Boyne Hill CofE Infant and Nursery School

Boyne Hill Church of England Infants and Nursery School Rutland Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 4HZ

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Outstanding 1 This inspection: Outstanding 1 Achievement of pupils Outstanding 1 Quality of teaching Outstanding 1 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Outstanding 1

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school.  Pupils make excellent progress from low starting points so that by the end of Key Stage 1 standards are at or a little above national averages in English and mathematics. Progress and attainment are particularly strong in writing.  Teaching is outstanding as it has delivered excellent outcomes for pupils, many of whom have come from very low starting points.  The progress pupils make is reviewed regularly, and any pupils making slower progress are identified swiftly and support provided. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make similar progress to other pupils.  By the end of Reception, children make at least good progress in most areas, and outstanding progress in communication and personal development given such low starting points.  Teachers match work very effectively to the abilities of the pupils so that the work is not too easy or too hard. At times, pupils do not

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

have clear enough guidance on what they are expected to achieve in the lesson.  The classroom support available in lessons and in small-group work is very effective and enables learners of all abilities to make accelerated progress.  Pupils feel safe and happy. Their behaviour and attitudes to learning are exemplary, both in lessons and around the school.  The school is extremely well led by a very knowledgeable headteacher, who is supported by an experienced senior leadership team who constantly seek ways to improve the school.  The subjects are well planned and deliver exciting learning opportunities that enthuse pupils. The curriculum is broad and balanced, and builds on the work of previous years.  The gaps in skills between pupils eligible for additional support from the pupil premium grant and other pupils has been closed in mathematics and is less than a term in English.  The governing body is very committed, and is

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

effective in supporting and reviewing the work of the school leaders.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 10 lessons, one jointly with the headteacher.  Inspectors also observed a school assembly.  Meetings were held with groups of pupils, the Chair of the Governing Body, and the chairs of the teaching and learning committee and the finance committee. They also met with senior and middle leaders and a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors listened to pupils read and scrutinised samples of pupils’ workbooks.  Inspectors examined a wide range of documents, including the school’s information on pupils’ recent progress, as well as planning and documentation about checks on teaching, and records relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding arrangements.  Inspectors also took account of the 50 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View). During the inspection, a number of parents and carers shared their views with inspectors about the school. They also took account of the views of staff through the 22 staff questionnaires.

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Inspection team

David Hogg, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Jennifer Cutler Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Boyne Hill Church of England Infants and Nursery School is an average-sized infant school.  The proportion of pupils eligible for support through the pupil premium (additional funding for looked after children, pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and pupils with a parent or carer in the armed services) is lower than the national average. Currently, there are no children from service families in the school.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs supported through school action is slightly below the national average.  The proportion of pupils who are supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is much higher than the national average.  The proportion of pupils from ethnic backgrounds other than White British is much higher than average and the proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is high.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality and impact of pupils’ targets by: - providing targets that are even more closely linked to what children are currently working on, so that they clearly know what they are expected to be learning in a lesson or series of lessons.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Children enter the Nursery with levels of skill that are low for their age. For many, their personal development, language and communication skills are particularly weak. Through very effective teaching, they make exceptional progress in most skill areas. Children’s progress, especially in the development of literacy, speaking and listening skills, is excellent. Although they remain slightly below where they should be when they start Year 1, the progress children make by the end of Reception is at least good, and in the areas of communication and personal development, is outstanding given their starting points when they join the school.  The targets the school sets are very demanding, and the school has a history of exceeding both local authority and national expectations for pupil achievement. Over time, the attainment of Year 2 pupils has been above national averages in English and mathematics. Variation between

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

year groups does have an influence on the achievement profile of the school but the school’s own information shows any dips in attainment have been reversed.  Pupils are known as individuals and the progress they make is monitored closely through review meetings with the headteacher and class teacher. Pupils that may be making slower progress are identified and support is deployed quickly.  The progress pupils make from their starting points continues to be very rapid, especially in writing. Pupils can write extended pieces in different styles and can use punctuation correctly.  Pupils read well. The school has identified the need to develop the teaching of letters and sounds (phonics) further but pupils can use their knowledge of phonics effectively when reading unfamiliar words.  The school has invested in several teaching assistants in each class. High levels of support for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs have enabled them to make

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

excellent progress. The high adult-to-pupil ratio allows for close attention to all groups of pupils in a class and ensures that all pupils, regardless of their needs, receive the help and guidance throughout the lesson to succeed.  The progress made by pupils who speak English as an additional language, when compared with their peers in the school and nationally, is very good and a large number of pupils who started the school speaking very little English have made outstanding progress.  Support for pupils eligible for additional funding from the pupil premium grant has been highly effective in closing the gap in their skills compared to other pupils. The additional in-class support and targeted group work has meant the gap in attainment this year has been closed in mathematics and pupils are less than a term behind others in English.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 The quality of teaching and the support within the classroom are outstanding and have, over time, delivered excellent outcomes for pupils. Teachers use the information they hold to match the learning activities in lessons to the needs and abilities of the pupils. Relationships are good in class, and the positive working atmosphere promotes and enables learning to take place at a very good pace.  Teachers model the learning activities well and, although they are beginning to share what they want pupils to achieve, they are not always giving clear enough guidance or specific targets for pupils to work towards in lessons. Teachers do use questioning very effectively to make sure pupils know what they have to do and to assess how well pupils are learning.  Marking now provides pupils with better guidance on how to improve their work. The school is working to extend this further and to build in opportunities for pupils to respond quickly to the

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

feedback they receive.  The work of additional adults within classes is very effective in supporting learning and contributes enormously to the progress all groups of pupils make. They are very well qualified, and their work is well planned and supports pupils of different abilities. Teaching assistants often lead small group sessions with higher-ability pupils, for example in a Year 2 mathematics lesson during which pupils investigated using counting patterns to work out the area of rectangles.  In the Reception classes, interesting learning activities are available and children are able to choose the tasks they would like to investigate. The routines within the indoor and outdoor areas are well known and pupils are able to explore the activities with purpose.  Pupils feel lessons are full of fun activities and provide opportunities for them to make and do things in class. Pupils feel teachers ‘try to teach them in the easiest way’ and that they ‘will help

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

explain things if you get stuck’. Parents and carers are very positive about the quality of teaching and the excellent progress their children make regardless of their starting points.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils enjoy school enormously and say ‘we need to learn for the future’. They have very positive attitudes to learning and are very polite around school. Pupils get on with each other very well and out of class play happily together at break and lunchtime. The relationships between the pupils and the adults working with them are excellent, both in class where humour is used well between pupils and adults, and around school when pupils enjoy adults joining in with playground games such as skipping.  Incidents of poor behaviour in class are very rare, and pupils say that there is very little unkindness between pupils, and that although they may fall out with each other, bullying does not happen. They have a good awareness of personal safety through outside speakers and lessons, for example on computer safety. Pupils feel well looked after at school, and parents and carers overwhelmingly share this view.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The school works with outside agencies to secure additional support for vulnerable pupils when necessary. This care has enabled some pupils with some quite challenging needs to be integrated into the school and, furthermore, to be able to achieve and succeed. The school is rightly proud of the work it does with individual families and groups of parents and carers from the local community.  Attendance is just above the national average. The school has had to work hard with parents and carers to raise attendance and continues to do so, and as a result, there are few children who miss school regularly.  The school looks to widen pupils’ experiences with visits to places of interest such as the theatre or through clubs that range from tag rugby to zumba and sewing.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher and senior leadership team have worked very effectively to ensure the school is on a constant journey of improvement. When an area for development has been identified, action has been planned to address that aspect, and the outcomes are thoroughly reviewed by both the senior leadership team, and increasingly, by the governing body. The school’s self- review is accurate and well founded. The judgements on how to develop the school further by the headteacher, supported by other senior leaders, shows the school has excellent capacity to move forward and make further improvements.  The middle leaders are experienced and understand their roles well. All staff have a very good understanding of pupils’ progress information, and use it effectively to plan lessons that are not too easy or too hard. In addition, they are able to review information on pupils to ensure that they are all making rapid progress and to target support swiftly, if they are not.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The local authority provides a very light-touch support for the school. It values the expertise within the school and utilises the skills of the senior teachers to help other schools in the area. The school is highly regarded.  The quality of teaching and learning is closely monitored through formal and informal observations. This enables the senior leaders to identify training needs and to provide support if needed. The monitoring of the effectiveness of teaching is managed through robust performance review. Salary progression and incentives are closely linked to the outcomes for pupils.  The range of subjects provides rich opportunities for pupils to develop and apply skills in a range of subject areas such as art and music as well as in English and mathematics. The learning in different subjects and the opportunities provided through links with local groups and visits to places of significance such as the nearby Sikh Temple raise pupils’ awareness of other cultures.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

The school looks to introduce and explore with the pupils contemporary issues such as sustainability in projects including growing spaces for vegetables in the school grounds. Experiences such as these provide for and underpin the social, moral, spiritual and cultural development of the pupils.  The school looks to ensure there is equality of opportunity for all of its pupils. The care it takes to ensure all pupils thrive is exemplary. Parents and carers value the school and the work the staff do, and recognise how effective it is in nurturing their children. Safeguarding and child protection arrangements are in place and reviewed by the governing body, and are of high quality to ensure pupils are cared for and supported.  The governance of the school:  The governing body is very effective and knows the school well. Governors regularly visit the school, and review the financial position and safeguarding arrangements as required. They

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The leadership and management are outstanding

have an accurate view of the quality of teaching and an understanding of the links between the outcomes for pupils, performance management and the salary progression of staff. They have undertaken training provided by the local authority to raise their awareness of the role of governors and to develop the skills to check information on pupils’ progress effectively. This has meant they are increasingly confident in reviewing the information the school provides for them and are holding the school to account for the outcomes of the pupils. They check the progress of groups of pupils such as those in receipt of pupil premium funding to ensure that it is being used effectively.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is

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Grade Judgement Description

failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 109969 Local authority Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Inspection number 412225

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School details

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

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School details

Type of school Infant School category Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 3–7 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 243 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Rachael Odeniyi Headteacher Jenny Stephen Date of previous school inspection 14–15 October 2009 Telephone number 01628 622708 Fax number 01628 783119 Email address boynehill@rbwm.org guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', 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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School details

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 and as part of the inspection.

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School details

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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School details

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 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 people. 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

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School details

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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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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