Swanbourne Church of England VA School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Swanbourne Church of England VA School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending this friendly and welcoming school.

They trust adults in the school to take any worries seriously and act on them. This helps pupils to feel happy and safe. Pupils behave very well in lessons and around the school, including at breaktimes and lunchtime.

They play together kindly and make good use of the different activity zones in the outside spaces. The school celebrates good behaviour and rewards pupils for demonstrating the school values of honesty, respect, forgiveness and love.

The school has high expectations for all pupils, inc...luding pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and other disadvantaged pupils.

The majority of pupils attain very well across the curriculum and especially in reading, writing and mathematics. The school has identified a small number of pupils who would benefit from additional support to help them attain equally highly.

Pupils enjoy their leadership roles, which they take seriously.

They are elected by other pupils to represent the views of all pupils, which are shared with school leaders. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. One parent, whose comment is reflective of many others, said, 'This is a wonderful, caring and supportive school.'



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

The school is ambitious for all pupils, including pupils with SEND and the low number of other pupils who are disadvantaged. Staff have carefully sequenced pupils' learning to build over time. They design tasks that support the majority of pupils to attain well.

Pupils' positive achievement is reflected in their work and in the high reading and writing results at the end of Year 6. However, in some subjects, teachers do not consistently check pupils' prior learning before introducing new learning. This means that a small number of pupils do not build their knowledge as well as they could.

The school ensures that adults are trained to accurately identify pupils who may need additional support with their learning. Staff work well with parents and agencies so that pupils with SEND are supported appropriately. By the end of Year 6, pupils learn to read fluently and with confidence.

However, the school's support for pupils at an early stage of reading needs refinement. Staff are not sufficiently well trained, and so not all weaker readers get the precise help they need. As a result, not all pupils learn to read swiftly with accuracy.

The school sets high expectations of pupils' behaviour. All adults model the behaviour and conduct they expect. Pupils respond positively, behave well and there are respectful relationships between all members of the school community.

In lessons, pupils engage fully with their learning and show good concentration. This helps pupils to enjoy their learning and attain well. The school encourages pupils to attend school regularly.

Where pupils' attendance falls below these expectations, the school works closely with parents to ensure that attendance is improved. As a result, most pupils' attendance is high. For the very few pupils whose attendance is low, the school's work with families is having a positive impact.

Pupils are supported to develop an appreciation of the world around them. The school encourages them to share knowledge about their different cultures and religions with each other. This strengthens further the respectful relationships between pupils.

The school provides a wealth of experiences, including sporting activities. Staff ensure that all pupils benefit from these opportunities, including those who are disadvantaged. Pupils are helped to understand about healthy relationships.

They know how to keep physically and mentally healthy and enjoy opportunities to practise this, such as through running the daily mile and attending yoga club.

Leaders at all levels understand their responsibilities and their roles to ensure that pupils achieve well during their time at the school. Staff are well supported by leaders who are considerate of their workload and well-being.

This helps teachers to design lessons that help pupils to successfully learn and remember more over time.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some pupils at the early stages of reading are not given the precise help they need.

This means that they do not improve their reading as quickly as they could. The school should provide high-quality training for all staff to embed the phonics scheme securely for all pupils at the early stages of reading. ? Teachers do not consistently check the prior knowledge that pupils need before starting new learning.

This means that some pupils move on to new learning before they are ready and do not build links between prior and new learning. The school should ensure that staff precisely check pupils' understanding and use this information to inform future teaching to support all pupils to learn well across the curriculum.Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

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 would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which 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.

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in December 2014.

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