All Saints CofE (Aided) Primary School

Inspection of a good school: All Saints CofE (Aided) Primary School Norreys Avenue, Wokingham, Berkshire RG40 1UX

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Inspection dates: 28 and 29 September 2021

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Outcome

There has been no change to this school’s overall judgement of good as a result of this initial (section 8) inspection. However, the evidence gathered suggests that the inspection grade might not be as high if a full inspection were carried out now. The next inspection will therefore be a full (section 5) inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy to be at school because they feel part of a caring community. They like learning about being a good friend and the way this type of work helps everyone to get along well. They are confident that adults at the school make time for them and help them if they ever need it. Although a few parents raised concerns about bullying, pupils throughout the school are confident that staff are good at stopping this and preventing any recurrence.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils like talking about the books they read and listen to. They can see they are getting better in reading and mathematics and know that staff have high expectations of their learning and behaviour. They like the ways that staff help them to concentrate in lessons and feel that most pupils behave well in and out of lessons thanks to this support.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Although pupils like school, their experiences in some subjects are varied. This is because leaders have not made sure that learning is always structured around the knowledge that pupils have learned and what they need to learn next. This hinders pupils’ progress across the curriculum.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders have not ensured that the curriculum provided to pupils helps them to learn more or remember more over time in all subjects. Leaders identified the need to improve the curriculum prior to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic and prioritised reading, mathematics and science. However, they did not have a precise understanding of the current quality of education in other subjects until this inspection.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The areas leaders have addressed, such as reading and mathematics, are strong. In these subjects, leaders have precise understanding about how to build up pupils’ knowledge. 28 and 29 September 2021

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They have carefully supported staff to understand how to check what pupils have remembered and to focus on what pupils need to learn next. Reading, in particular, is very effective and children learn to read well from the word go in the early years. Children are excited to learn new sounds and are keen to show how well they can read. A sense of excitement about books runs through the school and Year 6 pupils still enjoy being read to and sharing ideas about books.

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In the areas of strength, pupils’ work indicates that that they are learning what leaders intend and making progress through the planned curriculum. Here, pupils are set up well for their next steps.

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Other subjects are not planned effectively; therefore, pupils’ learning is hindered. Leaders have not identified what knowledge pupils need to gain in order to make progress through the curriculum. They have been distracted by creating exciting ‘hooks’ and fun activities that pupils enjoy but get little from in the long term.

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Pupils’ learning over time is also hampered because leaders have not systematically considered how children’s learning in the early years is the foundation for later learning. Children are happy and do lots of fun activities, but, with the exception of reading, they are not fully prepared for their next steps in Year 1.

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Adaptations for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are similarly varied. Pupils are fully included in lessons and teachers adapt activities for them. Where the curriculum is designed well, the adaptations are thoughtful and effective. Where it is not, these pupils struggle.

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Beyond the academic curriculum, there is more strength. Leaders are determined to provide a wide experience for all pupils, especially those who are disadvantaged. They know pupils well and provide opportunities that make a real difference to them. Pupils are supported to develop their interest in the world around them and to consider other people’s views. They participate with enthusiasm and make sure others do too.

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Staff are calm and consistent when managing behaviour. This helps pupils throughout the school to understand what is expected of them. From Nursery, children learn to take turns and listen to and ask questions of each other. These expectations are built on over time. Pupils like the consistency and high expectations. They behave well in class and around the school.

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Staff appreciate the support provided through the training for reading and mathematics. Most report that leaders have considered their workload well.

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The governing body has not held leaders to account for the quality of education. They have focused more on the culture and atmosphere of the school. New governors have recently provided more challenge.

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In discussion with the headteacher, the inspectors agreed that leadership of safeguarding, planning for the structured progression of knowledge from the time children join the 28 and 29 September 2021

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school, adaptations for pupils with SEND and the effectiveness of governance may usefully serve as areas of focus for the next inspection.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

All staff are alert for any signs of worry and report any concerns clearly and quickly. Leaders responsible for safeguarding take swift and appropriate action, securing help that pupils and their families might require. They know pupils very well and make connections between different concerns appropriately.

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Safeguarding

Pupils have a secure knowledge of how to keep themselves safe, including when online.

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Safeguarding

The recording systems used by leaders are overly complex. They rely too much on leaders’ knowledge of pupils. Leaders recognised this weakness during the inspection and started to refine their practice.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Safeguarding record-keeping systems are overly complex. There is no clear single overview that joins all concerns and events. They are too dependent on the people who currently oversee safeguarding. These processes need to be simplified so that any concern can be immediately understood in context by any appropriate person.  Leaders’ evaluation of the quality of the curriculum was not accurate at the start of the inspection. They now have a plan for improvement that is based on successes achieved elsewhere, such as in reading. This plan needs to be systematically followed and monitored to ensure that it makes the intended difference.  Leaders have not precisely identified the essential knowledge that children need to know and the things that they need to be able to do in the early years in order to move into Year 1 successfully. This limits children’s readiness for their next steps. Leaders should ensure that learning plans cover the whole of pupils’ time at school.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some areas of the curriculum do not identify what knowledge pupils are intended to learn and remember over time. Consequently, sometimes lessons are more about fun activities for pupils to do rather than what they need to learn. Each subject needs to be coherently planned and sequenced so that teachers know what knowledge they are aiming to build over time.  Plans to support pupils with SEND are closely aligned with each curriculum area. Where the curriculum is weaker, adaptations for these pupils are not effective. Sometimes staff working with them do too much of the work, which does not help pupils to learn. These pupils need to be considered as curriculum plans are strengthened.  Until recently, governors have not held leaders to account for the quality of education. They rely too much on what the school ‘feels’ like rather than questioning the quality of education that pupils experience. They should ensure that they are closely monitoring

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the impact of the school’s improvement plans and take account of the external support arranged by the local authority.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called a section 8 inspection of a good or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in September 2016.

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How can I feed back my views?

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. 28 and 29 September 2021

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website allsaints.wokingham.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 21 and 22 September 2016, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The headteacher was appointed to the role from September 2017, having previously been deputy headteacher. The chair of the governing body was elected to the role since the last inspection having previously been a member of the governing body.  The school has a resource provision for up to 12 pupils with a physical disability. Pupils are placed in the provision by the local authority and are taught in the mainstream classes. There are only a few pupils in this provision currently.  As a Church of England school, All Saints is part of the Diocese of Oxford. They received a section 48 inspection in May 2018.  The school does not currently use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school leaders, and have taken that into account in their evaluation.  Inspectors met with the headteacher and members of the senior leadership team, including the special educational needs coordinator. They also met with a wide range of 28 and 29 September 2021

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teachers and teaching assistants. The lead inspector met with a group of governors, including the chair of the governing body. She held video calls with the director of education from the diocese and with school improvement partners from the local authority.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors spoke with staff, pupils and parents. The lead inspector met with the designated safeguarding lead and deputies to examine their knowledge, records and actions. During these meetings, the inspector scrutinised records, including those relating to the safer recruitment of staff. She sampled case files to explore how all at the school identify and support pupils at risk of harm.  Inspectors spoke to pupils from all year groups and considered 59 responses to Ofsted’s online pupil survey.  Inspectors considered the views of staff from conversations and 40 responses to Ofsted’s online staff survey.

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 An inspector spoke to some parents at the start of the inspection. The 71 responses to Ofsted Parent View, including 39 written responses, were also taken into account.  Inspectors did deep dives into these subjects: early reading, mathematics and history. This involved discussion with leaders about these subjects and the associated curriculum plans, visits to lessons, scrutiny of pupils’ work and discussion with pupils, teachers and teaching assistants from the lessons visited about the subjects.

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Inspection team

Lucy English, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

James Broadbridge Her Majesty’s Inspector 28 and 29 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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