Winkfield St Mary’s CofE Primary in Winkfield Row was slammed for its “inconsistent teaching” in its latest report on Wednesday, December 10, following a visit on November 19 from Ofsted, which told the school it “requires improvement” in its latest rating.

The rating – the second-lowest on Ofsted’s four-grade scale – means the school has dropped down from its previous rating of “good” at its 2009 inspection, which it had achieved for a number of successive Ofsted reports.

Out of the five categories Ofsted bases its report on – leadership and management, behaviour and safety of pupils, quality of teaching, achievement of pupils, and early years provision, only the behaviour and safety of pupils was judged as “good”, with the others being labelled as “requiring improvement”.

The school was criticised over its disadvantaged children and youngsters with special needs not achieving as well as others, while the report also said that teaching needs to become more consistent to ensure that all groups of pupils make good academic progress.

However, the school was commended for most of its pupils making decent progress, and the safety and and enthusiasm of pupils was excellent.

The school’s head teacher, Michael Chesters, said: “Winkfield St Mary’s Church of England Primary School has delivered consistently high academic standards at both Key Stage One and Key Stage Two over the past five years and has always engendered an enjoyment of learning among its pupils.

“To the school, these pupils are very much seen as individuals and valued members of our school family. The report gives little context as to the ‘few’ children constituting these ‘groups’.

“The staff and governors of the school are totally committed to ensuring that all pupils develop their full potential. Sometimes, in our opinion, the social and emotional needs of these children far outweigh their academic progress, and this is where resources and time have been spent and the real progress made.

“The whole school community is extremely disappointed with the grading of the school as ‘requires improvement’. We do not feel it truly reflects our school. However, the governing body, head teacher and staff are all working very hard to constantly improve standards of education at Winkfield St Mary’s and we will continue to address the developmental areas highlighted in the report.” Emmbrook Junior School in Wokingham however was upgraded in its latest report on November 25 from “requires improvement” to “good”. Its headteacher, Louisa Gurney, was praised for working hard to help the school improve, while also making a number of astute additions to the teaching staff.

The education watchdog also commended it for its high-achieving pupils and the quality of teaching.