All Saints Church of England Aided Infant School

Inspection Report All Saints Church of England Aided Controlled Infant School

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109945 Unique Reference Number Reading LEA LEA 278314 Inspection number 2 November 2005 to 2 November 2005 Inspection dates Olson Davis AI Reporting inspector

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This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Brownlow Road School address Infant Type of school Reading Voluntary aided School category Berkshire RG1 6NP 4 to 7 Age range of pupils 01189015413 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01189574978 Fax number 45 Number on roll Margaret Wooldridge Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Linda Phillips Headteacher 20 March 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 278314 2 November 2005 - 4 to 7 2 November 2005 Inspection Report: All Saints Church of England Aided Controlled Infant School, 2 November 2005 to 2 November 2005

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by an additional inspector.

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Description of the school

All Saints Church of England Voluntary Aided Infant School is a very small school catering for pupils aged four to seven. They are taught in two classes. One class is a mixed age class containing reception age children and pupils in Year 1. Pupils come from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds although the number of pupils entitled to free school meals is low. Pupils join the Foundation Stage having attended a diverse range of pre-school settings and there is a wide variation in skills between pupils but generally, attainment on entry is average. Nearly half of the pupils come from a minority ethnic background. The number of pupils for whom English is an additional language and who are at an early stage of English acquisition is low. The school attracts a higher than average number of pupils with learning difficulties.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: All Saints Church of England Aided Controlled Infant School, 2 November 2005 to 2 November 2005

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Grade: 2

Inspection evidence confirms the school's view that its overall effectiveness is good. The school is a caring, inclusive community in which young children make good progress in their personal development and in their learning. Parents are full of praise for the care, guidance and support provided for their children at school. The quality of provision and standards in the Foundation Stage are good, providing pupils with a good start to Key Stage 1. Pupils achieve well and attain good standards because of good teaching and their active participation in an interesting and lively curriculum. In 2005, standards generally remained above average but there was a dip in the standards attained by boys, especially in writing. Effective action by the staff ensured that boys' achievement remained good and that they made good progress against their prior attainment and capabilities.Leadership and management in the school are good. School leaders are

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Grade: 2

reflective and have a good understanding of the school's strengths and priorities for development. Issues from the previous inspection have been successfully tackled along with other school improvement initiatives. This demonstrates the school's strong capacity to improve. Despite the high cost of running such a small school, it provides good value for money due to the good standards achieved and the high quality of care it provides for its pupils.

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Grade: 2

Pupils make good progress and achieve above average standards. Children start school with average attainment, although there is often a wide variation between individual pupils in the group. They achieve well so that most pupils reach the learning goals expected for them by the time they enter Year 1. In their personal, social and emotional development pupils often exceed the expected levels.Standards achieved at the end of Year 2 are good in reading, writing, and mathematics. Pupils, including those with learning difficulties, those from minority ethnic backgrounds, and those at the early stages of English acquisition make good progress because of the skilled support they receive. The school sets challenging individual targets for its pupils and these are usually met and often exceeded. Standards achieved in the 2005 national assessments remained above average but boys did less well in writing than in reading and

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Grade: 2

mathematics. Nonetheless, boys achieved well in comparison to their prior attainment and capabilities. The group contained six boys, a significant number of which had learning difficulties. 2 Inspection Report: All Saints Church of England Aided Controlled Infant School, 2 November 2005 to 2 November 2005

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Grade: 1

The school is exceptionally good at promoting pupils' personal development and providing for their well-being. Pupils feel included and valued as a result of the schools' strong Christian ethos of care. Adults have high expectations and as a consequence pupils behave well. They enjoy their school, are keen to learn and enthusiastic about their work. The school council and pupil questionnaires enable pupils to have their views heard and to make a positive contribution to the school community.Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. They are developing spiritually through opportunities for reflection in collective worship and within the curriculum. They show respect for each other's feelings and follow the school rules. They respond well to opportunities to learn about other cultures and to recognise the diversity of cultures of modern society, for example, pupils listened intently when a pupil explained

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Grade: 1

how her family celebrated Diwali. Pupils' spiritual and cultural development is greatly enhanced by the many activities organised around the arts in school.Pupils show a good understanding of staying healthy because of the school's positive involvement in the Healthy Schools Award. They eat healthy snacks, and enjoy taking part in physical exercise during PE lessons and at break times. Pupils learn how to stay safe through the school's personal, social and health education programme. Attendance levels are in line with the national average and are improving. The school works well with other agencies to reduce the number of unauthorised absences.

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Grade: 2

Pupils achieve well as a result of good teaching and learning. Children in the Foundation Stage make good progress through teachers providing well-managed opportunities for sustained concentration, individual choice and decision-making. Pupils enjoy their lessons because teachers give them interesting work which is closely matched to their abilities and designed to move their learning on. Teachers' planning is thorough and the learning intentions of the lesson are shared with pupils so that they know exactly what it is they have to learn and can start to evaluate their own progress. Pupils with learning difficulties and pupils for whom English is an additional language make good progress against their individual learning targets because of the skilful support given by teaching assistants in whole class sessions and in individual or small group settings. Teachers use effective strategies to support the improvement of boys' writing, for

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Grade: 2

example, in their own good modelling of writing.Teachers make good use of assessment information to plan future work and to follow pupils' progress. 3 Inspection Report: All Saints Church of England Aided Controlled Infant School, 2 November 2005 to 2 November 2005

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Grade: 2

The school provides an interesting and lively curriculum. Children's learning needs are well met in the Foundation Stage where they are given opportunities to engage in structured exploratory play as well as taking part in directed activities. The vast majority of pupils acquire good levels of literacy and numeracy because the school places strong emphasis on developing these skills. It also provides pupils with many opportunities to use these skills in other areas of the curriculum. This contributes to pupils' good achievement in reading, writing and mathematics preparing them well for their future economic well-being. Provision for the arts and pupils' creative development is a particular strength of the school that has been recognised by a national award. Arts activities permeate the curriculum stimulating pupils' interest in their work and adding greatly to their enjoyment of learning. The personal, social and health education

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Grade: 2

programme contributes effectively to pupils' knowledge of being healthy and staying safe. Pupils participate eagerly in the special themes days, the extra-curricular activities, visits and visitors that enrich the curriculum.

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Grade: 1

The school's provision for pupils' care, guidance and support is outstanding. The inclusive, Christian ethos shared by adults in the school has established an effective learning and nurturing environment in which every child feels cared for and well supported. Parents comment favourably on the 'family atmosphere' generated within the school. Procedures for child protection, health and safety, and the assessment of risks are all in place and rigorously applied by staff. In this small school adults know all the pupils very well and pupils say they feel safe and are able to share their concerns with many of the adults in school. Older pupils show concern for younger pupils helping them to settle in when they join the school. Good individual support and guidance is provided for pupils with learning difficulties and pupils at the early stages of learning English. Pupils appreciate the good feedback provided by teachers helping them to

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Grade: 2

Leadership and management of the school are good. Under the effective leadership of the headteacher the school provides a high standard of care for all pupils, a high quality learning environment and good standards of teaching to ensure the learning needs of pupils are well met. The impact of this is that pupils make great strides in their personal development and achieve well academically. School self evaluation is good showing that school leaders have a accurate and clear understanding of the school's strengths and areas for development. For instance, a slight 'dip' in reading standards was quickly identified and rectified through prompt action by school leaders resulting in improved standards. All stakeholders are involved in the process of school 4 Inspection Report: All Saints Church of England Aided Controlled Infant School, 2 November 2005 to 2 November 2005 improvement and the plan is effectively monitored and evaluated by school leaders

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Grade: 2

and the governing body. The headteacher makes regular checks on the quality of teaching and teachers' targets for improvement are closely linked to pupil progress and improvement priorities. Areas of strength identified in the last inspection have been maintained and the issues successfully tackled.Other teachers in the school perform their leadership roles well despite the heavy workload this generates in such a small school. Governors are effective. They have a good understanding of the school's strategic development through their involvement in the school improvement process and their careful monitoring of the school's performance. They are conscientious in ensuring that all statutory duties are fulfilled and that the school's financial resources are used well. 5 Inspection Report: All Saints Church of England Aided Controlled Infant School, 2 November 2005 to 2 November 2005 .

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set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s

website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: All Saints Church of England Aided Controlled Infant School, 2 November 2005 to 2 November 2005

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Overall

Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

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learners?

NA 2 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? NA 2 The quality and standards in foundation stage NA 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation NA Yes The capacity to make any necessary improvements NA Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 How well do learners achieve? NA 2 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners NA 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

NA 1 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 2 The behaviour of learners NA 2 The attendance of learners NA 1 How well learners enjoy their education NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles NA 1 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community NA 2 How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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needs and interests of learners?

NA 1 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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needs and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low.

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and supporting all learners?

NA 2 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 2 How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review NA 1 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can NA 2 How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money NA 2 The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities NA Yes The adequacy and suitability of staff to ensure that learners are protected

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The extent to which schools enable learners to be healthy

Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to eat and drink healthily Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to take regular exercise Yes Learners are discouraged from smoking and substance abuse Yes Learners are educated about sexual health

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The extent to which providers ensure that learners stay safe

Yes Procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements Yes Risk assessment procedures and related staff training are in place Yes Action is taken to reduce anti-social behaviour, such as bullying and racism Yes Learners are taught about key risks and how to deal with them

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The extent to which learners make a positive contribution

Yes Learners are helped to develop stable, positive relationships Yes Learners, individually and collectively, participate in making decisions that affect them Yes Learners are encouraged to initiate, participate in and manage activities in school and the wider community

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The extent to which schools enable learners to achieve economic well-being

Yes There is provision to promote learners’ basic skills Yes Learners have opportunities to develop enterprise skills and work in teams NA Careers education and guidance is provided to all learners in key stage 3 and 4 and the sixth form NA Education for all learners aged 14–19 provides an understanding of employment and the economy

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you for being so friendly and helpful when I visited your school. I enjoyed talking to you and listening to what you had to say about your school. You go to a good school. Here are some of the many good things about your school:* You have good teachers and good teaching assistants who provide you with interesting things to do and help you to improve your work.* You work hard in lessons and behave well.* You do well in your national curriculum tests. This means that you are well prepared for work in the next school.* You are well looked after by all the adults in school.* Your headteacher and the governors run the school well. There is one main thing that the staff need to do to make the school even better: * Help some of the boys to do better in their writing.I hope that you will continue to enjoy your school. I also hope that you will help your teachers as they try to make your school the best that it can

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

be for you. Yours sincerely Olson Davis Additional Inspector

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