Riders Infant School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Ensure that teaching and outcomes are at least good by:
  • planning tasks at the right level to meet pupils’ differing needs, and adapting lessons when required
  • providing activities for the most able pupils to deepen their understanding
  • tackling misconceptions promptly in mathematics
  • making sure pupils have useful opportunities to practise their writing skills across the curriculum
  • ensuring that all adults provide effective support to pupils, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities
  • reducing the incidence of low-level disruption in lessons so that pupils maximise their time for learning.
• Strengthen the quality of leadership and management by:
  • making sure that the school improvement plan is clearly linked to improved outcomes for pupils
  • ensuring that governors accurately evaluate the school’s effectiveness and hold leaders to account for the impact of planned actions
  • ensuring that leaders provide effective feedback to help teachers improve their practice
  • ensuring that middle leaders have the necessary skills to carry out the full scope of their roles.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• Senior leaders and governors want the school to be the best it can be. However, until recently they have had an overly positive view of the school’s effectiveness. As a result, not enough has been done to improve teaching and outcomes, particularly in writing and mathematics.
• Priorities in the current school improvement plan are appropriate, but leaders have not identified how actions will bring improved outcomes. This means that leaders do not know whether their actions are making a difference and governors cannot easily hold them to account.
• Middle leaders have begun to put effective plans in place to improve teaching and accelerate the progress of all groups. For example, in Year 1, pupils’ progress improved markedly in phonics as a result of the review of the teaching of phonics in all year groups. However, the development of middle leaders is in the early stages and there is more to do to ensure that these leaders are able to carry out the full scope of their roles.
• Senior leaders check teaching but they do not provide incisive feedback to teachers. Consequently, teachers do not know what they need to do to improve their practice.
• Leaders check the progress pupils make but, because they have been overly positive about the school’s effectiveness, they have not identified where pupils are not making enough progress.
• The leader with responsibility for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is beginning to track pupils’ progress effectively and is using this information to help her ensure that the needs of these pupils are met. As a result, some pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are making good progress compared to other pupils with similar starting points. However, this progress is variable and not yet consistently good across year groups.
• The pupil premium is used well. Differences in the attainment of disadvantaged pupils compared to that of other pupils in school are diminishing. However, there is still some way to go for these pupils to catch up to their peers nationally.
• The sport premium is used effectively. More pupils have now taken up extra-curricular sports and there is increased involvement in inter-school sports activities beyond the school day.
• Staff are loyal to the school. They enjoy working at Riders Infant School and are committed to achieving the best possible outcomes for the pupils. Those who completed the staff survey are strongly positive about all aspects of the school and its leadership.
• The curriculum is suitably broad and pupils are taught the appropriate range of subjects. The curriculum promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and the British values of tolerance and respect, for example, through assemblies.

Governance of the school

• Governors are committed to, and passionate about, the education of children in the school. Most governors visit the school regularly, know it well and are keen to challenge staff to achieve the best outcomes for pupils. At times, they are restricted in their ability to challenge the school, as improvement plans do not include measurable targets against which governors can hold leaders to account.
• Governors demonstrate awareness of their statutory duties. For example, they carry out health and safety visits and complete an annual audit of safeguarding procedures. They have received up-to-date training on safeguarding pupils. Governors have a clear understanding of how additional funding, including the pupil premium, is used.
• Governors are keen to fulfil their role in managing the performance of staff. However, they have not yet worked effectively with senior leaders to ensure that the quality of teaching is consistently good, so that pupils across the school make strong progress.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. The executive headteacher and the head of school ensure that pupils’ safety is paramount and that safeguarding remains an integral part of the school’s culture. They ensure that all confidential information is recorded and maintained appropriately.
• Leaders work well with parents, liaise effectively with external agencies and rigorously pursue referrals to keep pupils safe.
• The single central record is compliant and all records related to safeguarding are up to date.
• All staff receive the relevant training and regular updates on safeguarding. Consequently, staff have a secure understanding of their responsibilities for keeping pupils safe.
• The attendance officer works closely with families and pursues any absence routinely, especially that of vulnerable pupils. Pupils say that they feel safe in the school. They are taught how to keep safe, including when outside of school.
• Parents say they are given useful information on internet safety. All the parents responding to Parent View, and all the staff responding to the staff questionnaire, agree that safeguarding pupils is at the heart of the school’s culture and ethos.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching and learning is variable and not improving fast enough. Where teaching is more effective, teachers set work that accurately meets pupils’ needs, and well-pitched activities move pupils’ understanding on at a brisk pace. In these lessons, teachers and other adults ask challenging questions, which deepens pupils’ learning.
• In some lessons, adults are not consistent in checking pupils’ responses to learning tasks. This results in pupils falling behind and not being able to learn from their mistakes.
• The teaching of phonics is improving across the school. All adults are now well trained and apply their skills effectively in the classroom. As a result, progress and outcomes in phonics are on the rise.
• In some lessons, teachers develop, consolidate and deepen pupils’ knowledge by checking pupils’ understanding through skilful questioning. However, this is not consistently the case.
• Pupils do not have enough opportunities to write in subjects other than English. As a result, pupils do not practise and build confidence in their writing abilities.
• The teaching of mathematics is too variable. Pupils’ workbooks show strong progress in some classes, and weaker progress in others, with some pupils’ misconceptions not addressed readily. However, specific support programmes for pupils who fall behind in mathematics are having a positive impact on pupils being able to solve number problems with greater ease.
• Teaching of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is improving. As a result of effective individual and small group support, these pupils are beginning to make more progress and catch up.
• Some teaching staff who support individuals and small groups of pupils play an important role in building pupils’ confidence and raising their achievement. Pupils appreciate the support they receive.
• There has been some success in reducing the differences between the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and that of others. This success provides a solid foundation for further improvements.

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 confident, friendly and courteous. They value the opportunity to learn and are keen to show their work to adults.
• Staff demonstrate warmth and care toward pupils. Pupils needing emotional support attend nurture groups where they can talk to staff.
• Communication between adults and pupils is strong. This ensures that staff know, understand and act on pupils’ concerns appropriately. For example, during lunchtime, a pupil approached a learning support assistant to ask if he could have his lunch in the nurture room because he was upset.
• Pupils are keen to take up sports activities and this helps them to make informed choices about their fitness and health. Pupils make healthy choices while having lunch in school, and take full advantage of the lunchtime opportunity for a long period of energetic play outdoors.
• The school actively targets pupils who would benefit from attending the breakfast club. This is helping to improve the attendance and punctuality of these pupils.
• Parents who responded to Parent View, and those spoken to during the inspection, believe that their children are safe in school and are looked after well.
• Pupils are alert to the different forms that bullying can take. They feel they can tell the head of school, or any adult, if they need help.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.
• The behaviour of pupils deteriorates in some lessons when they lose concentration and are not actively engaged in learning. Overall there is too much low-level disruption. Pupils who spoke with inspectors said they feel safe; however, they said that the behaviour of some pupils causes concern and is physically too rough.
• As part of the curriculum, leaders plan opportunities for pupils to learn how their behaviour affects others. Adults frequently remind pupils of behaviour boundaries, indoors and outdoors, to enable them to reflect and be responsible for their actions.
• All incidents of poor behaviour are logged and, where concerns continue, a support programme is put in place and involves parents.
• Pupils said that bullying and racism are not an issue for the school and are effectively dealt with.
• Pupils who are persistently absent, including those who are disadvantaged and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, have their attendance monitored closely. The attendance officer liaises regularly with their families to support them. These actions are bringing small gains in the attendance and punctuality of these pupils. The executive headteacher and the head of school recognise that there is more to be done to ensure that persistent absence is below the national average.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Pupils’ progress is inconsistent across year groups and classes. In 2016, pupils’ attainment was below the national average in all subjects at the end of key stage 1, but particularly in writing and mathematics. Although school assessment information shows some improvement in the standards achieved by current pupils in reading, writing and mathematics, outcomes are still below the national average.
• Achievement in reading is close to the national average. Pupils read well and with great enthusiasm. The school promotes a love of reading through a well-liked system of rewards. One pupil said, ‘If you don’t read, you don’t get a certificate.’
• In 2016, the proportion of Year 1 pupils achieving the expected standard in phonics was well below the national average. This year, as a result of improved teaching, pupils are starting to catch up. There has been some improvement in the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standards in Years 1 and 2. However, pupils’ attainment remains below the national average.
• Effective use of pupil premium funding is helping to improve the progress of disadvantaged pupils. Nevertheless, these pupils continue to be some way behind their peers nationally.
• The most able pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, do not make rapid enough progress. This is because tasks do not always challenge them to think hard and apply their understanding.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make variable progress. They make good progress when supported by knowledgeable adults. Leaders have identified the need for training for some learning support assistants to improve the quality of support and ensure that it is consistently strong.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• The Reception classes provide a bright, attractive and well-resourced learning environment. Children enjoy the variety of activities indoors and outdoors. They show a good level of involvement in the activities they choose and in those led by adults.
• Teaching is not consistently good enough. For example, in one class children were working at exactly the right level to separate ‘alien’ words from ‘real words’, while in another class, children were set tasks that were too hard so they were unable to read the words they were given.
• Scrutiny of work shows that children’s progress over time is not good enough. Adults do not routinely use assessment information to ensure that learners are progressing at an appropriate pace. Children’s individual planned learning journeys do not consistently identify the next steps for their learning and development, to accelerate their progress. In mathematics, misconceptions are not always addressed urgently by staff. This year there is an improvement in the rate of progress that children make. The proportion of children achieving a good level of development remains below the national average.
• The early years leader knows what needs to be done to improve practice in teaching and assessment. The actions she has taken are bringing improvements but she rightly recognises that there is more to do and more urgency required.
• Staff provide a nurturing environment, particularly for the children who depend heavily on caring relationships for their personal, social and emotional development.
• Staff liaise with parents at the beginning and end of the day. However, there are limited opportunities for parents to contribute to their children’s learning.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 115909 Hampshire 10032978 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 Infant School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Community 4 to 7 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 226 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Executive headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Carolyn Owens Lisa Dunning 023 9247 5342 www.ridersschools.co.uk l.dunning@riders-jun.hants.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 8–9 May 2013

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• Riders Infant School is a broadly average-sized school when compared with similar schools. Riders Infant School is in a statutory hard federation with Riders Junior School.
• The Federation of Riders Infant and Junior Schools provides a breakfast club for approximately 50 pupils each day.
• The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is well below average, as is the proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language.
• The percentages of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are above the national averages.
• No pupils attend any alternative form of education away from the school site.
• There have been significant changes in staffing since the previous inspection.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors observed learning in all classes, nearly always accompanied by either the executive headteacher or the head of school.
• A meeting was held with a group of key stage 1 pupils to discuss their learning and views about the school.
• Inspectors listened to pupils read and discussed their reading with them.
• The inspectors held discussions with senior leaders, middle leaders and four governors, including the chair of the governing body. Discussions were held with a local authority representative.
• The inspectors observed the school’s work and considered a range of documents, including: the school’s improvement plan; checks on the quality of teaching, learning and assessment; information about pupils’ progress; attendance and behaviour records; and safeguarding arrangements.
• The inspectors scrutinised pupils’ work across the curriculum to see what progress they have made.
• The inspectors took account of the 13 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. In addition, inspectors spoke to a number of parents in the playground at the start of the school day. The inspectors also considered the 16 questionnaires completed by staff.

Inspection team

Kusum Trikha, lead inspector Rosie Beattie Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Gerida Montague-Munson Ofsted Inspector