Wooden Hill Primary and Nursery School

Wooden Hill Primary and Nursery School Staplehurst, Bracknell, RG12 8DB

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because:

 Teachers do not always use assessment information well to set work at the right level or to move pupils’ learning on fast enough. They do not provide them with precise enough guidance about how to improve.  More-able pupils do not always make enough progress. They are not always challenged enough in lessons.  Pupils do not have enough opportunities to write across the school and they do not always make enough progress in writing.  The gaps are too wide between the attainment of pupils who are eligible for pupil premium funding and their peers.  Targets for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 pupils are not high enough to promote good progress for all pupils.  Leaders do not always make judgements about teaching based on the achievement of pupils over time.  They have not formalised the way they look at behavioural incidents; these are not analysed closely enough to identify patterns or trends.  The success of actions relating to the quality of

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because:

teaching in the school improvement plan is not measured against pupils’ achievement.  The governing body is not well informed about the link between pay progression and teachers’ performance.  Leaders at all levels, including governors, do not hold staff rigorously enough to account for pupils’ achievement through performance management or individual progress review meetings.

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The school has the following strengths:

 Key Stage 1 pupils’ reading skills improved in 2013 to above average.  Attainment at the end of Key Stages 1 and 2 rose in mathematics in 2012.  An above average proportion of children achieve a good level of development by the end of Reception.  Pupils behave well in school. They are happy, feel safe and have good opportunities for cultural, moral and social development.  Pupils understand the importance of healthy lifestyles and enjoy good opportunities to participate in a range of sporting and musical activities.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching in 20 lessons or part lessons in all classes. Some of these observations were conducted jointly with senior leaders.  They took account of 55 responses to the Parent View online survey, verbal and written comments from parents and carers and 12 questionnaire responses from staff.  Meetings were held with pupils, leaders at all levels, members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors looked at pupils’ work in lessons, and separately with senior leaders. This included work from pupils’ books from the last academic year.  They heard pupils reading, and observed them in class and around the school.  Inspectors considered a wide range of school documentation including: information relating to the attainment and progress of pupils, including different groups of pupils, from entry to the school and across different years; the performance management of staff; records of lesson

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Information about this inspection

observations; the school’s website; the school’s development plans; its checks on how well it is doing; minutes from governing body meetings; and behavioural records, as well as safeguarding information.  Inspectors also considered an acoustics survey of the school which the local council had carried out, in order to judge the impact that the school building has on pupils’ achievement.

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Inspection team

Najoud Ensaff, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Simon Adams Additional Inspector Deidre Crutchley Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Wooden Hill Primary and Nursery School is larger than the average-sized primary school.  It is situated on a large site with an astro-turf to the outside. The building itself is open plan, with classrooms that adjoin one another and which are separated only by bookcases. There are mixed-age classes in Key Stage 2 although mathematics is sometimes taught to pupils in separate Year 3,4,5 and 6 classes.  Most pupils come from White British backgrounds and others come from a range of minority ethnic backgrounds, the largest of which is Black African.  The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is well below the national average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs supported through school action is above average. The number supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below the national average.

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Information about this school

 The proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium (those known to be eligible for free school meals, in the care of the local authority or with a parent or carer in the armed services) is below the national average. There are no children from service families currently on roll.  There have been a number of changes to staff since the previous inspection and two long-term staff absences due to illness. There have also been a number of changes to the governing body.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the quality of teaching to at least good by ensuring that teachers:  consistently use assessment information to set appropriately challenging tasks to meet pupils’ needs, particularly more-able pupils  provide precise guidance to pupils about how to improve  when appropriate, adapt tasks in lessons so that pupils’ learning moves at a good pace  provide pupils with more opportunities to write, particularly in the Early Years Foundation Stage and Years 3 and 4.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the effectiveness of leadership and management, including governance, to good by ensuring that:  targets set for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 pupils are raised to accelerate progress in writing and to narrow gaps in attainment particularly between pupils supported through the pupil premium and their peers  judgements made about the quality of teaching are always based on pupils’ achievement over time and that the success of actions relating to the quality of teaching in whole-school development plans is measured against pupils’ achievement  leaders and managers, including governors, hold staff more rigorously to account for pupils’ achievement through performance management and individual progress review meetings  governors make sure that teachers’ pay increases are linked to pupils’ progress  the analysis of behaviour in lessons and around the school is formalised so that patterns or trends are more easily identified, and appropriate actions put in place.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and governance may be improved.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Most children enter Nursery classes with skills which are below the levels typical for their age. Some enter with skills which are typical for their age. They settle well in school and the majority leave at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage with a good level of development but with skills in writing that are still below average.  Although progress in reading is better than expected across Key Stage 1, recent assessment information suggests that too few pupils make good progress in mathematics and writing across Key Stages 1 and 2. In particular, some pupils in Years 3 and 4 do not make enough progress in writing. Work in books also supports this view of inconsistent and sometimes too slow progress over time.  Typically, attainment across Key Stages 1 and 2 classes is below the national average in reading and writing and closer to the national average in mathematics. Attainment of pupils in Year 6 in

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

2013 was below average in reading, writing and mathematics and the progress these pupils made in mathematics was significantly less than others’ nationally. This was the result in part, of a sizeable number of pupils who entered the school in Year 6.  Progress for pupils supported through pupil premium funding is generally similar to that of other pupils in the school and so requires accelerating. This group of pupils made less progress than their peers in Year 6 last year. There remain gaps of up to three terms between the attainment of pupils in English and mathematics supported through pupil premium funding and that of their peers, particularly in Key Stage 2 classes.  Progress for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is not consistently good. While some of these pupils make good progress, particularly in mathematics, others do not make enough progress. Pupils supported through school action plus and pupils with a statement

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

of special educational needs do not always make as much progress in reading as their peers.  This variability in progress is because teachers do not always use assessment information well to set work at the right level for pupils or provide them with precise enough guidance about how to improve. They do not always respond to pupils’ learning by adapting tasks, and targets set by leaders are not as challenging as they should be.  In addition, the open-plan and sometimes narrow layout of classrooms limits the way that teachers can adjust their teaching. This means that the learning of pupils with hearing impairment as well as other pupils is sometimes disrupted by noise from adjoining classes.  More-able pupils do not always make as much progress as they could because they are not always challenged sufficiently well in lessons and learning does not always move at a fast enough pace for them.  Although White British pupils in Year 6 made much less progress than similar pupils across Key

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

Stage 2 in 2011 and 2012, current school information indicates that these pupils make expected progress over time. Pupils who speak English as an additional language often make similar or better progress than their peers. Black African pupils make good progress.  The majority of pupils make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Pupils’ performance in the check on their phonics skills (pupils’ ability to link letters to the sounds they make) improved in 2013 to above average and pupils spoken to during the inspection indicated that they enjoy reading.  In 2012, pupils’ attainment in mathematics at the end of Key Stage 1 rose to above average and attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 for Year 6 pupils also improved, with an above average number of pupils gaining a Level 5 or Level 6 in mathematics in 2012.  The school’s work on a new calculation policy has ensured that pupils’ number skills have

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

improved. Pupils’ opportunities to apply skills to problem solving or real-life situations are not as consistently well developed.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching is not consistently good across all classes and across all subjects. As a result, pupils do not make sustained good progress across the school. Teachers do not have consistently high expectations and do not always set work at the right level for pupils.  Sometimes more-able pupils are not challenged enough and pupils with special educational needs, as well as those who are eligible for pupil premium funding, are not always supported well in their learning or do not make fast enough progress.  The pace of learning in lessons is not consistently rapid enough. This is because teachers do not always adapt tasks in response to pupils’ needs. As a result pupils sometimes spend too long on undemanding tasks or move on to new learning before fully understanding material.  Often teaching assistants are provided with useful guidance and direction by teachers, which help them to make a positive contribution to pupils’ learning. This was seen in Year 1 phonics

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

lessons where they guided groups of pupils well. In other lessons, when teaching assistants are not as well directed, they do not make as valuable a contribution to pupils’ progress.  Teachers mark pupils’ work regularly, and provide pupils with a moving on comment. Although these comments provide pupils with some guidance about how to improve, they are not always as precise as they need to be to ensure that pupils make good progress.  Opportunities for children and pupils to write regularly or at length vary between classes and across different years. As a result not all pupils make as much progress in writing as they should.  Where teaching is better, teachers have high expectations. They use accurate assessment information to set appropriately challenging tasks, use effective questioning and make good use of additional adults. For example, in a mathematics lesson in Year 4, pupils made good progress

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

because the teacher engaged pupils with a task built around profit and loss in a theme park. She used questioning well to monitor pupils’ learning, provided tasks at the right level for pupils and an additional adult helped to support lower ability pupils effectively. In another, Year 2 pupils made good progress in a literacy lesson where they were challenged to write acrostic poems about outer space, with more-able pupils challenged further by being asked to use similes and alliteration.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils report that they feel safe at the school because staff supervise them well, peer mediators take care of them and the site is secure. They have a good understanding of how to keep safe when walking, cycling and when using the internet.  Pupils say that they enjoy attending school, and attendance is high.  Pupils understand about different forms of bullying including verbal, physical, racist and religious bullying, and they report that rare instances of bullying are handled well by the school.  All parents and carers who responded to the Parent View survey said that their children are happy at the school and almost all believed that their children were safe and well looked after.  Pupils are friendly, polite and respectful to each other and to adults, demonstrating good social and moral development. There have been no permanent exclusions in the last two years.  It is because the vast majority of pupils have positive attitudes to learning that they are able to

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

make at least some progress in lessons where teaching is not strong and good progress where teaching is better.  Most parents, carers and pupils said that behaviour in school is usually good. Behaviour is not yet outstanding because some pupils in particular year groups reported that their learning is sometimes disrupted by a few pupils who misbehave in lessons. They also indicated that their learning is interrupted when pupils travel to physical education lessons via their classroom because this is the only way of accessing the outside area.  While leaders keep records of behavioural incidents relating to individual pupils, they do not formally analyse incidents to identify patterns or trends, so that appropriate actions can be taken.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Leaders and managers have not yet ensured that pupils make consistently good progress across the school. There remain gaps in attainment between pupils eligible for pupil premium funding and their peers. More-able pupils and pupils with special educational needs do not always make as much progress as they can or should.  Leaders have not set challenging enough targets at Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. Consequently, progress for most pupils is no better than expected and progress in writing is sometimes not as good as it should be. This means that gaps in attainment with pupils nationally are not being closed fast enough.  Governors are not as well informed about the link between pay progression and teachers’ performance as they should be. As a result they have not ensured that there is a clear link between pay progression and pupils’ achievement or held staff rigorously to account for pupils’ achievement.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 The monitoring of teaching identifies accurately some key strengths and areas for development, but leaders’ evaluations of teaching are not always based on pupils’ achievement over time.  School development plans highlight appropriate priorities for the school, list relevant actions that will be carried out, and identify personnel responsible and time deadlines. However, the way that the success of actions relating to the quality of teaching is measured is not linked to pupils’ achievement.  While attainment and progress information is reviewed by leaders and by teachers at set times in the year, and performance management meetings happen once a year, regular individual progress review meetings do not take place. As a result, staff are not held as rigorously to account as possible for pupils’ achievement. In addition, there is not always a clear link between pay progression and teachers’ performance.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Because the achievement of pupils varies across the school, leaders and managers promote equality of opportunity adequately, rather than well. They do not tolerate discrimination of any kind.  The local authority has provided support to the school in mathematics and in the Early Years Foundation Stage. This, alongside a partnership with a local teaching school, has helped to improve attainment in mathematics, and phonics teaching.  In addition, local authority support for middle leaders is helping the school’s judgements of teaching to become more accurate.  While leaders ensure that records of behaviour relating to individual pupils are maintained and those with challenging behaviour are supported, they do not formally monitor behavioural incidents to spot patterns or trends in the types of incidents or locations, in order to put in place relevant actions.  Most parents and carers who responded to the online Parent View survey were positive about

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The leadership and management require improvement

their experiences with the school and several spoke enthusiastically about the approachability of staff and their children’s induction into the school. The family support advisor’s work with families is supporting the school’s positive engagement with parents and carers.  Leaders and managers have ensured that pupils’ performance in the phonics check is now above average, that marking has improved, that most children leave Reception with a good level of development and that attainment in mathematics has improved. For these reasons, the school has demonstrated that it can improve further.  The curriculum is appropriately organised. It promotes pupils’ personal development well, but does not meet pupils’ academic needs well enough. There is a good balance in the Early Years Foundation Stage between adult-led activities and those children choose for themselves although there are not always enough opportunities for children to write.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Links with a teaching school, employed sports and music teachers and a wide range of extra- curricular sports such as judo, archery, tag rugby and football, as well as musical and other activities, help to promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural skills well.  The governance of the school:  Governors show some understanding of the school’s performance, and of the quality of teaching in the school. They have made use of individual members’ expertise to both support and ask searching questions of the school. While they challenge the school, for example, about the achievement of girls and boys and about writing, they do not have a clear oversight of how well teachers are doing or how pay and salary progression for staff are closely linked to the achievement of their pupils. The governing body does, however, know what has been done to tackle underperformance and it recognises the challenges faced by

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The leadership and management require improvement

leaders in managing staff absence and in recruiting staff. It understands how pupil premium funding has been spent and recognises that this is not yet making a consistently positive difference to these pupils. It also understands how the extra funding for sport will be spent to enhance the skills of the employed sports teacher and provide additional clubs which play leaders will deliver at lunchtimes. The governing body sees that safeguarding meets requirements and that staff and pupils work in a safe environment.

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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 109922 Local authority Bracknell Forest Inspection number 426417

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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 Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 3−11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 363 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair David Stacey Headteacher Joanna Quinn Date of previous school inspection 5−6 October 2011 Telephone number 01344 421117 Fax number 01344 305952 Email address head@office.woodenhill.bracknell-forest.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

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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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