear about what needs to improve.
• School leaders use pupil premium effectively to support pupils’ individual needs. They regularly check that disadvantaged pupils are making sufficiently rapid progress. Disadvantaged pupils make faster progress than at the time of the previous inspection and achieve increasingly well in all year groups as a result.
• The school develops pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development particularly well. Pupils develop an increasing understanding of the way in which faith influences people’s lives. For example, pupils in Year 6 think about the significance of festivals such as the Hajj to Muslims.
• Leaders have developed a strongly cohesive school community. They work closely with families. A number of parents said that they particularly like the school’s strong family atmosphere. One commented on the school’s ‘happy, inclusive, family feel and strong emphasis on learning’.
• The school’s highly inclusive ethos is rooted in its Christian values. Assemblies are happy, inclusive occasions, during which pupils sing tunefully and joyously.
• Pupils learn about British values and about what it means to be a part of the United Kingdom. For example, they learn about democracy and develop a sense of what it means to be respected as a British citizen.
• The school teaches a broad and balanced curriculum and pupils speak with interest about their learning. For example, during the inspection, one pupil talked enthusiastically about history, while his neighbour commented, ‘He’s the best historian in the class!’ Pupils of all abilities enjoy participating in clubs and sports events.
• Leaders’ effective use of primary school physical education and sports premium means that increasing numbers of pupils participate in sport. Last year, three quarters of pupils attended a sports club. Better equipment has helped to make sports more appealing and accessible. For example, a key stage 2 football club, the installation of goal posts and improved drainage in the sports field mean that pupils play football more frequently.
• Most parents who completed the online questionnaire feel that the school is well led and managed and would recommend the school.
• Since the previous inspection, the headteacher has worked constructively with the local authority and with a national leader of education. This support was scaled back last year in recognition of substantial improvements made in the school.
• Leaders collect and record accurate and reliable information about pupils’ progress and attendance. However, while this aspect of their work has improved since the previous inspection, they do not always use this as sharply as they could to check progress and plan further improvements.

Governance of the school

• Governors know that the quality of teaching is the key to raising achievement. They are well informed about the school’s approach to managing staff performance and about the impact this has had on improving teaching. They are clear about improvements since the previous inspection and know how this has increased pupils’ progress.
• Governors confidently compare the school with other schools nationally and know the school’s priorities for further improvement. They use particular areas of expertise well to question and challenge leaders about pupils’ progress and outcomes, including for different groups of pupils.
• Governors’ visits to the school give them a first-hand view of teaching, learning and assessment. For example, the governor with particular responsibility for ensuring that disadvantaged pupils achieve well completes regular visits to classrooms with the headteacher.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The chair of governors has specific responsibility for overseeing safeguarding. She meets fortnightly with the headteacher to ensure that policies and procedures are rigorously maintained so that pupils are safe. The headteacher ensures that governors are promptly informed about potential safeguarding concerns.
• All members of staff are well qualified in safeguarding procedures. They are clear about who the designated safeguarding leaders are and know what to do in case of a safeguarding concern. For example, they consistently follow the school’s policy for completing ‘concern forms’, no matter how small the concern. As a result, leaders build a cohesive picture of situations over time and take action where needed.
• Recruitment checks on new staff are well maintained and meet requirements.
• The site is well maintained and secure. Locked external gates and secure perimeter fencing ensure that pupils are safe during the school day. Pupils are well supervised during breaktimes and at the start and finish of the school day.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers share leaders’ high expectations for all pupils. They are very clear about individual pupils’ needs and provide the right support to ensure that they achieve well.
• Mathematics teaching builds securely on pupils’ learning as they move up through the year groups. Teachers make sure that pupils learn how to use formal calculations correctly. They regularly give pupils opportunities to apply mathematical knowledge in different contexts to solve problems. Teachers use practical equipment well to ensure that pupils develop a good understanding of mathematical concepts such as number and place value.
• The teaching of reading ensures that pupils become competent readers. Teachers make sure that pupils read regularly in school, with weekly visits to the well-stocked school library to borrow books.
• Phonics teaching during early years and key stage 1 has improved substantially since the previous inspection. Teachers regularly teach phonics skills, making sure that pupils apply learning during reading and writing activities. Highly focused phonics sessions ensure that pupils who did not achieve expected levels in the Year 1 phonics check catch up quickly.
• Teaching assistants work well with pupils, including pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Teaching assistants know pupils very well and have high expectations of their work and behaviour. They ensure that pupils develop valuable work habits, such as checking and improving their own work, to help them to work more independently.
• Teachers have raised the profile of spelling during key stage 2 so that pupils understand the importance of spelling correctly in their written work. However, the teaching of spelling is not sufficiently well developed in Years 3 to 6 to ensure that pupils spell well. For example, teachers do not follow a consistent approach when responding to errors in pupils’ work.
• Teachers throughout the school are alert to the needs of all pupils, including the most able. They use questioning effectively, giving pupils individual advice about how to improve their work. For example, during the inspection, some of the most able pupils in Year 5 were successfully encouraged to work on particular aspects of their writing, such as extending sentences, to make their writing more effective.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils say that the headteacher and other members of staff know them well. They feel that adults are easy to talk to and listen carefully to what they have to say. They like the fact that the headteacher often speaks to them as they make their way between lessons or out to the playground.
• Pupils feel very safe in school. They know how to behave safely in a range of situations, such as when using the road on the way to school and when playing computer games on the internet. They know that school rules are designed to keep them safe.
• Pupils have a good understanding of the different forms bullying can take. They say that bullying almost never happens in school but that, if it does, adults sort it out very quickly. Pupils who spoke with inspectors said that discriminatory bullying of any kind was unheard of in the school. School records support this view.
• The headteacher provides a strong role model for pupils and for other members of staff alike during the lunchtime break. She and her colleagues are alert to pupils’ needs and well-being by, for example, gently encouraging pupils to eat a little more lunch before going out to play.
• Pupils like to keep the school clean and tidy. For example, those eating fruit during breaktimes take care to put any rubbish in the bin.
• Most parents who completed the online questionnaire feel that children are happy, safe and well behaved in school.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils behave sensibly and politely during lunchtime in the dining hall. During the inspection, conversations between pupils created a hum of happy chatter as pupils caught up with each other and ate their lunch.
• Pupils respond immediately to adults’ occasional and quiet reminders about their behaviour, such as not running inside the school.
• Sustained improvements in attendance since the previous inspection reflect leaders’ determination to make sure that all pupils achieve well. The attendance of some key groups has improved markedly. Disadvantaged pupils, pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and Gypsy, Roma, Traveller pupils attend more regularly than before and so make better progress. However, leaders recognise that some pupils do not attend regularly enough. They continue to work closely with leaders and agencies to support pupils’ attendance.
• Persistent absenteeism rates, while higher than the national average, have steadily declined since the previous inspection. Leaders are keenly aware, however, of the need to reduce the proportion of disadvantaged pupils who are persistently absent.
• Pupils on roll in the resource provision are fully integrated in all aspects of school life. They behave very well.
• Most pupils are attentive and well behaved during lessons. However, some pupils lose focus at times and become disengaged. While this rarely disturbs their neighbours’ work, their own learning slows.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils’ progress has improved across both key stages since the previous inspection. Pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Pupils’ attainment has improved substantially at both key stages since the previous inspection. In 2015, standards in reading, writing and mathematics were in line with national averages at the end of both key stages for the first time in the school’s history. The results of the 2016 national assessments indicate that improvements in teaching and outcomes have been sustained.
• Pupils make good progress in mathematics. They learn to use different strategies successfully to solve mathematical problems and, by the end of Year 6, are well prepared for the next stage of their mathematical education.
• Pupils like to read and many read avidly. They enjoy weekly visits to the school library, choosing from the wide range of books available in school. They say that their teachers encourage them to choose ‘harder books’ from time to time so that their reading skills improve.
• Pupils make good progress in a wide range of subjects. In science, they develop a good understanding of investigative skills, such as fair testing and making predictions. They learn how to record experiments clearly and consistently, relating conclusions to their results.
• Pupils take care to complete and present their work neatly and attractively. Substantial improvements in their handwriting mean that they write more fluidly and confidently than before.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, including those who are on roll in the resource-based provision, make rapid progress. Strong relationships, effective questioning and high expectations ensure that pupils develop confident personal skills and achieve well.
• Significant increases in the proportions of pupils achieving expected levels in the Year 1 phonics check in 2015 reflect improvements in the teaching of fundamental reading and writing skills. As a result, pupils are more securely equipped with key literacy skills by the end of Year 2.
• The results of the Year 1 phonics check were not quite as high in 2016, when a number of pupils moved into Year 1 from other schools. However, effective teaching has ensured that all pupils have caught up with where they need to be to achieve well.
• The standard of written work completed by all pupils, including the most able and those who are disadvantaged, has improved markedly. Pupils’ work indicates a growing confidence in using and manipulating language for effect. However, some pupils in key stage 2 do not achieve their full potential in writing because they do not have secure spelling strategies to support their writing.
• Improved teaching and closer checks on the progress of disadvantaged pupils have had a positive impact and these pupils are doing better than they were. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils achieving expected levels in the Year 1 phonics check has doubled since the previous inspection. Differences between disadvantaged pupils’ attainment and that of others nationally at the end of key stage 1 diminished in 2015. While it was too soon for these improvements to have made a significant difference at the end of key stage 2, pupils’ work indicates rising standards across key stage 2 as these improvements pick up momentum.

Early years provision Outstanding

• The early years leader provides outstanding leadership. She is a confident and accomplished practitioner. She responds with extreme skill to children’s individual needs and interests and is as excited as the children about their learning.
• Teachers and other adults in early years emulate the leader’s strong example. All adults skilfully talk with children about their learning so that children sustain interest in activities for extended periods of time. Individual children are often oblivious to the activities of others around them because they are completely engaged in what they are doing.
• Children make exceptional progress from starting points which are often much lower than typical levels. The proportion of children achieving a good level of development has increased substantially since the previous inspection. The percentages were in line with national averages in 2015, with a further increase in 2016. As a result, children are very well prepared for the next stage of their education.
• Disadvantaged children get an excellent start to their education. All disadvantaged children achieved a good level of development in 2016.
• Children’s learning journeys record the excellent progress children make during their time in early years. For example, the development of children’s drawings of people develop from immature faces to detailed self-portraits, reflecting the strong progress children make in their physical, personal and imaginative development.
• Children settle incredibly quickly and behave exceptionally well. Children respond extremely well to adults’ very high expectations. They hang on their teachers’ every word and gesture with rapt concentration. During the inspection, children were engrossed in wide-ranging and stimulating activities, both in the classrooms and in the outdoor areas, just three days into the school year.
• Adults have very high expectations of all children, regardless of starting points or backgrounds. In 2016, a substantial proportion of children exceeded expected levels in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Reception.
• Activities about the children, the school and the local community help to build a strong sense of identity and belonging. Examples of writing completed at home illustrate the strong links between school and parents. For example, one child’s sensitive and lively drawing of a blackbird seen on the way to school was carefully included in her learning journal. Teachers display children’s work with care so that children feel welcomed and valued.
• The early years leader has developed robust procedures for assessing, recording and checking children’s progress. The whole early years team work together to collect assessments, both formal and informal, completed during each day. These are used as working tools to plan and shape subsequent activities, taking individual children’s interests into account.
• Children make remarkable progress in their writing. Children’s writing moves from very limited mark-making to correct letter formation at an age-appropriate level.
• Teachers ensure that there are many opportunities for children to write. Adults are alert to opportunities to extend children’s learning, including the most able, when they are ready to do so. For example, during the inspection, children widely wrote about activities in a very natural way. Some children matched bugs to pictures on a checklist, ticking each one off as it was discovered, while others wrote out lists of tools they needed in the garage play area.
• Leaders make sure that early years areas are well organised and safe. They give safeguarding a very high priority. Strong relationships and happy children are a feature of the early years classes.
• Adults use practical equipment very well to support children’s mathematical progress. For example, during the inspection, children used bricks to make big and little bridges while developing a concept of size and the language of comparison. Children move on to use written methods as the year progresses.
• Children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make the same very rapid progress as their classmates. Teachers focus daily support on children’s specific needs, such as speech and language skills, number or phonics development. Leaders quickly involve agencies, such as speech and language therapy, wherever they feel that children need specialist support.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 135459 Wokingham 10012316 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Voluntary aided 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 265 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Caroline Blackman Jacqui Kearney 01189 787173 www.allsaints.wokingham.sch.uk admin@allsaints.wokingham.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 15–16 July 2014

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school is an average-sized primary school.
• The proportion of pupils supported by pupil premium funding is higher than that found in most schools.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above the national average.
• Most pupils are of White British heritage. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is lower than the national average.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.
• The school provides part-time early years provision in a Nursery class and full-time provision in two Reception classes.
• The school has a special resource unit. Five pupils who have complex special educational needs and/or disabilities are currently on roll. The pupils are fully integrated into mainstream classes.

Information about this inspection

• The inspection team observed learning in 27 lessons or part-lessons, including five observed jointly with the headteacher and two completed with the early years leader.
• The inspection team held discussions with the headteacher, senior leaders, a local authority representative, a diocesan representative, teachers, members of staff, parents and pupils. A meeting also took place with the chair of the governing body and five other governors.
• The inspection team took account of the 75 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire. In addition, inspectors considered the views expressed by parents who spoke with them informally during the school day.
• The inspection team observed the school’s work and considered a range of documents, including the improvement plan, information about pupils’ progress and attendance, and safeguarding policies.
• The inspection team looked at a sample of pupils’ work provided by the school, as well as looking at pupils’ work in lessons. They also listened to pupils in Year 2 and Year 6 reading.

Inspection team

Julie Sackett, lead inspector Bruce Waelend Patricia Wright

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector