The Willink School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.

Students make good progress and attainment has risen rapidly. The proportion of students gaining five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C, including English and mathematics, now exceeds the national average. Teaching is good overall and some is outstanding.

Students say that teachers make lessons interesting and encourage them to do as well as they can. The very effective tracking system picks up any students who are not making the progress they should and this triggers extra help for them. Consequently, students eligible for the pupil premium make at least as good progress as their peers.

Students are safe and secure and their beha...viour is outstanding. They are proud of their school, polite, courteous and keen to achieve well. Attendance has improved and is now above average for all groups of learners.

Exclusions have reduced and are now well below the national average. Leadership and management are good and recent appointments to the senior team have strengthened leadership at this level. Consequently, the quality of teaching and standards of students' achievement are improving rapidly.

Governance is very strong and governors have been instrumental in the school's improved success in ensuring that students achieve well. The sixth form is good. A high proportion of students leave the school with the highest grades at AS and A level.

It is not yet an outstanding school because : There is not enough outstanding teaching to enable students to make the best possible progress. Students are not always given the precise written guidance they need to improve their work and poorly presented work is not always challenged. Although the progress of students with special educational needs is improving, it still lags behind that of their peers.

School policies are not consistently applied by all staff. Hence the strengths present in the school are not sufficiently shared across all subjects. Attendance of students in the sixth form is not monitored carefully enough.

Information about this school

The Willink School is an average-sized secondary school with sixth form. The majority of students are of White British heritage. The proportion of disabled students and those who have special educational needs and requiring extra support through 'school action' is lower than average.

The proportion of students supported at 'school action plus' or by a statement of special educational needs is also below average. The proportion of students supported through the pupil premium is lower than the national average. The pupil premium is additional funding for those students who are known to be eligible for free school meals, children from service families and those children that are looked after by the local authority.

A small number of students in Year 10 and Year 11 follow alternative provision at Reading College one day a week. A few students are entered early for GCSEs in English and mathematics. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which set minimum expectations for students' attainment and progress.