Swanbourne Church of England VA School

Inspection of a good school: Swanbourne Church of England VA School Winslow Road, Swanbourne, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire MK17 0SW

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Outcome

Swanbourne Church of England VA School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending this friendly and welcoming school. They trust adults in the school to take any worries seriously and act on them. This helps pupils to feel happy and safe. Pupils behave very well in lessons and around the school, including at breaktimes and lunchtime. They play together kindly and make good use of the different activity zones in the outside spaces. The school celebrates good behaviour and rewards pupils for demonstrating the school values of honesty, respect, forgiveness and love.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations for all pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and other disadvantaged pupils. The majority of pupils attain very well across the curriculum and especially in reading, writing and mathematics. The school has identified a small number of pupils who would benefit from additional support to help them attain equally highly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy their leadership roles, which they take seriously. They are elected by other pupils to represent the views of all pupils, which are shared with school leaders. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. One parent, whose comment is reflective of many others, said, ‘This is a wonderful, caring and supportive school.’

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

The school is ambitious for all pupils, including pupils with SEND and the low number of other pupils who are disadvantaged. Staff have carefully sequenced pupils’ learning to build over time. They design tasks that support the majority of pupils to attain well. Pupils’ positive achievement is reflected in their work and in the high reading and writing results at the end of Year 6. However, in some subjects, teachers do not consistently check pupils’ prior learning before introducing new learning. This means that a small number of pupils do not build their knowledge as well as they could.

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

The school ensures that adults are trained to accurately identify pupils who may need additional support with their learning. Staff work well with parents and agencies so that 1 May 2024

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pupils with SEND are supported appropriately. By the end of Year 6, pupils learn to read fluently and with confidence. However, the school’s support for pupils at an early stage of reading needs refinement. Staff are not sufficiently well trained, and so not all weaker readers get the precise help they need. As a result, not all pupils learn to read swiftly with accuracy.

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The school sets high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. All adults model the behaviour and conduct they expect. Pupils respond positively, behave well and there are respectful relationships between all members of the school community. In lessons, pupils engage fully with their learning and show good concentration. This helps pupils to enjoy their learning and attain well. The school encourages pupils to attend school regularly. Where pupils’ attendance falls below these expectations, the school works closely with parents to ensure that attendance is improved. As a result, most pupils’ attendance is high. For the very few pupils whose attendance is low, the school’s work with families is having a positive impact.

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Pupils are supported to develop an appreciation of the world around them. The school encourages them to share knowledge about their different cultures and religions with each other. This strengthens further the respectful relationships between pupils. The school provides a wealth of experiences, including sporting activities. Staff ensure that all pupils benefit from these opportunities, including those who are disadvantaged. Pupils are helped to understand about healthy relationships. They know how to keep physically and mentally healthy and enjoy opportunities to practise this, such as through running the daily mile and attending yoga club.

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Leaders at all levels understand their responsibilities and their roles to ensure that pupils achieve well during their time at the school. Staff are well supported by leaders who are considerate of their workload and well-being. This helps teachers to design lessons that help pupils to successfully learn and remember more over time.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some pupils at the early stages of reading are not given the precise help they need. This means that they do not improve their reading as quickly as they could. The school should provide high-quality training for all staff to embed the phonics scheme securely for all pupils at the early stages of reading.  Teachers do not consistently check the prior knowledge that pupils need before starting new learning. This means that some pupils move on to new learning before they are ready and do not build links between prior and new learning. The school should ensure that staff precisely check pupils’ understanding and use this information to inform future teaching to support all pupils to learn well across the curriculum. 1 May 2024

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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 December 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.

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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). 1 May 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 7 November 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 This is a Church of England school in the Diocese of Oxford. Its last Section 48 inspection took place in June 2016.  The school uses one unregistered 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. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher and governors. Inspectors spoke with a representative from the Diocese of Oxford and a representative of the local authority. Inspectors also met with a range of teaching and support staff.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample 1 May 2024

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of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, 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 gathered evidence to explore the impact of pupils’ behaviour, the school’s wider curriculum offer and how leaders support staff with their workload.  Pupils were talked to throughout the inspection to gather their views about the school.  The inspectors considered the views of parents submitted through Ofsted Parent View. The views of staff were also considered through Ofsted’s staff survey.

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Inspection team

Paul Hemmings, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Rachel Roberts Ofsted Inspector 1 May 2024

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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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