Rise Park Primary and Nursery School

Age group 3–11 Inspection date(s) 28–29 February 2012 Inspection number 380480 Rise Park Primary and Nursery School Inspection report

p.1

Unique reference number 122474 Local authority Nottingham Inspection number 380480 Inspection dates 28–29 February 2012 Lead inspector Susan Walsh

p.1

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

p.1

Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 450 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Matthew Wilson Headteacher Karen Slack Date of previous school inspection 1 March 2007 School address Bestwood Park Drive West Nottingham NG5 5EL Telephone number 0115 9153775 Fax number 0115 9153776 Email address headteacher@risepark.nottingham.sch.uk achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked

p.1

after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

p.2

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when.

p.2

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.2

Introduction

Paul Delbridge-Smith Additional inspector

p.3

Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days' notice. Inspectors visited 27 lessons led by sixteen of the school’s teachers. Meetings were held with staff as well as with members of the governing body and pupils. Inspectors observed the school’s work. They also looked at development plans, records of pupils’ progress and arrangements for safeguarding as well as other documents. Inspectors took account of the responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection. They also scrutinised 127 questionnaires returned by parents and carers, and questionnaires from pupils and staff.

p.3

Information about the school

The school is much larger than the average primary school. An above-average proportion of pupils are known to be entitled to free school meals and the proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is above average, although no pupil has a statement of special educational needs. A significant proportion of pupils in Key Stage 2 started their education in another primary school which has now closed. As result, the school has expanded and the pupils now come from a wider variety of backgrounds. An above-average proportion of pupils are from a broad range of minority ethnic groups but few speak English as an additional language. There is a breakfast club run by the school for its own pupils. The school holds Healthy Schools and Activemark awards.

p.3

Information about the school

The school meets the current government floor standard which sets minimum levels for pupils’ progress and attainment. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

p.3

Key findings

 This is a good school where pupils from a varied range of backgrounds get on very well together. Inconsistencies in teaching, leadership and management mean that the school is not outstanding.

p.4

Key findings

 Pupils make good progress from their individual starting points and their attainment is usually average by the time they leave Year 6. This represents good achievement.

p.4

Key findings

 Teaching is usually good and there are examples of outstanding teaching throughout the school. There are many lively lessons where pupils are exceptionally well motivated. Occasionally, in the small number of satisfactory lessons, more-able pupils are not fully challenged, especially during long introductions to lessons. Self assessment is not always used effectively to ensure pupils have a thorough understanding of how to develop their work and the marking of mathematics work does not always tell pupils how to improve . Assessment information is not always used effectively to inform teachers’ planning in the Early Years Foundation Stage and staff do not always do enough to check and support children’s learning when they are working independently.

p.4

Key findings

 Pupils’ behaviour is consistently outstanding both in lessons and around school. Bullying is rare. Pupils have a real thirst for learning. They feel very safe and the school ensures that they know how to manage risk.

p.4

Key findings

 The ambitious leadership and drive of the headteacher, senior managers and the governing body have created the conditions for learning that have allowed pupils to thrive. This includes establishing an outstanding curriculum that promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development exceptionally well. The leadership and management of teaching and learning, including the use of performance management by senior leaders, is good but subject leaders are not yet fully involved in directly monitoring the quality of lessons. Subject development plans Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

p.4

Key findings

sometimes lack detailed strategies for improvement and clear measurements of success.

p.5

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Boost progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage by: - making sure that staff regularly check and support learning when children are working independently - ensuring that the activities planned for children are informed more promptly by assessment information and are carefully tailored to meet children’s individual needs.

p.5

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Eliminate the small amount of satisfactory teaching by:  making certain that teachers shorten the introductions to lessons so that pupils have more time to practice their skills  ensuring that there is always sufficient challenge for more-able pupils including during the introduction to lessons  enhancing pupils’ understanding of how to improve their work by providing better guidance when marking mathematics work and involving pupils more in assessing their own work.

p.5

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the impact of middle managers on the leadership and management of teaching and learning by:  involving subject leaders more in the direct observations of lessons  improving subject development planning so that strategies to effect improvement are more detailed and ensuring that their impact can be carefully measured.

p.5

Achievement of pupils

Parents and carers are correct when they say that their children are making good progress in lessons. Many children have social skills, and skills in language, communication and literacy that are below those that are expected for their age when they start school. Children often make good progress in lessons in the Early Years Foundation Stage classes because of good teaching combined with a stimulating curriculum. Occasionally, their progress slows because they lose focus when they are working on activities that they have chosen for themselves.

p.5

Achievement of pupils

Attainment in reading and mathematics was average at the end of Key Stage 1 in 2011 but very few pupils reached the higher levels in writing. Progress in Key Stage 1 has improved because teaching is better and pupils are now making good progress in lessons. Pupils’ progress in understanding the links between sounds and letters is variable. Some make exceptional progress because their teachers are very skilled in this aspect, but a small number of pupils in Key Stage 1 still struggle to recognise Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

p.5

Achievement of pupils

relatively simple letter sounds because there has been a lack of clarity in some of the teaching. Progress in Key Stage 2 is good, but minor variations in progress reflect similar variations in the quality of teaching. The school has a successful focus on developing a passion for reading and an understanding of how writing is structured. Pupils are able to recognise how stories are ordered and how factual information is presented. They use this information well to enhance their own work. Older pupils are particularly enthusiastic about mathematics lessons because they like to tackle challenging work. Nevertheless, there are still a small number of lessons where more-able pupils do not progress quickly enough. In 2011, attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 was above average with an above-average proportion of pupils reaching the higher level 5s but attainment, including in reading, is more typically average.

p.6

Achievement of pupils

In lessons, the progress of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is often good. However, when these pupils receive specific support their progress is outstanding. Specialist staff have a finely-tuned awareness of pupils’ requirements particularly regarding dyslexia and early intervention stops pupils’ needs from escalating. Pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals are catching up with their peers because they are very well supported. Those from minority ethnic groups, and those who have transferred from another school, make the same good progress as other pupils

p.6

Quality of teaching

As a result of mainly good teaching and an increasing proportion of outstanding teaching, all pupils, including disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, achieve well over time. Many parents correctly think that teaching is good and say that staff are very approachable. Pupils learn particularly well when activities are based on real-life situations. Resources are used well to support learning and all pupils have their own pack of useful items. Highly skilled teaching assistants make a valuable contribution to learning. Occasionally, introductions to lessons are too long and this restricts pupils’ opportunities to work independently. Additionally, more-able pupils sometimes have to sit and listen to explanations of concepts that they already understand when they could be getting on with their work. Although most lessons are carefully planned and independent work is usually well matched to pupils’ needs,

p.6

Quality of teaching

occasionally, the tasks set are not sufficiently challenging for more-able pupils. Detailed assessments are made of children’s skills when they are in the Early Years Foundation Stage but this useful information is not always used promptly to inform teachers’ planning and to ensure that activities are well matched to the needs of individual children.

p.6

Quality of teaching

The outstanding curriculum is used well to enhance teaching, including the use of visits and themes that bring a sense of purpose and motivation to writing tasks. The school has successfully adopted a number of strategies that help pupils to vocalise their thoughts and increase their vocabulary as well as their understanding of concepts. Many teachers are exceptionally good at promoting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. For example, in a lesson about writing, pupils’ developed great empathy with the people who were unfortunate enough to be on Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

p.6

Quality of teaching

the Titanic when it sank. Pupils are often made aware of how to improve their writing through teachers’ marking but the marking of mathematics books is not always as helpful. Pupils are not always fully involved in assessing their own work or the work of others and there are missed opportunities to increase their depth of understanding about how to move their work to the next level.

p.7

Behaviour and safety of pupils

The staff have created an ethos which promotes very positive attitudes to learning and allows pupils to feel exceptionally safe. The relentless application of systems which encourage and celebrate good behaviour results in constantly outstanding behaviour over time and a very calm ethos in school. This positive ethos extends into the breakfast club, where pupils eat their meals from tables set out with cheery table-cloths and bowls of fruit. They are gaining good manners as well as nourishment at the start of the day. Pupils have very positive attitudes in lessons, and are exceptionally keen to get on with their work and this makes an excellent contribution to their learning. An overwhelming majority of parents and carers state that their children are very happy at school and, together with pupils, say they have no experience of bullying. The pupils themselves make an exceptional contribution to this positive situation. They thoroughly understand what constitutes different kinds of

p.7

Behaviour and safety of pupils

bullying and do much to discourage it, for example, by acting as peer mediators and playground buddies. They learn important social skills, including how to be good listeners and to collaborate with others. The curriculum makes an exceptional contribution to ensuring pupils’ safety and well-being, as pupils learn a lot about how to keep safe on the internet as well as the dangers of drugs and alcohol. They are confident that they can talk to staff whenever they have a problem. The school has done much to encourage regular attendance at school; attendance rates have improved significantly and are now average.

p.7

Leadership and management

The school has sustained good achievement and improved pupils’ behaviour and safety as well as their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. This has been achieved during a time of rapid expansion, while taking in new pupils from a very wide range of backgrounds, and illustrates the school’s good capacity to improve further. There is a strong sense of team spirit and all staff are determined and committed to raising levels of attainment for pupils. There is a comprehensive programme of monitoring and evaluation, and the analysis of data by the headteacher and senior leaders is thorough. The school is able to swiftly spot any pupil whose progress is in danger of slowing and offer timely and effective support. The monitoring of teaching by senior leaders is robust and helps colleagues improve their practice. However, the conscientious middle managers have had limited opportunities to directly monitor teaching. While the school development plan

p.7

Leadership and management

identifies appropriate areas for improvement, subject development planning sometimes lacks robust detail in the strategies for improvement and very clear success criteria that would allow the school to more precisely evaluate what has been achieved. Members of the governing body are keen and enthusiastic. Their Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

p.7

Leadership and management

systems to monitor and evaluate the work of the school are much improved and they rigorously hold the school to account.

p.8

Leadership and management

The curriculum is outstanding because it is excellent at promoting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and their exceptional behaviour and awareness of how to keep safe. There is a very wide range of enriching activities that vary from camping in Year 2 to ‘Activate’ exercise and well being sessions that operate throughout the school. An excellent range of courses assist parents and carers to support their children. Additionally, many parents and carers report that the personal support, provided for families in times of crisis, is exceptional. Leaders and managers actively promote equality and tackle discrimination. There is a good focus on ensuring that all children reach their full potential, irrespective of their level of ability or background. Pupils are very well prepared for life in modern Britain and a global society through links with the local community, local schools and a curriculum

p.8

Leadership and management

that has a particularly strong international dimension. The school’s safeguarding procedures are robust.

p.8

Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding These features are highly effective. An outstanding school provides exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. Grade 2 Good These are very positive features of a school. A school that is good is serving its pupils well. Grade 3 Satisfactory These features are of reasonable quality. A satisfactory school is providing adequately for its pupils. Grade 4 Inadequate These features are not of an acceptable standard. An inadequate school needs to make significant improvement in order to meet the needs of its pupils. Ofsted inspectors will make further visits until it improves.

p.9

Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Nursery schools 46 46 8 0 Primary schools 8 47 40 5 Secondary schools 14 38 40 8 Special schools 28 48 20 4 Pupil referral units 15 50 29 5 All schools 11 46 38 6

p.9

Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

New school inspection arrangements have been introduced from 1 January 2012. This means that inspectors make judgements that were not made previously. The data in the table above are for the period 1 September 2010 to 31 August 2011 and represent judgements that were made under the school inspection arrangements that were introduced on 1 September 2009. These data are consistent with the latest published official statistics about maintained school inspection outcomes (see www.ofsted.gov.uk ). The sample of schools inspected during 2010/11 was not representative of all schools nationally, as weaker schools are inspected more frequently than good or outstanding schools. Primary schools include primary academy converters. Secondary schools include secondary academy converters, sponsor-led academies and city technology colleges. Special schools include special academy converters and non-maintained special schools.

p.9

Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100.

p.9

Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning and development taking account of their attainment.

p.10

Common terminology used by inspectors

Attainment: the standard of the pupils’ work shown by test and examination results and in lessons.

p.10

Common terminology used by inspectors

Attendance the regular attendance of pupils at school and in lessons, taking into account the school’s efforts to encourage good attendance.

p.10

Common terminology used by inspectors

Behaviour how well pupils behave in lessons, with emphasis on their attitude to learning. Pupils’ punctuality to lessons and their conduct around the school.

p.10

Common terminology used by inspectors

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving based on its self-evaluation and what the school has accomplished so far and on the quality of its systems to maintain improvement.

p.10

Common terminology used by inspectors

Leadership and management: the contribution of all the staff with responsibilities, not just the governors and headteacher, to identifying priorities, directing and motivating staff and running the school.

p.10

Common terminology used by inspectors

Learning: how well pupils acquire knowledge, develop their understanding, learn and practise skills and are developing their competence as learners.

p.10

Common terminology used by inspectors

Overall effectiveness: inspectors form a judgement on a school’s overall effectiveness based on the findings from their inspection of the school.

p.10

Common terminology used by inspectors

Progress: the rate at which pupils are learning in lessons and over longer periods of time. It is often measured by comparing the pupils’ attainment at the end of a key stage with their attainment when they started.

p.10

Common terminology used by inspectors

Safety how safe pupils are in school, including in lessons; and their understanding of risks. Pupils’ freedom from bullying and harassment. How well the school promotes safety, for example e-learning.

p.10

carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

main findings from the inspection of their school.

p.11

Inspection of Rise Park Primary and Nursery School, Nottingham NG5 5EL

It was a delight and a privilege to visit your school. We really enjoyed talking to you all and listened very carefully to what you had to say. We were very impressed by your good manners and the sensitive way you treat adults and each other. You have lots of very interesting things to do and the school makes sure that you grow into very thoughtful and hardworking young people. Well done to all the peer mediators and buddies – you are doing a good job.

p.11

Inspection of Rise Park Primary and Nursery School, Nottingham NG5 5EL

Your attainment is average. You make good progress because there is a lot of good and some outstanding teaching in your school. In order to make all teaching outstanding, we have asked staff to make sure that those of you who find learning easy are always challenged and to help you to always fully understand how to improve your work. You told us that some of the introductions to lessons are too long and we agree and have asked staff to make sure you have enough time to work by yourself. Staff in the Early Years Foundation Stage are good at checking children’s learning but they do not always use this information to make sure that the activities they plan challenge all of the children. So, we have asked them to improve this aspect of their work and to make sure they check children’s learning when children are working on activities that they have chosen for themselves.

p.11

Inspection of Rise Park Primary and Nursery School, Nottingham NG5 5EL

The leaders and managers at your school are doing a good job and are working hard to make your school into one of the very best. We have asked the school leaders to make sure that more staff have a chance to look at lessons and to improve the plans they make for improving subjects.

p.11

Inspection of Rise Park Primary and Nursery School, Nottingham NG5 5EL

You can all help your school to improve further by keeping up your hard work in lessons.

p.11

Inspection of Rise Park Primary and Nursery School, Nottingham NG5 5EL

Susan Walsh Lead inspector procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.11