Eton Wick CofE First School

Inspection of Eton Wick C of E First School Sheepcote Road, Eton Wick, Windsor, Berkshire SL4 6JB

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Inspection dates: 28 and 29 September 2021

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Requires improvement 28 and 29 September 2021

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children relish learning at Eton Wick. They are proud to have their name added to the headteacher’s ‘golden book’ when they have tried hard with their work. Pupils especially love reading and talk excitedly about the different books they have read. They are very keen to improve their reading so they can choose to read any book.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy because everyone behaves well. Staff have high expectations of behaviour. They help children to understand the rules and routines as soon as they start in Nursery. Staff are alert to any unkind behaviour and bullying is extremely rare. If pupils need reminding about making good behaviour choices, adults do this swiftly and calmly. Pupils use the buddy bench well to help them find friends to play with.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe in this school. They are confident that staff will always help them if they have a problem. Pupils know that adults listen to their suggestions to improve the school. They enjoy the range of leadership roles available, such as the school council, worship council and well-being warrior. In these positions, pupils contribute to the design of events such as ‘Well-being Wednesdays’. This gives them a powerful voice in this happy school.

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better?

Leaders and staff have worked well together to improve this small school. Since the previous full inspection, they have strengthened the teaching of mathematics and English. Staff closely check pupils’ understanding in these subjects and use this information to adapt their teaching. As a result, pupils are developing the knowledge and skills they need to achieve well.

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better?

Children get off to a good start in early years when learning to read. Staff share rhymes and games from the very start of Nursery to help them begin to hear and recognise sounds. This ensures children are well prepared for the effective teaching of phonics from the beginning of Reception. Teachers support pupils well, so they become increasingly fluent and accurate readers. Leaders ensure that pupils’ reading books are closely matched to the sounds they have learned. Staff share with parents the sounds their children are learning each week so they can support them at home. Pupils who struggle to read have extra time and support to practise to help them keep up.

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better?

Plans in other subjects contain the broad content in the right order for pupils to learn. However, leaders have not yet identified what is the most important knowledge pupils need to remember for future learning. So, although teachers routinely check what pupils have learned during lessons, they do not always focus on the key knowledge they need to retain. Leaders recently moved to subjects being taught individually rather than combined as a topic to improve this. They are 28 and 29 September 2021

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developing subject leader roles to strengthen plans and staff’s understanding of how pupils learn the curriculum.

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Pupils’ additional needs are identified swiftly. Those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported well in English and mathematics. The special educational needs and disabilities coordinator (SENDCo) carefully reviews the progress that pupils with SEND make in these subjects and advises staff where needed. This is not yet the case in other subjects.

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Respectful relationships are the heart of this school. Staff model how to speak to other people. They use consistent language when talking to pupils about behaviour. This helps pupils respond well to adults and to each other. The calm routines help pupils to focus during their lessons. They have positive attitudes to learning. For example, children in early years were observed enjoying a role-playing game together after a visit from a police officer. Pupils in Year 2 had high levels of concentration during a lesson putting the lives of significant people in chronological order.

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Leaders have a strong ambition to provide a wide range of personal development opportunities. Pupils learn about some of the celebrations from the world’s main faiths, starting from their own experiences. This helps them to be welcoming of others’ backgrounds and beliefs. Books and stories are used as a starting point to discuss important social issues, such as child refugees. In the early years, children are encouraged to make good choices about eating well, and they are helped to manage their emotions. Older pupils learn the importance of having a healthy body and healthy mind through the wide range of clubs available.

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Governors have provided appropriate support for the school, especially during the partial closures. They have used visits to the school to review improvements with pupils and staff and to check on their well-being. However, they do not have the knowledge required to sufficiently challenge leaders about the curriculum.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff confidently understand their roles within a strong safeguarding culture. This includes teaching pupils to safely manage risk and ensure they know how to keep themselves safe online.

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Safeguarding

Extra training has helped staff learn about different aspects of safeguarding. They know what signs to be alert to, especially with the youngest children in early years. There are clear systems for reporting and recording concerns which lead to swift actions being taken. Leaders work well with families to offer support. They are confident to request further action from external agencies if they are not satisfied with the response. 28 and 29 September 2021

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Science and foundation subject plans contain broad content, but they do not prioritise the key learning that pupils should remember or that teachers should check they have learned. Leaders should refine subject plans to precisely identify the most important knowledge and skills for all children to learn, starting from the early years. Teachers then need to check that pupils have remembered it and use this information to adjust future lessons where needed. Leaders have already taken action to address this weakness over the coming year. For this reason, the transitional arrangements have been applied.  Most subject leaders are new to their role. They are not sufficiently experienced or skilled to lead their subjects. Senior leaders must make sure that subject leaders have training to support them to refine planning, support colleagues, monitor how well plans are implemented and check how well pupils are learning.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Governors do not have enough understanding to challenge leaders about the curriculum. Consequently, they do not understand how effective the curriculum is in helping children to learn. Governors need to improve their knowledge and skills so they can sufficiently hold leaders to account for the quality of education.

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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. 28 and 29 September 2021

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School details

Inspection number 10203133 Type of school First

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 15 June 2021, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The headteacher and deputy headteacher were appointed in an acting capacity in January 2019 and permanently from April 2019. The SENDCo is also relatively new to post.  The chair of governors is very recently appointed, having been co-chair previously. Three other governors have joined the governing body since the last full inspection.  Since September 2020, leaders have shortened the school week by closing at 1pm on Friday afternoons to give teachers time to work together on curriculum development. This was after consultation with parents, staff, governors and the local authority. To minimise any impact on the curriculum, leaders amended the school day structure by adding an extra two hours teaching time elsewhere during the week.  The school does not currently use alternative provision.  This school is a voluntary-controlled Church of England school in the Diocese of Oxford. Its last section 48 inspection took place in June 2015.

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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

 Inspectors met with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, the SENDCo, subject leaders and teachers.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, computing and history. For each deep dive, inspectors met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors also looked at curriculum plans and spoke to leaders about some other subjects. They also observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and on the playground.  The lead inspector met with four governors, including the chair of the governing body. She met with two representatives from the local authority. She also had a telephone conversation with a representative from the diocese.  Inspectors took account of 31 responses to the Ofsted Parent View survey and 34 written comments from parents. Inspectors considered the views of staff during

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Information about this inspection

meetings with them and took into account the 17 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey.  Inspectors reviewed school documents relating to safeguarding, including reviewing safeguarding records and training logs, talking to pupils and staff and meeting with the school’s designated safeguarding lead.

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Inspection team

Laurie Anderson, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Clare Morgan Ofsted 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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