Eastwick Junior School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Eastwick Junior School Eastwick Drive, Great Bookham, Leatherhead, Surrey KT23 3PP

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Outcome

Eastwick Junior School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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Outcome

The principal of this school is Tom Dell. This school is part of The Howard Partnership Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Louise Lee, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Ian Wilson. There is also an executive principal, Vanessa Wallden, who is also responsible for this school and three others.

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a nurturing and welcoming school, where staff support pupils to be ‘ready for everything.’ Relationships between pupils and staff are strong. Pupils are happy in school and know adults will always help them. Staff get to know pupils well, so they have the knowledge they need to care effectively for pupils’ individual needs. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). One parent reflected the views of many when they said, ‘Eastwick doesn’t just say it’s inclusive, it is a genuinely inclusive school where all children learn side by side.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school encourages pupils to do their best and to achieve highly. Pupils take pride in their work and talk about their learning with interest and enthusiasm. Pupils learn a lot through the broad curriculum. This prepares them well for secondary school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well, developing independence and resilience. They understand the school expectations for their behaviour and live up to them. Pupils rightly say that bullying is rare and are confident staff would deal with it effectively should it occur.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school provides useful trips and experiences to bring the curriculum alive for pupils. There are many additional opportunities that develop individual talents, for example, in sports, dance and music clubs. Pupils take their responsibilities, for example, as house 4 and 5 March 2025

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captains, supporting young pupils at playtime, or as student librarians helping check-out books, seriously. They perform their roles diligently.

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

The school and the trust accurately identify the school’s strengths and areas that need refinement. Leaders and staff have identified the knowledge that pupils need to learn and remember. This knowledge is sequenced well, which means that in most subjects, pupils build on what they already know. However, in a few subjects, these changes are still relatively new and not fully embedded. In these subjects, pupils are not demonstrating their learning as well as they should.

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

The school’s curriculum sets out clearly what pupils should learn and when. This means that teachers know precisely what to teach and when to teach it for example, in the well- structured writing curriculum and the ambitious mathematics programme. However, pupils do not always get appropriate opportunities to apply their writing skills in other subjects. This inhibits their ability to deepen their writing knowledge by applying what they know in different contexts. Resources such as workbooks are designed so pupils can review prior knowledge easily and adapt this to new learning. Pupils enjoy working together, for example, when solving problems in mathematics work and demonstrating balances in physical education. Teachers check pupils’ understanding during lessons and address misconceptions promptly.

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

Pupils with SEND receive timely and effective support. They benefit from targeted support and are fully included in day-to-day school life, including in the specially resourced provision for SEND. Staff understand each pupil’s individual needs very well. Staff expertise, along with external guidance, ensure well-planned strategies that support pupils with SEND to achieve well.

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

The school fosters a love of reading successfully. Staff model reading well. Class reading sessions and the promotion of texts and books in the vibrant library further engage pupils. Teachers select books to expose pupils to a diverse range of cultures, perspectives, and experiences. Pupils enjoy sharing stories and are keen to recommend books to each other.

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

The behaviour policy and revised procedures help everyone to understand what is expected. Many staff, pupils and parents say this supports pupils well. Any pupils who need extra help to manage their emotions and behaviour have their needs well understood and supported. This support gives pupils the chance to learn how to express their feelings more positively. Work is ongoing to ensure the newly introduced systems are fully embedded and applied consistently. Most pupils attend school regularly. The proportion of pupils who are persistently absent from school has noticeably declined. This is because the school monitors attendance carefully and works effectively with individual families.

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

The school’s provision for personal development helps pupils to be ready for their next steps. The programme gives pupils a strong understanding of healthy lifestyles and relationships. Pupils talk openly about difference and how they can be inclusive. 4 and 5 March 2025

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Leaders have a strong commitment to providing the best possible education for all pupils. They are bringing about positive changes in the school. The school is well supported by the work of the trust, who have a clear understanding of their roles and carry out their statutory responsibilities well.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school’s expectations of pupils’ writing across the curriculum is not realised. As a result, pupils do not get the opportunity to apply their writing knowledge and skills in subjects, such as science, history, and geography. This means pupils do not develop their writing skills as much as they should. The school should ensure pupils get consistent opportunities to write across the curriculum, so they are able to deepen their writing abilities, including spelling, punctuation, and handwriting, effectively.

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Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted’s website. From September 2024, graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade. This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

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Background

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. 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’s work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection 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 predecessor school to be good for overall effectiveness in May 2014. 4 and 5 March 2025

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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). 4 and 5 March 2025

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School details

Date of previous inspection 20 March 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of The Howard Partnership Trust.  There is an on-site infant school.  The school has a specially resourced provision for pupils with SEND. The provision is for pupils with communication and interaction needs. Currently, there are 23 pupils who attend the provision.  Since the last inspection, a new principal has taken up post.  The school currently uses one registered and two unregistered alternative provisions.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision. 4 and 5 March 2025

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 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in the evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the headteacher and senior leaders and representatives from the trust and the local governing board, including the chair of the trust, governors, and the CEO.  To evaluate the quality of education, the inspector discussed the curriculum with leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with some pupils and teachers, and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspector spoke with several groups of pupils and also considered pupils’ opinions expressed through Ofsted’s pupil questionnaire.  The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour at break and lunchtime.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff, and pupils; and considered

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the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspector met with groups of staff and considered the opinions expressed through the staff survey.  The inspector took account of the views expressed through Ofsted’s online parent survey, Parent View.

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Inspection team

Sam Johnson, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 4 and 5 March 2025

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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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