Rangefield Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching so that it is consistently good by ensuring that:
  • teaching builds on what pupils know, can do and understand, to ensure that middle-attaining, most-able and disadvantaged pupils are sufficiently challenged to enable them to fulfil their potential 

  • teaching addresses misconceptions in writing, and that pupils use and apply the complex sentence structures and punctuation expected for their age
  • pupils are given opportunities in mathematics to develop their problem-solving and reasoning skills
  • teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve in English and mathematics are increased so that a higher proportion of pupils make accelerated progress to meet and exceed the standards expected for their age.
• Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management at all levels by:
  • implementing a system to carefully analyse and track pupils’ progress in subjects other than English and mathematics
  • analysing more precisely the impact of the different strategies and actions taken to improve the outcomes of disadvantaged pupils
  • ensuring that middle leaders take responsibility for improvements in teaching, learning and assessment in all subjects by monitoring and evaluating them effectively further developing the curriculum so that it meets the learning needs of all pupils by ensuring that knowledge, skills and understanding are taught in depth across a range of subjects.
• An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.
• An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• Since the previous inspection, the school has experienced considerable instability. This has contributed to the decline in the quality of teaching and pupils’ outcomes. Since the executive headteacher took up post, two years ago, she has challenged underperformance by making significant changes to the senior leadership team and teaching staff. The school is now stable.
• The executive headteacher is working with determination to bring about improvement. She has an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and areas that require improvement. Appropriate plans are in place to drive improvement. However, many of the changes have recently been introduced so they are not yet fully established in order to bring about consistency in teaching and pupils’ outcomes. 

• Leaders have not identified or tackled the inconsistencies of provision and quality of teaching evident in some year groups. As a result, pupils’ progress speeds up and slows down dependent on the quality of education and level of challenge that they receive.
• Middle leaders’ checks on teaching and learning are not precise enough. They do not provide teachers with specific feedback about how to accelerate the progress that pupils make. As a result, pupils’ progress in English and mathematics over time is slow.

• The use of pupil premium funding requires improvement. Funding is used in a variety of ways, particularly in supporting pupils’ social and emotional well-being. It is also used to support engagement with families and to ensure that this group of pupils is given equal opportunity to access all that the school has to offer. However, it is not used effectively to ensure that disadvantaged pupils achieve as well as they could. 

• Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are now receiving appropriate support and are beginning to make better gains from their starting points, especially in mathematics. The school provides a wide range of support to pupils who have social and emotional difficulties.
• Leaders’ training and support is beginning to make a positive difference to improve the quality of teaching in reading. Teachers’ subject knowledge is improving. However, leaders’ work is recent and is not yet ensuring that teachers can confidently plan work which securely builds pupils’ skills, knowledge and understanding.
• Leaders’ recent actions have begun to increase teachers’ understanding of planning and progression in writing. As a result, pupils are making improving progress. Nevertheless, leaders agree that pupils’ progress in writing remains too variable across the school.
• Leaders’ actions have not yet ensured that pupils can use and apply their mathematical skills to reason and solve problems and deepen their understanding. Consequently, the middle-ability and most-able pupils are not sufficiently challenged to make the progress of which they are capable.
• The physical education (PE) and sports funding is spent effectively. Pupils enjoy the range of activities on offer, including gymnastics and cricket. Participation is good and has also resulted in pupils entering local sporting competitions.
• The majority of parents who responded to Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, or who spoke to inspectors, were positive about the school.
• Pupils are aware of British values. They demonstrate their understanding of tolerance and respect for rules in their good behaviour, and they know that taking a majority vote is a fair way of making decisions.
• Pupils benefit from a curriculum with opportunities to develop their artistic and sporting skills. The curriculum is enriched by trips to museums and galleries, as well as by having visitors to the school. The curriculum contributes well to the pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

Governance of the school

• Governors understand the strengths and weaknesses in the school. They keep up to date with the actions that leaders are taking through their visits to school. They receive information from school leaders in reports and in meetings. However, they do not use this information well enough to check the impact of leaders’ actions on improving teaching, learning and assessment and pupils’ outcomes. 

• Governors have not been effective in evaluating the full impact of the strategies used to raise pupils’ achievement, particularly that of disadvantaged pupils. As a result, governors’ challenge to school leaders has not been robust.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Staff undertake safeguarding training in line with current legislation. Staff vetting checks and safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. 

• Leaders work with external agencies to minimise pupils’ risk of harm. Staff know how to apply the school’s safeguarding policy to make referrals should they have concerns about pupils’ well-being.
• The majority of parents who gave their views agreed that pupils are safe in school.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The teaching that pupils experience each day is uneven across classes. In some classrooms and subjects, pupils are flourishing, but in others, they make slower progress.
• Although the teaching of reading is beginning to improve, the teaching of inference and deduction skills remains variable. Not all adults make sure that pupils explain, in full, the assumptions they make when searching for clues about character and plot development in the texts they read.
• Teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve in writing are too inconsistent, and variation in the quality of teaching remains. Teaching does not routinely tackle pupils’ misconceptions in spelling, grammar and punctuation. This results in too few middle-attaining and most-able pupils writing with the complexity and accuracy expected for their age.
• However, the teaching of writing in Year 5 and Year 6 is better focused on developing pupils’ writing skills. Increasingly, the quality of teaching in these classes is ensuring that pupils develop the writing skills expected for their age.
• In mathematics, pupils spend too much time rehearsing place value and calculations skills that they already know. Pupils do not have enough opportunities to practise their reasoning and problem-solving skills. This is especially so for the middle-ability and most-able pupils. Consequently, this prevents pupils from gaining a deep understanding of mathematical skills.
• However, in upper key stage 2, pupils are making better gains in mathematics due to teachers having a sharper focus on developing pupils’ reasoning and problem-solving skills.
• The use of additional adults to support pupils’ learning over time is variable across the school. In some cases, adults provide specific, targeted intervention for individual pupils to accelerate their progress within lessons. At other times, too much attention is given to pupils completing tasks rather than on using effective questioning to check their understanding thoroughly.
• The teaching of phonics is regular and systematic. It enables pupils to decode unknown words well. Teaching is closely matched to pupils’ needs. As a result, pupils make good progress in their phonics development.
• Generally, good relationships exist between teachers, teaching assistants and pupils. These foster positive attitudes to learning and encourage pupils to participate in lessons.

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 articulate. They eagerly shared their views with inspectors.
• Pupils know about the different types of bullying. They say that bullying rarely happens, and that teachers tackle problems effectively.
• Pupils feel safe in school. They understand the potential dangers of the internet, and learn about fire and road safety.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils’ conduct around the school and in the playground is good. They play well together, and they make use of the school’s play area and grounds. Pupils move around in the school in an orderly and calm manner.
• Pupils concentrate well in lessons and rarely disturb others. A few lose concentration if work is too easy for them. Staff manage behaviour well so that incidents involving poor conduct are infrequent.
• Pupils say that bullying is rare at the school and they are confident that adults will help them if they have any concerns. The majority of parents agree.
• Pupils’ attendance is moving closer to national averages. Leaders have taken effective action to work closely with families and external agencies in order to improve attendance. Furthermore, the number of pupils who are persistently absent is declining.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Inconsistent teaching over time has meant that progress has not been rapid enough to ensure that pupils catch up from previous underachievement. Gaps in pupils’ learning have not been identified early enough, and too much time is spent filling gaps when pupils reach Year 6.
• Current pupils are not making consistently strong progress, although this is beginning to improve, particularly in upper key stage 2. Progress varies between year groups, subjects and for groups of pupils. This is confirmed by the school’s own assessment information and work in books.
• At the end of key stage 1 and key stage 2, in 2018, too few pupils achieved the higher standards in reading, writing and mathematics when compared to national figures. This is because pupils are not sufficiently challenged within lessons to make the good progress of which they are capable.
• The school’s assessment information for 2018 shows that, by the end of the key stage 1, more pupils than previously reached the expected standards in reading and writing.
• Over the last three years, a higher proportion of pupils compared to national figures achieved the expected standard in the phonics screening check. This is the result of effective phonics teaching.

Early years provision Good

• The early years provision is good. Children enjoy a wide range of experiences across the curriculum.
• Adults help children settle quickly into school. As a result, children develop good routines and are happy and confident in their environment.
• Staff provide high-quality care to children. Children feel safe and behave well. Children are developing positive behaviours for learning. They concentrate well and show resilience when carrying out tasks.
• Children get on well with each other. They take turns and share resources.
• Partnership work with parents is strong. Parents attend workshops to help them support their child’s learning.
• Disadvantaged children make good progress from their different starting points. This is because adults provide appropriate support for them. Therefore, the pupil premium funding is spent effectively
• The early years is well led. Leaders carefully track children’s progress. Adults put in place timely support to make sure that children who may be falling behind catch up quickly. Leaders have a good awareness of the strengths of the provision, as well as the areas to develop further.
• Safeguarding is effective and statutory responsibilities are met.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 100699 Lewisham 10056704 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Community 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 429 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Kris Hibbert Executive Headteacher Michelle Fenniche Telephone number 020 8698 3112 Website Email address Date of previous inspection www.rangefield.co.uk info@rangefield.lewisham.sch.uk 4–5 July 2013


Information about this school

• The school is larger than the average-sized primary school.
• The majority ethnic group represented in the school are pupils from White British backgrounds.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is well above the national average. 

• The proportion of pupils who have support for SEND is above average.

• The school runs a breakfast and after-school club.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors gathered a range of evidence to judge the quality of teaching, learning and assessment over time. 

• Inspectors looked at pupils’ books and observed teaching in lessons, including undertaking joint observations with senior leaders.
• Pupils’ work was reviewed during lessons, and a more detailed scrutiny was made of pupils’ books with leaders. Pupils’ work in a wide range of subjects was scrutinised. Pupils’ work on display was also considered.
• Pupils read to inspectors, and inspectors spoke with pupils throughout the inspection to gain their views. 

• Pupils’ behaviour in lessons and during breaktimes and lunchtimes was observed by inspectors.

• Meetings and discussions were held with the senior leadership team, staff and pupils.
• Inspectors met with governors and a local authority officer.
• Inspectors scrutinised a wide range of evidence, including the school’s documentation on pupils’ attainment and progress, safeguarding, behaviour, attendance, records of governing body meetings, the school’s self-evaluation, plans for improvement, and external reviews of the school.
• Inspectors considered the 32 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, as well as speaking to parents directly. The school’s recent survey of parents was also considered.

Inspection team

Jenell Chetty, lead inspector Jacques Szemalikowski Martina Martin

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector