St Martin's East Woodhay Church of England (Aided) Primary School

Inspection of a good school: St Martin’s East Woodhay Church of England (Aided) Primary School East End, Newbury, Berkshire RG20 0AF

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Outcome

St Martin’s East Woodhay Church of England (Aided) Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at St Martin’s readily articulate the pride they have in their school. Comments made by pupils, such as ‘No matter who you are, you can belong here,’ capture the inclusive nature of this school community. Pupils appreciate the small and friendly environment. They say that ‘everyone knows each other’. This is evident at breaktimes as pupils across different age groups come together enthusiastically to organise fun games and activities in the playground. Parents agree with the views of their children. They also value the nurturing and caring ethos that their children experience here.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school values of ‘respect, friendship, courage and creativity’ are evident in the attitudes of the pupils. High expectations and well-established routines mean that behaviour is exemplary. In lessons, pupils are eager to engage in purposeful learning. Consequently, pupils are entrusted with a wide range of leadership responsibilities. They are proud of the jobs they do, such as being school ambassadors, school councillors, house captains or ‘stewards of God’s earth’ leaders. Pupils respect the influence these roles carry. They thoughtfully improve their school, for example by creating posters to remind everyone to conserve water, or by carefully selecting the outdoor play equipment.

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

Everyone shares the same ambition for pupils to become lifelong learners and enjoy their education. The quality of provision in Reception gets children off to a flying start. The curriculum is carefully designed to prepare children to be ready for Year 1. Staff place great emphasis on knowing every child. Systems for the identification of special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) mean there is an accurate understanding of each pupil’s needs right from when they start school. Teachers use this information to tailor learning for pupils with SEND. In lessons, teachers check what pupils have learned 7 November 2023

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and, if necessary, adapt resources so that all pupils learn well. Teachers routinely provide opportunities for pupils to recall and revisit previous learning.

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Recently, in the foundation subjects, the most important knowledge and skills that pupils need to learn have been carefully reorganised. In each subject, what pupils should learn and the order in which it should be taught are clearly set out. However, because this work is still new, in some subjects there is variability in how well this is taught across the classes. This means, sometimes, pupils are not always sure about what they have learned. For example, in history, pupils could recall some fun facts from activity days; however, they could not accurately remember important historical knowledge. As a result, pupils’ ability to connect and deepen their subject knowledge is not yet consistently well supported across all subject areas.

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Pupils convey an infectious love of reading. They read avidly and enjoy discussing their favourite books. They look forward to choosing books from the school library to take home and share with their families. Pupils eagerly anticipate the regular moments in class when they get to ‘drop everything and read’. Over time, they become confident and fluent readers. This is because staff use their training to skilfully check and make sure that all pupils learn their phonics well. The books pupils read help them practise the sounds they learn. Children in Reception start learning their letters and the sounds they make right from the start. Fun activities help them to consolidate this learning through their play. Careful and regular checks make sure that any pupil who is falling behind is swiftly identified. Tailored support is in place to ensure all pupils confidently learn to read, including those with SEND.

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There is a strong emphasis on developing pupils’ independence and confidence to be ready for their future lives. Through the ‘WoW’ (Walk on Weekdays) initiative, pupils are taught how to walk safely into school from a nearby drop-off point. Along with a wide range of clubs, there is a hugely popular choir, which is enjoyed by almost half of the pupils in school. Through the curriculum and in collective worship, pupils learn about different religions, celebrations and cultures. Pupils understand that they have an important role to play beyond their school. Following an initial link made through a harvest celebration, the school council now organises half-termly ‘foodbank Fridays’ to support the local community.

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Decision-making is resolutely focused on providing rich opportunities for the pupils. Leaders and governors are mindful of workload demands, and staff enjoy working at the school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There are well-established processes in place to manage the safer recruitment of staff. The safeguarding curriculum, which teaches pupils how to be safe online and in the community, is comprehensive and thoughtful. Importantly, all staff have been well trained to notice and report any safeguarding concerns. This process is followed consistently. However, some safeguarding records do not always include the detail of leaders’ timely 7 November 2023

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and appropriate actions, and therefore important information could be missed. Leaders recognise this and are taking action to improve it.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Sometimes, some safeguarding records lack sufficient detail about the action taken in response to an incident. This means vital information could be missed. Leaders need to make sure that all actions are clearly and consistently recorded.  The school has recently redeveloped the curriculum in the foundation subjects. Currently, not all teachers have had the necessary training to fully deliver this new curriculum. In addition, the school is not always clear on how well pupils are learning in each subject. The school needs to ensure that appropriate training, support and monitoring are in place to be assured that pupils are learning well across the school’s curriculum.

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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 May 2014.

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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. 7 November 2023

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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’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 7 November 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 13 March 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 This is a Church of England school and is part of the Diocese of Winchester. The school’s religious character was last inspected under section 48 of the Education Act 2005 in May 2023.  The school uses no alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, senior school leaders and members of the governing body. The inspectors also had phone calls with a representative from the local authority, and with a representative from the diocese.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, the inspectors discussed the curriculum with the 7 November 2023

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subject leader, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at a sample of pupils’ work. Inspectors also discussed the curriculum in some other subjects.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspectors considered responses to the staff survey and spoke to a range of staff about their views of the school. Responses to the Ofsted Parent View survey and additional free-text responses were considered by the inspectors. The inspectors also spoke to parents on the morning of the inspection. The inspectors met with a range of pupils to learn their views about the school.

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Inspection team

Jo Petch, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Clare Haines Ofsted Inspector 7 November 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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