Ranelagh Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by:
  • developing a consistently systematic approach to the teaching of reading across the school
  • ensuring that teachers are confident and accurate in their assessment of pupils’ reading.
• Improve the quality of leadership and management by:
  • rigorously evaluating the impact of intervention and support methods so that appropriate action is taken to ensure that pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities reach their potential.
  • ensuring that the science curriculum offers pupils opportunities to build step by step on their knowledge and skills.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher leads the school well.
• Well supported by other leaders, the headteacher has made significant improvements
• Leaders have precise knowledge of the quality of teaching, learning and assessment to the quality of education provided. Leaders have successfully developed a happy, caring school in which pupils’ skills are developed both socially and academically. for most pupils. The information from regular monitoring identifies strengths and areas for development accurately. However, the monitoring of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is not consistently robust.
• Mindful of difficulties with teacher recruitment, leaders identify and develop new teachers from within the cohort of school staff. Consequently, the school is fully staffed with appropriately qualified teachers.
• Leaders continuously monitor the quality of teaching, learning and assessment to identify strengths and areas for development. As a result, leaders provide well-focused training, coaching and mentoring to enable teachers to improve their practice in areas such as reading.
• Drawing on the support of the local authority school improvement adviser, leaders tailor staff training to the needs of the staff and pupils. For example, any issues that arise from the half-termly tracking of pupils’ progress are addressed immediately through the bespoke staff training.
• Middle leaders are effective in their work. For example, the leader for English has successfully implemented the reading of classic texts in every class. Teachers have responded well to the guidance and pupils are now benefiting from the additional focus on these enriching texts.
• As part of the headteacher’s skilful strategy to develop staff within the school, future leaders are offered appropriate opportunities to develop their understanding of leadership. For example, teachers shadow middle and senior leaders to gain experience of subject leadership, such in as mathematics and English.
• Leaders make effective use of pupil premium funding to support disadvantaged pupils and regularly review the impact of the support that has been put in place. In addition to the support provided in subjects such as English and mathematics, there is a range of activities to enrich pupils’ understanding of the arts and the wider world. Additional activities include theatre visits and the opportunity to play musical instruments. Consequently, disadvantaged pupils make strong progress, academically and socially.
• Leaders make effective use of the physical education and sport premium. Pupils develop a love of sport and fitness through activities such as specialist coaching in rugby, athletics and gymnastics. Pupils have a breadth of sports opportunities within the school curriculum and extra-curricular clubs such as judo. As a result, more and more pupils take part in competitive and non-competitive sports.
• In general the curriculum is broad and balanced. It is carefully designed to provide topics that interest and challenge pupils across the school. The curriculum is also suitably enriched. For example, pupils in key stage 2 study Latin, taught by a specialist teacher. Pupils also benefit from a rich musical curriculum. All pupils in key stage 2 learn to play an instrument and get the opportunity to perform in front of the staff, pupils and parents. Some pupils perform their music at prestigious regional concerts. Nevertheless, the science curriculum does not enable pupils in every year to build systematically on their skills and understanding.
• There are plenty of opportunities for pupils’ spiritual, social, moral and cultural development. For example, pupils experience democracy through the student council where they debate issues about school life. This helps them develop a good understanding of decision making.
• Although pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities receive good support from teaching assistants and outside agencies, the support is not checked carefully enough to evaluate the impact of some of this support. For example, pupils with language and communications difficulties receive specialist support from a language and speech therapist but pupils’ next steps are not always evaluated effectively.

Governance of the school

• Since the previous inspection, the governing body has reviewed its structure to make best use of time in meetings and the expertise of members. As a result, while each governor has a specific responsibility, such as in finance and resources, all governors share a clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school’s performance. This has had a positive impact on governors’ role in helping the school to improve.
• Senior leaders provide governors with detailed information about the quality of education provided. Governors rightly take steps to assure themselves of the accuracy of this information through meetings with senior and middle leaders, and visits to school. As a result, governors hold the leadership team to account well, while also providing necessary support.
• The governors are dedicated to supporting the pupils in developing knowledge and understanding of the wider world. They make sure that there are sufficient funds for trips for all pupils to places of cultural importance such as the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.
• The governors carry out the headteacher’s performance management effectively. They set challenging targets and the headteacher responds to the targets diligently and successfully.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The school’s safeguarding checks statutory requirements, and procedures for the safe recruitment of staff are rigorous.
• The designated senior leader for safeguarding pupils is well qualified and is relentless in ensuring that all concerns raised by staff, pupils and parents are assiduously followed up to ensure pupils are kept safe from harm.
• All staff receive regular training to safeguard pupils. Staff apply their training well to ensure the safety of pupils.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers make expert use of their good subject knowledge to engage and enthuse pupils. The teaching of writing is a particular strength. Pupils are able to craft their writing with care and consideration. Pupils talk enthusiastically about how much they enjoy writing for different purposes and audiences.
• Teachers promote positive attitudes towards learning well. In many classrooms there is a tangible excitement about the topics pupils are studying.
• Pupils are encouraged to extend their learning through carefully considered teacher guidance. As a result, in key stages 1 and 2, many pupils relish the additional challenges to stretch their understanding in mathematics.
• Teachers follow the school’s feedback policy consistently. The feedback enables pupils to make improvements to their work. This is particularly evident in their writing books. Pupils say that teachers’ feedback boosts their self-confidence and understanding.
• Teachers have an accurate understanding of the skills that pupils need to develop in writing and mathematics.
• The teaching of reading is not as strong as the teaching of writing. Teachers focus well on developing pupils’ extended writing but the same systematic approach is not afforded to reading. For example, pupils do not spend a lot of time analysing how language is used in texts. However, leaders have recognised this issue and have introduced a range of strategies to extend pupils’ reading skills across the whole school.
• Many pupils begin school with speech and language difficulties but they make good progress throughout their time at the school. Staff recognise the importance of reading in strengthening pupils’ language skills. All teachers and pupils now read a classic text at the end of the school day. The Year 6 class is currently reading and discussing ‘The Secret Garden’, enabling many pupils to access a text they might not have been able to read and understand with ease on an individual basis.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils are confident and self-assured in their learning and play. They know who to speak to if they have concerns and are confident that the concerns will be swiftly dealt with.
• Pupils are kind and courteous to each other and to adults. For example, each Year 6 pupil is responsible for the well-being of two children in the Reception Year. They escort them to lunch and ensure that they are safe and confident. This helps pupils to develop good leadership and decision-making skills. It also helps children in the Reception Year to make decisions about healthy eating and how to communicate with others.
• School leaders are alert to subtle changes in pupils’ behaviour and respond effectively and appropriately to ensure the physical and emotional safety of pupils.
• School leaders are tenacious in ensuring that external agencies respond to concerns about pupils’ well-being to secure good outcomes. Many parent s spoke of how welcoming they found the school for their children and themselves.
• Pupils who speak English as an additional language are supported well to ensure that they feel safe and are able to communicate their feelings. For example, translators in a range of languages successfully support pupils who are not able to voice their views in English.
• Pupils develop a good understanding of the diversity of faiths and cultures in Britain and the wider world. For example, all pupils visit a range of places of worship and are encouraged to consider the differences and similarities. Consequently, pupils celebrate the breadth of cultures in the school community and are respectful of each other’s backgrounds and differences.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils are friendly, welcoming and well mannered. They are confident when speaking with others about their learning and eager to show their achievements.
• Pupils have good attitudes towards learning. They are keen to engage in the tasks provided by their teachers and work hard to achieve the goals set.
• Pupils gain a clear understanding of bullying and its consequences through a programme of lessons and assemblies. Pupils explain that there is little bullying and, were it to occur, adults would deal with it effectively.
• Pupils develop classroom rules with their teachers and follow the rules closely.
• Pupils are punctual to lessons, responsive to teachers’ instructions and supportive of each other’s contributions to classroom discussions.
• Attendance is above the national average. The rate of attendance has improved through the development of good relationships with parents and ensuring that pupils enjoy and value school. Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities do not attend quite as well as other pupils, and leaders are addressing this issue.
• Leaders work effectively to support pupils who make poor behaviour choices. For example, external agencies and additional teaching assistants provide support in helping pupils develop strategies to adapt their behaviour.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Children make good progress during their time in early years. The proportion of children who reach a good level of development has improved markedly.
• The number of Year 1 pupils who reached the expected level in the phonics screening check was above the national average in 2015. Although the number of pupils who reached the expected level fell slightly in 2016, the progress of current Year 1 pupils and the quality of teaching suggests good outcomes in 2017. This is because teachers use their good subject knowledge of phonics to plan learning that is well matched to the needs of the pupils.
• The pupils make good progress in English, particularly in writing. Pupils of all abilities, including disadvantaged pupils, achieve well in writing at the end of both key stages. Pupils develop their writing well in geography and history. Pupils are increasingly well prepared for the demands of the writing skills needed when they move on to secondary school.
• Pupils make swift progress and frequently respond to challenging topics with enthusiasm and precision. For example, the most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, are challenged well to use language in a sophisticated way. Consequently, they write maturely and creatively.
• Pupils who speak English as an additional language make accelerated progress in learning English through personalised teaching. Pupils move quickly into mainstream classes and are able to access the curriculum alongside their peers successfully.
• Pupils make good progress in mathematics. Teachers extend pupils’ understanding of mathematical concepts well.
• Disadvantaged pupils make good progress and the difference between the standards they reach compared with the standards reached by other pupils nationally is diminishing in most subjects.
• The quality of pupils’ science work in Years 5 and 6 is good. However, there is inconsistency throughout the rest of the school. Leaders are aware of the inconsistency and are assessing the science curriculum to ensure that it meets the academic needs of all pupils.

Early years provision Good

• The scrutiny of children’s work, observations of learning and school assessment information demonstrate that children are making good progress from below typical starting points.
• The early years is well led and managed. Leaders have an accurate understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the provision. They recognise, for example, that last year boys did not progress at the same rate as girls. They have taken effective action to redress this imbalance.
• Parents are encouraged to support their children’s learning and development and are kept well informed about the progress that their children are making. Good relationships are established prior to children starting school through events held in school and through home visits. Parents are encouraged to contribute to initial assessments that provide useful information about their children’s interests and development.
• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good in the Nursery and Reception classes. Staff provide an interesting variety of activities each day to develop children’s skills, knowledge and abilities in each area of learning. Children learn quickly, and understand the school’s routines and develop positive attitudes towards learning. During the inspection the youngest children were seen showing good levels of perseverance with tasks that they had chosen.
• The school provides a safe and caring learning environment. Children behave well and enjoy the company of others. They work and play well together, showing that they can take turns and share sensibly. They listen carefully to adults and to each other. Their good behaviour suggests that they feel safe in school.
• Children learn how to make choices about their learning and develop good skills to get on with work on their own, as appropriate.
• Any gaps between the attainment of groups, including those for whom the school receives additional funding and all children nationally, are closing by the time they start in Year 1.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 124645 Suffolk 10011847 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Community 3–11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 262 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Sue Thomas Diane Ekins Telephone number 01473 251 608 Website Email address http://www.ranelaghprimary.org.uk ad.ranelagh.p@talk21.com Date of previous inspection 3–4 July 2014

Information about this school

• This school is smaller than the average primary school.
• Just over half of the pupils are White British, the remainder coming from a range of ethnic heritages.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is above the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is below the national average. The proportion of pupils with education, health and care plans is below average.
• The proportion of pupils supported by pupil premium funding is above average. The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics at the end of Year 6.

Information about this inspection

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• Inspectors observed lessons, including lessons in key stage 1 and key stage 2, jointly with the headteacher and deputy headteacher.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher; deputy headteacher; the leaders of mathematics, English, science, English as an additional language, early years, special educational needs and/or disabilities and the leader of the curriculum; six governors; a representative of the local authority; pupils and teachers.
• Pupils’ books and records of their progress were scrutinised.
• Inspectors listened to pupils read and discussed their reading experiences with them.
• Account was taken of the 12 responses to Parent View, the online questionnaire for parents. Inspectors also talked informally to parents at the start of the school day.
• A range of documentation was examined, including the school’s development plan and analysis of its strengths and weaknesses, safeguarding policies and records, and records made by leaders on the quality of teaching.

Inspection team

Susan Aykin, lead inspector Paul Tomkow

Her Majesty’s Inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector