The Colleton Primary School

Inspection of a good school: The Colleton Primary School Colleton Drive, Twyford, Reading, Berkshire RG10 0AX

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Inspection dates: 21 and 22 September 2022

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Outcome

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

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have a strong sense of belonging to this cheerful school community. They enjoy coming to school and feel very safe. Leaders help pupils to develop resilience and confidence. Leaders’ determination to develop responsible young citizens is reflected in pupils’ kindness and respect towards each other. Bullying is rare. Pupils are confident that adults would help them if there was a problem. Pupils appreciate the range of out-of- school activities on offer, including sports and music. They care for their local community through activities such as planting daffodils in nearby parks and raising money for local charities. Staff set high expectations for behaviour from the moment children join the Reception class. This makes sure that pupils across the school settle quickly and concentrate well in lessons. Pupils are helped to understand how they can express their emotions and feelings in a safe way. This means that interruption to pupils’ learning does not happen

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What is it like to attend this school?

often. Sanctions and rewards are fair and consistently applied.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders are ambitious for pupils. In some curriculum subjects, such as mathematics, their expectations are met. However, weaknesses in the school’s reading and wider curriculum mean that some pupils are not achieving well enough.

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

Although most pupils quickly learn to read, a few pupils do not. There are not enough reading books which are precisely matched to pupils’ stages of phonics development. Not all staff have received the relevant training. As a result, reading is not taught consistently well. Teachers read a wide range of books to pupils. However, they do not consistently challenge and inspire pupils’ personal reading choices. Leaders have plans to address the shortcomings in their reading provision. 21 and 22 September 2022

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Leaders have greatly improved the mathematics curriculum since the last inspection. Mathematics teaching has been enhanced too. Careful curriculum planning steers the logical development of pupils’ knowledge and skills. This begins in the early years where adults explore in depth what, and how, children learn. Teachers across the school are skilled at making sure that pupils practise and build on what they have learned before and commit key facts to memory. They systematically assess pupils’ learning at the end of a series of lessons and quickly notice pupils who need extra support. Teachers draw on the expertise of colleagues to adapt teaching to help pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) learn alongside their classmates.

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In some other subjects, pupils do not achieve well. Leaders have adopted an ambitious, broad and balanced curriculum. However, leaders have not always broken down the curriculum into smaller steps. As a result, teachers are not clear enough about the precise content they need to teach. They sometimes present pupils with far too much information. Often, pupils do not have the knowledge and skills they need to link new learning to what they already know. Staff do not systematically check pupils’ understanding. This means that they do not know how well pupils are achieving.

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Leaders actively look for ways to broaden pupils’ experiences. For example, teachers organise local trips to complement pupils’ learning well. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, they provided opportunities for pupils to practise entrepreneurial skills and start small businesses. Pupils reflect thoroughly on British values, including the importance of respect for others. Any form of harassment of pupils, for example because of their gender, faith or disability, is not tolerated. The school council ensures that pupils’ views are democratically represented.

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In many areas, the school makes effective provision for pupils’ broader development. However, the full relationships and sex education (RSE) curriculum is not yet established. Pupils do not have sufficient knowledge of protected characteristics and some important aspects of the RSE curriculum have not been taught.

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The needs of pupils with SEND are well met. Pupils have clear objectives for their learning. These identify the small steps pupils need to complete to make progress. Additional resources and interventions are well matched to pupils’ individual needs. The leader for SEND takes clear and decisive action to get the right support at the right time.

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Governors and leaders consider the workload and well-being of staff carefully when introducing new initiatives. Staff greatly appreciate this. They say that leaders treat them as ‘people first and employees second’. There is no bullying or harassment of staff.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff see safeguarding as everybody’s responsibility. They are quick to identify and report any concerns they have. However, there are some administrative weaknesses in record- keeping. Concerns about pupils are taken seriously and promptly acted upon, but this is 21 and 22 September 2022

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not always carefully recorded. Leaders do not always share information about outcomes with the appropriate people.

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Staff work hard to maintain trusting relations with parents and carers. This means that concerns are identified and acted on that might have otherwise remained hidden. Leaders ensure staff receive regular guidance to help them understand risks to pupils, including those posed by online communications.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Early reading is not always taught effectively. As a result, some pupils do not learn to read well. Leaders need to provide staff with the necessary training to deliver the reading curriculum effectively. Additionally, they need to ensure that books match pupils’ reading knowledge.  In the foundation subjects, the curriculum is not always broken down into smaller steps of learning. This means that teachers are not clear about the precise content they need to teach. Where this is the case, pupils are not achieving well enough as they are not building on prior knowledge. Leaders need to make sure that the component knowledge and skills in the foundation subjects are clearly identified.  Pupils do not have sufficient knowledge of protected characteristics and some other important aspects of the RSE curriculum. Leaders must ensure that the full RSE curriculum is taught.  Safeguarding record-keeping is not always thorough enough and some records lack

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

sufficient detail. This means that the information held does not present a clear enough chronology of concerns and actions taken by leaders. Leaders need to ensure that concerns and their decision-making are clearly recorded and communicated.

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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 an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in July 2013. 21 and 22 September 2022

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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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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. 21 and 22 September 2022

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 18 July 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school uses two alternative provisions.

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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 their evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, subject leaders and other staff. The inspector spoke to some governors and a school improvement officer from the local authority.  The inspector spoke to parents at the school gate and groups of pupils in school and took account of the responses to Ofsted’s parent survey, staff survey and pupil survey.  The inspector carried out deep dives in reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, looked at curriculum information, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to some teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.

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 The inspector observed pupils reading and spoke to groups of pupils about the books they like to read.  To inspect safeguarding, the inspector met with the designated safeguarding lead and reviewed records. The inspector met with the school’s business manager to scrutinise the single central record of recruitment and vetting checks. The inspector also spoke with staff and pupils.

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Inspection team

Clare Morgan, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 21 and 22 September 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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