Cold Ash St Marks School praised by Ofsted
Inspectors rated all categories at the Cold Ash Hill school – achievement of pupils, quality of teaching behaviour and safety of pupils and leadership and management – as ‘good’ following a two-day inspection in November.
Teaching was found to be typically good, with teachers and teaching assistants working together to ensure that pupils enjoyed learning.
And this appears to have worked as the inspection team said that pupils’ progress was good in reading, writing and mathematics; with attainment for school leavers being above the national average, while pupils were proud of their school.
Early years provision was also rated good, with inspectors saying that pupils made a positive start to school life.
There was also praise for the headteacher, Sue Ball, and governors who provided effective leadership, while parents were said to be extremely supportive of the school.
Mrs Ball said: “We are very pleased to retain our ‘good’ status. Our previous inspection was in 2009, since when Ofsted has raised the bar significantly.
“We are already on a path of continuous improvement to reach ‘outstanding’ and the report is testament to this. Everyone involved in this achievement is to be congratulated on their efforts.”
The school was not rated outstanding as inspectors said that pupils were not always clear about what they were learning and what was needed in order to improve and that in some classes teachers did not expect enough of the most able pupils.
To achieve outstanding status, staff had to ensure that teaching expectations for the most able pupils were equally high in all classes, while the effectiveness of leadership and management could be improved by developing subject leaders to fully evaluate and improve the work of the school.
West Berkshire’s executive for education, Irene Neill (Con, Aldermaston) said: “This is a consistently good school which is well on the way to being outstanding.
"Ofsted’s comments are very positive and everyone at Cold Ash St Marks should be very proud of their achievements.”
