St Mary & All Saints Church of England Primary School

Inspection of St Mary & All Saints Church of England Primary School Wensley Road, Coley Park, Reading RG1 6DU

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Requires improvement

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The headteacher of this school is Matt Parting. This school is part of The White Horse Federation, which is a multi-academy trust. This means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Dan Nicholls, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Ninna Gibson. 17 and 18 June 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

The vision and values of ‘be kind, be curious and be ready’ sit at the heart of this school. Pupils are friendly and courteous. They are interested in each other and celebrate the diversity within their school and community. Pupils who join the school partway through the year are quickly made to feel welcome. Positive, nurturing relationships between adults and pupils make pupils feel safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave very well in class and around the school. If anyone falls out, they quickly make friends again. Lessons are calm because pupils are eager to learn. Pupils work hard to meet the school’s high expectations and achieve increasingly well across the curriculum.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s vision is for pupils to experience ‘life in all its fullness’. Pupils benefit from excellent opportunities to develop their talents and interests, including many sporting and musical activities. The school choir is especially popular. Pupils speak fondly of the many trips and visits that augment the curriculum and help to develop pupils’ resilience and teamwork skills. These range from visits to see how the local dentist works, to a residential in Finland to see what it is like to live in the Arctic Circle. This strategic focus on pupils’ personal development is a strength of the school.

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

Since the last inspection, leaders and staff have worked successfully to improve the quality of education, including in the early years, so that it is now securely good. The trust has supported the school very well with this work.

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

Many children enter the early years with lower starting points than others nationally. The curriculum in the early years is very well designed to lay the foundations for pupils’ later learning. A strong focus on developing social and communication skills, alongside broadening their vocabulary, ensures children can interact with others well. This means that by the end of Reception Year, children are much more confident in themselves and are ready for learning in key stage 1.

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

The reading, writing and mathematics curriculums are carefully organised so that pupils learn new knowledge in a logical order right from when they join the nursery to when they leave at the end of Year 6. Teachers skilfully identify pupils’ gaps in learning and carefully support them. This especially helps those pupils who join partway through the year to learn effectively. Teachers adapt learning well for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), and those who speak English as an additional language. As a result of the school’s hard work, 2024 published outcomes in writing and mathematics rose to be broadly in line with national averages, 2024 outcomes in phonics and reading were not as strong. In phonics, this is because a large proportion of pupils had very low starting points, including some pupils very new to learning English and some with significant communication and language needs.

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The school’s approach to teaching phonics is effective. Well-targeted extra teaching helps pupils to catch up, so that most pupils quickly become accurate and speedy readers. For older pupils, a revised curriculum for reading is working well. Pupils develop a love of reading, using high-quality texts to inform and shape their writing. As a result, current pupils are showing increased confidence and fluency in reading.

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In the wider curriculum, the school has chosen the most important knowledge it wants pupils to learn. Teachers are well trained in what to teach and how to teach it. Staff set high standards for pupils’ participation in lessons, which pupils strive to meet with increasing success. As a result, pupils’ knowledge in the wider curriculum is now typically good.

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The school’s strategic focus on pupils’ personal development is outstanding. Carefully chosen trips and visits build pupils’ confidence in the wider world. Well-considered experiences such as regular visits to the local hospital to explore the different jobs there, raise aspirations. Pupils develop a strong understanding of diversity. In particular, they celebrate the diverse range of languages spoken in the school because they want everyone to feel welcome.

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The school quickly gets to know pupils who join the school’s specially resourced provisions. Staff make sure these pupils are well cared for and nurtured. Staff typically have a good understanding of these pupils’ needs. The pupils who attend the Hive benefit from times when they learn in a smaller group, but these pupils also integrate well when they attend mainstream classes. Pupils in Bumblebees have more complex SEND. While staff make sure that these pupils are typically well supported to manage their social and emotional well-being, sometimes, the curriculum is not well enough designed to ensure that pupils make the gains in learning that they should.

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The school prioritises and promotes regular attendance. As a result, overall attendance is above average. The school employs a range of effective strategies, including working closely with parents and external agencies, to help remove the barriers for those pupils who are persistently absent.

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Leaders, including those from the trust, understand the school’s strengths and areas for further development. They take an effective, strategic approach to making sure the school is well run and that pupils make the most of their education. Staff say that the school is ‘run with kindness and positivity’. They appreciate the consideration made to make their workload manageable.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 17 and 18 June 2025

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Provision in the special resource provisions is not consistently well-enough adapted to meet the learning needs of some pupils. As a result, some pupils do not learn as well as they should. The school should ensure that:  the curriculum, especially in reading and communication, is adapted to match pupil’s individual starting points  assessment is well designed to capture the small steps in learning that pupils make and that this is used consistently well to plan for pupils’ next steps  staff are well-trained in pupils’ precise educational learning needs and how to ensure that pupils know more and are able to do more over time.

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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). 17 and 18 June 2025

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 25 and 26 April 2023, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of The White Horse Federation.  The school has two specially resourced provisions for 24 pupils with SEND. Currently, there are more than 24 pupils in these provisions. Bumblebees is for pupils with significant speech, language and communication needs (SLCN). Some pupils in Bumblebees also have autism. The Hive is also for pupils with SLCN. Some pupils also have social, emotional and mental health needs. All pupils in the specially resourced provisions have an education, health and care plan.  The school uses two unregistered alternative provisions.  The school has a religious character as a voluntary aided school. It is part of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford. The last section 48 inspection took place in November 2019. Its next section 48 inspection is due to take place in the academic year 2025 to 2026. 17 and 18 June 2025

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspection team met with the principal, deputy principal, other senior leaders and staff. Inspectors also considered the responses to Ofsted’s online survey for staff.  Inspectors met with several members of the trust, including the chief executive officer and the director of primary education. The lead inspector also met with the chair of the local governing body, who is also a trustee.  The lead inspector held a telephone conversation with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, music, science and history. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about

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Information about this inspection

their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors also considered the curriculum and pupils’ work 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.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text responses.  Inspectors met with groups of pupils formally and spoke with pupils informally during lessons and at playtimes.

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Inspection team

Catherine Old, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Andrew Foster Ofsted Inspector 17 and 18 June 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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