Redhill Primary School

Redhill Primary School Wrights Avenue, West Chadsmoor, Cannock, WS11 5JR

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Inadequate 4 Achievement of pupils Inadequate 4 Quality of teaching Inadequate 4 Behaviour and safety of pupils Inadequate 4 Leadership and management Inadequate 4

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that requires special measures.  Pupils are not achieving the standards they are capable of in reading, writing and mathematics.  Teaching is not improving. Teachers are not using what they have learnt on training and from the headteacher’s checks on teaching to improve what they do in class. Teachers do not have high enough expectations of the pupils, particularly boys and the more able pupils.  Pupils are bored and easily distracted in lessons. Exclusions are high. Pupils do not demonstrate a passion for learning and are not inspired in lessons.  Support in lessons for pupils who need extra help is not good enough. Teaching does not help these pupils improve their work quickly enough.  The senior leadership team has not supported or challenged staff to make up for previous underachievement.  Governors do not have a clear enough understanding of the impact their spending decisions have on pupils’ progress, especially

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

for those pupils known to be eligible for the Pupil Premium. Governors do not know enough about whether staff with extra responsibilities are effective in improving teaching and raising pupils’ standards.

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The school has the following strengths

 Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage and in Year 1 make good progress in acquiring the knowledge of sounds that letters make.  Pupils are starting to make better progress in mathematics.  Pupils are aware of how to keep themselves safe and they are well cared for by staff.  The recent involvement of a Local Leader of Education has provided good support for the headteacher.

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Information about this inspection

 This inspection was carried out with half a day’s notice and took place over two days.  The inspectors observed 17 lessons, 10 of which were observed with the headteacher and/or the Local Leader of Education.  The documents inspectors looked at included: teachers’ planning; safeguarding information; behaviour logs; the school’s system for improving teaching and learning; and records of how funding allocated for the Pupil Premium was spent.  The inspectors took account of five responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) and interviewed parents to seek their views on the school.  Questionnaires from six staff were analysed.  The inspectors heard pupils read and held discussions with them about their learning and school life.  Discussions were held with the headteacher and her staff, the local leader of schools, members of the governing body, pupils and a telephone conversation was held with a representative from

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Inspection team

Bogusia Matusiak-Varley, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Alan Giles Additional Inspector

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Full report

In accordance with the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

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Information about this school

 This is a smaller than average sized primary school.  The school has an above average proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the Pupil Premium (additional government funding for those pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, those in care and those whose parents are deployed by the armed forces).  An above average proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are supported through School Action. The proportion supported at School Action Plus or who have a statement of special educational needs are also above average.  The large majority of pupils are White British. The remainder come from a range of minority ethnic heritages. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is below average.  The school has experienced recent staffing difficulties as a result of staff illness, maternity leave and staff leaving.  The school runs a Nurture Group, which is structured as small group sessions for pupils who

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Information about this school

have behavioural problems and who find it difficult to learn in a whole class situation.  The school has a pre-school on-site which is run by an outside provider. This is reported on separately.  The school does not meet the government’s current floor standard, which sets the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching and learning and accelerate the progress of all groups of pupils by ensuring that:  teachers raise their expectations of what pupils can achieve and use what they already know about pupils to set demanding work  teachers advise pupils on how to make good progress in lessons  teachers tell pupils what to do to improve, and make sure pupils act on this advice, when marking work  teachers check pupils understanding throughout lessons and correct any misunderstandings straight away  support staff are used effectively in class to support pupils’ learning  topics interest boys as well as girls and give all groups of pupils opportunities to develop their ability to work on their own without help from the teacher  pupils have more opportunities to practise reading and writing across all subjects.  Improve the behaviour of pupils and reduce the number of exclusions by:

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 using the school’s behaviour policy consistently  giving pupils interesting and relevant activities in lessons so that they want to learn  providing planned opportunities for pupils to develop their spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding in lessons.  Improve leadership and management by:  making sure that senior and other leaders implement the headteacher’s vision for the school  ensuring that teachers with leadership responsibilities understand how data can be used to identify where there are weaknesses in provision and take action to help colleagues improve their teaching  checking regularly that actions taken are having the expected impact on how well pupils are doing  holding staff to account for increasing rates of pupils’ progress over time through rigorous management of teachers’ performance.  Ensure that the governing body checks:  whether the Pupil Premium funding is used effectively to make a difference to raising

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

standards for eligible pupils  how well the performance of teachers is managed and linked to their salary progression.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 Children start the Early Years Foundation Stage with skills that are lower than is typical for their age, especially in speaking and listening. While they make good progress in learning about the links between letters and the sounds (phonics), they make inadequate progress in other areas of learning because they are not taught how to learn through play. Teachers spend too long observing children’s learning rather than talking to them and developing their skills in reading, writing and number. Children start Year 1 below the levels expected and they have difficulty in concentrating on activities.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 Gaps between different groups of pupils are not closing quickly enough. Boys, the more able pupils and those who have special educational needs do not achieve well enough. This is because teaching is inadequate and learning activities are not at the right level to meet pupils’ needs. Pupils known to be eligible for the Pupil Premium do not make enough progress in all classes, other than very recently in Years 6 and 2. The spending of the Pupil Premium on two small teaching groups in Years 6 and 2, with the objective of raising standards in mathematics, is beginning to pay some dividends.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 Recently pupils have started to make better progress in mathematics because of a well structured approach. However, this is in its very early stages and progress across year groups is patchy.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 Pupils’ reading skills are weak. Pupils who find learning difficult have good skills of breaking down words into sounds but their reading is mechanical. Many pupils struggle with understanding the meaning of what they have read and they do not have a breadth of knowledge about different authors. Older pupils have difficulty in explaining what they like about different authors. By the end of Years 2 and 6 pupils do not reach the expected levels of attainment for their age.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 Pupils do not make enough progress in writing. Teachers do not show pupils how to write in sentences so they do not know what is expected of them. Pupils do not write enough in different subjects. Key words are misspelt. All groups of pupils have too few opportunities to use computers to help in their writing.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 Parents believe that their children are learning well but that homework is either too hard or too easy. Inspection findings show, in fact, that pupils are not learning well enough. Pupils say that too often they are given work that they have done previously.

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

 Teaching fails to inspire and motivate pupils. Teachers blame pupils’ behaviour and their personal circumstances for them not making the expected progress but the inadequate progress of all groups of pupils is due, in part, to teachers’ low expectations of them. Teachers do not help pupils achieve better results or build their self-esteem. As a result, pupils switch off from learning.

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

 Teachers use ‘talking partners’ well in lessons but do not always check pupils’ understanding to correct any misconceptions they may have. Teachers talk for too long in lessons and do not give the more able pupils work that is demanding enough. Time is not used effectively and, on occasions, it takes pupils a considerable length of time to copy the date from the board.  Support staff are not used effectively and spend too long listening to teachers’ instructions rather than working with underperforming groups to enable them to get more out of lessons.

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

 Not enough use is made of computers for all groups of pupils, especially to undertake independent work.

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

 Teachers’ relationships with pupils are not always harmonious and pupils’ attitudes to learning are inconsistent.

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

 Teachers’ marking is inadequate. It does not show pupils how to improve and spelling mistakes are not always corrected. Teachers do not always ensure that pupils put right their mistakes.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are inadequate

 Teachers’ behaviour logs show that over time behaviour is inadequate. A minority of parents have complained justifiably about behaviour. The behaviour logs show that there are some petty squabbles during lunchtime. Pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties attend the Nurture Group. However, by doing so they miss out on their academic work and their behaviour in lessons does not improve.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are inadequate

 The number of exclusions is high. Systems for returning pupils to school do not work as pupils repeat their bad behaviour. These pupils do not find learning interesting and staff do not use the school’s behaviour management policy consistently. Nor do they plan interesting lessons that will engage pupils.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are inadequate

 Attendance is improving. Pupils like coming to school and say that the school is a safe place to be.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are inadequate

 Pupils know how to keep safe. They have a good knowledge of different types of bullying, including cyber bullying and teasing about race, creed or sexual orientation. They are adamant that there is no bullying in school, although behaviour logs show that there is some name calling.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 The school does not have the capacity to improve because leaders lack the skills to bring alive the headteacher’s vision. Staffing issues have contributed to the school’s weak position. Teachers with leadership responsibilities do not fully understand how data can show where there may be weaknesses in provision. Consequently, they are unable to provide the support to their colleagues to improve teaching.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 The headteacher has been heavily involved in dealing with pupils’ poor behaviour and welfare. This has meant that there has not been a sharp enough focus on school improvement. In particular, leaders have not reviewed the school development plan often enough to check that actions taken are helping to improve outcomes for pupils. It is intended that the recruitment of a mentor for pupils and the appointment of an additional member of staff with responsibility for safeguarding pupils will reduce the time the headteacher needs to spend on dealing with pupils’ behaviour.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 Key issues from the last inspection have not been tackled rigorously enough and pupils’ progress has deteriorated in some year groups.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 The recent involvement of a Local Leader of Education has helped to strengthen leadership, but this work is at an early stage. Until then, the school had received very little support from the local authority

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 The governors and the headteacher have a realistic view of the school’s current state. Governors have just started reviewing pupils’ progress and asking staff for explanations as to why standards are not rising.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 The management of teachers’ performance is inadequate. The targets set for pupils’ progress are not specific enough and cannot be used as a means of holding teachers to account for their pupils’ achievement. Teachers are not tackling the targets set by the headteacher during her monitoring of teaching quality.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 The nurture group deals with the many behavioural issues of some pupils. At present the pupils attending the nurture group miss out on the learning that goes on in their class and the reasons for them being withdrawn from lessons are not well founded or convincing.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 The school does not promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well enough to encourage good attitudes, behaviour and a love of learning. The planned learning opportunities do not meet pupils’ needs and interests and nor do they provide sufficient opportunities for pupils to develop their skills of reading, writing and numeracy in all subjects.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 Systems for keeping pupils safe are robust. Pupils and parents consider the school to be a safe place.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 The governance of the school  Governors have an overview of the school’s performance but have only recently begun to hold staff to account for pupils’ progress. Governors have not yet set the headteacher any targets by which they can check her performance. They have not held the headteacher to account for the performance of her staff or for decisions about salary progression. Governors carry out their duties correctly in respect of safeguarding arrangements. Finances are managed appropriately, but governors do not have a clear enough understanding of whether their spending decisions, particularly in the use of the Pupil Premium funding, have the desired effect of pupils’ standards. Governors are gaining a better understanding of performance but they are not comparing the school’s outcomes with other schools. Governors have attended training about their roles but have been too heavily involved with managing behaviour issues

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The leadership and management are inadequate

within the school to develop a wider perspective.

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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 124073 Local authority Staffordshire Inspection number 402225

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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 Community School Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 197 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Alex Forbes Headteacher Libby Banks Date of previous school inspection 4 February 2010 Telephone number 01543 502181 Fax number 01543 462956 Email address headteacher@redhill.staffs.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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