Last reviewed: September 2026 · Rankings and key information above update regularly, however, this review below is refreshed bi-annually and may not reflect recent changes. If you spot anything outdated or inaccurate, please let us know.
Silence is the default in Oakbank's classrooms, and the school says so openly. That one line tells parents most of what they need to know about this small, mixed 11-16 school at Ryeish Green, in Wokingham borough on the edge of Reading. Oakbank School opened in its present form on 1 September 2025, when it moved into the Greenshaw Learning Trust, and it has spent its first year rebuilding routines, teaching and the building itself.
Robert Gerrard has been headteacher since January 2026. His message to families is about pace: stability, consistency and higher expectations, built on the school's values of "Work Hard, Be Kind". The school has room for 560 students, and places for Year 7 were not filled in 2025, so entry is realistic for local families.
This is a state school with no tuition fees. It has no sixth form, so every student moves on at 16. The most recent published GCSE figures are modest, and the school has not yet been inspected in its current form. Families are, in effect, judging a turnaround in progress.
Ambition and structure define the place. The school describes itself as a community defined by a knowledge-rich culture, and its leaders frame powerful knowledge as a matter of social justice: students from every background should leave with genuine choices about their lives. The recurring image in school letters is of each student climbing a personal mountain towards the university, college or career of their choosing.
Change has been fast. Oakbank was transferred to the Greenshaw Learning Trust in September 2025, and the trust now acts as its admissions authority and shapes its curriculum. By July 2026 the headteacher was describing a massive shift in school culture, teaching, safeguarding and the physical environment of the building, with further building improvements planned for the current year. Parents should read that as a school in active repair rather than a finished product, but the direction is clear.
The tone is firm and orderly. Uniform is formal: a green blazer embroidered with the school logo, worn every day, a white shirt and a school tie with clip. Students wear it to and from school as well. At the same time, the school works hard at warmth. Fun Friday lunchtimes brought games such as Red Light Green Light, spaghetti towers and quizzes, with staff joining in, and a Rewards Week of Gold, Silver and Bronze trips closed the summer term. For a child who likes to know exactly where they stand, this blend of clear rules and visible reward is reassuring.
Rewards are concrete. In the final week of the 2025-26 year, Gold reward students went to Lagoona Park, Silver students had an afternoon of inflatables, and Bronze students had an in-school cinema experience. Year 11 celebrated with a Leavers Prom at Warbrook House in Eversley. Merits accumulate all year, and the highest earners in each year group are named in newsletters, which gives effort a public currency.
The scale matters too. The school calls itself a small and friendly school, where students receive maximum support, and with a capacity of 560, staff can know children well. A new house system launches this September, intended to add competition, belonging and student leadership.
The most recent published GCSE figures set a low baseline. Across a cohort of 105 students, the average Attainment 8 score was 41.8. The Progress 8 score was -0.38; because 0 represents the England average, a negative score means students made less progress from their Year 6 starting points than similar students elsewhere in England.
English Baccalaureate outcomes were also limited. Some 11.4% of students achieved grade 5 or above across the EBacc subjects, and the average EBacc point score was 3.59. For a parent, the practical reading is simple: too few students have been reaching the grades that keep the widest range of post-16 courses open.
Context matters when reading them. Published results always lag behind change in a school, and Oakbank has had a new trust since September 2025 and a new headteacher since January 2026. Parents should ask directly at open events how the summer 2026 Year 11 cohort performed and how the school measures progress in the current Years 7 to 10.
What the school has put in place is a heavier assessment structure. End of Unit Assessments run at Christmas, Easter and summer, each followed by a detailed report card for parents. Year 11 sit two sets of mock exams and Year 10 one. From July 2026, Year 10 began a Period 0 and Period 6 programme, adding an extra lesson at the end of each day and finishing at 4pm. That is a serious investment of time in the run-up to GCSEs.
Parents get a regular window on all of this. Academic Review Evenings are held in person after the main assessment points, with Year 11 meeting teachers in December and March. The school says it keeps these face-to-face at a time when many schools have moved online, which gives families a direct line to the teachers setting the pace.
Teaching follows a tightly defined model. Every lesson opens with students sitting silently to complete a retrieval quiz, the KIP Quiz (Knowledge is Power), while the register is taken. Teachers are trained in high-frequency retrieval practice, chunked explanations with frequent checks for understanding, and independent practice. Mini whiteboards and cold calling are routine. A recent addition, Turn and Talk, has students discussing a question with a partner so that every child is thinking at once, not just the one with a hand up.
The curriculum is built on five published principles. It is knowledge-rich, taught from shared resources so that every class gets the same quality, ambitious for all, sequenced as a spiral so key ideas return each year, and aligned with the school's values and British values. Key Stage 3 runs for three years to keep breadth open as long as possible, and the curriculum is developed with other schools in the Greenshaw Learning Trust. Subjects include English, maths, science, geography, history, French, religious education, art, drama, music, design technology, PE and PSHE. From this September, Spanish is being phased in to replace French.
Homework is now daily and handwritten. Students answer 10 self-quizzing questions each evening from a pre-printed Quiz Booklet built on their Knowledge Organisers, and tutors check it each morning. The Sparx online platform supports English, maths and science, with each Sparx homework taking around 40 minutes to an hour. Students who prefer to work at school can use Working Lunch or Homework Club, which runs after school at 3pm. Form time also carries the school's Tutor Time Reading Programme.
Every student leaves at 16, so the quality of guidance on post-16 choices matters more here than at a school with its own sixth form. The careers programme is built around the Gatsby Benchmarks and led by a named Careers Lead, with one-to-one interviews with a qualified careers adviser, work experience, enterprise days and employability workshops run by local employers.
The year-by-year plan is detailed. Year 7 is introduced to careers on a drop-down day with business volunteers. Year 8 takes on a Design an App – Make a Difference Challenge. Year 9 has a GCSE Options Workshop, Business Insight Days and a university taster trip to Reading University. Year 10 completes work experience placements and mock interviews, and Year 11 receives 1-2-1 Future Focus Careers Guidance and a World of Work Conference, alongside help with post-16 applications.
Partnerships add reach. Oakbank is a target school for Study Higher, a network of regional universities running free outreach for students from Year 9, and the school reports links with the Universities of Reading and Surrey. Every student has access to Unifrog, the online destinations platform, and parents can have their own login. Local sixth forms and colleges visit to present their post-16 options. Impartial careers advice comes through Adviza, and Year 9 take part in a Barclays LifeSkills workshop on employability. Ask about recent Year 11 destinations at an open event; they are the clearest test of whether the programme works.
Oakbank is non-selective, and the Greenshaw Learning Trust is its admissions authority. Applications for Year 7 are coordinated by Wokingham Borough Council: families name Oakbank as a preference on their home local authority's Common Application Form in October of the year before entry, and the form must be submitted no later than 31 October. Families living outside Wokingham Borough apply through their own council.
Demand has been below capacity. For September 2025 entry, the school made 58 offers against 54 applications, an undersubscribed position, and every family that put Oakbank first was offered a place. For a parent weighing up a first preference, that is useful: the realistic question here is fit, not access.
The published admission number for Year 7 entry in September 2027 is 120. Students with an Education, Health and Care Plan naming the school are admitted first. If there are more applicants than places, the criteria are applied in this order:
National Offer Day falls on 1 March. Open Evening runs on Thursday 24 September 2026 from 5pm to 7pm, with the headteacher speaking at 6.15pm, and an Open Morning follows on 7 October. Families can also book a School in Action tour on other days.
Support starts before Year 7. Transition runs from open evenings in the autumn through primary school visits by Oakbank staff in May and June, a pizza and quiz afternoon, and an Induction Day in June. In 2025-26, a Year 7 residential trip to Ufton Court helped the youngest students bond.
Special educational needs provision is led by Katherine Reggler, the SENDCO. Around a third of students have a Pupil Passport, a regularly reviewed document setting out needs, strengths and classroom strategies, drawn up with the student and family and now reviewed three times a year. Targeted help includes Read, Write Inc Fresh Start, a phonics programme for older readers, and the school works with educational psychologists and speech and language therapists. Staff attend regular Spotlight on SEND Sessions. This year the school plans to add Reciprocal Reading, relaunch Power Hour for daily homework support, and run BRIYM (Building Resilience in Young Minds) alongside interventions in social skills and emotional regulation. SEND Coffee Mornings keep parents in the loop.
Safeguarding is led by a named Designated Safeguarding Lead with two deputies. Attendance is watched closely: the minimum expectation is 97% for each student, an Attendance Team contacts families about every absence, and Key Adults support students who need more encouragement. This term's Win September, Win the Year campaign adds home visits for any child who misses the first day, and rewards a perfect September with a badge and extra merits.
For students who find organisation and self-control hard, the school is launching an executive skills intervention for selected students this year, based on the book Smart but Scattered Teens and covering staying organised, focus, impulse control and emotional regulation. Parents will be sent the same strategies in short instalments so that support at school and at home lines up. Identity Club offers a weekly lunchtime space for LGBTQ+ students and allies. Bullying is addressed through tutor time and PSHE, with clear routes to report it.
Enrichment is growing from a modest base, and the school has said it will expand its extra-curricular offer this year. The existing programme already has more texture than its website suggests, with clubs running at lunchtime and after school.
Sport. Students have competed in fixtures in girls' football, boys' football, KS4 badminton and netball, and PE activities have included table tennis, dance and basketball. Reading Rockets have run basketball sessions on Monday and Wednesday lunchtimes for Years 8 to 11, with mini matches and shooting practice. The summer term closes with the Oakbank Festival of Sport, and the calendar has included the GLT Football Tournament. A new PE teacher joins this September.
Reading and writing. The library is a genuine focus. Book Club followed the Carnegie shortlist and was invited to the Carnegie Awards in London, and students can borrow e-books and audiobooks through the SORA app. Journalism Club launched Evergreen, an entirely student-led mini-zine. For a bookish child, that combination of reading and publishing is a real draw.
STEM and creative clubs. The STEM club, known as the Eurekans, grew seeds to study germination and joined Art Club for a pottery session making clay planters. Keyboard Club gives musicians time to practise pieces of their choice. Other clubs have included Crochet Club, Warhammer, Dungeons & Dragons, History Club for Year 10 GCSE historians, electronics and code-breaking. The spread is broad for a school of this size, even if the list is still settling.
The school gates open at 8am and close at 8.30am, with tutor time from 8.45am. The day ends at 3pm for Years 7 to 10; Year 11 have a sixth period and finish at 4pm. From September 2026, a staff-supervised breakfast space opens to all year groups from 7.45am, and Homework Club runs after school at 3pm.
Lunches include vegetarian options every week, and families can apply for free school meals. Branded uniform is sold through Stevenson's, and the school invites families who need help with uniform costs to contact the office. Mobile phones must stay switched off and in bags all day; a phone that is seen is confiscated and a 30-minute detention follows. The school does not publish bus or transport information, so families should plan the journey to Ryeish Green before applying.
Results start from a low base. The latest published GCSE figures show a Progress 8 score of -0.38 and an Attainment 8 score of 41.8. Families should ask how the 2026 Year 11 cohort performed before relying on the turnaround story.
No inspection of the current school yet. The school has not been inspected by Ofsted since it opened on 1 September 2025. Before this school opened, the predecessor school (URN 138367) was inspected by Ofsted in November 2024, under the framework that no longer gives a single overall grade. Parents are therefore judging the new leadership on what they can see and ask about directly.
Strict behaviour rules suit some children more than others. Two breaches of a classroom rule lead to removal to RFL (Ready for Learning) for a full working day, detentions are not rearranged, and students are not given permission to use the toilet during lessons except on medical grounds. Children who respond well to structure may thrive; others may find the regime demanding, so talk it through with your child.
A move at 16 is certain. With no sixth form, every student changes school or college after GCSEs. The careers programme is thorough, but families wanting continuity to 18 will need to look elsewhere.
Oakbank is a school in the middle of a deliberate rebuild. Since joining the Greenshaw Learning Trust in September 2025 it has adopted a demanding, knowledge-rich curriculum, silent and structured classrooms, daily homework and a detailed careers programme, under a headteacher in post since January 2026. The published GCSE figures are weak and there is no inspection of the current school, so the case rests on the direction of travel rather than a track record.
It is best suited to local families around Ryeish Green who want a small school with firm routines, clear expectations and visible support for SEND, and whose children respond well to structure. The main caveat is evidence: ask to see recent results and visit on a School in Action tour before making Oakbank a first preference.
Oakbank is an improving 11-16 school that joined the Greenshaw Learning Trust in September 2025. It has not yet been inspected in its current form, and the latest published GCSE figures are below average, with a Progress 8 score of -0.38. Its strengths are a structured, knowledge-rich curriculum, clear behaviour systems and well-organised SEND and careers support.
No. For September 2025 entry, the school made 58 offers against 54 applications, and every family that named it as first preference was offered a place. The published admission number for September 2027 entry is 120.
The most recent published figures show an average Attainment 8 score of 41.8 and a Progress 8 score of -0.38, meaning students made below-average progress from their starting points. Some 11.4% achieved grade 5 or above across the EBacc subjects. Ask the school how the 2026 cohort performed.
Expectations are strict. Lessons start in silence with a retrieval quiz, and a second classroom breach leads to a day in the Ready for Learning room. Merits, reward trips and a new house system balance the sanctions, and bullying is addressed through tutor time and PSHE.
Applications go through Wokingham Borough Council. After children with an Education, Health and Care Plan naming the school, priority goes to looked after children, exceptional medical or social need, children of staff and siblings, with remaining places offered by straight-line distance from home.
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