The Vine Christian School

Inspection of The Vine Christian School Mitford Close, Basingstoke Road, Three Mile Cross, Reading, Berkshire RG7 1HF

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Inspection dates: 26 to 28 November 2024

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Does the school meet the independent school standards?

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending this small friendly school. Staff treat pupils with genuine warmth. Pupils learn to do the same. Pupils show exemplary attitudes toward their education. This is reflected in their extremely high rates of attendance. Staff ensure that pupils are well prepared for life beyond the school. Across all phases, pupils make the most of their experiences in school and achieve well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Expectations and routines are quickly established from the early years and understood by all. During lessons, pupils display high levels of independence. They are both studious and inquisitive learners. Pupils are highly respectful to both adults and their peers alike. They speak out and challenge unkindness, so incidents are exceptionally rare. Pupils know who they can speak to if they are worried and are rightly confident that concerns will be addressed swiftly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy active breaktimes, playing a range of sports, including table tennis and dodgeball. They benefit from rewarding opportunities, such as participating in the annual ‘European Convention competition’. There are opportunities to demonstrate their talents in sports and other interests. Pupils also welcome the opportunity to interact and make friends with pupils in other schools across Europe.

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better?

The school has developed an ambitious curriculum for its pupils. It has ensured the curriculum matches the breadth of national curriculum subjects. Similarly, the school has ensured the requirements of the early years foundation stage are met. Curriculum planning is sequenced carefully. New learning builds systematically upon what pupils already know and can do. They are suitably prepared for the next stage in their education.

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better?

Staff are skilled, including in the early years. They support pupils to learn important knowledge one step at a time. Staff check pupils’ learning regularly. This helps to ensure they have an accurate view of what pupils remember and can do over time. In most lessons, staff spot gaps in pupils’ understanding quickly. They seamlessly support pupils during learning, explaining concepts and introducing ideas well. However, occasionally, pupils are moved on to new concepts too quickly. When this happens, pupils become confused, and their learning is slowed.

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better?

Across the curriculum, teachers adapt tasks well to provide pupils with opportunities to promote discussion and debate. In the early years, staff use songs and games to help them learn important early reading and number skills rapidly. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) have their needs identified swiftly and are supported effectively. Teachers adjust their teaching skilfully to ensure pupils’ needs are met well within lessons. This supports pupils with SEND to learn the curriculum as well as their peers. 26 to 28 November 2024 Pupils’ writing skills are underdeveloped. This means that pupils are not well prepared for the demands of the next phase of their education, especially those wanting to study English when they move into the sixth form. The school has introduced a new writing curriculum to address this. However, pupils do not apply their writing skills across the curriculum sufficiently well.

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better?

The school gives reading the highest priority. The early reading curriculum begins in Nursery, where children share stories, enjoy rhymes and learn that letters have sounds. Staff in Reception build on this strong start effectively. They teach children new sounds systematically and how to blend them to read. Staff ensure the books that children read allow them to practise independently. Staff make sure the books children read allows them to practise the sounds they have learned. As pupils progress into key stage 1, they quickly become fluent readers. They interpret texts with increasing confidence. Older pupils enjoy reading a range of books with success. Many have favourite authors and stories.

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better?

Pupils’ behaviour is exemplary in all they do. They exhibit high levels of self- discipline and mirror the school’s very high expectations in their actions. Older pupils act as role models by taking on prefect roles, which are both highly coveted and respected. Pupils take on responsibilities and care for their younger peers. During unstructured times, pupils will gently remind each other of the expectations in hushed voices. This approach builds a harmonious community where all pupils feel valued and look out for each other.

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better?

The school’s work to promote pupils’ character is a strength. Pupils have an excellent understanding of spiritual, moral, social and cultural aspects of life. They are highly tolerant of others’ values and beliefs. Pupils relish the opportunities to discuss moral decisions and debate ideas with the school’s pastor. Pupils access a comprehensive personal, health and social education, where they learn about online safety, money management and emergency first aid. Aspects of this curriculum, such as relationships and sex education, sensitively ensure pupils are suitably prepared for adulthood in manner that respects their beliefs.

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better?

The school has an established careers programme. The programme is adapted carefully to meet the needs of the changing cohort. Pupils learn about a wide range of occupations and potential careers options. They learn how to write strong applications and a curriculum vitae. The school has ensured that the provision meets relevant guidance about post-16 options fully. This helps pupils to make informed choices about the next steps in their education when they leave the school.

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better?

Members of the proprietor body are fully committed to the school. They regularly visit the school between meetings to check the quality of the provision. The proprietor body offers both useful support and rigorous challenge to school leaders. They ensure the school meets the independent school standards and fully complies with Schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010. 26 to 28 November 2024

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 In some lessons, staffs’ checks on pupils’ learning do not identify gaps in knowledge sufficiently well. This affects how well pupils acquire knowledge over time because teaching is not adapted quickly enough. The school should ensure that staff are equipped to identify and remedy gaps in pupils’ knowledge swiftly and effectively.  The writing curriculum is not as effective as it could be because expectations are sometimes too low. Pupils are not expected to write with sufficient quality across the curriculum and so some pupils do not write to the standard that they should. The school should ensure that pupils have more opportunities to improve and practise their writing so that it is of a consistently high quality across the curriculum.

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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. 26 to 28 November 2024

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School details

Unique reference number 134424 DfE registration number 872/6013

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School details

Inspection number 10342044 Type of school Other Independent School

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School details

Proprietor The trustees of The Vine Christian School

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School details

Annual fees (day pupils) £5,400 - £6,300

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School details

Date of previous inspection 5 to 7 October 2021 26 to 28 November 2024

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Information about this school

 The Vine Christian School is a standalone school offering a bible-based Christian education to pupils aged three to 18 years.  There were no pupils on roll in the sixth form at the time of the inspection.  The school is based in the building of the Three Mile Cross Church. The building is used exclusively by the school during the week. There is space outside where pupils can play safely.  The school is not currently using any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors carried out this inspection under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008. The purpose of the inspection is to advise the Secretary of State for Education about the school's suitability for continued registration as an independent school.

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Information about this inspection

The school meets the independent school standards. These are the requirements set out in the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school's education provision.  Inspectors discussed the continued impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors held a wide range of meetings with the headteacher and teaching staff in the school. The lead inspector met with the trustees.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, mathematics and social studies and physical education. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors spoke to pupils around the school.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour throughout the inspection, including during breaks.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and

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Information about this inspection

considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors reviewed the responses to Ofsted Parent View. 26 to 28 November 2024

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Inspection team

Laura James, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Louise Ling Ofsted Inspector 26 to 28 November 2024 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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