Wildmoor Heath School

Inspection of a good school: Wildmoor Heath School Lower Broadmoor Road, Crowthorne, Bracknell, Berkshire RG45 7HD

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Outcome

Wildmoor Heath School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Wildmoor Heath get off to a good start to their education. They are thriving in this small, happy school. Pupils enjoy learning. They appreciate the way that their teachers challenge them and make lessons interesting. Pupils say that everyone is friendly, kind and welcoming. They feel safe in school and confirm that bullying rarely happens. Any upsets are quickly resolved.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders and staff encourage every pupil to ‘reach for the stars’ and to be the best that they can be. Pupils like to live up to the school’s values of ‘respect, empathy, aspirations, courage and honesty’. They are well behaved and courteous. In lessons, pupils listen carefully and are keen to discuss their learning. During lunchtimes, they play happily together in the school’s attractive outdoor spaces.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils make the most of the school’s many clubs and extra activities. From making music in the rock group to being active in one of the sports clubs, there is something for everyone. Pupils also enjoy spending time in the school’s forest school area, ‘The Haven’. They value the privilege of holding positions of responsibility, such as being a school ambassador or a librarian.

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

Reading is the cornerstone of the school’s curriculum. Throughout the school, pupils get to know and love many high-quality texts. Story times are often highlights of the day. Older pupils talk animatedly about their favourite authors, texts and genres. They explain how reading helps them to learn new vocabulary and ideas which they can ‘magpie’ into their writing. Effective phonics teaching means that most younger pupils quickly learn to read. Staff do all they can to help pupils keep up. They also provide effective support for those pupils who find reading a challenge.

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

The mathematics curriculum is coherently planned and taught well. Knowledge builds incrementally and logically. This supports pupils well in developing their understanding, 24 and 25 May 2022

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fluency and reasoning. The ‘flash back 4’ daily sessions enable teachers to revisit previous content and address any misconceptions. Staff in the early years provide a wealth of activities to help children secure important mathematical concepts.

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Leaders have ensured that the wider curriculum is interesting and ambitious. They have shaped this around the school’s curriculum ‘drivers’, such as community and communication. The content and vocabulary that pupils need to learn are sequenced logically from the early years to Year 6. In most subjects, pupils are achieving well. However, in a few foundation subjects, such as music and art and design, pupils are not achieving quite as well. This is because leaders are still refining and embedding the curriculum and staff have not yet had training. Consequently, in a minority of subjects, the curriculum is not yet taught consistently well.

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Teachers engage pupils well in lessons and create an environment where pupils are keen to take part in discussions. Supportive, warm relationships are the norm. Staff keep track of how well pupils are getting on so that they can plug any gaps in understanding. In the early years, staff organise well-planned and motivating activities. They ensure that children get off to a good start to school. Children love exploring the stimulating environment and making up their own activities. During the inspection, children delighted in creating their own musical instruments and putting on an impromptu show.

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Leaders ensure that any additional needs are quickly spotted. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported well. Pre-teaching, post- teaching and extra support in class helps these pupils to access the full curriculum. Staff make good use of concrete resources to help pupils secure important concepts.

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Leaders are determined to do all they can to make up for the disruption to pupils’ lives and education as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. They provide pupils with a comprehensive programme of visits and enrichment activities. This includes theatre trips, visits to places of worship and outdoor adventurous residential visits. They ‘open pupils’ eyes’ to the world beyond the school and the locality to enhance pupils’ cultural understanding.

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Staff enjoy working at the school and feel that leaders are considerate of their well-being and workload. Staff who are new to the school, including new entrants to the profession, appreciate leaders’ good guidance and support. Leaders and staff value the training they receive through the trust.

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Parents hold the school in high regard and are full of praise for Wildmoor Heath. One parent, typical of many, commented, ‘I cannot rate the school highly enough. A thoroughly dedicated, professional and caring team of staff.’

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders and staff know that pupils’ safety and well-being are of paramount importance. Staff have been trained well and are alert and responsive to anything that may indicate a 24 and 25 May 2022

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worry about a pupil. They promptly share any concerns with leaders. When needed, leaders refer these to the local authority’s safeguarding team. They keep in regular touch with outside agencies to ensure that pupils and families receive the right support. Any concerns are swiftly acted upon. However, some aspects of safeguarding record-keeping are not tight enough. Governors and trustees keep appropriate oversight of safeguarding.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In a few foundation subjects, such as music and art and design, leaders are still refining and embedding the curriculum. The key knowledge that pupils need to learn and remember is not yet explicit enough. Not all staff have had the training they need to implement the curriculum effectively. As a result, pupils are not achieving as well as they are in other subjects. Leaders need to refine the curriculum in these foundation subjects to give staff clearer guidance about the precise knowledge that pupils need to learn and remember. Leaders need to implement their planned programme of staff training to strengthen teachers’ knowledge of the curriculum and associated assessment processes.  Some aspects of leaders’ safeguarding record-keeping are not tight enough and information about concerns is not consistently clear. This risks important information being inadvertently overlooked. Leaders must ensure that any safeguarding concerns

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

and actions taken are clear and are consistent with the school’s chosen approach to record-keeping.

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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 predecessor school, Wildmoor Heath School, to be good in May 2015.

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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. 24 and 25 May 2022

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

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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. 24 and 25 May 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10226983 Type of school Primary

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School details

Website https://www.wildmoorheath.org.uk/

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school converted to be an academy school in January 2018. It is one of 21 schools in the Greenshaw Learning Trust.  The board of trustees has delegated some strategic responsibilities to the school’s local governing body. This is set out in the trust’s scheme of delegation.  The headteacher joined the school in September 2018. The deputy headteacher has been in post since April 2022.  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. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and has taken that into account in her evaluation of the school.  The inspector carried out deep dives in reading, mathematics and music. For each deep dive, she discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, talked with staff and pupils, visited lessons and looked at a sample of pupils’ work. The inspector also considered the curriculum in other subjects and heard some pupils read. 24 and 25 May 2022

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 The inspector met with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher and other senior leaders, including the leaders responsible for SEND.  The inspector met with the chief executive officer. She held a discussion with the trust’s director for primary education and met with the vice-chair of the board of trustees, who is also the chair of the local governing body.  To inspect safeguarding, the inspector reviewed school policies, procedures and records, including records of recruitment checks. The inspector met with the designated leader for safeguarding and the school’s business manager. She also spoke with staff and pupils.  The inspector took account of parents’ views through their responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Ofsted Parent View. She considered parents’ written responses and talked with some parents on the second day of the inspection.  The inspector met with staff to find out their views about the school and considered

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their responses to Ofsted’s confidential staff survey.  The inspector gathered pupils’ views through meetings with them and at other times of the day. She also considered pupils’ responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey.

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Inspection team

Sue Cox, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector 24 and 25 May 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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