Emmbrook Infant School

Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  The new headteacher has a clear vision for school improvement and has made a good start to build on the many positive aspects of the school to make it even better.  From starting points in the Reception class which are similar to those expected for their age, pupils make good progress so that by the time they leave the school in Year 2 standards are above average.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs receive good support so that they can achieve well.  Teaching is typically good; some is outstanding. Teachers use the information they have about the pupils to plan work which challenges pupils well.  Most teachers manage their classes well and good use is made of additional adults to help pupils do their best work.  Teachers choose interesting topics for pupils to study. Teachers have a good range of skills to check how well pupils have understood.  The school’s very caring atmosphere promotes

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. The school is a happy and calm community, behaviour is mostly good and this is greatly valued by the pupils and their parents. Pupils say they feel safe in school.  Middle leaders take their responsibilities seriously and are increasingly effective in helping to secure further improvement.  The members of the governing body know a lot about the school because they regularly visit and talk to teachers, parents and pupils. They check the school’s information and ask challenging questions.  The governing body and the school’s senior leaders have ensured that good teaching and achievement have been sustained over time and have a clear understanding of how the school can improve further.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 On a very few occasions, learning in lessons slows because not all pupils behave as well as they might. The feedback given to pupils through teachers’ marking is not always sufficiently helpful to pupils.  Pupil premium funding is not sufficiently well targeted or evaluated.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors visited 21 lessons or parts of lessons. Four of these were jointly observed with the headteacher.  Inspectors heard pupils read and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors examined the 79 responses to the on-line Parent View survey. They also took into account the outcomes of a staff survey.  A discussion was held with a member of the local authority’s advisory staff.  One formal discussion was held with a group of pupils.  Inspectors examined records of pupils’ progress and other school documentation, including safeguarding information.  Inspectors held a discussion with four members of the governing body.  Inspectors held discussions with parents of pupils at the school and with members of the school staff.

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Inspection team

Tim McLoughlin, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Cliff Mainey Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is an above-average sized infant school. At the time of the inspection there were two forms of entry in all year groups. There are more boys than girls in the school. The headteacher was in her first term at the school.  Most pupils come from White British backgrounds. Other groups represented at the school include pupils from Indian and White and Black backgrounds.  A small number of pupils speak English as an additional language though with very few at an early stage of English fluency.  The school contains a designated unit for pupils with a hearing impairment.  Only a very small number of pupils are supported by the pupil premium.  The number of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs supported through school action is average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is above average.  The proportion of pupils joining or leaving the school at times other than the usual start of the

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching from good to outstanding by:  ensuring that feedback through marking is consistent and effective throughout the school, in helping pupils to improve  ensuring that all pupils behave as well as the vast majority in all lessons.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Further strengthen leadership and management by ensuring that effective use is made of the pupil premium funding to target interventions more precisely and then evaluate provision thoroughly.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 When children join the school in the Reception class their skills and knowledge vary but overall they are similar to those expected for their age. The activities provided and support from the adults around them mean they make a good start to their learning and they enter Year 1 with the skills needed to access the more formal work done in Key Stage 1.  Across the school pupils typically make good progress, including those from different ethnic heritages, so that by the end of Year 2 standards in English and mathematics are above national average, and more pupils than average reach the higher levels.  Pupils apply a wide range of skills to good effect. They are able to read well and develop writing skills with confidence from an early age. They also gain confidence in basic mathematical concepts quickly and can use them in practical contexts.  Pupils enjoy reading widely and often. Children make a very good start with their reading skills,

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The achievement of pupils is good

due to the very good teaching of the sounds that letters make (phonics) in the Early Years Foundation Stage, and this creates a solid foundation for further learning. The Year 1 phonics screening check shows that the school’s planned approach is paying dividends and pupils are exceeding the result achieved nationally.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make good progress as a result of the targeted support they receive. Pupils who join the school speaking English as an additional language make very rapid progress because of the language-rich environment and effective modelling of English offered to them by teachers and fellow pupils.  As a result of strong leadership, pupils with a hearing impairment achieve as well as their peers as there is specialist teaching available each day that is tailor-made to the needs of the pupils. Pupils enjoy their time in the Hearing Impaired Unit and the work planned there links in well to

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The achievement of pupils is good

their work done in class.  The funding the school receives for those pupils eligible for the pupil premium is used to provide these pupils with extra support with their learning through small group work and individual reading tuition. This funding is not used well enough to support individual pupils.  Pupils make good gains in their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching has improved since the previous inspection and is is consistently good, with some emerging examples of outstanding practice. Lesson activities are well planned to be stimulating and challenging, and to meet pupils’ needs. Teachers are careful to check on pupils’ understanding during lessons and to adapt their planning when necessary. Reading is well taught throughout the school.  Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage get off to a good start in learning phonics. As a result of good teaching and support, they enjoy learning to read, and also to work with numbers. Parents play an important partnership role with the school that ensures they make a good start to their school life.  Teaching in mathematics and English is very strong because teachers make the lessons challenging and interesting for pupils. For example, in an outstanding English lesson in Year 1, pupils were gaining confidence to write independently using connectives to describe pandas,

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The quality of teaching is good

having first watched a short information film about their habitats. Work was pitched well to meet the needs of all the pupils and very good use was made of a teaching assistant to provide individual support.  In Year 2 there is also some outstanding teaching and inspectors saw some excellent opportunities to experiment with creating electrical circuits to light bulbs and buzzers and later pupils were able to make their own switches. Pupils were enraptured with their learning and an atmosphere of wonderment permeated the classroom. This was encouraged by the teacher, which meant that pupils were free to make excellent progress.  Marking is mostly thorough although there are some inconsistencies across the year groups, and as a result pupils are not always shown clearly how to improve their work.  Teachers mostly manage their classes very well though in a very few lessons, inspectors saw the pace of learning falter slightly as teachers had to remind a very small minority of pupils to

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The quality of teaching is good

behave well.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are taught well through an effective mix of individual and class support. Adults who work closely with these pupils make an important contribution to their good learning. This is particularly true for pupils in the school’s Hearing Impaired Unit, who are very well supported to make good progress with their learning.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Attitudes to school are positive, demonstrated by the pupils’ mostly good behaviour in lessons, assemblies and in the sensible way the pupils conduct themselves around the school. Pupils say that behaviour is typically like this and set high standards for one another. Pupils are proud of their school and say that the teachers are kind and help them do the best they can in their work.  Attendance is now above average. It has improved recently and continues to be an area of focus for leaders at the school. Pupils are aware of the need to attend school regularly and take this responsibility very seriously. Their punctuality has also improved because of the school’s actions.  Pupils mostly behave well in lessons, though a small number find it difficult to maintain interest and become restless. Inspectors found no evidence of misbehaviour in the playground but the school had kept records to show that it had acted appropriately when there were minor

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

incidents. The school follows up such events effectively.  Instances of bullying are very rare. The school promotes an understanding of tolerance and appreciation of individuality, with adults frequently showing the pupils the best way to resolve differences of opinion in calm ways. There is an absence of discrimination. Pupils feel very safe in school and at the time of the inspection were adamant that no bullying occurs at the school, though they were aware of its existence in society as a whole.  The school’s moto, ‘TEAM; Together Everyone Achieves More’, is a powerful and effective acronym for summarising the sense of togetherness that exists in the school and the strong sense of care and nurture that is evident in all areas of school life.  Parents feel that behaviour is good and well managed by the school. A small number expressed concern about how the school deals with bullying though inspectors found no evidence to

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

support their concerns and pupils were overwhelmingly positive about their experiences at the school.

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The leadership and management are good

 All staff and governors are strongly committed to the new headteacher’s vision for improvement. The school has an accurate view of its effectiveness and a strong capacity to improve further.  Using systems already established at the school, the recently appointed headteacher is starting to manage teachers’ performance well and she is able to ensure a clear match between the quality of teaching and pay. Teachers have challenging targets linked to the Teachers’ Standards and to pupils’ performance, and teaching and learning are monitored thoroughly, with a strong determination to further enhance quality.  Since the last inspection middle leaders have developed a very good understanding of what is expected of them. They are now effectively using their increasing expertise in the school to support the development of teaching and helping to check that pupils are doing well.  The school offers a wide curriculum, which pupils really enjoy. Throughout the school there are

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The leadership and management are good

examples of high quality work, for example in science, geography and the expressive arts. These are publically displayed throughout the school and celebrate the pupils’ high standards of work in these areas as well as in mathematics and English. The school is starting to make good use of additional funds to promote physical education and sport through the deployment of specialist coaches and clubs and is planning to hold a series of health promotion events to build on its Healthy School status.  The good progress evident for all pupils, whatever their needs, shows that the school is generally effective in promoting equality of opportunity. However it is not yet fully effective in its use of the pupil premium to employ a range of additional adults. Leaders and governors have not yet targeted the work of these adults precisely enough, to fully address the needs of individual pupils; nor have they put in place procedures to evaluate the impact of this provision.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school promotes pupils’ positive behaviour and understanding of the world in which they live through a broad range of experiences. These contribute particularly well to pupils’ social, moral, cultural and spiritual development.  All statutory procedures for the safeguarding of children and the vetting of staff are fully in place and reviewed regularly.  The local authority provides light touch support for this good school. This has included regular visits, training for the governing body and a pre-inspection review document.  The governance of the school:  The governing body fulfils all its statutory duties effectively and ensures that arrangements for safeguarding pupils are robust. The budget is well managed. Governors are very prudent about how the finite resources available to the school are managed and how these affect pupils’ progress, although they have not yet focused sufficiently closely on the impact of pupil

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The leadership and management are good

premium funding. Otherwise governors have a good knowledge of strengths and areas for development, and know through their understanding of data how well the school is performing in relation to others nationally. Because of this, they offer a good level of support and challenge to school leaders. They have worked very effectively with the previous headteacher to manage teachers’ performance robustly and have a very good understanding of what the school is doing to reward good teaching and address any underperformance. They have high aspirations for the future of the school and have recruited an energetic new headteacher to ensure their vision is realised.

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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 109855 Local authority Wokingham Inspection number 426572

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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 Maintained Age range of pupils 4–7 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 180 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Stephen Reed Headteacher Corrina Gillard Date of previous school inspection 15 October 2008 Telephone number 0118 9784259 Fax number 0118 9795004 Email address admin@emmbrook-inf.wokingham.sch.uk 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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