Wood End Infant & Pre-School

Inspection of a good school: Wood End Infant and Pre-School Redbridge, Stantonbury, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire MK14 6BB

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Outcome

Wood End Infant and Pre-School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Wood End is a nurturing, happy community. Pupils enjoy school and feel safe in the care of staff. Pupils get on well together and there are rarely any upsets or unkind behaviour. Every day begins with a ‘circle time’ that gets the day off to a calm and settled start. Classrooms are relaxed and purposeful. Pupils behave sensibly, focus on their learning and try their best. Lunchtimes are happy social occasions, where pupils enjoy playing with their friends and being active.

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What is it like to attend this school?

For many pupils and staff, ‘forest school’ is a highlight of the week. Come rain or shine, pupils enjoy playing outside and exploring this well-resourced outdoor area. Pupils work together to solve problems and investigate the natural world. They also learn how to use tools safely, to understand risk and to play safely in this environment.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have high expectations and want the best for every pupil at Wood End. They have placed reading at the heart of the school’s curriculum. Leaders ensure that pupils get off to the best possible start to learning to read, recognising that this is pivotal to pupils’ future success.

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

Leaders have planned an interesting and relevant curriculum. In English and mathematics, they have identified the small learning steps that build sequentially over time. Key concepts and content are revisited to help pupils remember important knowledge. In these subjects, pupils are doing well and building their knowledge securely.

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

In the wider curriculum, leaders have ensured that there is meaningful coverage of content. This is broadly aligned to the national curriculum. However, they have not yet identified with precision the important knowledge that pupils need to learn and remember along the way. As a result, assessment practice is less well developed and some learning activities do not build well enough on what pupils already know. Pupils are therefore not learning as well as they could be in the wider curriculum. 30 March 2022

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Pupils’ reading journey starts as soon as they arrive at Wood End. From children’s very first days in school, staff focus on developing pupils’ communication and language skills. In pre-school, rhymes, songs and story times feature daily and a love of reading is promoted throughout the school. Leaders provide staff with regular training and keep a close oversight of phonics teaching. This has led to a strong consistency of approach. Staff keep on top of how well pupils are reading. They quickly step in with extra help when it is needed, including for pupils whose progress stalled as a result of the COVID-19 disruption. Over time, pupils develop good reading habits and enjoy reading.

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Teachers have good subject knowledge. In subjects such as mathematics, they explain new concepts clearly, and take time to make sure that pupils’ understanding is secure. Staff are positive role models for pupils. They model the behaviours, courtesies and attitudes they expect of pupils. Teachers’ consistent routines mean that pupils know what is expected and this helps lessons to flow without interruption.

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Leaders have good systems in place to identify and support any pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Provision for pupils, including those with complex needs, is well planned. These pupils benefit from a bespoke curriculum to reflect their very specific needs. Staff give appropriate priority to younger pupils’ social and emotional development and their spoken language skills.

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Leaders have started to get the pre-pandemic clubs going again. ‘Teddy Tennis’ and ‘Brazilian Soccer’ offer pupils the chance to take part in physical, competitive activities. Leaders plan to expand the range of clubs on offer as soon as they can. The ‘language of the term’ helps pupils to learn about the different cultural traditions and languages spoken by families in the school community.

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The headteacher has steered the school well during the ups and downs of the COVID-19 pandemic. Leaders’ strong partnership working with parents has helped the school to stay connected with families. As one parent commented, ‘The school has a great inclusive community feel and is always very personal and welcoming.’ Staff enjoy working at the school and some describe it as being ‘like a family’. The members of the staff team pull together and share leaders’ aspiration to provide the best that they can for all pupils.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff and leaders know pupils and their families very well and are quick to notice anything worrying. Leaders are proactive in referring and pursuing any concerns with other agencies. However, leaders have not ensured that safeguarding records are always thorough enough, including their response to any concerns.

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Safeguarding

Pupils know who to speak to if they are worried about something. They also learn how to keep themselves safe, including when online. 30 March 2022

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Governors keep appropriate oversight of safeguarding and ensure that the school’s arrangements are kept under the spotlight.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Safeguarding record-keeping is not always thorough enough. Occasionally, the chronologies of concerns about pupils are not clear and leaders have sometimes not recorded their decision-making in response to concerns. This risks important information or decisions being overlooked, should there be further concerns about any pupils. Leaders must ensure that the chronology of any concerns about pupils, and their decision-making in response to these, is sufficiently detailed and clear.  In the foundation subjects, leaders have not identified with enough precision the component knowledge that they want pupils to learn and remember. This means that teachers sometimes plan learning activities that do not take account of or build well enough on what pupils already know. As a result, pupils are not developing their learning as securely as they could be in these subjects. Leaders need to refine the curriculum in the foundation subjects to ensure that component knowledge is identified

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

with greater precision. Leaders should also support teachers in developing assessment practice in the foundation subjects.

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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 second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in July 2012.

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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. 30 March 2022

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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. 30 March 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10211452 Type of school Infant

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 21 February 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Since the previous inspection, there have been a number of staffing and leadership changes. The headteacher and deputy headteacher took up their posts in 2018.  The school now has pre-school provision which caters for two- and three-year-old children. Provision at the pre-school was inspected as part of this section 8 inspection.  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 leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in reading, mathematics and geography. They met with subject leaders, pupils and staff, visited lessons and sampled pupils’ work. Inspectors also heard pupils read.  Inspectors met with the headteacher and the deputy headteacher, who has responsibility for SEND. 30 March 2022

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 To inspect safeguarding, inspectors reviewed a wide range of safeguarding documents and records, including the school’s record of recruitment checks. The lead inspector met with the designated leader (headteacher) for safeguarding. Inspectors also spoke with pupils and staff.  Inspectors took account of parents’ responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, and parents’ written comments. An inspector also talked with some parents at the end of the school day.  Inspectors gathered pupils’ views through meetings with them and at other times of the day, including visits to lessons and during lunchtime. Inspectors also considered the responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey.  Inspectors took account of the views of staff during meetings with them and considered their responses to Ofsted’s confidential staff survey.

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Inspection team

Sue Cox, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Stephen Long Her Majesty’s Inspector 30 March 2022

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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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