Stoke Row CofE Primary School

Inspection of Stoke Row CofE Primary School School Lane, Nr Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire RG9 5QS

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 14 and 15 May 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from attending this safe and supportive school. Parents are eager to share how much their child has flourished since joining the school. Pupils know and are proud to show their school’s values of kindness, courage, excellence, perseverance and respect. They have positive and trusting relationships with adults in school. Pupils know that these adults want the best for them. Due to this, pupils strive to meet the high expectations that adults have for how they will behave and learn.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The small school environment means that all pupils and staff know each other well. Consequently, staff meet the personal and learning needs of pupils effectively. Pupils behave very well in all areas of the school. The school playground is a joyful environment where pupils treat each other and adults with kindness and respect. Staff make sure that pupils have a range of activities during playtime and help pupils to take part in them. Therefore, pupils learn important social skills such as sharing and taking turns.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils value the range of leadership opportunities they are given. Whether as school councillors, class monitors or mentors to younger children, pupils learn to be responsible members of their community.

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better?

The school has a broad and ambitious curriculum. Most subjects have been well sequenced to map out what pupils will learn and when. In these subjects, what pupils will learn has been ordered from Reception onwards. This means that children in Reception gain the knowledge they need to be ready for learning in Year 1. Some foundation subjects have not yet been precisely sequenced. The school has thought about what pupils need to know by the end of the year in these subjects. However, the school has not yet thought about the small steps in learning that will help pupils achieve this knowledge or how this learning will be checked. Therefore, in these subjects, teachers do not consistently plan ambitious activities which precisely match what all pupils, including those in Reception, need to learn.

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better?

In most lessons, activities are engaging and help pupils to learn. Teachers have secure knowledge of what they teach. They make effective changes to lessons to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Due to this, pupils achieve well through most of the curriculum. From Reception onwards, pupils gain secure knowledge of mathematics and English. Children in Reception learn to read as soon as they arrive in school. Staff who teach pupils to read are expert teachers of phonics. They use information from assessments to spot when a pupil might have fallen behind in their reading. Staff put in place extra activities which fill gaps in pupils’ reading knowledge. This has led to pupils becoming confident and fluent readers. 14 and 15 May 2024

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Pupils consistently show positive attitudes towards their learning and their school community. Classrooms are purposeful places where pupils are eager to achieve their best. They enjoy their lessons and do not disrupt the learning of others. Pupils know the rules and routines of the school and independently follow these. This is seen in Reception class, where children calmly follow the instructions of their teachers well.

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There has been a sharp focus on attendance in recent months. There has been a decrease in the levels of persistent absence as a result. However, whole-school absence remains high. This means that pupils miss learning time and do not benefit from the support that the school offers. The school is refining the strategies that have been put in place to improve this.

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The school provides activities that develop pupils’ character. This includes key stage assemblies where pupils discuss and debate global topical issues and events. This helps pupils to develop reasoned views and respect the thoughts of others. Whole- class reward points are given when classes collectively show the school’s values. Earning these points assists pupils to recognise the positive impact of working together. Pupils have visits from local people who come to talk to them about their different faiths. From this, pupils build understanding of the cultural influences which shape their community.

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The school has experienced turbulence in leadership over recent years. All stakeholders have worked well with the new leadership team of the school to ensure stability. This has resulted in the rapid implementation of a strong and ambitious vision for the school. Staff are inspired by school leaders and know they will be supported. All staff work together well to provide pupils with a valuable educational experience.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Whole-school absence is high. Subsequently, not all pupils benefit as well as they could from the learning and wider opportunities that the school offers. The school should continue to embed and develop the strategies it has recently implemented in order to improve pupils’ attendance further.  The school is still refining the overall sequencing and assessment approach of some foundation curriculum areas. This means that in these subjects, the expectations for what pupils will learn are not as ambitious as they could be, and teachers are not able to precisely identify pupils’ specific gaps in knowledge. The school should make sure that teachers have the knowledge they need to precisely 14 and 15 May 2024

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sequence learning and to have clarity on how they are assessing pupils across the entire curriculum.  Changes to the curriculum in Reception are not yet complete. As a result, some activities are less well designed than others, and children do not always learn as well as they could. The school must ensure that ambitious intended outcomes are identified and shared with staff in Reception so that planned activities lead to children in Reception achieving highly.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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). 14 and 15 May 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Elizabeth Clough

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School details

Headteacher Angela Wheatcroft (Executive Headteacher) Website www.stoke-row-school.co.uk

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 28 and 29 November 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Stoke Row CofE Primary School is a Church of England school in the Diocese of Oxford. It was last inspected under section 48 of the Education Act 2005 in September 2022.  There is a before-school club managed by the school, which was part of the inspection.  The school does not currently use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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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. 14 and 15 May 2024

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 The inspectors met with the executive headteacher and other members of the leadership team. The lead inspector also met with the chair of governors and five other members of the governing body.  The lead inspector also met with a representative of the local authority.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in the following subjects: early reading, mathematics and computing. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The lead inspector also discussed the wider curriculum offer for pupils with school leaders and looked at further examples of pupils’ work.  The inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour around the school and in lessons. They also spoke to pupils in lessons and during playtimes and lunchtimes.  The inspectors considered a range of documents, including leaders’ evaluations of

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the school, their school improvement plan and minutes from governors’ meetings.  The inspectors considered parent responses to Ofsted Parent View.  The inspectors took account of the views of staff through conversations and the responses to the online staff survey.  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.

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Inspection team

Nina Marabese, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Ian Elkington Ofsted Inspector 14 and 15 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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