Radcliffe Hall Church of England/Methodist Controlled Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching and pupils’ outcomes so that they are consistently good or better by:
  • sharing best practice across the school
  • using ongoing assessment to ensure that there is sufficient challenge for pupils from differing starting points
  • ensuring that teachers place sufficient focus on the progress made by disadvantaged pupils in all classes
  • engaging pupils more effectively in their learning so that low-level disruption is eliminated.
• Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by:
  • ensuring that clearly delegated roles and responsibilities are in place
  • improving the rigour of self-evaluation so that planned actions for improvement are well targeted and are closely linked to pupils’ progress
  • ensuring that governors have better information about pupils’ performance to help them provide higher levels of challenge and support to leaders
  • ensuring that subject leaders are more effective in their roles and focus on the progress of different groups of pupils.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• Leaders have not secured sufficient improvements to ensure that pupils’ outcomes are good. Leaders have engaged well with support from the local authority and there have been recent improvements in teaching and learning and governance but this is not consistent.
• Leaders’ judgements about the impact of their actions are not clearly focused on improving pupils’ progress. Although leaders have set ambitious targets for pupils, these are overoptimistic and pupils are not on track to achieve them.
• Teachers do not have a good understanding of pupils’ progress from their starting points in reading, writing and mathematics. Some tasks are not well matched to pupils’ abilities and as a result, some of the middle-ability and most-able pupils underachieve.
• Subject leaders’ impact on teaching is ineffective. They have a good understanding of expected attainment in their subjects but do not focus sufficiently on the progress that pupils make. They do not check the quality of teaching closely enough to assess its influence on pupils’ progress.
• School leaders use pupil premium funding to increase rates of progress for disadvantaged pupils. This has successfully diminished the difference between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils in mathematics by the end of Year 6. However, in some year groups and subjects, the difference is not diminishing quickly enough.
• The curriculum information on the website does not give a comprehensive picture. Several areas are awaiting content. The curriculum in key stage 2 is broad and balanced. However, in key stage 1 the curriculum lacks breadth. Pupils’ understanding of history in key stage 1 is limited. Older pupils value the opportunities that they have to take part in educational visits, for example to museums. Younger pupils say that they do not have as many opportunities.
• Parents have a mixed view of the school. While the majority are supportive and say that their children are happy and make progress, a small minority express concerns about the way in which behaviour is managed and the way in which leaders respond to concerns.
• Leaders have not done enough to ensure that behaviour is managed consistently. As a result, the behaviour of pupils in some classes is not good.
• Leadership of the early years provision is good.
• The physical education and sport funding for primary schools is spent well to increase the number of pupils participating in sporting activities on a regular basis and to improve the expertise of both staff and pupils. As a consequence, more pupils than previously are actively involved in sports.
• There is a clear commitment to equality and ensuring that there is no discrimination. All pupils, whatever their ability, background or beliefs, are fully involved in the life of the school.
• There is a strong emphasis on encouraging pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils are encouraged to respect others and to appreciate diversity. For example, the school takes positive steps to widen pupils’ understanding of different religions and cultures. This helps to prepare them for life in modern Britain.

Governance of the school

• Governors are committed to the school’s success and improving outcomes for all pupils. They understand that they need to be more effective to ensure that all pupils achieve well compared to other pupils nationally.
• Governors recognise that the recent building work and staff absence have slowed the improvements to teaching and learning. Governors also acknowledge that the rate of progress of disadvantaged pupils is not rapid enough.
• Governors are supportive and knowledgeable. From what they have been told by leaders, they have a good understanding of the way in which the pupil premium and sports funding are used and the impact of this funding on pupils’ achievement. They visit the school regularly to check on progress. However, governors are not holding school leaders to account with sufficient rigour. They have accepted underperformance too readily and have not done enough to check the school’s performance for themselves.
• Governors fulfil their statutory duties, apart from those relating to the checks on the filtering of the school’s internet service. They ensure that performance management arrangements are effectively in place.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• All checks are carried out when recruiting new staff to work with children. Staff know and understand the policies and procedures concerning safeguarding. They know whom to go to with concerns and are vigilant to signs of possible abuse.
• Pupils say that they feel safe in school most of the time and that teachers always deal with problems. However, pupils are concerned that teachers do not always ‘get to the bottom of it’.
• Attendance is monitored carefully. The outreach worker carries out daily checks on the most vulnerable pupils. Absences are followed up quickly and leaders ensure that all pupils are accounted for.
• Pupils are taught how to stay safe. They are taught about road safety and can talk at length about what to do to keep themselves safe when online.
• Regular checks on site security and safety are undertaken so that staff and pupils have a safe environment in which to work and learn.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teaching, learning and assessment require improvement because they are not consistently good in all classes. As a result, pupils’ progress across the school is also inconsistent.
• Some teaching does not enable all groups of pupils to make good progress. In some classes teachers have low expectations of what pupils can achieve. Work in books shows that pupils do not always make the progress they are capable of making. As a result, pupils, particularly those with low prior attainment, do not achieve well enough to reach the standards they are expected to achieve.
• The progress of disadvantaged pupils is variable across the school. In some classes, the difference between the outcomes of disadvantaged pupils and those of other pupils is diminishing, but this is not the case in all classes. Some teaching is not effective enough to enable disadvantaged pupils to catch up.
• Leaders have established systems for checking and improving pupils’ progress. However, some teachers do not use this information to focus sufficiently well on pupils’ individual learning needs. For example, the most able pupils, in particular, are not always challenged by the work set. They say it is often too easy. Teachers’ expectations of these pupils are not always high enough. When inappropriate work is set, these pupils, as well as others, become restless, lose concentration and their progress slows.
• Teachers’ use of assessment during lessons is effective in key stage 1. Where teaching is particularly successful in helping pupils to make good progress, teachers check on pupils’ learning and adjust tasks accordingly. This is not always the case in key stage 2. As a result, pupils do not always make the progress that they are capable of.
• Leaders ensure that good support is given to the increasing number of pupils who speak English as an additional language. This enables these pupils to consolidate key learning and vocabulary.
• School leaders deploy additional adults effectively in many classes to support lower-ability pupils and to identify pupils’ misconceptions. However, in some classes these adults passively watch the teacher and do not contribute well to pupils’ learning.
• Effective routines have been established in key stage 1 and some key stage 2 classes which allow for a smooth transition to different parts of a lesson. This results in little lost learning time. However, this is not consistent across the school.
• Pupils in key stage 1 have many opportunities to write. Consequently, some pupils in key stage 1 are making better-than-expected progress. Across key stage 2, these opportunities are more limited. In some key stage 2 classes, pupils are using these opportunities to begin to write with flair. For example, one pupil wrote: ‘As the sunlight shimmered across the blue sky, William tried to walk over the bridge which was so unstable.’ Presentation in books is variable, reflecting the different expectations across classes and year groups in school.
• In some mathematics lessons, there is a cap on the learning of the most able and strong middle-ability pupils. Sequences of learning in mathematics are not planned well and pupils are not regularly given opportunities to use their previous knowledge. Resources are not always used appropriately and pupils become distracted by them. For example, in a key stage 2 mathematics lesson, pupils played with the cubes they had been given rather than using them to help with their mathematics.
• The school’s new approach to mathematics is effective in some classes. In some key stage 2 classes, high challenge and good questioning ensure good progress for all groups of pupils. For example, in one key stage 2 lesson, teachers challenged pupils to work together to swap number cards in order to get as close to 300 as possible. However, this new approach has not been fully implemented in all classes and as a result, pupils’ overall progress in mathematics is not strong.
• Phonics and grammar, punctuation and spelling are taught well. In one key stage 1 class, pupils were learning about the suffix ‘less’. One pupil wrote: ‘When I went to the café, my burger was tasteless.’ Teachers have good subject knowledge which they use to good effect. Additional support for those pupils who did not reach the expected standard in phonics in Year 1 and again in Year 2 enables these pupils to catch up.
• Pupils, including the most-able disadvantaged pupils, read fluently and with expression. They have access to good-quality reading material at an appropriate level. Teachers hear pupils read regularly and encourage them to read at home. However, pupils’ ability to fully understand what they have read is sometimes limited by the questions that teachers ask.
• There are few opportunities for pupils to think around what they have read. A large amount of time is spent explaining vocabulary to all pupils, which limits the progress of middle-ability pupils and the most able. Newly established monitoring is yet to be used to support teachers’ planning in reading.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils are supervised well at the beginning and end of the day. The cloakroom areas are calm and orderly.
• Pupils know that inappropriate language, name-calling and any form of discrimination are unacceptable. However, pupils are too quick to label poor behaviour as bullying. Some parents who completed the online questionnaire raised bullying and behaviour as concerns. Inspectors viewed a wide range of evidence which indicates that bullying is rare. Pupils who spoke with the inspector agreed that this was the case.
• The recently appointed outreach worker supports the welfare of pupils and families. She has quickly established herself as the first point of contact for families in need of additional support.
• The science curriculum helps to develop pupils’ understanding of healthy lifestyles, including healthy eating.
• Pupils take part in a variety of experiences to promote spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding, including Remembrance Day. They study a range of different faiths, including Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism as well as Christianity. Pupils have a developing understanding of different cultures in Britain and the wider world.
• British values are further promoted through visits from the local police and Year 5 and Year 6 topics on crime and punishment.
• The school closely follows the United Nations manifesto on the rights of the child. The rights of the child are explored through class topics and in assemblies but pupils’ behaviour does not demonstrate that these rights and responsibilities are part and parcel of everyday life.
• Pupils with identified behaviour problems are supported well. Pupils feel that there is an adult in school whom they can talk to if they have a concern.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.
• In key stage 1, pupils are eager to learn and are engaged in their learning. Work is mostly challenging and as a result, pupils behave well. In some key stage 2 classes pupils are not challenged and find the work too easy. In these classes, teachers do not have high enough expectations of pupils’ learning or behaviour. This results in low- level behaviour problems which distract other pupils and prevent them from learning.
• Leaders have put in place a comprehensive behaviour-management system which pupils understand. However, this is not always followed by staff and pupils are given mixed messages about how they should behave. Adults do not always follow up incidents of poor behaviour thoroughly and pupils feel that sometimes teachers ‘don’t get to the bottom of things’.
• The majority of pupils behave well and say that they enjoy coming to school. Pupils are polite and respectful towards visitors. During the inspection, they held doors open and were happy to share their work with inspectors. In some classes, pupils did not show this same level of respect towards their teachers.
• Pupils move around school in an orderly way. They eat their lunch sensibly in the dining hall and socialise positively. The school’s behaviour records show that behaviour is improving in most classes.
• Overall attendance is in line with the national average. Due to careful tracking and monitoring, and the support of the outreach worker, the level of persistent absence is diminishing, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, overall persistent absence remains above that seen nationally.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Pupils’ outcomes require improvement because the progress that pupils make across the school is not consistently good. Pupils’ progress in 2016 was not as good as that of other pupils nationally in reading and writing at key stage 2.
• Outcomes for pupils are improving, particularly in writing. However, few lower-attaining pupils reach the standards expected for their age, particularly in reading and mathematics. As a result of the lack of challenge in teaching and learning, too few pupils achieve the higher standards at the end of key stages 1 and 2 in reading, writing and mathematics.
• The school’s own assessment information shows that current pupils are making better progress in reading, writing and mathematics. Work in pupils’ books confirms this for some subjects and some year groups. However, there is still too much variability in the achievement of pupils across the school.
• The majority of pupils are making expected progress from their starting points in writing. However, few pupils across school, apart from lower-attaining pupils in key stage 2, are making better-than-expected progress in writing.
• Pupils’ progress in mathematics is variable across the school. Progress is good in key stage 1 but too variable in key stage 2. Where progress is stronger, there is a growing emphasis on pupils deepening their thinking through investigations and problem-solving.
• Some teachers have low expectations of pupils in mathematics. There are few opportunities for pupils to apply their mathematical skills across the curriculum.
• Pupils across the school have a growing scientific knowledge and have opportunities to work scientifically. However, the standard of work in subjects other than English, mathematics and science is variable.
• Pupil premium funding is having a positive impact on the progress of some disadvantaged pupils. Currently, the difference in attainment between disadvantaged pupils and that of other pupils is diminishing in some classes. However, in some year groups, too few disadvantaged pupils are on track to achieve the expected standard by the end of the year in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities made similar progress to that of their peers at the end of key stage 2 in reading, writing and mathematics in 2016. Effective support and guidance are enabling current pupils who have SEND to make good progress.
• Outcomes in phonics are improving and are now in line with those seen nationally. This is due to leaders’ sharp focus on this, including the additional training that teachers have received. However, the attainment of disadvantaged pupils in phonics is lower than that of other pupils nationally.

Early years provision Good

• Children enter school with skills and abilities below those typically expected for their age. Due to the good teaching they receive, they make good progress from their starting points. The proportion of children reaching a good level of development at the end of Reception is increasing and is now almost in line with that seen nationally.
• Parents of Nursery children are very supportive of the school. As one parent said: ‘The nursery is super. The staff are marvellous and my child has really come on.’ Parents value the sessions where they are invited in to work alongside the children in both Nursery and Reception because, as one parent said, ‘You see how they are learning.’
• All adults have high expectations of the children based on previous assessment. Assessments are very much part of activities and are recorded and used for future planning. Teachers and other adults quickly identify children who may need additional support for their learning.
• The curriculum provides a range of interesting and demanding experiences. Focused teaching from adults relates to specific skills, such as number formation and phonics. Children choose from a range of interesting activities, for example investigating ‘minibeasts’, observing the wormery and selling bananas and milk in the shop.
• Children are motivated and interested in a wide range of activities. This was observed when a group of children were digging in the soil to find key words. Skilful questioning by adults enabled the children to use their phonic skills to read the words they had collected. Several children are eager writers and one boy shared a book which he had made at home which included writing and pictures about crocodiles.
• Parents are encouraged to support learning at home. They say that teachers keep them well informed about their child’s progress.
• The early years leader has worked closely with key stage 1 staff to improve the transition from Reception to Year 1. Consequently, children are prepared well for the demands of Year 1.
• All welfare and safeguarding requirements for the early years are met.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 105330 Bury 10024146 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 Voluntary controlled 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 327 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Matthew Bailey Denise Luke 01617 244928 www.radcliffehallschool.co.uk radcliffehall@bury.gov.uk Date of previous inspection 3–4 October 2012

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• This is a larger-than-average-sized primary school.
• Around two thirds of pupils are white British. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is average, as is the percentage who speak English as an additional language. A variety of languages is represented in the school.
• Half of pupils are known to be eligible for the pupil premium funding.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is in line with the national average.
• The school meets the current government floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed a range of lessons or parts of lessons. Some observations were carried out jointly with the headteacher. They looked at pupils’ work, listened to pupils read and talked with pupils about their lessons and school life.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher, senior and middle leaders, representatives of the governing body and representatives from the local authority.
• The inspectors observed the school’s work and scrutinised documentation relating to pupils’ progress and to school management, including the arrangements to ensure that pupils are kept safe.
• The inspectors spoke with parents and staff and took account of the 13 responses to the online parent questionnaire, Parent View.
• Inspectors took account of the six responses to the staff questionnaire and the 97 responses to the pupils’ online questionnaire.

Inspection team

Tanya Hughes, lead inspector Jane Austin Ann Gill Yvonne Mills-Clare

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector