Risley Lower Grammar CE (VC) Primary School

Risley Lower Grammar CofE Primary School Derby Road, Risley, Derby, DE72 3SU

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Pupils’ make good progress because they are taught well. By the end of Year 6, they reach standards which are above average in English and mathematics.  Pupils’ behaviour is outstanding. The school is a welcoming community and pupils are exceptionally polite, kind and very respectful towards one another and to adults.  Senior leaders, teachers and governors set high expectations for pupils’ academic and personal development.  Careful nurturing and accurate judgements by teachers in the Reception year help children to make good and rapid progress, especially in their language and communication skills.  The school has continued to improve teaching and learning since the time of the last inspection. This is because of the rigorous management of teachers and the regular training opportunities provided for them.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Senior leaders are still working to increase the proportion of outstanding teaching by ensuring that pupils are given more opportunities to work on challenging tasks by themselves.  Teachers do not always make sure that pupils know exactly what they need to do to improve their work.  There are too few opportunities for teachers to observe and benefit from the current outstanding practice in the school.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed eight lessons, one of which was a joint observation with the headteacher. In addition, other direct observations of pupils’ learning were undertaken. This included making other short visits to lessons, hearing pupils from Years 2 and 6 read, and attending a whole-school assembly.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, Chair of the Governing Body, five class teachers and a professional adviser for Derbyshire schools to discuss the school’s planning and monitoring documentation, and the data relating to pupils’ current progress.  The inspector took account of the 19 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View), and spoke individually with several parents during the course of the inspection.

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Inspection team

Cathy Morgan, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Risley Lower Grammar Cof E Primary school is smaller than the average primary school.  The number of pupils attending the school has fluctuated in recent years, and is lower than that found at the time of the previous inspection.  All pupils except those in Year 6 and Reception are taught in mixed-age classes.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for children in local authority care and pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, is below average, but increasing.  The large majority of pupils are of White British heritage. No pupils are at an early stage of learning to speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of pupils supported at school action is lower than that seen nationally, as is the proportion who are supported at school action plus or who have a statement of special educational needs.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectation

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of outstanding teaching and learning by ensuring that:  teachers give pupils specific guidance on what they need to do to improve and to meet their targets in lessons  teachers do not dominate lessons and prevent pupils from exploiting their ability to learn independently  there are more opportunities for teachers to observe the outstanding practice which currently exists in school.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The recently introduced initiatives in Reception, which include skilled teaching, better quality resources, effective specialist support and rigorous assessment, are helping to improve the rate at which learning takes place. As a result, children are making good and more rapid progress than in previous years from starting points that are in line with national expectations.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Evidence from the school’s assessment data, from lesson observations and from scrutiny of work in pupils’ books confirms that by the end of Key Stage 1, pupils’ attainment is consistently above average in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Good, focused support at the start of Key Stage 2 enables pupils to continue to make good progress so that by the end of Year 6, the majority are working above the level expected nationally in English and mathematics and some pupils reach levels that are well above average for their age.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs consistently make good progress, as a result of the well-targeted and bespoke support which the teaching assistants provide for them. The small number of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium make the good progress expected of them in English and mathematics because of the very precise support provided by the school.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Effective teaching of reading and writing in the Reception Year and Key Stage 1 means that attainment in these skills is above average in Year 2 and remains ahead of that expected nationally by the end of Year 6. Pupils are confident, fluent readers. They talk with enthusiasm about the books they are reading and accurately describe what is happening in a story.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils make fast progress in most lessons because they concentrate well and work hard. In Year 6, pupils demonstrated high standards in their jungle paintings to illustrate the influence of the Post-Impressionist artist Henri Rousseau. In Reception, children achieve well because they are able to choose from a range of carefully planned and stimulating activities which enable them to become confident and independent learners.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers are skilled in managing mixed-age classes and motivating pupils’ interest in learning. Typically, lessons are well planned, and engaging activities enable pupils to be creative. Sometimes, however, teachers instruct the whole class for too long and this limits opportunities for the majority of pupils to work independently.

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The quality of teaching is good

 An outstanding lesson demonstrated the capacity for Year 6 pupils to work together and make rapid progress in mathematics. An expertly designed activity enabled pupils to organise their own data and create informative graphs relating to the record of deaths occurring at the time of the plague in Eyam.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers and teaching assistants demonstrate consistently high expectations of work and behaviour. Teachers communicate positively with pupils and they use praise effectively to build pupils’ confidence and self-esteem. Verbal feedback to pupils is regular and informative. Written comments, however, are not always as clear or detailed enough to ensure that pupils know what they have done well and what their targets are to improve.  In the Reception class, children are given an appropriate balance between teacher-led work and times when they learn through play. The indoor and outdoor learning areas are well designed to support child-centred and independent learning and challenge children’s imagination.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers monitor pupils’ progress effectively and make good use of the computerised tracking system to make judgements about the standard of pupils’ work. Teachers use this effectively to plan future learning activities and target specialist support for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Pupils benefit greatly from well-designed resources to stimulate and progress their learning. Teachers make excellent use of ‘working walls’ in their classrooms to display helpful guidance to assist pupils and enable them to spell accurately, write creatively and to produce work of a high standard.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils’ behaviour is outstanding both in and out of lessons. Pupils enjoy coming to school and they have an extremely positive attitude to learning. They behave impeccably in all group situations, whether dining together, or in the whole school assemblies held in the local church.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils show the utmost respect for their teachers and other adults. Their manners and courtesy are exemplary and this contributes well to the school’s strong, positive ethos and calm atmosphere.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 High expectations, consistent approaches, and effective use of rewards and sanctions help pupils to develop self-discipline, confidence and self-esteem: consequently, there are few recorded incidents. The three simple school rules are clearly communicated and adhered to by pupils (be kind, be safe and be polite).

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The Derbyshire County Council Positive Play support programme is used effectively to support pupils who have behavioural or emotional difficulties. The specialist training for staff has increased the opportunities these pupils have to express and communicate their feelings and improve their social skills in the safe and supportive environment of ‘the rainbow room’.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils have excellent opportunities to participate in collective worship when they sing, play music, dance and carefully recite their school prayer together. They thoroughly enjoy their celebration assemblies where they gather to congratulate one another on receiving awards for their outstanding behaviour and/or achievement.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils have a clear understanding of different types of bullying behaviour and how to keep safe, particularly in relation to the use of new technology. Pupils make good use of their ‘worry boxes’ to ensure that teachers can react quickly to their concerns.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Attendance rates are above the national average and pupils are always punctual to school.

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The leadership and management are good

 The whole staff team and the longstanding governing body share the headteacher’s pride in their school and his steadfast focus on improvement. Since the time of the last inspection, they have strengthened the quality of teaching across the school, improved children’s achievement in the Early Years Foundation Stage and developed the current good quality learning environment in which pupils thrive and feel valued.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher has considerably strengthened the way in which teachers are appraised for their performance. An effective programme of professional development is provided to support all staff, who are challenged positively and rewarded constructively if they are successful in helping pupils to make at least good progress.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school promotes well pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development through the extended curriculum, its values and its strong links with families and the local church. The use of class newsletters and curriculum evenings ensure that parents and carers are well informed and encouraged to successfully support their children's learning.

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The leadership and management are good

 All staff, particularly teaching assistants, benefit greatly from the expertise and effective leadership of the school’s special educational needs co-ordinator who has established robust procedures to ensure that disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs receive high quality, timely specialist support.

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The leadership and management are good

 Effective intervention by the local authority has ensured that the headteacher, governors and staff have an accurate understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school. Arrangements for staff to collaborate with other schools to share best practice are now in place but there are too few opportunities for the outstanding practice which exists internally to be shared across the school.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school’s track record of good achievement and pupils’ outstanding behaviour, supported well by good and often better teaching, ensure that it has the capacity to sustain improvement further.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  The governing body is effectively organised to ensure that governors are pro-active in their support and challenge of the school and to enable them to assist the headteacher in identifying the targets for continuous improvement.  Prudent financial management has contributed to the on-going programme of building and decoration which has greatly improved both the inside and outside school environments and had a positive impact on pupils’ learning. The small amount of pupil premium funding has been allocated to provide one-to-one help for pupils who are at risk of underachieving and governors carefully check that this money is well spent.  The governing body gives highly professional support to the headteacher in meeting safeguarding responsibilities, particularly regarding risk assessments and the appointment of staff.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is

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Grade Judgement Description

failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 112850 Local authority Derbyshire Inspection number 401313

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School details

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

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Voluntary Controlled Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 128 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Peter Hunt Headteacher Paul Bridgmount Date of previous school inspection 23 March 2010 Telephone number 0115 9397622 Fax number 0115 9397622 Email address info@risley.derbyshire.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', 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 .

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School details

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 and as part of the inspection.

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School details

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

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School details

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 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

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School details

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’.

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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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