St Luke's CofE Primary School

Inspection of an outstanding school: St Luke’s CofE Primary School Cookham Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 7EG

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Outcome

St Luke’s CofE Primary School continues to be an outstanding school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are rightly very proud of their school. They embody the ambition to ‘live life in all its fullness’, taking every opportunity to learn more. Classrooms are purposeful and alive with excited learning. Pupils are ambitious for themselves and those around them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders and staff know every pupil exceptionally well. Pupils know this and feel valued and safe. The school is a calm and joyful place where everyone is respected. Differences are celebrated here, and pupils have a deep understanding of tolerance. They learn and play together with maturity and consideration of others. This means bullying is incredibly rare. However, leaders are continually alert to possible incidents and act quickly to resolve these.

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What is it like to attend this school?

All pupils are well prepared for life beyond school. Leaders make sure pupils understand how to express their views, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils learn how to communicate very well and to debate theories such as the Big Bang respectfully. Local trips on the train and visits to the local residential home give pupils confidence and a strong sense of responsibility. At this school, pupils gain a powerful understanding of themselves and the world around them.

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

Staff and leaders have relentlessly high ambitions for all pupils. They are determined to make sure every pupil learns and remembers as much as possible. The school has high numbers of pupils with SEND. Staff understand these pupils’ needs well and provide exceptional support at every stage of learning. Ambitions for pupils with SEND are just as high as for their peers.

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

Leaders and staff plan what pupils learn meticulously. Many children start school with levels of knowledge and skills well below those expected for their age. The proportions of pupils with SEND or who speak English as an additional language are well-above average. Children’s achievement in the early years builds very firm foundations for their learning 11 and 12 July 2023

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later in the school. Staff quickly identify pupils’ needs and tailor the curriculum precisely to meet them. Leaders rightly prioritise a core focus on pupils’ speaking, reading, writing and numeracy. Pupils learn to read effectively. Pupils’ achievement improves increasingly rapidly as they get older. While outcomes at the end of key stage 1 are lower, pupils achieve highly by the end of Year 6 given their starting points when they join the school.

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All staff teach with precision and link learning to what pupils already know expertly. The curriculum in different subjects is of very high quality. For example, in art, pupils routinely evaluate artists’ work and create their own pieces using a high degree of skill. Pupils have an impressive understanding of the power and politics behind art, such as Banksy’s stencils. Meanwhile, children in the early years learn about Kandinsky, the techniques used and how to create any colour using only primary paints. This means pupils become confident and expressive artists from an early age.

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Staff continually check pupils’ understanding in lessons. They are adept at identifying misunderstandings and correcting these. Staff support all pupils with SEND skilfully in lessons. Each pupil is known well by all staff. Personalised support means pupils with SEND demonstrate the same high-level thinking as their peers. For example, in mathematics, all pupils work independently or in groups on complex tasks. They demonstrate very secure knowledge when explaining their learning.

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Pupils are highly attentive in lessons. They have a thirst for learning and a mature understanding of how to learn together. The relationships between staff and pupils are warm and respectful. This means that when pupils struggle to regulate, rapid support helps pupils manage themselves and return to learning. The learning of others is not disrupted.

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Leaders have planned pupils’ personal development with the same extraordinary care as their academic curriculum. Pupils learn about different backgrounds and faiths through local faith walks, school panels attended by local faith leaders, and presentations from pupils themselves. At the earliest opportunity, children share their backgrounds with each other. This school is rich in diversity and pupils benefit from this greatly. Their well- developed understanding of other people means they are curious, respectful and highly ambitious.

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School leaders are regarded highly by staff and the community. Trustees and governors work closely with school leaders and have a detailed understanding of the school. Staff are deeply appreciative of the training they receive. The well-being of all staff is a priority and workload is well managed. Leaders and staff have a shared drive for all pupils to achieve highly and to become responsible, resilient young people. This common purpose is realised as pupils thrive in this excellent school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

All staff know and understand the robust procedures to keep children safe. There is a culture of reporting all concerns. Leaders quickly act on these and secure any additional 11 and 12 July 2023

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help pupils may need. Regular training ensures all staff identify and report potential risks quickly.

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Leaders have ensured the school curriculum deliberately and explicitly teaches pupils how to be safe. Pupils know to report any concerns, and they all have key members of staff to talk to about any worries.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be outstanding, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains outstanding. 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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be outstanding in October 2017.

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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. 11 and 12 July 2023

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School details

Date of previous inspection 11 and 12 October 2017, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 This school is part of the Oxford Diocesan Schools Trust multi-academy trust.  This school uses two unregistered alternative provisions.  The Nursery provision caters for three- and four-year-old children.

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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, senior leaders, and teaching and support staff.  The inspector met with the trust’s chief executive officer, the chair of the trustees and members of the local governing body.  The inspector carried out deep dives into early reading, mathematics and art. For each deep dive, the inspector looked at curriculum planning, conducted joint lesson visits with leaders, spoke to pupils about their work and looked at pupils’ books and samples of their work. 11 and 12 July 2023

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 To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector met with the designated safeguarding lead, staff and pupils. The inspector reviewed the safeguarding policies and records, including the single central record.  The inspector analysed responses to the staff survey and spoke to staff about their views of the school.  The inspector took account of the responses to the Ofsted Parent View questionnaire and the additional free-text responses.  The inspector evaluated responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey.  The inspector met with a range of pupils to discuss their views about the school and talked to pupils during social times and in lessons.

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Inspection team

Ally Aldridge-Gibbons, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 11 and 12 July 2023

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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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