Ringway Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve pupils’ outcomes at key stage 1 and 2 by:
  • pitching work at a level that enables pupils to make good progress and work at greater depth
  • providing increasing opportunities for pupils to apply problem-solving skills and reasoning in mathematics
  • setting higher expectations for pupils’ writing and implementing strategies to improve spelling, punctuation, grammar and handwriting.
• Strengthen the effectiveness of leadership and management by:
  • improving the accuracy of checks on the quality of teaching and pupils’ outcomes
  • providing greater opportunities for subject leads to share their expertise and monitor standards of literacy and numeracy
  • setting targets for pupils that enable them to make good rates of progress
  • ensuring that pupils’ progress is accurately checked through appropriate tracking systems that provide clear insight into the progress of individuals and key groups
  • making systems for performance management robust
  • defining governors’ roles and responsibilities more precisely to ensure that they can hold leaders to account for pupils’ progress.
• Continue to diminish any differences in the progress and attendance of disadvantaged pupils by:
  • matching teaching, additional interventions and resources closely to their needs
  • intervening more rapidly to address attendance issues.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• Leaders have maintained stability over a period of significant staffing change and the transition from a first to a primary school. However, their preparations for an expanded key stage 2 curriculum with more challenging assessment have not been as effective.
• Leaders are creating the capacity for long-term improvement with effective teaching in Reception and much of key stage 1. However, not enough is being done to ensure that pupils without the benefit of this secure grounding can make good rates of progress at key stage 2. As a result, too many are working below expectation.
• The headteacher is developing the roles of subject leaders and assessment coordinators. Through partnership work and professional development, they are developing expertise in aspects of literacy and numeracy that is having a positive impact upon their classroom practice at key stage 1. Some of this development work is at an early stage and is not yet impacting upon improving practice in literacy and numeracy at key stage 2.
• Leaders are working with the Bedlington Learning Partnership and their school improvement partner to build expertise, moderate standards and review the school’s work. Despite this, too many aspects of the curriculum do not enable pupils to work at greater depth and leaders’ judgements on the quality of teaching, learning and assessment and outcomes are overgenerous.
• Effective processes are in place to support the development of newly qualified and recently qualified teachers. Leaders review the performance of other colleagues but aspects of the performance management processes are not clearly documented.
• New assessment tracking systems are being developed to provide teachers, leaders and governors with termly reviews of pupils’ progress. These systems do not clearly illustrate the targets pupils should meet in order to make good progress nor provide an accurate insight into the progress of key groups of pupils.
• Through charity work and community activities and international links, pupils develop a wider sense of social responsibility. Leaders have introduced an imaginative enterprise curriculum that develops pupils’ social skills and self-esteem through active links with businesses and the local community. The wider curriculum and coordinated activities enhance their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
• Leaders and governors have used additional pupil premium funding to reduce group sizes and provide additional support for eligible pupils. Whilst this supported the progress of these pupils at key stage 2 in 2016, their progress was weaker at key stage 1. Absence rates for these pupils remain too high. Funding to support pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities provides valuable provision and individual case studies shows that some of these pupils are making good progress. However, leaders lack a clear overview of the progress of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Governance of the school

• The new chair of governors and his team are committed to the success of the school. They recognise the central position the school holds in the community. Governors have the innate expertise to hold leaders to account for key aspects of the school’s performance but have not always deployed that expertise to sufficient effect.
• Governors are becoming more assiduous in their monitoring activities and have worked alongside leaders to explore how they evaluate the quality of pupils’ work. They are developing a stronger understanding of performance information. The new chair has undergone considerable training for his role which is in turn prompting further reviews of committee structures and monitoring responsibilities.
• Governors have accepted some evaluations of outcomes and the quality of teaching that have been too generous, even given some of the significant contextual changes the school has experienced in recent years. They do not monitor the impact of leaders’ actions to improve attendance closely enough. Performance management procedures lack rigour.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders take their responsibilities for pupils’ welfare seriously. Leaders carry out appropriate checks to ensure the suitability of adults working on site. Safeguarding training is up to date and the wider curriculum supports pupils’ safety and welfare.
• Pupils feel safe in school and their parents agree. Parents expressed considerable appreciation for the care and welfare that teachers provide. Pupils believe that bullying is extremely rare and that staff act decisively on the rare occasions bullying does occur. Pupils talk clearly about the actions they can take to stay safe online and on the roads.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching varies between key stage 1 and 2 and contributes to varying rates of progress across subjects and year groups. Work is not consistently pitched at a level that enables pupils to make good progress.
• Although leaders are introducing new strategies to improve spelling and handwriting, the teaching of writing lacks challenge. Exercises to develop grammatical understanding often lack context and challenge and too many pupils are unable to transfer these skills into their own writing or their analysis of other texts.
• Although areas of expertise are being developed in mathematics, standards across the school still require improvement. Pupils are given numerous opportunities to practise calculation skills but limited opportunities to apply deeper mathematical reasoning or problem-solving, such as word and number problems. As a result, progress remains slow, particularly for the most able pupils at key stage 2.
• Teachers and teaching assistants effectively model sounds and develop pupils’ abilities to recognise the links between letters and sounds. This contributed to all pupils in Year 1 achieving the required standard in the phonics screening check in 2016. In other year groups, pupils read with fluency although their wider comprehension skills and abilities to infer word meanings are less developed.
• In Reception and much of key stage 1, pupils make good progress because work is engaging and sufficiently challenging for the most able.
• Teaching in science and topic work is variable. In some topics, pupils rely too much upon external sources of information and are not able to express ideas in their own words. Opportunities to develop their scientific knowledge and understanding as evidenced in their books are limited.
• The majority of teachers provide feedback in line with the school’s policy although variance remains in how misconceptions are addressed in order for pupils to improve their work.
• Support for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is on occasions effective because their needs are diagnosed and clear support plans are put in place. Teachers and teaching assistants complement teaching with well-tailored interventions to support progress. However, too often these pupils are not given sufficient capacity to work independently.
• Teachers set homework in line with the school’s policy and pupils feel this supports their learning but tasks do not support them in working at greater depth.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. Teachers are attentive to pupils’ welfare and their social and emotional needs.
• The school’s innovative enterprise programme develops pupils’ confidence and self-esteem by enabling them to interact with local and national businesses. They develop a sense of social responsibility through a range of charity and fundraising activities. Pupils’ physical welfare is promoted through access to a range of sports, including football, bench ball, athletics and dance.
• In discussion with inspectors, parents valued the supportive ethos of the school and the care and concern shown by teachers and teaching assistants towards their children.
• Pupils are able to discuss the actions that the school has taken to help them keep safe. They have a good awareness of road safety and how to keep safe online.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. They are kind and considerate to one another and value an environment where ‘everyone is kind’ and ‘it is easy to make friends’. They routinely hold doors open for one another and for adults.
• Pupils are typically attentive and engaged in their learning. They enjoy their work and low-level disruption is rare. Behaviour systems encourage positive attitudes to learning and the rare instances of misbehaviour are deftly addressed. However, on occasions pupils’ attention in lessons wanes when the work they are given is not sufficiently challenging for them.
• Rates of absence and persistent absence were above those seen nationally in 2016. However, new incentives for pupils and improving communication with parents have contributed to improving rates of attendance across the school this year. Even so, disadvantaged pupils are still absent too often and the school’s systems to track their attendance are still not strong enough.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Pupils’ outcomes require improvement because pupils do not make strong progress across a range of subjects and significant differences exist between outcomes at different phases.
• In 2016, pupils’ progress at key stage 2 was below average in writing and significantly below average in mathematics. The proportion of pupils who achieved the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics was well below the national average. While the 2016 results were the school’s first experience of key stage 2 assessments, the school’s own tracking information suggests that progress for current Year 6 pupils remains below average as improvements are not occurring rapidly enough.
• Standards of writing across the school are mixed. While leaders are devising new approaches to improve spelling and handwriting, they are not yet having a significant impact on progress. The accuracy of pupils’ writing remains variable and too many pupils are not adept at writing in a range of genres.
• Although signs of improvement are emerging at key stage 1, pupils’ progress in mathematics has remained below that seen nationally over time. The expertise of mathematics specialists is not yet impacting upon progress at key stage 2. Pupils are not given sufficient opportunities to solve problems or apply mathematical reasoning and this limits their capacity to work at greater depth. In some cases, work is not pitched at a level appropriate to pupils’ age or ability; indeed some of the most able pupils say that work is ‘too easy’.
• While some differences in the progress of disadvantaged pupils compared to other pupils are diminishing, these pupils continue to make slower progress than other pupils nationally. New initiatives are leading to more focused support but their underperformance has not been tackled rapidly enough.
• Many aspects of provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities have improved and individual case studies illustrate good signs of progress against their targets. However, their wider progress remains mixed.
• The most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, are not making sufficient progress at key stage 2 as work in general is not consistently pitched at a level that enables them to make strong progress. While some show accomplished attainment in their writing, their proficiency in mathematics is less evident.
• Pupils make stronger progress at key stage 1 as work is more closely matched to their abilities. In 2016, the proportion who achieved the expected standard was above that seen nationally although a smaller proportion were working at greater depth. Current work in books shows that pupils are working at greater depth in their writing, although not to the same degree in mathematics.
• Phonics teaching is a strength, and standards have risen consistently over a three-year period. In 2016, all pupils met the required standard in the phonics screening check.
• Outcomes in Reception are good and improving, and in 2016 the proportion who achieved a good level of development was above that seen nationally.
• Although pupils develop social and emotional skills that support them for the transition to the next stage of their education, current standards in reading, writing and mathematics do not equip too many pupils adequately for secondary school education.

Early years provision Good

• Children enter the early years with knowledge, skills and abilities that are typical for their age. As a result of thorough planning and effective teaching, children make good progress and achieve levels of development that are above those seen nationally.
• Links with the on-site private nursery are strong and this supports children in making a smooth transition to Reception. Teachers from both settings share planning on particular topics and this improves continuity and helps children to make good progress.
• Teachers and teaching assistants know pupils very well and this enables them to pitch work at appropriate levels that match children’s interests. Effective questioning helps children to recall learning from previous lessons and think about the reasons behind their answers. During the inspection, one boy was encouraged to explain while playing with an object in water that ‘it would sink because it is very heavy’. Children were also seen accurately labelling parts of animals and correctly identifying the properties of different materials.
• In phonics lessons, teachers show strong subject knowledge that supports pupils in developing early reading skills. Children are keen to explore the links between letters and sounds. The most able children enthusiastically develop words into sentences with appropriate accuracy and effective spacing.
• Children are developing effective numeracy skills. Some children were seen counting independently up to 20 and subtracting from numbers up to 25. One boy accurately used different shapes to represent numbers. However, opportunities to solve problems are less evident in what is on offer in the early years setting.
• In addition to teacher-led activities, children have many opportunities to engage in creative, real-life and imaginative activities that stimulate their interest and curiosity. Children are curious and engaged and show consistently enthusiastic approaches to learning.
• Teachers monitor children’s progress closely and record this accurately. These records confirm that children make good progress from their typical starting points. Teachers have an accurate picture of children’s abilities and learning needs and therefore teaching is precise and results in good progress.
• Safeguarding practices in the early years are effective. There are no breaches in statutory welfare requirements. Children are safe, well cared for and supported.

School details

Unique reference number 122247 Local authority Northumberland Inspection number 10000829 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 Community Age range of pupils Gender of pupils 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 158 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Kristian Marshall Hazel Scott Telephone number 01670 813463 Website Email address www.ringwayprimaryschool.co.uk admin@guidepostringway.northumberland.sch.uk Date of previous inspection September 2011

Information about this school

• The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information. This relates to the requirement to publicise accurate key stage 2 results on the school website.
• The school expanded from a first school to a primary school in September 2014.
• Ringway Primary School is a smaller-than-average primary school.
• The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for support through the pupil premium funding is below average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is average.
• The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is below average.
• There is a breakfast club run by the school and an after-school club run by First Friends Nursery.
• In 2016, the school met the government’s current floor standards which are the minimum requirements for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed a wide range of lessons, covering all classes in the school. The headteacher accompanied the lead inspector on a number of these observations.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher, the assistant headteacher, the assessment coordinator and the subject leaders for literacy and numeracy. The lead inspector met the new chair of governors and a parent governor. The lead inspector met the school’s improvement partner and the local authority primary school commissioner.
• Inspectors talked to a number of groups of pupils, including the school council and sports ambassadors.
• Inspectors talked to parents as they dropped their children off at school on day 2 of the inspection.
• Pupils’ behaviour was observed during lessons, lunchtimes and playtimes.
• Inspectors extensively examined the quality of work in a wide range of books. They discussed pupils’ work and their learning with them in lessons.
• Inspectors looked at the school’s work and considered documents including the school’s self-evaluation, the school improvement plan, curriculum plans and information relating to pupil achievement and safeguarding.
• Inspectors took into account 11 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, three free-text responses from parents and 12 responses to Ofsted’s staff questionnaire.

Inspection team

Malcolm Kirtley, lead inspector Deborah Ashcroft Lucie Stephenson Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector