Dedworth Green First School

Overview

Pupils enjoy attending this friendly school where they feel safe and uphold principles of "shared respect." The school provides an "ambitious curriculum" with high expectations, resulting in pupils who are confident, kind, and typically achieve well. Staff maintain strong, caring relationships with pupils, fostering a positive community spirit and effective personal development.

Strengths

• Pupils benefit from a "well designed" personal development programme, engaging confidently in debates and extracurricular activities.
• The teaching of reading is a priority, with staff using "expert knowledge" to ensure pupils who fall behind quickly catch up.
• Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are "swiftly identified" and receive "comprehensive and effective support."
• Staff well-being is "well managed," and governors provide "effective support for school improvement."
• Behaviour is consistently good, with pupils taught to use language skills to resolve disagreements and express emotions.

Areas to improve

• In some subjects, checks on prior learning lack rigour, meaning new content is introduced before knowledge is consolidated, slowing learning.
• Attendance remains an issue for some disadvantaged pupils, who miss out on enrichment and learning opportunities.

Safeguarding

The report states that "the arrangements for safeguarding are effective."