Queen Eleanor's Church of England School

Inspection of a good school: Queen Eleanor’s Church of England School Queen Eleanor’s Road, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7SD

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Inspection dates: 17 and 18 January 2023

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Outcome

Queen Eleanor’s Church of England School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at this caring and friendly school are happy and feel safe. As one pupil commented, ‘We make everyone feel welcome here because they are our family as well.’ This ethos has been deliberately created by leaders. Pupils are taught how to behave in ways that match the school’s values of honesty, trust, kindness and respect. These values can be seen in the way pupils behave towards each other. Bullying very rarely happens. If pupils are unkind to each other, it is dealt with quickly by staff.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have high expectations and pupils achieve well. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Teachers make sure that all pupils work towards the same ambitious goals. The expectations that staff have for pupils goes beyond the academic. Many pupils take advantage of the wide range of clubs that are on offer and staff try to ensure that there is something that will benefit everyone. Pupils support the local community through visiting the elderly and raising money for charities. They also have positions of responsibility in the school and feel like they are listened to, respected and can make a real difference.

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

Leaders have high aspirations for pupils. This is shown in their careful thinking about the curriculum, especially for reading, writing and mathematics. A new phonics programme has been introduced and leaders have quickly ensured that pupils who are struggling to read are given the right support. For most pupils, this is effective and they are making swift progress through the programme. In the majority of subjects, where detailed planning has taken place, pupils are confident in discussing what they have learned, and achieve very well. However, in some subjects, leaders have not thought carefully enough about what it is they want pupils to learn or when they should learn it. As a result, pupils’ knowledge in these subject areas is not as strong as it should be.

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

Overall, teachers think carefully about the activities that pupils do and pupils recognise and appreciate this. Pupils are very keen to learn, and they follow instructions and tasks 17 and 18 January 2023 eagerly. There is very little disruption. Occasionally, though, planned activities have drifted from their original purpose and so are not used as effective as they could be. For example, teachers sometimes give pupils different activities to do. This leads to them learning different things to those which were planned. This is not what leaders intend and it hinders pupils’ progress through the planned curriculum.

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

Staff ensure that the needs of pupils with SEND are met very well. The special educational needs coordinator works closely with teachers to support pupils to achieve the same ambitious endpoints as their peers. Where interventions are needed, leaders make sure that they are timely and focused on specific gaps in knowledge. Teachers evaluate the impact of these interventions to make sure that their pupils are getting the right support at the right time. These interventions have been highly effective.

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

Leaders have made sure that there is a well-planned curriculum for personal, social, health and economic education. This includes relationship and sex education, which is introduced in an age-appropriate way. Staff have also planned a well-thought-out programme to develop pupils’ wider spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness. Leaders work closely with different faith groups in the community and pupils have a good understanding of diversity and equality. While each aspect of pupils’ wider development is well planned, leaders are less clear on how this all comes together into a coherent and purposeful curriculum.

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

Leaders consider the well-being of staff as well as pupils. Leaders have recently made changes that have reduced the workload of teachers. This has meant that teachers are now spending more time on the activities that will bring the greatest benefits to their pupils.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff are well trained in how to identify pupils who are at risk of harm, and there are well- understood procedures in place to raise concerns. When concerns are raised, the team of designated safeguarding leads are tenacious in ensuring that pupils get the help that they need. Leaders work well with external agencies to secure this support where needed.

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Safeguarding

Pupils are taught about keeping themselves safe in school, and they can explain in detail how to keep themselves safe online and how to ensure that relationships are healthy and appropriate.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, leaders have not thought carefully enough about what it is they want pupils to learn, so there is not a consistently logical sequence for the curriculum. As a result, many pupils remember only disconnected facts in a few subjects, and they do not learn what leaders intend. Leaders need to consider their ambition for the end 17 and 18 January 2023 points of these subjects and identify what it is that pupils will need to learn so that these end points can be reached.  Teachers have not always fully understood the purpose of learning activities in the way that leaders intend. This means that some activities are not being used as effectively as they could be. Leaders need to direct teachers back to the purpose of these strategies and put in place support to ensure that everyone understands why they are being used.

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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 predecessor school, Queen Eleanor’s C of E Junior School, to be good in January 2013.

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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. 17 and 18 January 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10241982 Type of school Junior

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School details

Chair of trust The Very Revd Dianna Lynn Gwilliam

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School details

Headteacher Mrs Karen Curtin (interim head)

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School details

Website www.queen-eleanors.surrey.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 13 September 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Good Shepherd Trust multi-academy trust.  The school does not currently use alternative provision.  The school is a Church of England school. It is due its next Section 48 inspection in the next academic year.

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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 his evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with leaders, including the headteacher, special education needs coordinator and other senior leaders. The lead inspector also met with trustees, local governors, and officers of the trust.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. 17 and 18 January 2023  The single central register was checked, and the inspector spoke to the designated safeguarding lead and members of the safeguarding team about their approaches to

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Information about this inspection

safeguarding. They also sampled case studies and documentation and spoke with a range of staff and pupils about their knowledge of safeguarding.  The inspector met with a range of staff and considered their views through the confidential online staff survey.  The inspector met with pupils formally and informally around the school, in lessons and at playtime. The inspector met with some parents and carers at the start of the school day and took account of responses to the Ofsted Parent View survey.

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Inspection team

Mark Enser, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 17 and 18 January 2023 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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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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