Eton Wick CofE First School

Eton Wick Church of England First School Sheepcote Road, Eton Wick, Windsor, SL4 6JB

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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This is a school that requires improvement

 Leaders are not ambitious enough for what pupils can achieve. The targets they set are not aspirational enough and do not take account of pupils’ high starting points. As a result, many pupils do not make good progress.  National results for 2015 showed that not enough middle and lower ability pupils reached the expected levels in reading, writing and mathematics. Only the most-able pupils made expected progress and reached the higher levels.  Information on pupils’ progress is not sufficiently accurate to help leaders to know exactly where pupils are and predict where they should be by the end of the year and key stage. This means that leaders do not take rapid enough action to help pupils to catch up.  Governors’ efforts to hold the headteacher to account are not sufficiently rigorous.  Although leaders use the pupil premium grant (government funding to support disadvantaged pupils) for appropriate activities, the gap between

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This is a school that requires improvement

these pupils and their peers has not yet closed.  Leaders’ checks on teaching focus too much on what teachers are doing, and not enough on how much pupils are learning.  Teachers do not always plan lessons carefully enough to meet the needs of the specific pupils in their classes. There is not always a close enough match between what teachers want pupils to learn and tasks provided.  Attendance figures are below the national average; although leaders and governors have taken action to tackle this, attendance has not improved as much as it should.

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The school has the following strengths

 The curriculum is broad and balanced, providing a wide range of opportunities to enable pupils to increase their knowledge and develop effective life skills. Through this, pupils’ personal development and welfare is supported well.  Pupils’ behaviour is good and they have positive attitudes to learning. They feel safe and are kept safe by the school. Staff know pupils well and provide good pastoral care.  The early years provides good quality education and care. Children make good progress and are ready for Year 1.  The community ethos is a particular strength. Staff and parents communicate well to share ideas about how to improve the school. Parents go out of their way to provide helpful support, such as working with pupils and raising funds.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Make sure that pupils make at least expected progress from their starting points and achieve their potential, by:  refining the school’s system for checking pupils’ progress, so leaders know exactly how well pupils are progressing and take action if they are falling behind  making sure that leaders set ambitious targets for what pupils should achieve, taking account of pupils’ starting points  ensuring that leaders’ checks on teaching focus more closely on how much pupils are learning  setting more challenging targets for teachers and holding them to account for the progress that pupils make  improving the teaching of phonics and reading, so lessons meet the specific needs of pupils  checking that additional funding is helping disadvantaged pupils to catch up with their peers more quickly.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve attendance so it at least in line with the national average, by:  challenging attendance of pupils who do not attend regularly enough  monitoring attendance cumulatively, and comparing it to previous years.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the effectiveness of leaders and governors, by:  ensuring that the headteacher and governors compare the school to other similar schools when reviewing the effectiveness of provision  making sure that governors challenge the headteacher with greater rigour.

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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 management can be improved.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management can be improved.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders and governors have not ensured that all pupils achieve as much as they can. They have aimed for pupils to reach age-related levels, without taking account of pupils’ high starting points. This means the school is not ambitious enough for what pupils can and should achieve at Key Stages 1 and 2.  All leaders, including subject leaders, demonstrate useful skills and have successfully driven improvements in some areas, but they have not been rigorous or aspirational enough to ensure teaching, learning and outcomes are good.  Governors attempt to hold the headteacher to account but they are too accepting of the information they are given and do not ask for further detail when it is required. This means that they have not had as much impact on improving the school as they should.  Leaders, staff and governors are committed to doing their best for the school community and pupils. Staff at the school feel valued because the headteacher recognises the ways in which they go above and beyond

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

their roles, such as leading clubs in lunchtimes and after school.  The curriculum is a particular strength of the school. It is broad and balanced and provides a range of interesting and useful opportunities for pupils to develop their skills and understanding. The school’s high priority on outdoor learning, and the well-planned learning activities which take place in the outdoor classroom and gardens, mean that pupils develop a broad range of skills and knowledge which are useful for everyday life, such as growing vegetables and using them in a range of recipes.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is supported well. Pupils have a thorough understanding of Christian values and link these well to school rules. They are clear about the need to treat people with respect and can explain what this means. They learn about elements of democracy through their school council elections and the rule of law through the school rules.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

 The headteacher checks teaching and provides feedback on strengths and weaknesses, identifying what teachers should do to become more effective. However, too often the recommendations focus too much on what teachers are doing, rather than how much pupils are learning. Leaders rate teachers on what they observe in individual lessons, rather than assessing the effectiveness of teaching over time.  Leaders’ and teachers’ checks on pupils’ progress focus too much on what pupils have achieved, rather than comparing their achievement to their potential. This means that leaders cannot easily identify pupils who have not made enough progress. This is exacerbated by the school’s new assessment system to record and check pupils’ progress, which is not accurate enough.  Leaders manage staff performance through a useful appraisal system. They set sensible targets for teachers which are measurable and linked to pupils’ achievement. However, the criteria for teachers to be successful

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

are not ambitious enough to ensure teaching and outcomes are good.  The school provides a good range of extra-curricular opportunities, including cooking and chess. A large proportion of pupils take advantage of these clubs, many of which are provided free of charge to encourage wider participation.  Leaders use the pupil premium grant (funding to support disadvantaged pupils and those who are looked after) for a range of activities which help individual pupils to learn more. However, leaders do not check carefully that their actions are helping these pupils to catch up to where they should be.  The headteacher, who also holds the role of special educational needs coordinator, understands pupils’ needs well. He makes sure that pupils with specific needs are supported effectively through one-to-one provision. However, these pupils do not make as much progress as they should because work in lessons is

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

not always at the right level to help them learn.  Government funding to promote sport and build capacity for teaching physical education is not used well enough. The professional sports coach works with pupils in Key Stage 2 but teachers do not develop their skills in this area. Although the school has used the funding to provide additional sports clubs, it has not resulted in greater participation in sport.  Local authority support has not helped the school to remain good. Although the school has paid for advice, it was not visited or challenged for almost all of last year. Prior to a visit in December, advisers focused too much on what teachers were doing, rather than on leadership. The diocese has been supportive of the school and has provided some challenge. However, feedback was verbal and too open to interpretation to get the school back on track.  The governance of the school Governors do not have high enough expectations of what pupils can achieve. This means that they and

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

the headteacher are too accepting when pupils do not make as much progress as they should. Governors have a good understanding about many aspects of their roles and ask sensible questions of the headteacher to hold him to account. However, some information from the headteacher is too generic to be helpful and governors have not probed for further information. Governors have considered carefully how to improve pupils’ attendance. The appropriate actions they have taken, such as speaking to leaders of schools with good attendance, have resulted in some improvements. However, more needs to be done to ensure that all pupils attend school regularly.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. All staff are clear about their responsibilities to keep pupils safe. They have undertaken relevant training to ensure that they have the necessary skills and understanding. The school maintains rigorous and well-organised records, including risk assessments and

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

staff information. Governors and appropriate staff undertake training to ensure recruitment processes are safe and rigorous.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

 Teachers do not always plan lessons carefully enough to meet the needs of the specific pupils in their classes. They provide interesting activities but there is not always a close enough match between what teachers want pupils to learn and tasks provided. All teachers provide work to suit pupils’ differing abilities. However, most-able pupils tend to be more successful because their needs are met more fully.  Reading and phonics is not taught consistently well in all classes. Where teaching is effective, lessons are planned to meet pupils’ precise learning needs and activities help them to practise skills. In less effective lessons, pupils are left too much to their own devices or carry out tasks they can already do. As a result of the variability of teaching, progress in phonics and reading is not as good as it needs to be. Teachers promote a love of reading well; pupils across the school demonstrate enjoyment of books and appreciate

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

opportunities to share their books with peers.  The teaching of writing is developing, but is not yet good. The school has rightly identified that pupils in Key Stage 1 do not have enough opportunities to write longer pieces. This means that when they move to Year 3, pupils spend too much time developing the ability to write for a sustained period, rather than improving their writing skills. Key Stage 1 teachers are beginning to provide more opportunities for pupils to write, but there is more work to do to get pupils to the expected level.  The teaching of mathematics is stronger, but leaders rightly recognise that more practical activities and investigations would enable pupils to be even clearer about mathematical concepts. Teachers have good subject knowledge; they explain clearly so that pupils know what to do to be successful in their learning.  Teaching in other subjects varies between classes. Some stronger teachers make sure that every lesson

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

counts in helping pupils make progress. Weaker teachers focus too much on the activities and not enough on the learning.  Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs are not always taught as well as they need to be. This is because many of these pupils need to develop specific elements of their work, which not all teachers target well enough. For some pupils, however, small group sessions, led by a teacher, do target their specific gaps so these pupils make more progress.  Teaching assistants support learning activities well. They ask useful questions which help pupils to think harder and explain their answers.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. Pupils are polite, well- mannered and considerate of each other and of adults.  Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe, including when using the internet and crossing the road. Through carefully planned outdoor learning opportunities, pupils have a good understanding about healthy eating. They also develop good life-skills such as growing and cooking vegetables. The focus this year has been on growing and using potatoes – which all pupils participated in.  Pupils develop a strong sense of community. Their current project of ‘clean for the Queen’ involving litter picking prior to the Queen’s imminent 90 th birthday, reflects the ways in which the pupils work together for the good of the wider community.  Pupils say they enjoy coming to school and love their lessons. However, pupils’ attendance does not reflect

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Personal development and welfare

this and is below the national average. Leaders’ and governors’ actions to tackle attendance have brought about improvements but there is more to do.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good in lessons and around the school. Pupils understand what is expected of them and ensure they meet the expectations of adults. The school correctly recognises that, although some pupils behave well when unsupervised, this is not always the case.  Detailed behaviour logs show that behaviour has improved since a new policy has been implemented. Pupils are clear about the rewards and sanctions for behaviour. The golden promises are interwoven with their worship values.  Pupils say that bullying does not happen often and, when it does, it is dealt with effectively. Pupils say that one of the aspects they really like about the school is that everyone knows each other and looks out for one another.

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

 Too many pupils do not achieve as much as they could. Leaders’ systems for checking pupils’ progress have not been sufficiently refined to enable leaders to see at a glance if middle attaining or lower attaining pupils are making enough progress. This means that they do not target their resources well enough to help these pupils catch up if they are falling behind.  At the end of Key Stage 1, the percentage of pupils who reached the expected levels in reading is below the national average. In writing, the percentage is in line with the national average and in mathematics it is above. However, the percentage of pupils who reach the higher levels is above national averages in all three subjects, reflecting the better provision for most-able pupils. Work in pupils’ books confirms that pupils are making progress but this is more evident for most-able pupils than for middle and lower attaining pupils.

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

 The percentage of pupils who achieve the expected level in the Year 1 phonics check is improving but continues to be below the national average.  In the early years, children make good progress from their high starting points and the majority achieve well in all areas of learning.  The school does not check the progress of disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs well enough. School progress information indicates that pupils are catching up with their peers, but not as quickly as they should.  In other subjects, such as science and geography, pupils make reasonable progress. However, because not all lessons are carefully planned to help pupils learn, they do not make as much progress as they could.  Work is generally well presented and pupils take pride in their books; work on display is very neat and attractively illustrated.

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Early years provision is good

 Children are happy and enjoy learning because activities are fun, interesting and well planned.  The majority of children join the school with skills which are above those expected for their age. Early years staff build well on these skills so children make good progress and are well prepared for Year 1. Staff assess children’s learning carefully to check that they are on track to achieve their potential.  The early years leader has developed the indoor and outdoor learning environments so they support children’s learning well. She has a good understanding of the priorities and has been instrumental in improving provision since the last inspection.  There is a good balance of independent and teacher-led activities. Children have many opportunities to choose what they want to do. Sometimes the amount of choice means that a few children take longer to get started with activities than they should.

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Early years provision is good

 The well-planned group and class sessions meet children’s needs well. Children move quietly and calmly between sessions, following the well-structured routines and high expectations of teachers.  Staff are appropriately skilled to provide effective support. They question children well to extend their thinking and help them complete tasks, and generally do not intervene too early or take over.  Staff take good care of children and make sure they are safe. The well-organised routines ensure that children know what is expected of them. Children in the Nursery and Reception class play well together and take turns when sharing toys or games. They are confident to move between the areas and ask any adults for help when they need it.  Phonics in the early years meets children’s needs well. Children who can already read develop their skills further, while those who are learning their letter sounds participate in fun and helpful activities to help them

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Early years provision is good

to move on quickly, such as finding letters which were hidden outside or practising forming letters, writing in chalk on the ground.

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School details

Unique reference number 109996 Local authority Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Inspection number 10003492

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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School details

Type of school First School category Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 3–9 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 164 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Alan Cole Headteacher Rob Harris Telephone number 01753 860096 Website www.etonwickschool.org.uk Email address etonwick@rbwm.org Date of previous inspection 6–7 December 2010

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Information about this school

 Eton Wick is a small school which takes pupils from the local villages. The intake has changed since the previous inspection and the majority of pupils live quite close to the school. The school’s site is in a rural setting and includes extensive and attractive grounds.  There is one class in each year group in Key Stage 1 and 2 up to Year 4. In the early years there are two mixed-age classes; children below the statutory school age only attend in the mornings.  The percentages of pupils from minority ethnic groups and who speak English as an additional language have decreased and are in line with national averages. Approximately two thirds of pupils are White British.  The proportions of pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium and those with special educational needs are below national averages.  The school meets the government’s floor targets. These are the minimum requirements for pupils’

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Information about this school

progress and attainment in English and mathematics.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed eight lessons across a range of subjects, as well as part of an assembly. One lesson and several shorter visits to classes were carried out jointly with the headteacher. Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour around the school and at playtime. They scrutinised pupils’ work, talked to two groups of pupils from across the school and listened to some pupils read.  The lead inspector met with middle leaders, a group of governors, including the Chair and vice-chairs, and a representative from the diocese. She also had a telephone conversation with a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors looked closely at school documentation, including minutes of governing body meetings, the school improvement plan and information about pupils’ progress. The school’s behaviour logs were also reviewed.  Inspectors took account of 56 responses from parents to the online questionnaire, Parent View, and had

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Information about this inspection

informal discussions with parents before the start of the school day. Inspectors analysed 13 responses to the staff questionnaire provided by Ofsted.

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Inspection team

Louise Adams, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Helen Jones Ofsted Inspector David Smith Ofsted Inspector guidance 'Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . 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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Inspection team

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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Inspection team

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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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Inspection team

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 and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Inspection team

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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

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