Windlesham Village Infant School

Inspection of Windlesham Village Infant School School Road, Windlesham, Surrey GU20 6PB

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Inspection dates: 14 and 15 September 2021

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

This school was last inspected 15 years ago and judged ‘Outstanding’ under a previous inspection framework. This reflected the school’s overall effectiveness under the inspection framework in use at the time.

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

From then until this year, the school was exempted by law from routine inspection, so there has been a longer gap than usual between inspections.

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Judgements in this report are based on the current inspection framework and also reflect changes that may have happened at any point since the last inspection. 14 and 15 September 2021

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a friendly, nurturing and supportive place where there is a strong sense of community. Pupils are happy and relish the opportunities available to them. The shared values of ‘respect, friendship, happiness, courage, cooperation and appreciation’ shine through all aspects of school life. These are regularly celebrated and rewarded when pupils demonstrate them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. Lessons are fun and interesting. Pupils work with enthusiasm and are keen to contribute their ideas. Incidents of poor behaviour are rare. Leaders want the best for all pupils and know what improvements are needed to the curriculum to help pupils to flourish and succeed.

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What is it like to attend this school?

At lunch and break times, pupils keep themselves active and play happily together. They use the school’s attractive outdoor area safely and responsibly. For example, they enjoy climbing on the ropes, skipping or sitting quietly chatting with their friends.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are polite, cheerful and kind to each other. They feel safe and well looked after by adults. Pupils understand what bullying is but say that it is not a problem for them at school. They trust that staff will always listen and help them if they have any worries.

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better?

Leaders, trustees and the local academy board are ambitious for staff and pupils. However, leaders know that the curriculum needs to improve because p upils do not learn enough in subjects such as geography, history and art. The key knowledge pupils should learn, and the order in which they should learn it, is not clearly planned out. Supported by the trust, leaders have begun to make the necessary changes.

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better?

The school’s approach to checking pupils’ learning is working well in reading, writing and mathematics. Teachers are adept at judging how well pupils have understood key ideas before introducing new ones. However, this is not as well developed in the rest of the curriculum. Leaders are working with the trust to ensure that teachers use the new systems effectively in all subjects. This will help staff to carefully check and address any gaps in pupils’ knowledge.

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better?

Children are introduced to phonics from the moment they start in Reception Year. Staff plan interesting activities that help children to learn and practise their phonics. However, leaders have identified that some aspects of the phonics programme are not working as effectively. The books that pupils read are not always matched to the sounds they are taught. This means that some of the weakest readers do not learn to read as quickly and fluently. At the time of this inspection, leaders were working closely with the trust to identify a new phonics programme. 14 and 15 September 2021

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are successfully included all aspects of school life. Where appropriate, staff work with external professionals, such as speech and language therapists and other providers. This makes sure these pupils get the help they need.

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Pupils are well behaved. Leaders and staff promote pupils’ positive behaviour at every opportunity. Pupils focus on tasks and try their best in lessons. Staff provide children in Reception with well-chosen activities to help them learn well and quickly settle into the right routines.

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The school promotes pupils’ personal development well. Leaders have successfully created an ethos in which pupils appreciate the British values of mutual respect and tolerance. Pupils regularly discuss and debate current topics such as climate change through the ‘weekly big vote’. Children in the Reception Year quickly learn to work well with others and become independent. Pupils have several opportunities to learn about different cultures, religions and festivals. Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

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Trustees and the local academy board know the school’s strengths and priorities. Leaders ensure that all staff feel well supported and valued. Staff are proud to work at the school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that pupils’ safety is a top priority. All appropriate checks are completed to ensure the suitability of staff. Staff receive effective training, including how to recognise sexualised behaviour that is not age appropriate. They are vigilant and quickly pass on any concerns they have. Leaders work effectively with other agencies to support vulnerable pupils and their families.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that pupils know how to keep themselves safe in a variety of situations, including when they are online and out in the local community. Pupils are confident that staff will listen and help them if they have any worries.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The curriculum is not coherent or sequenced well in some of the foundation subjects. Leaders should ensure that the curriculum planning for all subjects sets out the knowledge that pupils should learn and when they should learn it, so that it is ambitious for all pupils, including those with SEND.  In the foundation subject curriculum, assessments are not always used effectively to check how well pupils have understood what they have learned. Leaders 14 and 15 September 2021

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should ensure that assessment systems in these subjects are well embedded. This will support teachers to identify and address any gaps in pupils’ knowledge.  Leaders ensure that pupils enjoy and read a wide selection of books. However, at times, some of the books that younger pupils read do not help them practise the sounds they are taught. Leaders should review of this aspect of the phonics programme so that reading books build on pupils’ learning in lessons.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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How can I feed back my views?

If you are the school and you are not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, 'disadvantaged pupils' refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. 14 and 15 September 2021

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School details

Inspection number 10199302 Type of school Infant

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School details

Date of previous inspection 12 October 2006

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Information about this school

 Windlesham Village Infant School converted to become an academy school in April 2018. It is part of The Alliance multi-academy trust.  The school is much smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The number of pupils on roll at the school has decreased since the previous inspection. This academic year, the school has moved to a single form of entry and admits up to 30 pupils.  The school does not currently use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation. 14 and 15 September 2021

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 Inspectors met with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher and members of staff. Inspectors also spoke to the special educational needs coordinator.  Inspectors met with the chief executive officer for The Alliance multi-academy trust, representatives of the board of trustees and the local academy board.  To inspect safeguarding, inspectors checked the single central record of recruitment checks and talked to leaders responsible for safeguarding. Inspectors also talked to a range of staff and pupils.  Inspectors considered the 10 responses to the confidential staff survey and spoke to a range of staff about their views of the school.  Inspectors took account of the 56 responses to Ofsted’s Parent View questionnaire and 37 additional free-text responses. Inspectors spoke to several parents during the inspection.  Inspectors met with a range of pupils to discuss their views about the school and

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talked to pupils informally during social times and in lessons.  As part of our inspection of early years, inspectors meet with the early years leader and visited the Reception class.  Inspectors reviewed a range of documentation, including the school’s self- evaluation and school development plan, pupil premium and catch-up funding plans.  Early reading, mathematics, history and computing were considered as part of this inspection. Inspectors met with the mathematics and English leaders. Inspectors undertook a range of lesson visits and met with pupils and class teachers. Inspectors also looked at pupils’ work and heard pupils read.

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Inspection team

Louise Walker, lead inspector Her Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Liz McIntosh Ofsted Inspector 14 and 15 September 2021

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regulates and inspects to 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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