Rosa Street Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the effectiveness and impact of leaders at all levels by:
  • securing consistency in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment across key stages and subjects
  • identifying precisely how and to what extent senior and subject leaders’ actions are making a difference to the quality of teaching and pupils’ outcomes
  • reducing differences in progress and outcomes between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils from similar starting points nationally across subjects
  • developing better accuracy in assessment and improved rates of progress for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities in writing and mathematics
  • bringing pupils’ attendance further into line with national averages and reducing the proportion of pupils who are regularly absent from school
  • maintaining a clear chronology and sufficient detail in all safeguarding files.
• Improve the quality and consistency of teaching and learning across the school, including the early years, by:
  • supporting and challenging all teachers to match work more precisely to the needs of pupils, particularly the most able pupils in writing and mathematics
  • holding teachers fully accountable for the rates of progress made by pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities across subjects
  • developing teaching assistants’ subject knowledge, particularly in reading, writing and phonics
  • embedding consistently high expectations in adults, especially those in the early years, of what children can do and achieve
  • inspiring increasingly positive attitudes and good learning behaviours in all pupils, including children in the early years. An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium 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

• Senior leaders have taken effective action to eradicate inadequacies in teaching and learning. They have not, however, secured consistently good teaching and learning across subjects and year groups. As a result, pupils’ progress is too variable.
• Senior leaders and governors have not evaluated the impact of pupil premium funding fully. A positive outcome for some pupils in terms of their personal, social and emotional development is evident. Academic outcomes and rates of progress across subjects present a weaker picture. Current assessment information shows that in some year groups differences between disadvantaged pupils and others nationally from similar starting points have widened.
• Senior and subject leaders gather a wealth of assessment information. This is not used to best effect. Leaders do not drill down carefully enough to pinpoint exactly what facts and figures are telling them. Patterns and weaknesses in teaching and learning are not, therefore, identified promptly or tackled as robustly as they might be.
• Leaders cannot identify with precision and confidence how and to what extent their actions are leading to improvements for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Assessment and tracking information is too vague. Special educational needs funding, therefore, is not being used effectively. There is a sharp rise in the proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities this year. At 26%, this figure is more than double the national average seen in primary schools in 2016. This large group makes inconsistent progress across subjects.
• Leaders regularly observe lessons, look at the work in pupils’ books and meet with teachers to discuss their performance. Despite this challenge and support, some adults continue to hold expectations of pupils and children that are too low. Consequently, some disadvantaged pupils, the most able and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities do not make the progress that should be expected of them.
• The headteacher and executive headteacher have a shared ambition and vision for the school. A determination to raise outcomes for all pupils is central to their aims and planning. Drawing on expertise from across the Cleves Cross Trust and beyond is supporting improvement from an inadequate position historically. After a frustratingly slow start due to staffing instability, leaders’ proactive, inclusive manner is winning through. Teachers value the range of professional development opportunities that are now strengthening their skills.
• The headteacher has earned the respect of staff. Adults express confidence and belief in her leadership. They have been impressed by the positive changes she has wrought since taking up post in October 2014. One comment encapsulated the views of others, saying that she has ‘raised the aspirations of the whole staff creating a good morale within school’.
• Leaders and managers have increased the safety and appeal of the school site. The physical environment indoors and outside has been revamped. Good-quality resources, including reading books, writing materials and mathematical equipment, have been purchased. These fundamental changes are contributing to the positive ethos, instilling pride in pupils and dispelling some lingering, adverse perceptions of the school.
• Leaders ensure that the curriculum is fine-tuned and enriched to meet the interests of pupils. Effective use is made of international links with schools in France and Sri Lanka to broaden pupils’ horizons and experiences. Pupils have a good understanding of typically British values like democracy, tolerance and respect through curriculum initiatives and charity work and by taking up the varied responsibilities and extra-curricular opportunities that the school affords them. Curriculum breadth is a strength.
• Senior leaders use the sports premium effectively. Pupils are excited by opportunities such as dance, basketball and Taekwondo that have been provided. Increased participation in competitive inter-schools events is building pupils’ sporting ambitions. Teachers’ skills are developed well through partnership working with visiting experts. Pupils’ interest in, and understanding of, maintaining a healthy lifestyle are fostered.

Governance of the school

• Governors have become increasingly more knowledgeable and skilled in their work over time. They regularly visit the school to gain first-hand information about what it feels like to be a pupil in the school and deliberate over presentations from leaders carefully.
• Governors have an honest view of the school’s performance and know there is still work to do. They ask challenging questions of leaders but are not always sufficiently persistent to fully appreciate the details behind information presented. For this reason, they are not fully informed about the impact of pupil premium and special educational needs additional funding.
• Governors are committed to improving their expertise further. They attend training events organised by the trust and staff training events in school. In this way, their expertise in crucial matters such as child protection and safeguarding has been strengthened. Governors’ decision to employ an inclusion support officer to better meet the needs of pupils and families is one example which demonstrates this raised awareness.
• The chair of governors is highly supportive of leaders in school, recognising and supporting some of the difficult decisions that have been made, particularly with regard to staffing and finance. Governors have a clear understanding of the link between pay and performance.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. A culture of safety and vigilance is tangible. Leaders are trained in safer recruitment techniques and the school’s single central record of checks on recruitment meets requirements. Selection and interview processes probe for information about adults’ suitability to work with pupils. Such measures help to protect pupils from harm.
• Staff and governors undertake regular child protection training. Policies are updated to take account of the most recent guidance and legislation, for example ‘Keeping children safe in education’, 2016. Staff are required to acknowledge and demonstrate their understanding of the core content of guiding documentation such as this in their day-to-day practice.
• Leaders take the protection of pupils seriously and demonstrate commitment to meeting the needs of vulnerable pupils and families. Records capture examples of leaders’ tenacity in securing external agency support and expertise where appropriate. At times, however, some documents lack a cohesive chronology and sufficient detail. Occasionally, this muddies the narrative of events.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching is improving but remains too variable across key stages. Some teachers do not provide work that is precisely matched to pupils’ needs and existing skills. For example, because of a lack of challenge in writing and mathematics, the most able pupils do not make good or consistent progress. Too few pupils reach a greater depth of learning across subjects.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are not supported to make good progress across subjects consistently. While most teachers plan very carefully for the social, emotional and personal needs of individuals, academic targets and expectations are too vague. Weaknesses in assessment mean that teachers’ planning is not well tailored to develop pupils’ subject knowledge, skills and understanding.
• Not all teaching assistants promote pupils’ learning and progress effectively. Some have well-developed skills of questioning and a good understanding of how pupils learn and develop. The poor subject knowledge and low expectations of others, however, render the effectiveness of interactions and work with pupils unsuccessful, particularly in reading, writing and phonics.
• Some teachers explain new concepts clearly, explaining links between past and future learning effectively. These teachers use modelling and questioning skills effectively to support and challenge pupils to think carefully about their work. This is especially evident in lessons promoting personal, social and emotional development and in mathematics. This good practice is not yet consistent across year groups or subjects.
• Teachers use a systematic approach to teaching phonics. This is improving pupils’ skills in applying their phonics knowledge to reading and writing tasks successfully. Not all adults, however, articulate letter sounds and names clearly and precisely.
• Teachers have raised their expectations in terms of the presentation of pupils’ written work. Consequently, improvements have been made in handwriting and the overall appearance of work in books is improving visibly.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement. Pupils’ learning behaviours and positive attitudes diminish in lessons where they are under-challenged or do not understand the content. Pupils’ attention drifts, engagement suffers and learning stalls on these occasions.
• The needs of vulnerable pupils and their families are of central importance to adults in the school. Relationships with external agencies and experts are well developed. There is evidence of leaders’ dogged determination, resulting in support being secured and families’ needs being met successfully. Records documenting the steps taken and the support and challenge offered to individuals, however, are not sufficiently detailed or robust. This means that leaders cannot be wholly confident about lines of responsibility or the timeliness of interventions.
• Pupils are knowledgeable about how to stay safe online while using computers. They understand what constitutes bullying, and the large majority feel that there is someone to help on the rare occurrences when it happens.
• The majority of pupils have their social, emotional and behavioural needs met in an increasingly effective manner. Positive relationships with adults and clear whole-school rules are, for the most part, supporting pupils to manage their conduct well in and around school.
• Aspects of the broad and balanced curriculum and a range of initiatives, such as the nurture group, help pupils develop self-belief and confidence. Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, in particular, are well supported by the expertise of adults such as the special educational needs coordinator and the inclusion support officer in this area of learning and development.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement. At times, low-level disruption ensues when teaching is not well matched to pupils’ needs.
• In the Ofsted questionnaire, a proportion of pupils expressed concerns about the behaviour of their peers in lessons and around school. Talking with pupils face-to-face and using the school’s own survey of pupils’ views present a markedly more positive picture. This suggests that there is further work to do to get beneath the apparently opposing opinions pupils have about behaviour in school.
• Work to improve the attendance of disadvantaged pupils and girls this year shows that important gains are being made. The proportion of pupils who are regularly absent from school, however, remains too high.
• Pupils’ awareness and understanding of other cultures is a strength of the school. Pupils show respect and tolerance for the views of others. Work to promote pupils’ social, spiritual and moral development is preparing pupils well for life in modern Britain.
• Pupils enjoy school and take pleasure in each other’s company at breaktimes. Older pupils are delightfully attentive of younger pupils and demonstrate caring attitudes. The wide range of additional responsibilities that pupils adopt, from buddies to eco cadets and pupil councillors, are building pupils’ confidence and developing their skill sets.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Pupils make variable progress across subjects. Inconsistencies in the quality of teaching across year groups are contributing to the variability in pupils’ progress. Work in books and lessons, currently, demonstrates that the most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged, have insufficient challenge to make consistently good progress from their starting points, particularly in writing and mathematics.
• The progress of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities varies across subjects. Work is not always matched closely enough to support or challenge pupils from their different starting points effectively.
• Disadvantaged pupils’ progress is also variable over time and across subjects. In 2016, in key stage 2, rates of progress for disadvantaged pupils were not significantly below other pupils nationally in any subject. Current assessment information, however, shows that differences between disadvantaged pupils and others nationally from similar starting points have widened in some year groups while diminishing in others.
• Disadvantaged pupils are not consistently making the accelerated progress they need to in order to catch up with their national peers in terms of attainment. In 2016, the proportion of key stage 2 disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in the reading, writing and mathematics combined element was well below that nationally. No disadvantaged pupils reached a depth of learning in any subject in key stage 1.
• The proportion of pupils who achieved the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics check improved significantly in 2016 to match national averages.
• Progress in terms of the presentation of work in pupils’ books across the school is positive. Pupils’ attention to the layout of their work and handwriting, particularly, demonstrate that pupils are taking more pride in their achievements.
• Pupils’ achievement in key stage 2 in science in 2016 was well above that of other pupils nationally. Disadvantaged pupils did exceptionally well in science.
• Pupils are making very good progress in their emotional, social and behavioural development. Adults’ caring attitudes, positive rapport and consistent application of agreed whole-school rules are beginning to make a real difference to pupils’ engagement.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• Teaching and learning in the early years are of variable quality. Some adults have suitably high expectations of what children can do and achieve; however, this is not consistent across the department. Too few children are fully prepared for the demands of Year 1.
• In the past, children arrived in Reception with skills and abilities that were typical for their age. This picture has changed recently and a larger proportion of children now arrive with skills and abilities that are below what is expected for their age. In particular, weaknesses in children’s speech, language and personal and emotional needs have been noted. While some adults articulate sounds, letters and words carefully, insisting that children do too, not all adults have the required knowledge, skills and understanding in reading, writing and phonics to support children to make rapid progress from their starting points.
• The most able children in the early years are not consistently challenged to make better than typical progress. At times, tasks and activities fail to make enough demands on children and encourage a depth of enquiry. Written and mathematical tasks are often heavily supported by adults, encouraging an over-reliance and making it unclear what the child can achieve unaided.
• The proportion of children reaching a good level of development is rising over time. Pupil premium spending has not yet been successful in eradicating differences in outcomes between disadvantaged children and others by the time they leave the Reception class.
• The early years leader has good support from the headteacher and is beginning to secure some noticeable improvements across the early years department. The indoor and outdoor environments are better resourced and richer in language and mathematical opportunities for children. Assessment systems as well as rules and routines are increasingly well embedded.
• Early years staff have developed strong links with parents. The majority of parents have positive views of their child’s progress in the Reception class. One view typifies the views of other parents: ‘The staff know each child individually and our children feel safe and secure in their care.’ Children’s welfare needs are met effectively.
• Most children behave sensibly in the outdoor area and inside the Reception class. Adults encourage turn-taking and develop children’s skills of cooperation well. Children, therefore, are happy and get along well together.

School details

Unique reference number 141121 Local authority Durham Inspection number 10031937 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Academy converter Age range of pupils 4 to 11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 215 Appropriate authority Academy trust Chair Leigh Lockey Headteacher Helen Ashton Telephone number 01388 815427 Website www.rosastreet.durham.sch.uk/ Email address h.ashton100@durhamlearning.net Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish.
• The majority of pupils are White British and speak English as their first language.
• This is a slightly smaller than average primary school.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is higher than average.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium is above average.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set out the minimum requirements for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed teaching and learning on both days of the inspection. The headteacher and executive headteacher conducted some observations jointly with inspectors.
• Meetings were held with pupils, senior and subject leaders, four governors (including the chair of the governing body) and a representative of the local authority. The lead inspector also spoke with the executive headteacher.
• A range of documentation was examined, including the school’s self-evaluation, monitoring and assessment information about the quality of teaching and learning, school improvement plans, governance, attendance and behaviour records, policy documentation and information about the curriculum and safeguarding.
• Inspectors listened to pupils reading, spoke with pupils formally and informally and examined pupils’ work. Seventy-two responses by pupils to Ofsted’s questionnaire were considered. The behaviour of pupils was observed in lessons and at breaktimes.
• Parents’ views were gathered from Ofsted’s online surveys; 81 parents responded via Parent View and 25 via free text. Inspectors also met face-to-face with a number of parents at the school gates.
• The responses of 22 staff members to the online questionnaire were taken into account.

Inspection team

Fiona Manuel, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Donna Callaghan Ofsted Inspector