Ben Rhydding Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment to accelerate pupils’ progress in all areas of the curriculum, but particularly in writing, mathematics and science, by ensuring that:
  • assessment information is used effectively by teachers to plan learning activities which are closely matched to pupils’ skills and abilities
  • teachers systematically check pupils’ understanding and provide them with precise feedback that enables them to rapidly improve their learning
  • teachers inspire the most able pupils to excel by having higher expectations of them and providing greater challenge
  • pupils have frequent opportunities to develop and deepen their skills in writing in a range of subjects and genres
  • teachers systematically plan to strengthen pupils’ application of mathematics so that they can confidently demonstrate reasoning and mastery in learning
  • teachers plan lessons in science that enhance pupils’ scientific knowledge and enable them to use and apply their scientific skills.
• Improve the impact and effectiveness of leadership at all levels by making sure that:
  • the skills of middle leaders are urgently improved so that they can rigorously monitor provision in their areas of responsibility and secure essential improvements in teaching
  • the learning and progress of all pupils are carefully tracked so that those who are at risk of falling behind are identified quickly and given the help they need to achieve well
  • sequences of learning enable pupils to make secure progress through the curriculum and avoid unnecessary repetition from year to year
  • the effectiveness of teaching and its impact on the progress of most-able pupils are accurately monitored.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• The headteacher has demonstrated strong leadership and taken robust action to improve the quality of teaching. However, teaching is not consistently good enough to ensure that pupils make rapid progress in writing and mathematics across the whole school.
• Checking of the school’s work overall has not been sufficiently rigorous because the role of middle leaders is underdeveloped. All middle leaders took up their roles in October 2016. The regular challenge and support needed over time to ensure that pupils receive precise teaching, so that all groups of pupils make rapid progress in all subjects, have been lacking.
• Due to the recent appointment of many leaders, assessment systems are in development and are not fully effective. This has led to delays in the use of up-to-date assessments to inform teachers’ planning. There are occasions when pupils are repeating the same learning in different year groups. Consequently, teaching is not fine-tuned to ensure that pupils, particularly the most able, make accelerated progress.
• Special educational needs funding has been spent on providing resources and staffing to support pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. As a result of effective leadership and targeted support, often but not exclusively provided by additional adults, these pupils make good progress.
• Extra money provided to the school to support disadvantaged pupils is used effectively to provide additional academic or pastoral support, for example through the deployment of counsellors. Leaders are diagnostic in their approach, discussing the barriers to learning faced by individual pupils and putting in bespoke support. This cohesive approach is successfully removing these barriers so that differences in attainment with other pupils are closing by the time they reach Year 6.
• The headteacher has ensured that arrangements to manage staff performance are now focused fully on the progress that pupils need to make. The headteacher has made clear his expectations of good-quality teaching and individuals are being supported to ensure that their practice meets those high expectations. Teachers appreciate the direction provided by the headteacher and feel that they are benefiting from training and opportunities to meet with staff in other schools.
• The headteacher quickly identified and dealt with the problem behaviour of a very few pupils that was disrupting learning in some classes. Teachers’ consistent application of the behaviour policy, supported effectively by the headteacher, is having a positive impact so that pupils’ behaviour overall is good.
• Pupils enjoy many trips out of school, including to the local church and wildlife park, which have enhanced their understanding of history, geography and religious education. Residential trips have enabled pupils to explore adventurous outdoor activities and to meet with their peers from other schools.
• The primary school sports funding is used to provide access to competitions and additional sports. Pupils enjoy a wide range of extra-curricular and after-school clubs, helping them to develop sporting ability, for example in handball, swimming, football and netball.
• Through assemblies and lessons, pupils’ spiritual, moral and social development is promoted well by leaders and pupils’ understanding of life in modern Britain is good. Many pupils have travelled widely and the school capitalises on this experience, providing opportunities to learn about diverse faiths and cultures, for example in learning ‘What would it be like to live in Africa?’

Governance of the school

• Following a period of turbulence in leadership when several headteachers led the school, the governing body has shown great determination to get the school back on track. The local authority assisted this process through the recruitment of a national and a local leader of governance, who have strengthened the governing body.
• Governors now know that teaching over time has been too variable for progress to be good and that the most able pupils need to perform better.
• As the minutes of governors’ meetings clearly demonstrate, governors pose a high level of challenge to the headteacher.
• Governors use performance management of the headteacher as a tool to improve teaching. Because of the detailed reporting of the headteacher, governors have a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses in teaching and check that teachers who need support receive it.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The headteacher quickly identified weaknesses in safeguarding practice and urgently set about putting these right. Because of his swift and focused actions, the school site is now secure and a strong safeguarding culture prevails. All safeguarding policies meet the statutory requirements and good procedures ensure that pupils are safe.
• All staff have received appropriate training in safeguarding and designated safeguarding staff have attended higher-level courses. All staff are trained to recognise the signs of radicalisation in pupils.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• There is a lack of consistency in the quality of teaching, leading to varied rates of progress across classes and subjects. While some teachers have high expectations of what pupils will learn, this is not consistent in all classes.
• Teachers sometimes plan activities that lack challenge. This is particularly the case for the most able pupils, who are not being consistently supported to develop their knowledge and mastery of writing and mathematics to a higher standard.
• It is clear from pupils’ books that the teaching of writing is variable. Teachers’ expectations of presentation and handwriting are not consistent, leading to some pupils producing work of a poor quality. Too few pupils are regularly demonstrating their ability to write at standards expected for their age. This is because, in some classes, sequences of lessons are not sufficiently securing basic letter formation, spelling and punctuation, or developing pupils’ mastery of vocabulary and use of complex sentences.
• In most classes, the teaching of mathematics is helping pupils to secure basic skills. However, not all teachers are able to correct misconceptions in a timely and accurate way and this is preventing the rapid progress of some pupils. On occasion, teachers’ lack of subject knowledge is preventing them from planning sequences of lessons that deepen pupils’ understanding and enable them to develop fully their skills of mathematical reasoning and to demonstrate mastery.
• Although pupils have weekly science lessons, too much of this learning is merely acquiring factual knowledge or undertaking simple sorting activities. The teaching of science is not planned consistently well to develop pupils’ scientific enquiry or experimental skills appropriately.
• In line with the school’s policy, teachers are beginning to exploit links between subject areas to make learning more meaningful for pupils. In some classes, teachers provide an interesting and wide range of learning activities and encourage pupils to write pieces of quality, for example in response to learning about the Romans or Greeks. However, in some classes, pupils are repeating activities they have already met in previous classes because leaders have not ensured appropriate progression through the curriculum.
• The teaching of reading is effective. Pupils read regularly and enjoy reading because of the good range of books available to them. Most parents support their children’s reading at home, making regular comments in the home-school organiser. In key stage 1, pupils have daily phonics lessons to support them in reading and writing. Less-able readers are able to draw on phonics knowledge and a range of reading strategies to help them work out new words. The teaching of reading in key stage 2 is very effective, leading to consistently strong progress and high standards of attainment in reading. The most able readers read with impressive fluency and expression.
• Teachers ensure that pupils receive regular homework and parents are kept informed about homework and other school events. Homework is effectively supporting the learning of basic knowledge and pupils are benefiting from the additional practice in key skills.
• Additional adults are having a positive impact on the learning of the small groups or individual pupils they are working with. This includes support being offered to pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. These pupils are helped to feel secure and are appropriately questioned and challenged so that they can achieve well.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. The vast majority of pupils take responsibility for their learning, demonstrating good attitudes in class. They are confident and articulate learners.
• Pupils play and learn together harmoniously. Pupils said there is ‘not much falling out’ and ‘no name-calling’ and that ‘most people really do try to do the right thing’.
• Leaders and teachers help pupils to understand and respect the customs and practices of others. Pupils’ understanding is enhanced through trips and visitors to school and through studies of how different faiths celebrate their own ‘festivals of light’, for example.
• Pupils are helped to learn about healthy lifestyles and making good choices about diet, through lessons and assemblies. In a recent ‘science week’, pupils tested their heart rates before and after exercise, highlighting the importance of exercise for good health. All pupils successfully learn how to keep safe when using the internet.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. The school is calm and orderly and behaviour is conducive to learning. The vast majority of pupils concentrate upon their work and listen carefully to their teachers.
• Pupils understand the ‘traffic lights’ rewards and sanctions system well and are proud to report where they are on the ‘ladder’. Teachers are consistent in their application of the behaviour policy and, consequently, most pupils feel that they are dealt with fairly. Where pupils are having difficulty managing their behaviour, staff take a very considered approach, planning to meet individual needs.
• A small percentage of parents expressed concern over bullying and behaviour in school, but pupils reported that they feel safe and that staff deal with bullying incidents swiftly. Behaviour records in school show that incidents of poor behaviour have fallen dramatically under the effective direction of the new headteacher.
• Almost all pupils attend school regularly and on time, so that attendance at Ben Rhydding is above national averages for all groups of pupils.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Children enter Reception class with skills and abilities above those typically seen. As a result of good teaching, they make good progress through their first year in school. A far higher proportion of children than seen nationally start Year 1 with a good level of development.
• Despite many pupils leaving Reception with a good level of development, their progress in key stage 1 has not been good enough. Last year, pupils’ progress and attainment were well below the national figures for reading, writing and mathematics in key stage 1. The most able pupils leaving the early years did not make sufficient progress and thus did not achieve the greater depth of which they were capable in writing and mathematics.
• In comparison, pupils’ progress by the end of key stage 2 was stronger. Between the end of key stage 1 and key stage 2, pupils achieved above-average progress in reading. The proportion of pupils achieving expected rates of progress in writing and mathematics was broadly in line with national averages. There was little difference between the progress of boys and girls in reading and writing, but boys made better progress in mathematics.
• The school’s own assessment information shows that, in some classes, the progress of current pupils requires improvement. Work in pupils’ books also shows that, in some classes and in some subjects, too many pupils are working at standards below those expected for their age, particularly in writing. In mathematics, there are too few examples of the most able pupils being able to demonstrate their reasoning and mastery of mathematics well.
• From their different starting points, the progress of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities was good in key stage 2. However, by the end of key stage 1, low prior-attaining pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities did not make enough progress in reading, writing or mathematics.
• There were very few disadvantaged pupils in either Year 2 or Year 6. However, as a result of appropriate spending of pupil premium funding, disadvantaged pupils overall made progress that was broadly in line with others in reading, writing and mathematics.
• There has been an improvement in the number of pupils achieving the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics check over a three-year period. In 2016, pupils achieved well above national averages.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress across the school. Teaching assistants are successfully running several intervention groups to support pupils’ learning in phonics, reading, writing and mathematics.

Early years Good

• In Reception, because of good teaching and the provision of a vibrant and inviting curriculum, all children make at least typical progress, with many making more. Staff are careful to make sure that children are safe and all staff hold appropriate first aid certificates. Children are confident, articulate and happy in school.
• The leader of early years has accurately identified areas for development, working with purpose to continually improve the setting. Good provision indoors is enabling children to develop their knowledge and understanding across all areas of learning and outdoor provision is especially helping children to develop their social and physical skills successfully. Inspectors observed children totally absorbed in a range of outdoor activities linked to the story of ‘The Three Little Pigs’. Children were engrossed in building houses using sticks and bricks and grappling with the difficulty of constructing a house out of straw. This activity was made all the more relevant by the challenging questioning from the teacher, successfully pushing children to acquire new vocabulary and to explain their findings.
• Due to careful planning and secure staff knowledge, the teaching of phonics in Reception is effective in helping children to learn the skills they need for early reading and writing. Many children leave the setting able to read and write confidently and are well poised for a successful education in key stage 1.
• Early years staff use assessment information well to ensure that the provision is helping children to learn new skills. Effective questioning by all staff is helping children to develop their vocabulary and understanding rapidly.
• Children who are in danger of falling behind receive appropriate teaching to help them catch up. The leader is acutely aware of the needs of individuals and keeps a close eye to ensure that all make the progress of which they are capable. This careful approach has ensured that the differences that exist between boys’ and girls’ readiness to learn on arrival at school are diminishing quickly. Boys are as well prepared as girls to benefit fully from the curriculum in Year 1.
• Staff work effectively with pre-school providers and parents to ensure that they are meeting the needs of all children, including those who are vulnerable. Good arrangements are in place to ensure that children make the transition smoothly into Reception.
• Parents speak highly of the setting and appreciate the efforts of staff to help their children settle quickly and to make good progress.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 107281 Bradford 10023988 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 Community 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 216 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Andrew Rabbitt Glen Hartford 01943 431133 www.benrhydding.ngfl.ac.uk office@benrhydding.bradford.sch.uk Date of previous inspection May 2012

Information about this school

• Ben Rhydding Primary School is smaller than the average-sized primary school.
• The headteacher joined the school in September 2016 and most subject leaders took up their responsibilities in October 2016.
• The proportion of pupils who are eligible for support through the pupil premium is well below the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is below average.
• Almost all pupils are from White British backgrounds. Only 6% of pupils are from other minority ethnic groups and 0.5% speak English as a second language.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Children in the Reception class attend full time.
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

Information about this inspection

• Together with the headteacher, inspectors looked at pupil progress data, information about the performance of teachers, documents relating to behaviour and safety and documents relating to safeguarding.
• The inspectors observed pupils’ learning in parts of 15 lessons, some alongside the headteacher.
• Inspectors listened to Year 2 and Year 6 pupils read, and observed pupils learning in small groups. They spoke with pupils in lessons, at lunchtime and at playtimes.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher, senior and middle leaders and five members of the governing body. A meeting was also held with a representative of the local authority.
• Inspectors considered the opinions of 60 parents through Parent View (Ofsted’s online questionnaire for parents) and 51 pupil responses.
• The inspectors took account of 17 online responses returned by members of staff.

Inspection team

Lesley Butcher, lead inspector Lynne Selkirk Lesley Bowyer Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector