Two West Berkshire schools require improvement

The report, following a two-day inspection of the federated schools in January, found that the achievement of pupils, quality of teaching and leadership and management all required improvement. The Ofsted rating system runs from outstanding to good, to requires improvement to inadequate.
The latest report recognised that progress was being made as pupil’s achievement was improving but was not consistently good over time, particularly in numeracy and writing.
Expectations of what pupils could learn and the amount of work they could produce was not always high enough and sometimes the work was too easy or too difficult for them. However, inspectors found that the schools shared leaders and governors were taking positive steps to raise achievement and improve teaching.
Headteacher, Remus Sawyerr, said the school, rated as satisfactory (the same as requires improvement) in 2010 was taking the right steps as everything highlighted in the report was already mentioned in the schools improvement plan and that the school had received its best overall result for progress last year.
Mr Sawyerr said: “I am extremely pleased that the dedication and hard work of the staff, children, parents and governors has been recognised in the reports.
“We strive to achieve the consistency that will enable us to demonstrate our improved standards over time.
“We are improving and going in the right direction. We hope to strive and improve in other areas over time.”
Both schools received a ‘good’ rating for the behaviour and safety of pupils as most children had positive attitudes and were enthusiastic and keen learners who behaved well in lessons.
The report also noted that attendance figures had improved significantly and were now above average but stated that the schools were much smaller than an average-sized primary school, having 55 pupils spread over the two sites.
Mr Sawyerr stated that attendance across the two schools was now at 95% but the small number of pupils meant even a few absentees s would result in a disproportionate effect on attendance figures.
For the schools to achieve a ‘good’ Ofsted rating, inspectors said pupils’ achievement could be raised by increasing opportunities to apply pupils’ writing and numeracy skills in other subject