Evendons Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Continue to develop new leaders’ roles and skills as the school grows to capacity.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

• The inspirational headteacher leads the school with a quiet thoughtfulness. Since the school opened in 2014, he has led the development of the school superbly well. Pupils, staff, governors and parents are part of a harmonious community where the core values of ‘nurture, inspire, flourish’ are fundamental in securing pupils’ outstanding achievement and behaviour. Parents praise the school for ‘going the extra mile to capture children’s imagination and make learning fun’.
• Leaders and governors have an accurate and thorough knowledge of the school’s strengths and areas for further improvement. Areas identified as needing further development are improved swiftly. Consequently, leaders and governors are well placed to continue to run the school highly effectively.
• Leaders use assessment information very well to identify any groups that show signs of underachievement. For example, leaders act promptly and effectively to accelerate the progress of pupils who join the school part way through the year, so that they make strong progress.
• Pupil premium funding and special educational needs funding are used very effectively. Leaders provide extra help and teaching for these pupils. They track the impact of this support very well, adjusting quickly how the funding is spent so that pupils’ changing needs are comprehensively met. As a result, disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make strong progress.
• Subject leaders across the whole curriculum provide highly effective support for their colleagues. For example, the leader of science supports teachers to plan activities which encourage pupils to think scientifically. The phonics leader ensures that there is a clear progression for pupils learning phonics from Reception Year through to Year 2.
• The curriculum is superb. The core skills of reading, writing and mathematics are taught especially well alongside other subjects. In a project about stars, pupils produced their own play based on a poem about the epiphany by TS Eliot, produced artwork in the style of Van Gogh’s ‘The Starry Night’ and studied the distance between the stars that make up constellations.
• There are numerous opportunities for pupils to experience aspects of the topics they learn about. For example, adults brought in motorcycles so that pupils could learn about engines, and pupils visited an ancient farm to see how people lived in the Iron Age. Such activities inspire pupils to want to learn more, which results in a culture that enables pupils to excel.
• Leaders ensure that science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects, known as ‘STEM’, have a high profile in the curriculum. The school recently hosted a ‘STEM fair’ for pupils, including those from visiting schools, to speak to representatives from local businesses about why they think STEM subjects are important. Parents regularly hold assemblies to discuss their careers with pupils. As a result, pupils are being very well prepared for later life, aspiring to such careers as structural engineering and medicine.
• Pupils attend a vast array of extra-curricular clubs to further develop their love of learning and to promote healthy lifestyles, such as cross-country running, Lego club and young engineers.
• Leaders plan pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development as a key part of the curriculum. Pupils sensitively debate a variety of topics from a young age. Pupils in Year 2 voiced sophisticated opinions about refugees. In Year 3, pupils discussed the differing rights of children across the world and their feelings if they were not allowed to attend school. Through such discussions, pupils celebrate diversity and display fundamental British values very well. They are being exceptionally well prepared for life in modern Britain.
• The sport premium funding is used effectively to increase pupils’ activity levels and to offer an increasingly broad range of sports activities in school. Pupils spoke enthusiastically about enjoying basketball in particular.
• Leaders and governors ensure that staff are well trained so that they have a strong understanding of their roles and responsibilities. They recognise the need to create new leadership positions to support the further development of the school as it grows to capacity.

Governance of the school

• Governance is very strong. Governors have shown determination in setting up Evendons School. They are exceptionally well trained and have made sure that they possess the skills needed to oversee a growing school. They demonstrate a precise understanding of the school’s strengths and areas which need further development. They use their knowledge and skills to challenge and support leaders especially well.
• Governors oversee the school’s current expansion and building works admirably. They carry out their statutory duties very well, including making sure that safeguarding procedures are in place and followed efficiently and that the school’s website is up to date and accurate. Governors ensure that additional funding for disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is used precisely and effectively.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• There is a strong culture of safeguarding in the school. Adults are well trained in safeguarding and child protection procedures. They report any concerns promptly and follow these up with outside agencies efficiently if pupils need extra help.
• Leaders make certain that recruitment procedures are robust and that all appropriate checks on adults working at the school are carried out rigorously.
• Risk assessments to ensure that building work is safe and that pupils are safe on educational visits are detailed and thorough.
• Pupils feel safe in school and know who to talk to if they have any concerns. They are confident that they will be listened to sensitively. Pupils are helped to understand risk, including when online. For example, they know not to give out personal details when online. Parents agree that their children are safe.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

• Teaching is outstanding because teachers use their excellent subject knowledge to plan and teach lessons which enthuse pupils in their learning. Teachers and other adults know pupils extremely well and are determined that they achieve highly. They use assessment information skilfully to make sure that tasks contain the right amount of challenge. They leave no stone unturned to enable pupils to make strong progress across the whole curriculum. As one parent said, ‘Teachers are creating a hunger for learning.’
• Teachers use questions to advance pupils’ thinking skills very well so that pupils develop a strong understanding of new concepts. Teachers’ questions encourage pupils to use increasingly complex language to express their thoughts and opinions. Homework tasks help pupils to synthesise their knowledge and to evaluate different options well.
• Teachers create an inclusive and nurturing environment for those pupils living in challenging circumstances. Teachers and teaching assistants work collaboratively to support the individual welfare and learning needs of disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Learning is tailored carefully to build on what these pupils already know, understand and can do, so that they typically make strong progress and many attain in line with their peers.
• Phonics is taught very well and often imaginatively. In Year 1, pupils dressed as pirates avoided walking the plank by working out the correct vowel sounds of words. Pupils helped each other to say the right sounds. Adults provided more challenging words for the most able pupils.
• Teaching in mathematics is very effective, so that pupils develop their reasoning skills especially well. Pupils use problem-solving skills very well to work out the right calculation needed to answer word problems correctly. In Year 4, pupils chose between different methods of calculation when attempting multiplication problems. Those who needed to used counting resources highly effectively to increase their understanding, while others explored the pros and cons of more complex methods.
• Writing is taught consistently well across the whole curriculum. Adults often provide pupils with real experiences to encourage pupils to write in detail. Pupils plan their writing skilfully, thinking carefully about grammar and how sentences are structured. In Year 3, pupils used their experiences with a visiting dog to choose effective, alliterative words to make a poem more interesting. In art, pupils wrote at length to describe the portraits they had created. This especially inspired some boys who had been reluctant to write at length in the past.
• Teaching regularly challenges stereotypes. ‘Dare to be different’ activities promote women who have taken up scientific careers. In religious education, pupils learn about a broad spectrum of religions, including atheism.
• Adults make sure that pupils understand from a young age how to improve their work and why this is important. In Year 1, pupils focus on improving their accuracy when forming letters and words. This is systematically developed so that older pupils spot incorrect spellings and adjust their use of paragraphing. The most able pupils challenge each other to use increasingly complex sentences and tenses.
• Pupils love the challenge of learning. Pupils’ pride in their learning is seen in the presentation of their work. They enjoy seeing their work displayed about the school and feel especially proud when something they have written is shared with others, for example by being published online or in the local newspaper. In history, pupils used computers to carefully edit their stories about Greek myths, which they published as a class book. They chose interesting descriptive words and made sure that their sentence structures were complex and accurate.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• Leaders have created an excellent community atmosphere where pupils celebrate each other’s similarities and differences. ‘House days’ and ‘working parties’ see pupils, staff and parents join in with activities such as celebrating Chinese New Year and working together to create new pathways in the school grounds. Such activities play a key part in cementing the inclusive ethos of Evendons. As one parent said, ‘My daughter loves the variety of activities and caring ethos of this school. She is flourishing.’
• Adults know pupils and their families very well. The most vulnerable pupils, including those who are disadvantaged or who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, are supported especially well. Leaders work highly effectively with outside agencies when pupils need extra help, following up issues promptly and keeping accurate, detailed records.
• Pupils say that they feel very safe in school. Poor behaviour and bullying are very rare. Pupils do not use inappropriate language or prejudice-based name-calling and know that it would not be tolerated. Pupils say that adults sort things out quickly on the rare occasions where pupils do fall out or say something unkind. Parents agree that their children feel safe and are looked after very well.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. Their attitudes to learning are exemplary and their conduct, both in lessons and around the school, is excellent. Pupils cooperate very well with each other in their work and play, reflecting the school’s mantra that ‘kindness matters’. For example, in a Year 4 lesson, one pupil quietly told his friend ‘well done’ for answering a difficult question correctly. Such friendly attitudes help pupils who are new to the school to settle in quickly.
• Classrooms are productive places. Pupils told inspectors that the best thing about school is ‘learning’. They say that that enjoy it when learning is challenging because they know that they will always be supported by the teacher and teaching assistants. This highlights the attitude of mutual respect and politeness between adults and pupils at Evendons.
• Attendance is above average and most pupils rarely miss a day of school. Leaders work very effectively with pupils and their families to make sure that the very few pupils who do not attend school regularly enough are helped to attend more frequently.

Outcomes for pupils Outstanding

• Pupils make excellent progress across all curriculum areas. Many attain highly. This is because teachers monitor pupils’ learning well and use the information they collect about pupils’ progress skilfully to provide extra teaching for any pupil who is in danger of falling behind or who needs help to catch up.
• At the end of key stage 1, pupils consistently attain standards above those of others nationally in reading, writing and mathematics. A much greater proportion of pupils than nationally achieve the greater depth standard. This includes a considerable number of pupils who sustain strong progress from average starting points.
• In key stage 2, pupils’ rates of progress accelerate, particularly the progress of pupils who have joined the school during the key stage. Pupils attain increasingly highly the longer they have been in the school.
• Disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make rapid progress from their starting points. So, too, do pupils who speak English as an additional language. This is because of carefully selected additional help provided by teaching assistants and teachers.
• Pupils achieve highly across a broad range of subjects because the well-designed curriculum and strong teaching allow pupils to acquire knowledge and skills quickly. All pupils learn a musical instrument which they practise at home as part of their homework. Themed topics, often with science at the heart of them, incorporate different aspects of learning so that pupils have a deep understanding of how subjects link together in the real world. In a project about islands, Year 1 pupils created their own volcanoes and made scientific predictions about what would happen when the teacher used vinegar and bicarbonate of soda to make them erupt. They confidently used scientific words to help explain their thinking.
• Pupils read assuredly and show high levels of engagement when exploring books. Pupils read regularly at school and at home. The most able readers read challenging texts. One pupil enthusiastically explained the context of the story he was reading, explaining that different characters sometimes have different perspectives about the same event. Pupils who need it get extra help with reading. For example, pupils who need to improve their confidence in reading out loud happily read books to a visiting dog. Other pupils use their strong understanding of phonics to sound out unfamiliar words, which helps them to make strong progress as they read.
• Pupils consistently achieve above national expectations in the phonics screening check. This year, a few pupils achieved just below the national expectation. However, they made strong progress from low starting points because of precisely targeted help and teaching. Nearly all pupils who do not meet the standard in Year 1 catch up rapidly and apply their skills very well in Year 2.
• Leaders have highly effectively addressed a slight dip in the achievement of a few boys. They have adapted the curriculum so that it provides more activities which encourage boys to want to participate in their learning. This is working very well, particularly in writing and reading.

Early years provision Outstanding

• The early years environment stimulates children’s imaginations wonderfully. Leaders provide activities, both inside and outside, which match all the areas of the curriculum extremely well and engross children in their learning. Children especially like the large woodland area where they play cooperatively in the woodland kitchen and log cabin.
• Leaders and governors are highly ambitious for children in the early years. Their reflective and responsive approach to adapting and improving the environment and curriculum since the school opened means that children make increasingly rapid progress. Activities are superbly well planned and managed to build on pupils’ understanding and interests.
• The curriculum builds on first-hand experiences such as looking after ducklings or talking to local experts such as a visiting diver. Children then use these experiences in their play and learning. For example, children developed their language skills well by using diving-related words as they pretended to explore like a diver.
• Children join the school with skills and knowledge that are below those found typically. From these low starting points, children make strong progress so that more achieved a good level of development than seen nationally in 2015 and 2016. Current children are making similarly strong progress.
• Teachers skilfully use the information they collect about children’s progress to intervene effectively if a child appears to be falling behind. This year, a few children struggled with developing their writing skills. Carefully targeted extra teaching from teachers and teaching assistants has meant that these pupils have made strong progress so that they are well prepared for Year 1. Detailed liaison between teachers in Reception Year and Year 1 about what pupils can and cannot yet do means that pupils build on their strong start as they progress up the school.
• Communication between teachers and parents is of high quality, so parents are kept well informed of their child’s progress. Parents’ observations of what children can do at home feed in to teachers’ planning for their next steps very well. Children were excited about the end-of-year ‘Reception camp’ where they will camp overnight with their parents in the school grounds and show them how they learn in school.
• Teachers set challenging tasks for children. In phonics, children with clipboards hunted for words with similar sounds. At first, some found this hard, but they persevered in their pursuit of wanting to get it right. Adults’ adept intervention kept children on track and helped them to be successful, particularly those children learning English as an additional language.
• Children make strong progress in mathematics so that they consistently achieve standards above national expectations. In a science-based activity, children used stopwatches to time each other racing. Expert questioning from the teaching assistant encouraged children to use time-related words accurately as they made predictions about how long the race would take. This learning was later reinforced when telling the teacher how the class ducklings were developing over time.
• Children develop their social and communication skills very well. They behave beautifully, learning cooperation and independence through their play. For example, children successfully carried a large bowl of water across the field for the ducklings to swim in. They then took turns to discuss with the teacher how the ducklings used their feet to swim.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 140953 Wokingham 10032821 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Academy free school Age range of pupils 4 to 9 at present, 4 to 11 in the future Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 225 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Helen Thorndyke Patrick Pritchett 01189 791 054 www.evendons-primary.co.uk/ office@evendons-primary.co.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• Evendons Primary School opened in September 2014 as a two-form-entry free school. There are currently 225 pupils in the school. By September 2020, the school should reach a capacity of 350 pupils, which is larger than the national average.
• The proportion of pupils from multi-ethnic backgrounds and the proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language are just below the national average.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is below the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above the national average.
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed learning in 15 lessons, including several jointly with senior leaders.
• Inspectors met with senior leaders, middle leaders and groups of teachers and pupils. The lead inspector met with a group of governors and a representative from the local authority and spoke with a representative from the Department for Education on the telephone.
• Inspectors worked alongside school leaders to review the work of a cross section of pupils.
• To gain their views of the school, inspectors spoke informally with pupils in lessons and around the school, met with groups of pupils more formally and considered the 88 responses to the online pupil survey. They also listened to pupils read.
• Inspectors spoke to parents informally and took account of the 221 responses to the online Parent View questionnaire, including 68 free-text comments.
• Inspectors considered the 31 responses to the confidential staff survey.

Inspection team

Catherine Old, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Cathy Burnham Ofsted Inspector