Racemeadow Primary Academy Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Further reduce the number of pupils who are regularly absent from school by developing and implementing a range of strategies to improve the attendance of all groups of pupils.
• Further improve the quality of the outdoor learning environment for early years children in order to provide them with a wider range of learning experiences.
• Continue to strengthen the quality of teaching in order to further improve pupils’ achievement by:
  • providing pupils with more opportunities to reason and apply their learning in mathematics in a wider range of contexts and at greater depth
  • further raising teacher expectations so that boys and disadvantaged pupils are given activities in English and mathematics that provide a suitable level of challenge.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher has high expectations and is very ambitious for pupil outcomes. Her ambition is shared by leaders, staff and governors. She works effectively with leaders and governors to ensure that the school continues to improve.
• The leadership team’s monitoring of teaching and learning across the school is consistent and robust. As a result, teaching and learning across all year groups continues to improve.
• The headteacher holds all teaching staff to account. Staff performance is managed well. It is monitored carefully and appraisal and performance targets are closely linked to those areas of school improvement that have a direct impact on outcomes for pupils. Staff training is tailored to individual needs and leads to improvement in the quality of their teaching.
• Leaders track pupils’ progress and attainment closely. The headteacher monitors the impact of any action taken to improve pupils’ achievements. Pupils identified as ‘not on track’ to meet expectations are targeted through discussions about teachers’ performance. This has led to most pupils making strong progress across all subjects.
• Subject leadership is developing well. Subject leaders provide governors and external advisers with regular updates on the impact of their work. They attend external network meetings to ensure that they are up to date in their knowledge and understanding of their subjects. Consequently, teachers’ subject knowledge has improved significantly.
• Leaders continue a positive drive to raise pupils’ achievements further. Over the most recent year, the attainment of disadvantaged pupils has risen. Leaders have developed a wide range of interventions through the use of the pupil premium grant to support the progress of disadvantaged pupils. Over the past year, the progress of the disadvantaged pupils has improved significantly.
• The curriculum is highly effective in meeting pupils’ needs. The wide range of educational visits and extra-curricular activities provides pupils with engaging experiences and opportunities to develop personal interests across the curriculum. In the past year, the curriculum has been revised and the changes made have ensured that all pupils, but boys in particular, now have the opportunity to learn about exciting and engaging topics across a wide range of subjects. This helps to motivate and inspire them to do their best. As a result, boys’ achievement has significantly improved over the past year.
• The school uses the physical education (PE) and sport premium effectively to increase levels of participation in both sporting activities and competitions. Staff have improved their skills in teaching physical education through working alongside an expert coach.
• Additional funding for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is managed effectively. Leaders ensure that funding plans are adhered to so that pupils receive timely support to ensure that their progress is good. Additional interventions are very effective in tackling pupils’ gaps in learning.
• Leaders promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development effectively. Pupils say that they are taught to respect everyone, and to be ‘loving, caring and sharing’, as one pupil said. Displays around the school show leaders’ strong commitment to British values, and pupils take part in fundraising activities for charities.
• Parents are highly positive about the work of the school, commenting on the curriculum, the focus on developing pupils’ values and the quality of communication. Several parents commented on how much the school has improved since the appointment of the current headteacher.

Governance of the school

• Governors are supportive of the school and positive about the impact the headteacher has had on improving the quality of teaching, learning, behaviour and parental engagement. They are well informed as the headteacher provides a wealth of information about the work of the school and governors come into school to look at improvements first hand.
• Governors regularly ask senior leaders challenging questions about pupils’ achievement until they are satisfied that everything possible is being done to ensure that pupils achieve well.
• The trust directors monitor the school’s performance frequently, including how the school spends additional money to support particular groups of pupils, and they manage the headteacher’s performance. They ensure that the school site is safe. Officers representing the trust also monitor the quality of education in the school directly, and provide effective support and advice to leaders and staff.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are thorough and highly effective.
• Safeguarding receives the highest priority in the school. The headteacher checks with diligence that policies, practices and records are up to date. Leaders ensure that safeguarding procedures meet statutory requirements. Staff and managers are well-trained and fully informed about the latest guidance for ensuring pupils’ safety and well-being in areas such as child protection. Parents confirm that their children are safe and well cared for in school.
• The checks made to help keep pupils safe are carried out effectively; for example, the recruitment checks on staff’s suitability to work with children. Recording and reporting of concerns about pupils is carried out well and so pupils receive the help that they need quickly.
• Pupils know how to keep themselves safe, including online. Pupils know who to talk to if they are worried about something and they are confident that adults in school will support them when they need it.
• The school’s ethos of safeguarding pervades all aspects of school life. Consequently, pupils feel safe and are confident that staff will respond quickly and effectively to any concerns they might have. Leaders work well with parents and carers to ensure that pupils’ welfare and personal needs are met. Parents say that their children are safe and appreciate the work the school does in ensuring that the safety of pupils is everyone’s responsibility.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teaching has improved across the school as a result of the headteacher and other leaders undertaking effective monitoring and subsequent action. This has ensured that they have a clear view of the quality of teaching, learning and areas for improvement, which has enabled them to provide targeted support to some teachers. Teaching is now good across the school.
• In many lessons, teachers demonstrate strong subject knowledge. Teachers ask questions skilfully to check pupils’ understanding. However, on some occasions teachers do not ask boys and disadvantaged pupils purposeful questions to extend their understanding so that further progress can be made.
• Teachers have established clear classroom routines so that pupils, on the whole, settle quickly to tasks. Pupils work sensibly together and support each other’s learning.
• Good practice within the school is shared and senior teaching staff work alongside newer members of the team to ensure that expectations are understood.
• The teaching of reading in school has improved and is now good. There is a systematic, whole-school approach to the teaching of phonics that provides pupils with a secure understanding of how to use their knowledge of sounds to recognise and build words. Teachers now provide well-thought-out opportunities for pupils to extend their understanding of what they have read and this helps pupils to widen their vocabulary and to develop good comprehension skills.
• The teaching of writing has improved and is now effective. The current emphasis on accurate spelling, grammar and punctuation is ensuring that the quality of pupils’ written work across subjects is of good quality.
• Teachers ensure that work is carefully matched to the needs of most pupils in reading, writing and mathematics. However, in mathematics, teaching is not as strong because some pupils are not as confident or fluent in using their knowledge of number when carrying out mental calculations. This means that pupils are less able to apply their skills to real-life problems.
• The classrooms provide a good range of resources to support learning and the range of pupils’ work on display, particularly for the wider curriculum, celebrates the high expectations of the school.
• Individual pupils’ progress is discussed at half-termly meetings. If a pupil is identified as being at risk of not making enough progress, leaders identify barriers to learning and agree specific actions to be taken. Any interventions identified are carefully monitored by the special educational needs coordinator and input is adapted to match each pupil’s needs.
• Teachers and teaching assistants have high expectations of pupils’ achievement and their behaviour. As a result, pupils learn successfully and the presentation of their work is generally good.
• Homework is provided by the school on a regular basis and parents commented positively on how well it helps to support pupils’ learning.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. The curriculum has a strong emphasis on developing pupils’ personal, social and emotional well-being. Pupils, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, are provided with good support and are very well cared for.
• From the youngest to the oldest pupils, it is clear that pupils enjoy coming to school. They show great pride in their school and have a love of learning. Almost without exception, pupils are polite and friendly. Extremely strong relationships are evident everywhere in the school. Adults and pupils treat each other with respect, care and courtesy.
• Pupils have good social skills and strong moral values. This is because they have frequent opportunities to work together in lessons and they develop good levels of mutual respect for each other.
• Pupils feel safe and know how to keep themselves safe. They understand what bullying is and the various forms it may take. They say that incidents of bullying are rare and they are confident that any concerns will be dealt with quickly by an adult.
• Pupils know how to keep themselves safe. They have a well-developed knowledge about online safety.
• Pupils enjoy attending the well-run breakfast club before school, where they socialise animatedly with their friends.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils are friendly, polite and courteous. Pupils hold open doors for adults and each other and are very well mannered.
• Pupils keep their classrooms neat and orderly. Presentation in their workbooks is tidy. Pupils keep the displays of their work throughout the school in pristine condition. Pupils are considerate towards others when moving through the school.
• Parents, pupils and staff agree that the good behaviour seen during the inspection is typical and is a positive factor in pupils’ learning.
• Owing to the effective work done by leaders, the vast majority of pupils attend school regularly and on time, and attendance is in line with the national average. The promotion of good attendance remains a high priority for the school. The persistent absence of some groups of pupils remains stubbornly high and while the school adopts a range of strategies to address this, further improvement is needed to ensure that these pupils attend regularly.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils throughout the school make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils’ workbooks and their learning in lessons confirm school information that progress is good.
• School assessment information indicates that, currently, the majority of pupils are working at the standard expected for their age and prior attainment across a wide range of subjects and across all year groups. This is confirmed by evidence in pupils’ books and in current displays.
• The proportion of children reaching a good level of development, the standard expected at the end of the early years, has been in line with or close to national averages for the last two years. Current children in Reception make good progress from their varied starting points.
• In recent years, attainment at the end of key stages 1 and 2 has been broadly in line with the national average across all subjects. However, disadvantaged pupils and boys in particular have not achieved as well as other pupils. School leaders have targeted these pupils with a range of different interventions and, as a result, their achievement has improved significantly this year.
• The proportion of pupils achieving the standard required in the Year 1 phonics check is rising. Results in 2016 were broadly in line with the national average and standards are set to be higher in the current year. Pupils in Year 1 are already able to apply their phonic knowledge effectively in their writing and are prepared to tackle relatively challenging words.
• The progress of the most able pupils and the progress of those pupils who need to catch up is also improving. Additional support is ensuring that more pupils within each year group are moving toward the highest standard or are catching up.
• Pupils write to a good standard across subjects and are becoming more accurate in their spelling. They continually strive to improve their writing and standards are now broadly in line with those expected nationally. As a result of strong teaching, speaking and listening skills are developing rapidly across the school.
• Across all key stages, girls perform better than boys in reading, writing and mathematics, both at the expected and higher standard. Leaders have identified this issue and have put strategies in place to ensure that boys make more rapid progress.
• Work in pupils’ books shows that pupils make good progress in a range of subjects, including science, history and geography, which are effectively taught through a cross-curricular approach. Older pupils are well prepared for secondary school.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported well in lessons and through targeted interventions. All pupils are discussed during pupil progress meetings and interventions identified as required. Interventions are closely monitored and reviewed regularly to evaluate the progress pupils make from their different starting points.

Early years provision Good

• Children make good progress in the early years. A significant group of children enter the early years with skills and abilities that are below those typical for their age, particularly in the areas of communication and language, reading and knowledge of the world. In recent years, a greater proportion of children have reached the standards expected at the end of Reception. As a result, the vast majority of children are well prepared for their learning in Year 1.
• The difference between boys’ achievement and girls’ achievement is closing rapidly. This is due to changes made to provision and careful consideration of themes and activities.
• The early years learning environment is highly stimulating but it is also calm and very well organised. Children respond to, and respect, the equipment and facilities. Most children are fully engaged in purposeful activities for the majority of their time.
• The early years leader is confident and knowledgeable, and has high expectations of all staff and children. She is clear about what needs to be done to help move children’s learning forward. She is ably supported by a strong team who work well together to enable the children to get the most out of the learning opportunities provided.
• The children are well cared for and nurtured so that they feel confident, curious and eager to join in activities. Children’s behaviour is excellent and they show respect for each other. They play cooperatively together, sharing resources and discussing their activities.
• Parents speak very positively about how well their children settle to school. Staff and children form positive relationships quickly. As a result, routines are well established and understood; children behave well and feel safe.
• Children participate well in activities and the curriculum is broad and balanced. However, the use of the outdoors to promote learning is not as effective as the use of indoor activities. Children are sometimes limited in their choice of resources and activities and this means they do not build upon their learning experience as often as they could across all areas of the curriculum throughout the day.
• Safeguarding arrangements in the early years are highly effective.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 140198 Warwickshire 10032585 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 239 Appropriate authority Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Academy trust Anita Wiliars Joanna Collinson 01827 713 284 www.racemeadow.co.uk admin2019@welearn365.com Date of previous inspection 4–5 June 2015

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.
• Racemeadow Primary is sponsored by REAch2 Academy Trust.
• The school meets the government’s floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.
• The proportion of pupils who are eligible for support through the pupil premium funding is above average.
• The proportion of pupils from ethnic minority groups is below the national average.
• The school operates a breakfast club.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed teaching and learning in all classes and visited small-group intervention sessions.
• Inspectors visited 16 lessons, three of which were observed jointly with either the headteacher or deputy headteacher.
• Inspectors talked to pupils about their reading and listened to them read.
• Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour at break and lunchtime, between lessons and around the school.
• Inspectors examined work in pupils’ books.
• The school’s child protection and safeguarding procedures were scrutinised.
• Meetings were held with pupils, the chair of the governing body and other governors, staff and with trust directors.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher, members of the senior leadership team, middle leaders and newly qualified teachers.
• Inspectors reviewed the 25 staff questionnaires returned during the inspection.
• Inspectors took account of the 91 parental views expressed through the Parent View survey. Inspectors also spoke to a number of parents at the start of the school day.

Inspection team

Ed Masterson, lead inspector Anne Potter

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector