The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You and your governors are ambitious for the school’s future. You are determined to ensure that all pupils achieve their full academic potential. You have strengthened teaching throughout the school since the previous inspection, so that pupils continue to make strong progress. Improvements in teaching have ensured that teachers have even higher expectations of pupils’ learning than at the time of the previous inspection. Teachers plan stimulating and engaging activities, which build strongly on pupils’ previous learning. As a result, pupils complete work of an increasingly high quality throughout the school. You and your staff provide high-quality care and support for all groups of pupils, including for those pupils whose circumstances might make them vulnerable, and for those who find learning more difficult. This ensures that all groups of pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, make equally strong progress and become successful and confident learners. Pupils like school and want to do well. They enjoy learning, feel very safe and behave well. Pupils feel that teachers deal fairly with any misbehaviour and they are clear about how they should behave. They say that they have no concerns about bullying. One pupil said, ‘Most people get along well together and are kind to each other’. You and your governors have successfully addressed the areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection. Notable developments in early years provision, including improved use of the outdoor area to support learning, ensure that children benefit from the best possible start to their schooling. Pupils throughout the school rapidly develop a range of reading skills, including phonics (letters and the sounds they represent). You and your governors are understandably proud of developments in the school’s work during the past few years. However, you are not complacent. You have clear plans in place for the next stage of the school’s development. You and your leadership team are rightly focusing on making sure that teaching continues to adapt to pupils’ rising standards of achievement across the school. For example, your subject leaders are currently working with teachers to ensure that pupils, particularly the most able, are fully prepared for the increased demands of the writing curriculum. You have already made a good start by making changes to the teaching of writing and by providing good-quality training for teachers. You have made sensible plans to update and improve science teaching in order to improve science standards at the end of key stage 2. You and your team have already begun work to improve pupils’ understanding of scientific concepts and their use of scientific skills, such as hypothesising and drawing conclusions, when completing experiments. The work in pupils’ books illustrates the positive impact these improvements have already had on improving the quality of their work. You are now making sure that recent developments in the teaching of writing and science are fully established across the school. Safeguarding is effective. You and your leadership team give pupils’ safety an appropriately high priority. You ensure that safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and that records are of high quality and detailed. For example, your business manager has established a robust system to ensure that members of staff are suitably qualified. She works closely with governors to make sure that safeguarding checks are completed in full. You and your team have developed a clear and rigorous system for recording any safeguarding concerns in a format which gives you a valuable overview of pupils’ needs. This thorough and rigorous approach enables you to identify concerns promptly and to take action quickly. You and your leaders work very well with outside agencies wherever necessary, including social care, to ensure that pupils are secure. Pupils know what to do if they are worried or unhappy. For example, they say that they like being able to post any concerns in the classroom ‘worry box’ and feel that teachers follow up any issues quickly and discreetly. This helps pupils to feel safe and valued. Parents are very positive about the school’s work. They feel welcomed in the school and say that leaders sort out any issues without fuss. One parent said, ‘I feel completely confident that my child is safe in school’. Inspection findings During this inspection, I focused particularly on: – how well leaders and governors ensure that pupils are safe – whether teaching ensures that boys and disadvantaged pupils achieve as well as they should, particularly in writing – how well leaders have addressed the dip in the Year 1 phonics screening check, which occurred in 2016 – the extent to which leaders have improved teaching and learning in the early years provision – how effectively leaders ensure that all groups of pupils attend regularly. Leaders and governors take their responsibilities for ensuring pupils’ safety very seriously. All members of staff follow clearly understood routines so that the school is a well-organised, attractive and orderly environment. For example, leaders make sure that the entrances to the school are supervised appropriately at the start of the school day so that pupils can enter the school safely and parents can speak to members of staff about any queries or concerns. Staff are knowledgeable about how to identify and report any concerns about pupils’ safety. Strong relationships throughout the school ensure that pupils feel secure and respected. Leaders have made changes to the teaching of English in the past year so that learning more precisely matches pupils’ needs. For example, teachers provide carefully focused support for all groups of pupils, including for those pupils who have fallen behind in their learning. Developments in the teaching of English have led to a marked improvement in pupils’ progress in reading and writing, particularly for boys and for disadvantaged pupils. However, these changes are not yet fully established throughout the school. Some pupils, particularly the most able, still do not make the progress that they should, especially in writing. Teachers are knowledgeable about how to teach reading and do so confidently. They give reading a high priority throughout the school day, so that pupils have plenty of opportunities to read books. As a result, pupils of all abilities enjoy reading. They learn how to use a range of strategies to read successfully, including phonics. However, pupils’ differing needs and starting points each year mean that the results of the Year 1 phonics check fluctuate. Leaders continuously review the teaching of reading, making changes wherever necessary to support pupils’ progress. The early years leader provides exceptional leadership for her team. She has improved the quality of teaching dramatically during the past few years so that children learn extremely well. The proportion of children achieving a good level of development at the end of Reception Year increased in 2016 and matched the national average. This represents substantial progress from children’s different starting points. A similarly positive picture of children’s outcomes in 2017 indicates that improvements have been sustained, so that children are very well prepared for the next stage of their learning in Year 1. Teachers and teaching assistants in the early years use questioning skilfully to explore children’s understanding. They give careful attention to children’s individual needs when planning activities and provide a wide range of stimulating activities which ignite children’s interest. As a result, children are engrossed in their learning and settle quickly into school life. The early years leader and her team have ensured that the Reception classrooms and outdoor areas are attractive, busy and exciting places for children to learn. Leaders take every possible step to encourage and support pupils’ attendance. Strong care and support for pupils’ well-being contributed to improvements in pupils’ attendance in 2017. A notable increase in disadvantaged pupils’ attendance reflects leaders’ commitment and determination to ensure that all groups of pupils attend regularly and learn well. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: pupils, particularly the most able, make even better progress in writing, by making sure that recent changes to the English curriculum are fully established throughout the school teaching equips pupils with the scientific skills needed to raise outcomes in science, so they are better prepared for the next stage of their learning. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Windsor and Maidenhead. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Julie Sackett Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I met with you, your deputy headteacher, the English and mathematics leaders, the family support worker and your business manager. I also met with three governors, including the chair of the governing body, and with a local authority representative. You and I visited nine lessons to observe teaching and learning. I also visited the playground during the morning break. I took account of 91 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, and spoke with parents informally at the start of the school day. I looked at the work in pupils’ books and talked with pupils about their school. I spoke informally with pupils during playtime and considered the views of 13 pupils from key stages 1 and 2, who met with me more formally during the day. I reviewed the school’s website and considered a range of documents, including your summary of the school’s effectiveness and the school’s improvement plan. I also looked at documents about safeguarding and information about pupils’ attendance.