Redfield Educate Together Primary Academy Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve leadership and management by:
  • embedding the school’s new assessment system so leaders and teachers can identify the precise actions needed to support pupils to reach the highest standards
  • continuing to develop new leaders’ roles so that they are consistently able to check that their actions are having a positive impact
  • further developing strategies to promote better attendance so that no pupils are disadvantaged by high absence.
• Further raise standards of teaching, learning and assessment by:
  • ensuring that learning for disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities remains sharply focused on supporting pupils to make the progress they are capable of
  • providing more pupils with work that challenges them sufficiently to achieve higher standards.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher leads with confidence and determination. She is well supported by other leaders and together they form an ambitious and aspirational team. They have a clear view of the school’s priorities for development and talk confidently about what they have done and what they need to improve. They abide by their core principles of educating all pupils in the way that is right for them. As a result, leaders and teachers are very committed to creating a supportive and nurturing learning environment.
• Leaders are culturally sensitive to the context of the school and are highly committed to providing equality of opportunity and embracing diversity. Leaders regularly review and adapt provision, which ensures that pupils and their families are well supported academically, socially and emotionally. Leaders communicate well with other staff and work collaboratively with parents to assure themselves that teaching and pastoral support are making a positive difference.
• Staff morale is high and staff embrace opportunities to develop their practice. The performance management of staff is closely linked to the priorities of the school development plan. Ongoing professional development and coaching helps staff to improve teaching. Leaders are committed to staff well-being and provide time and support to help them achieve a healthy work/life balance. One teacher commented, ‘It encourages me to continue my development and allows me to grow into my job role.’
• Restrictions on finance when the school first opened meant that development of a wider leadership structure was not possible until relatively recently. Experienced leaders provide focused support to newer leaders and together they develop well-targeted plans to support pupils. All leaders are keen to share tasks and accountability. They recognise it will be necessary to further develop their monitoring skills to accurately assess if their actions are having the desired effect.
• Leadership of provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is strong and special educational needs funding is spent effectively. The coordinator is very reflective and is beginning to evaluate provision more rigorously. Along with strong partnerships with families, this enables her to have an insightful view of pupils’ specific and often complex needs. A new system of assessment allows leaders to accurately evaluate the step-by-step progress pupils make. Leaders know that pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities need further support to help them to make the progress they are capable of. They now plan to monitor learning more regularly to review the impact of teaching and adapt it as required.
• The overwhelming majority of parents are extremely happy with the school. One commented, ‘the range of different topics they cover holds children’s interests and attention. They come home buzzing with all the things they have learnt.’ Parents also testify to the success of the support their children receive, commenting ‘I didn’t think such a depth of understanding about a child would be present in a school, but it is.’
• Leaders and teachers are reflective and change things when they are not working. They have implemented a new whole-school assessment system in addition to the assessment system for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. It is hoped that this will enable leaders at all levels to more accurately check pupils’ achievement and determine when they need more support. It will take time for the new system to become fully embedded and used consistently by all staff.
• The school provides an interesting, wide-ranging and relevant curriculum, where pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is enhanced. The curriculum is well planned, based on the school’s good knowledge of pupils’ backgrounds, interests and academic and social needs. Pupils are supported to gain an understanding of equality and democracy and learn about the environment and different belief systems. The school curriculum and values support the promotion of core British values.
• The school has taken a creative approach to using pupil premium funding, which is helping to support disadvantaged pupils to attend well. The daily breakfast club has proved to be a popular way of enhancing parental communication and gaining their support. A reading programme, holiday club, boat trips and visits to the library and a teashop have also improved pupils’ participation in school life. Leaders recognise that some disadvantaged pupils are making slower progress and need continued support to ensure that progress is accelerated and sustained.
• Leaders use the primary sport premium effectively to provide a sports coach and training for teachers, as well as to develop school action plans. Training has enhanced teachers’ skills and improved confidence in their ability to teach physical education. Additional sports clubs have encouraged pupils to participate in the wider curriculum and supported their soclal skills and sense of competition.

Governance of the school

• The chief executive officer, board of directors and academy development council are jointly and actively involved in school improvement. They are committed to the ethos and values of the school and have a clear idea of the school’s main priorities. They have unique roles and share responsibility for creating a secure governance structure for the school. Together, they provide a good balance of support, challenge and advice so that leaders are held to account and take the necessary actions to improve.
• Members of the board and council make regular visits to the school to speak with leaders, review learning and generally observe the work of the school. They ask pertinent questions and check the actions that leaders are taking, which helps them to gauge how much of a difference they are making to school improvement.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders recognise that many children are vulnerable and they work closely with families and outside agencies to ensure that pupils are kept safe. Staff training and policies clarify that safeguarding is everybody’s responsibility and staff know what to do if they have concerns. They understand the range of risks that pupils face and there is a clear and timely system of referral. Leaders take appropriate steps to tackle issues or refer them on to external agencies when necessary.
• Detailed records are kept securely and provide a clear trail of emerging concerns, follow-up actions and review procedures. The clarity and detail of record-keeping helps leaders and teachers to evaluate the impact of safeguarding and determine whether further support is needed.
• Pupils understand the importance of staying safe online and know the steps to take to make sure they use the internet safely. The local police have worked with the school to support pupils to stay safe, and assemblies and teaching in class reinforce this.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Staff take the welfare of pupils very seriously and go out of their way to forge mutually respectful and supportive partnerships with parents. As a result, pupils enjoy school and parents have confidence in the support the school provides for their children.
• Pupils are confident and come into school with a sense of purpose and excitement. They have pride in their school and their work and understand that they need to persevere with their learning. One pupil commented, ‘we have been learning about the value of courage and know that if learning is difficult, you try hard and do it anyway’. This helps them to immerse themselves in their learning.
• The holistic needs of pupils are very well met because leaders, teachers and support staff have a very good understanding of pupils’ individual circumstances. They support families and pupils to help with housing, medical issues, mental health and self-esteem. This is very much valued by families.
• Pupils share a good sense of responsibility for their learning and social development. They understand the need to work together to find solutions when they have concerns or difficulties. For example, pupils elect peer mediators who are trained to help them to find their own ways of resolving problems, conflicts and friendship issues.
• Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fully embedded into the curriculum and pupils eloquently describe their ‘Learn Together’ curriculum. This supports them to share their views and enter into discussions about rights, fairness, equality and democracy, among many other things. During the inspection, some of the youngest pupils in the school confidently shared their views on child labour and expressed their belief that all children should have the right to play and go to school.
• The school manages before- and after-school clubs and provides a breakfast club for parents and pupils. Parents welcome the opportunity to start the day together, chatting sociably and making new friends. In clubs, staff readily join in with pupils’ games, helping them to remain happily occupied. Pupils enjoy sitting with friends to eat snacks at the end of the day and play games, draw maps and construct toys together. The school also provides a range of extra-curricular clubs such as gardening and sports clubs, which are helping to improve participation and attendance.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Adults have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour, which are almost always reinforced and maintained throughout lessons. Pupils know what is expected of them and teachers use strategies to encourage pupils to stop and think about their behaviour. This swiftly brings pupils back on task and helps them to stay focused.
• Children earnestly explain that derogatory language and bullying are not tolerated at school. They have a clear understanding of right and wrong and an acute awareness of others’ feelings.
• Pupils enjoy school and feel safe. While there are occasionally incidents of less positive behaviour, pupils say these are dealt with quickly and effectively, either by adults or peer mediators.
• Transitions within and between lessons are mostly well managed and calm. Playtime and lunchtimes are well-supervised, happy and lively occasions. Pupils enjoy chatting to their friends and play sociably with each other.

• Well-targeted support is having a positive impact and improving attendance. A few disadvantaged pupils have higher rates of absence but leaders recognise the factors that have contributed to this. They strive hard to seek the most appropriate ways of supporting families to help them ensure that pupils come to school more regularly. They recognise that they will need to persevere to maintain higher rates of attendance.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• The majority of Year 2 pupils are well prepared for the transition to key stage 2. Having entered the school well below the standards expected for their age, they have built on the solid foundations they secured in the early years. As a result, most pupils have made good or accelerated progress and are currently working at standards expected for their age. Several pupils are working at greater depth in reading and mathematics.
• From their different starting points, most pupils at the school, including the most able pupils and pupils who speak English as an additional language, are making good progress in all subjects. However, inspection activities reveal that a minority of disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities in the school make slower progress. Some of these pupils are currently working below standards expected for their age. Leaders and teachers recognise the particular factors that have contributed to this. They continue to provide the necessary pastoral and academic support to help them to make better progress to catch up. This will help them to reach standards closer to those expected for their age.
• Children are well prepared to make the transition into Year 1 because of the outstanding support they receive in the early years. The teaching of phonics in Year 1 has improved and enables pupils to make a good start in reading. In 2016 the proportion of pupils meeting the expected standard in the national phonics screening check was well below the national figure, with approximately half of pupils meeting the required standard. Decisive action has improved teaching considerably this year. Teaching is planned so that it suits the particular needs of the pupils. Making learning into a game has successfully hooked pupils into reading and led to better outcomes. Following the recent phonics check, over 83% of pupils have met the required standard.
• Pupils read widely and often. They are well supported to practise and develop reading in school and at home. They use and apply their phonic knowledge to break down words to help them to read. Pupils are developing fluency and the use of expression, and teaching supports them to gain a good understanding of what they have read.

Early years provision Outstanding

• The majority of children come into the early years at standards lower than those expected for their age. Outstanding teaching and leadership ensure that the proportion of children achieving a good level of development at the end of the early years is broadly in line with national averages and rising. At the time of the inspection, approximately three quarters of children had achieved a good level of development.
• Leaders and managers are exceptionally committed to securing swift progress. They make incisive evaluations of children’s starting points and ongoing assessments are frequent and accurate. These are very well supported and confirmed by external moderation. Robust assessment means that teachers are extremely well placed to challenge and support children’s learning from the time they come into the early years.
• Parents highly value the support that their children are given before they start school and during their time in the early years. Teachers use very effective strategies such as home visits and parent workshops to engage parents. Parents really value the opportunities to be involved in their children’s work and are exceedingly positive about the support they receive.
• Leaders have a very good understanding of the professional development needs of teachers and support staff. This ensures that highly effective and well-targeted training, advice and coaching supports them to improve. All staff in the early years are passionate about improving the early years provision and teaching.
• Teaching is of a very high quality. Teachers plan exciting activities based on children’s interests and their incisive knowledge of children’s needs. Personalised support, consistently high expectations of behaviour and a very well-designed curriculum ensure that any gaps in children’s knowledge and skills are swiftly reduced. The highly stimulating environment arouses children’s curiosity and motivates them to learn.  Teachers skilfully support children to develop their writing using questions and then modelling how to write. As a result, children learn to form their own sentences and show the ability to include descriptive words such as ‘nice’, ‘amazing’ and ‘delicious’.
• The outdoor environment is very well used to develop and extend learning, and children participate enthusiastically in different activities. For example, they race, jump and land on words and read them, which inspires children to develop their reading skills.
• Calculation skills are well developed through activities such as ‘taking cookies from the cookie monster’. The most able pupils are provided with subtraction questions using empty boxes, which suitably challenges them.
• Safeguarding is effective. Staff take a rigorous approach to ensuring that the health, welfare and safety of children are paramount. Consequently, the early years environment is a safe, secure and welcoming environment. Children who have the potential to become distracted are well supported because behaviour management of all children is consistently strong. Children make sensible choices, sustain very good levels of concentration and show high levels of self-control.
• Skilful questioning is highly effective in helping children to develop their thinking and communication skills. For example, in one lesson children were encouraged to consider and share a range of questions about planets and the sun, such as ‘How far away is it?’ and ‘How big is it?’ Further exciting activities sustain children’s enthusiasm and motivate them to write their own questions, create tissue paper sun-catchers and mix paint to create prints of their own planets.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 140267 City of Bristol 10033098 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Academy sponsor-led 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 172 Appropriate authority Chair Headteacher Academy trust Mrs Mandy Lee Mrs Rosamond Farrell Telephone number 0117 379 0777 Website Email address http://www.redfieldet.org.uk/ info@redfieldet.org.uk 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.
• Redfield Educate Together Primary Academy opened in September 2014 and has increased by one year group each year since then. There are currently six classes; two for each year group from Reception to Year 2. The school will increase by one year group every year until it has two classes in each year group from Reception to Year 6.
• The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is lower than the national average.
• The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is higher than nationally.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is higher than the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is broadly in line with pupils nationally.
• Due to the fact that the school currently only comprises three year groups, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2, there is no published end of key stage 1 or key stage 2 assessment information.

• The school provides and manages before- and after-school childcare.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed learning in lessons across the school. Some of these were observed jointly with the headteacher or deputy headteacher.
• Inspectors held discussions with the headteacher, senior leaders and teachers. Meetings were held with the chief executive officer of the academy trust board, the chair of the academy development council and the chair of the trust board.
• Inspectors took account of 50 responses to the online survey, Parent View. Inspectors also met with several parents at the start of the school day.
• Inspectors observed the school’s work and considered a range of documents, including the school’s evaluation of its work, school action plans, attendance records and safeguarding documentation.
• Pupils’ books from all year groups and subjects were scrutinised jointly with leaders and inspectors heard pupils read. Inspectors also spoke formally and informally with pupils from all year groups to gain their views of the school.

Inspection team

Catherine Beeks, lead inspector Lisa Harford

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector