Cookham Dean CofE Primary School

Age group 4–11 Inspection date(s) 16–17 May 2012 Inspection number 395668 Cookham Dean Church of England Primary School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 109960 Local authority Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Inspection number 395668 Inspection dates 16–17 May 2012 Lead inspector Keith Sadler

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Type of school Primary School category Voluntary aided Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 174 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Steve Hollis Headteacher Judith Mackie Date of previous school inspection 13 February 2008 School address Bigfrith Lane Cookham Dean Maidenhead SL6 9PH Telephone number 01628 482734 Fax number 01628 476804 Email address cookhamdean@rbwm.org achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked

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after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of pe ople. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when.

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You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk, or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days’ notice. The inspectors observed teaching and learning in 16 lessons or parts of lessons taught by seven different teachers or practitioners totalling eight hours of observation. The inspectors held meetings with members of the governing body, staff, parents and carers, and groups of pupils. Inspectors took account of the responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection, observed the school’s work and looked at a wide range of documentation. This included: the school’s analysis of pupils’ progress; teachers’ lesson plans; the school improvement plan; leaders’ monitoring records; and pupils’ work. Questionnaires from 98 parents and carers, together with others from staff and pupils, were analysed and their responses taken into account.

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Information about the school

Cookham Dean is a smaller than average-sized primary school. It is heavily oversubscribed and is growing in size. In this school year, the school has a separate class for each year group for the first time. The very large majority of pupils are of White British heritage and the proportion known to be eligible for free school meals is well below average. The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, including those with statements of special need or school action support, is below average. The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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Information about the school

There has been a change in headship since the previous inspection. The current headteacher has been in post on a full-time basis since September 2011. In the previous two years, she shared the headship with another headteacher on a part- time basis. The school has achieved Healthy School status. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Key findings

 This is a good school. From above-average starting points, pupils achieve well. By Year 6 pupils’ attainment is significantly above average in mathematics and writing and it is exceptionally high in reading. The school is not outstanding because teaching is not yet outstanding and pupils have insufficient opportunities to apply their information and communication technology (ICT) skills in other subjects.

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Key findings

 Children make better than expected progress in the Reception class and this provides a solid platform. Progress is good in Years 1 to 6. They enjoy reading and make excellent progress because it is taught well. An effective and well- structured programme in the Reception class and Key Stage 1 that links sounds to letters (phonics) gives pupils a particularly good start in their reading. Attainment, while above average is not as high in mathematics as it is in English. This is because too few opportunities are provided for pupils to practise their calculation skills in practical mathematics investigations.

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Key findings

 Almost all teaching is good and at times it is outstanding. Teachers make good use of individual targets for pupils and they manage them well. Even so, their planning does not always provide sufficient challenge to meet the different learning needs of all groups of pupils. Furthermore, teachers do not make sufficiently strong links to promote writing activities in other subjects.

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Key findings

 Pupils’ behaviour is good in lessons and around the school. They are motivated by their work, concentrate well, and thrive when working collaboratively. In consequence, they enjoy learning.   The headteacher’s leadership has outstanding qualities. She is supported well by all the staff. Monitoring and evaluation procedures are thorough and accurate. This, when linked to the rigorous performance management processes and focused continuing professional development, ensures that there is continuous improvement in provision and pupils’ progress. Outcomes from Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Key findings

the parental questionnaires were very positive.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Lift the quality of teaching and learning in Years 1 to 6 from good to outstanding by:  providing more opportunities for pupils to develop their practical mathematical skills  ensuring that activities are invariably challenging for all groups of pupils  consistently providing for pupils’ writing development in a range of subjects.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen provision in ICT by ensuring that there are sufficient computer resources to enable pupils to use them as part of everyday classroom practice.

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Achievement of pupils

Children enter the Reception class with levels of skills and knowledge that are above those expected for children of their age. They settle well because provision is outstanding and there is a suitably strong focus on the children’s welfare and well- being. Almost all meet the expected goals, and many exceed them on entry into Year 1. Attainment in reading at the end of Year 6 is exceptionally high and that for writing and science significantly above the national average. In mathematics, attainment dipped to average levels in 2011 following a period when results were significantly above average. Senior staff are keenly aware that attainment was hampered because there have been too few opportunities for pupils to practise their excellent calculation skills in practical activities. However, this is being addressed, but these skills still lag behind pupils’ knowledge in numeracy. Current Year 6 pupils are

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Achievement of pupils

on course to attain high standards and a majority of pupils in Year 5 are already working at levels expected at the end of Year 6 in mathematics as well as in English. Attainment in reading is particularly strong because pupils are taught letters and sounds well and this is supplemented by effective teaching. In consequence attainment at the end of Year 2 is exceptionally high. By the time that they reach Year 6, almost all pupils are fluent readers and reach the higher level. They have a real enjoyment of reading and most say that they read for pleasure outside school. Year 6 pupils thoroughly enjoy reading longer novels. They talk enthusiastically and knowledgeably about characters of their favourite authors such as JK Rowling and Tolkien. They compare and contrast characterisation of the wizards Dumbledore and Gandalf exceptionally well.

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Achievement of pupils

All groups of pupils, including boys and girls, disabled pupils, those who have special educational needs and those that are known to be eligible for free school meals, make good progress in Years 1 to 6. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Achievement of pupils

During the inspection, pupils made good progress in almost all lessons. They thoroughly enjoy learning and they respond positively because teachers generally plan work that they find motivating. As one Year 6 pupil suggested, ‘Our teachers make each of us feel special and equal.’ Pupils particularly relish the many opportunities that teachers provide for them to work in pairs or groups. In a successful Year 4 lesson, for example, pupils were undertaking some challenging work when multiplying two and three digits by 10 or 100 within the contexts of both weight and money. Because the challenge was high and the lesson well resourced, pupils enjoyed the task, helped each other and many worked at levels expected at the end of Year 6.

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Achievement of pupils

Almost all parents and carers responding to the questionnaire feel that their children make good progress, have good basic skills and that the school helps them to support their child’s learning. Inspection findings confirm these views. Many made positive comments summarised by the parent who wrote, ‘We recently moved our children to this school. The difference in them is dramatic. They are happier and both are making excellent progress. We are delighted.’

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Quality of teaching

Inspection findings confirm the views of almost all parents and carers when they said that the quality of teaching is good. Teaching in Years 1 to 6 is almost always good and is outstanding in the Reception Year. Provision here is rich and the teacher cleverly builds on the children’s interests and ideas when planning work. Currently, the outside area has been transformed into a ‘Jubilee Camp’ and the children delight in planning the location and equipment needed for their camping trip. The teacher’s excellent questioning successfully extended the children’s expressive language as they clarified their ideas.

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Quality of teaching

In Years 1 to 6, pupils make good progress in lessons over time. In almost all lessons, pupils are clear about the learning objective and the steps they need to take to meet success criteria. The teaching of reading is particularly successful because there is a common approach adopted throughout the school and the good teaching of phonics in the Reception and Years 1 and 2 classes enables teachers in Key Stage 2 to accelerate learning by regular guided reading sessions. Relationships are excellent in all classes and each has a calm and purposeful atmosphere. Marking is excellent. It is thorough and comprehensive with staff making supportive comments that are invariably focused on learning objectives. Next steps are made explicit. In most lessons, teachers show good subject knowledge, they plan the activities thoughtfully and the pace of learning is usually good. However, on occasions, teachers do not ensure that work is pitched at a challenging level for all groups of

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Quality of teaching

pupils. This leads to some pupils going over work that they already understand.

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Quality of teaching

Recent changes to the curriculum, which is now providing themes across all the Key Stage 2 classes, enhance learning because work is providing a clear focus across a range of subjects. Even so, plans do not always include opportunities for pupils to practise writing in other subjects. However, this is not always the case and there are Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Quality of teaching

examples of diary writing, for example, in the current Key Stage 2 topic of ‘Invaders and Settlers’.

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Quality of teaching

Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development was evident in most lessons. They value the opinions of others, behaved well and enjoyed working cooperatively. In the Key Stage 1 classes, pupils are encouraged to develop a good sense of right and wrong by creating and then adhering to school routines.

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Quality of teaching

The teaching of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is particularly effective. Their learning is supported well by the well-trained teaching assistants. They ensure that these pupils are clear about their targets. Furthermore, they give good and structured support to enable them to learn as well as their classmates.

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Quality of teaching

Almost all parents and carers feel that their children are taught well and prepared effectively for the next stage of their education. Inspection findings support these views.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils are polite and respectful of each other. They behave well in lessons and around school and discussions with pupils show this to be typical. They are confident and they feel safe at school and this is echoed by parents and carers. School records indicate that there are very few incidents of bullying. Pupils agree. ‘Of course there are some children who we have to help to behave better’, said one Year 6 pupil, ‘but we manage to do this for everyone.’ Pupils have a good understanding of the different forms of bullying and they have confidence that if there are any problems the staff will help them out. Racist incidents are even less common, and pupils show mutual respect for each other at all times. Pupils have a good understanding of potentially dangerous situations. The good personal and social development curriculum ensures that pupils are well aware of safe and appropriate use of the internet.

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Leadership and management

The headteacher’s vision, determination and commitment to improvement is shared by the staff and governing body. The good quality teaching has been maintained and built upon. This is the result of a rigorous performance management programme which has led to an effective programme of professional development for all staff; this, in turn, has ensured that pupils’ progress has remained good. A knowledgeable governing body supports the school well. The governing body ensures that all regulatory requirements for the safeguarding of pupils and staff vetting procedures are fully in place. Governors have a clear view of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement because of their active involvement in monitoring the school’s provision and pupils’ progress.

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Leadership and management

The school’s ethos is influential in promoting the good spiritual, moral, social and Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Leadership and management

cultural development of the pupils. The curriculum has been reviewed to create opportunities for enjoyable learning that are based on the pupils’ interests and experiences. Staff are starting to ensure that links are developing between subjects as work is increasingly focused on topic themes. Even so, over time, there have been insufficient opportunities for literacy writing to be applied across a range of subjects. In addition, the poor quality of computers means that the curriculum for ICT, while effective when taught in discrete lessons, is limited because staff are not able to consistently make use of these routinely in lessons.

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Leadership and management

School leaders are successful in promoting equality of opportunity and discrimination of any kind is not tolerated. The school’s effective systems for tracking pupils’ progress enable any that are in danger of slipping behind to be quickly identified and given additional support.

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Leadership and management

The school’s self-evaluation is accurate and clearly focused on the correct priorities. It stems from an effective programme of monitoring and evaluation. This success demonstrates that the school has the capacity to sustain improvement in the future.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding These features are highly effective. An outstanding school provides exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. Grade 2 Good These are very positive features of a school. A school that is good is serving its pupils well. Grade 3 Satisfactory These features are of reasonable quality. A satisfactory school is providing adequately for its pupils. Grade 4 Inadequate These features are not of an acceptable standard. An inadequate school needs to make significant improvement in order to meet the needs of its pupils. Ofsted inspectors will make further visits until it improves.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Nursery schools 54 42 2 2 Primary schools 14 49 32 6 Secondary schools 20 39 34 7 Special schools 33 45 20 3 Pupil referral units 9 55 28 8 All schools 16 47 31 6

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

New school inspection arrangements have been introduced from 1 January 2012. This means that inspectors make judgements that were not made previously. The data in the table above are for the period 1 September to 31 December 2011 and represent judgements that were made under the school inspection arrangements that were introduced on 1 September 2009. These data are consistent with the latest published official statistics about maintained school inspection outcomes (see www.ofsted.gov.uk). The sample of schools inspected during 2010/11 was not representative of all schools nationally, as weaker schools are inspected more frequently than good or outstanding schools. Primary schools include primary academy converters. Secondary schools include secondary academy converters, sponsor-led academies and city technology colleges. Special schools include special academy converters and non-maintained special schools.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning and development taking account of their attainment.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attainment: the standard of the pupils’ work shown by test and examination results and in lessons.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attendance: the regular attendance of pupils at school and in lessons, taking into account the school’s efforts to encourage good attendance.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Behaviour: how well pupils behave in lessons, with emphasis on their attitude to learning. Pupils’ punctuality to lessons and their conduct around the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving based on its self-evaluation and what the school has accomplished so far and on the quality of its systems to maintain improvement.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Floor standards: the national minimum expectation of attainment and progression measures.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Leadership and management: the contribution of all the staff with responsibilities, not just the governors and headteacher, to identifying priorities, directing and motivating staff and running the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Learning: how well pupils acquire knowledge, develop their understanding, learn and practise skills and are developing their competence as learners.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Overall effectiveness: inspectors form a judgement on a school’s overall effectiveness based on the findings from their inspection of the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Progress: the rate at which pupils are learning in lessons and over longer periods of time. It is often measured by comparing the pupils’ attainment at the end of a key stage with their attainment when they started.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Safety: how safe pupils are in school, including in lessons, and their understanding of risks. Pupils’ freedom from bullying and harassment. How well the school promotes safety, for example e-learning.

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

main findings from the inspection of their school.

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Inspection of Cookham Dean C of E Primary School, Maidenhead SL6 9PH

On behalf of the inspection team, I would like to thank you for making us feel so welcome when we visited your school. We really enjoyed our time with you and watching your learning. We particularly enjoyed your beautiful two part singing in assembly. We were pleased with your enthusiasm for your work and the progress you are making, especially in English and mathematics.

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Inspection of Cookham Dean C of E Primary School, Maidenhead SL6 9PH

We have judged that yours is a good school. You behave well, get on very well together and value each other well. We know from talking with you and from your questionnaires that you like coming to school and you enjoy your learning. This is because the teachers try to make the work interesting and fun so you are making good progress. It is good to hear that both you and your parents or carers say that you feel safe in school.

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Inspection of Cookham Dean C of E Primary School, Maidenhead SL6 9PH

Although yours is a good school, we have asked your headteacher, staff and the governing body to make some changes to help it to improve further. We have asked that you get more opportunities for you to develop your practical mathematical skills. We have also asked your teachers to make sure that they always provide you with challenging activities whether you find learning easy or hard. Next we have asked your teachers to make sure that they plan lots of writing activities for you when you are studying your topics. Finally, we have asked for your school to have more ICT resources, particularly computers, so that you can make use of them in most lessons.

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Inspection of Cookham Dean C of E Primary School, Maidenhead SL6 9PH

We are confident that you will want to help too. You can do this by trying your best at all times and working hard to meet your targets. We would like to wish you all the very best in the future at Cookham Dean and also when you move on to your next school.

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Inspection of Cookham Dean C of E Primary School, Maidenhead SL6 9PH

Keith Sadler Lead Inspector procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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