Reignhead Primary School

Reignhead Primary School Platts Drive, Beighton, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S20 1FD

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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 in reading, writing and mathematics from their individual starting points.  Attainment is broadly average by the end of Year 6.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make outstanding progress.  Teaching is good across the school. Teaching assistants make an exceptionally good contribution to pupils’ learning.  Behaviour is outstanding. Pupils work hard in lessons because ‘we get to do fun, practical activities.’  Pupils feel extremely safe because they are taught how to respect and help each other.  The exciting, varied curriculum makes full use of the woodland area to promote pupils’ enjoyment of learning. The large majority of pupils attend extra-curricular clubs.  Leadership and management are good. The headteacher and assistant headteachers work closely with staff. They share good ideas and so the school is improving at a good rate.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The leadership of teaching is good. As a result, teaching is now good and pupils’ achievement improves each year.  Governors fully support the school and meet staff regularly to check pupils’ progress.  The school’s partnership with parents is a major strength. This helps pupils to achieve well.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teaching is not yet outstanding. Teachers sometimes miss opportunities to ask questions that make pupils think or give younger pupils a chance to work things out for themselves.  The school’s self-evaluation and development planning is so very detailed that it is hard to see exactly what the main priorities are, what works well and what needs to improve further.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection team observed 24 lessons or part of lessons taught by 11 teachers and teaching assistants.  The inspectors held meetings with staff, the Chair of the Governing Body and one governor, a representative from the local authority and three groups of pupils from Years 2 to 6.  The inspection took into account the 22 responses in the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) and the views of parents when they talked to inspectors informally.

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Inspection team

Lesley Clark, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Jane Alexander Additional Inspector Sally Hicks Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This school is larger than the average-sized primary school.  Most pupils are White British.  The proportion of pupils supported through school action is below average.  The proportion of pupils supported through school action plus is high. The local authority gives extra funding to the school to support pupils’ significant learning needs.  The proportion of pupils with a statement of special educational needs is broadly average.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium is above average. The pupil premium is additional funding for those pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals, children from service families and those children who are looked after by the local authority.  Almost a third of pupils enter or leave the school at times other than the usual.  Two members of the senior leadership team joined the school in September 2012.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 In order to move teaching from good to outstanding, teachers should:  ask questions that make pupils think and give them a chance to ask questions too  create more opportunities for pupils to develop a rich spoken and written vocabulary  increase the pace of learning in a few lessons and let the most-able pupils start on tasks as soon as they are ready to do so  provide Reception children and younger pupils with more opportunities to learn through working things out for themselves.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Simplify school development planning so that there is a sharp focus on priorities and a clear overview of what is working well and what needs to improve further.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils achieve well. Nursery and Reception children make good progress from starting points that are below those typically expected for their age, especially in communication, language and literacy. They learn early reading, writing and number skills well because these feature in most activities. For example, games such as ‘word hopscotch’ encourage them to write words in the spaces because it is fun to jump on them.  The majority of pupils read well. Extra focus on teaching pupils how letters and sounds link together to form words (phonics) has paid off this year, resulting in younger pupils gaining a good understanding of how to read unfamiliar words. This was a weakness in the 2012 Year 1 phonics screening check.  Pupils, including newcomers, make good progress in literacy and mathematics in Years 1 to 6. Typically, standards of attainment by the end of Year 6 are broadly average. This can vary

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The achievement of pupils is good

because year groups and numbers change frequently as pupils join or leave the school at different points during the year.  Pupils enjoy reading. Pupils in Years 3 and 4 skim read and scan texts for information. They explained, ‘You read it, put it in your head, write notes and then go back to check.’ Older pupils talk readily about favourite authors and give mature reasons for their preferences. Most pupils read fluently and expressively, mirroring their teachers’ good intonation.  From Reception to Year 6, pupils’ handwriting is neat, legible and mostly joined because of the school’s focus on teaching cursive script. Older pupils paragraph and punctuate their work accurately, using rhetorical questions and different ways of joining sentences to enliven their writing. Pupils tend to use similar words because they do not have a particularly rich spoken or written vocabulary. They depend on their teacher to introduce them to new ones.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In mathematics, pupils, including newcomers, achieve well because they have extra help if they have any gaps in their mathematical knowledge. Pupils make good progress because they use and apply their mathematical skills in different contexts every day.  Disabled pupils and those supported by school action, school action plus or who have a statement of special educational needs make outstanding progress. This is because their learning is personalised, checked often and new achievable targets set fortnightly so pupils feel a real sense of achievement. Specific support helps school action pupils to catch up quickly.  Pupils who are supported through the pupil premium make good progress. Their attainment is similar to that of others in the school and to free school meal pupils nationally. In the 2012 national tests, for instance, pupil premium pupils were 0.5 points ahead in mathematics and 0.1 points ahead in English compared to free school meal pupils nationally.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The school promotes equality of opportunity and tackles discrimination well.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers plan together well so that pupils have equal chances to succeed. They organise teaching groups flexibly so that newcomers who have gaps in their learning and those who find specific aspects difficult get help so they can catch up.  Assessment, marking and subject knowledge are major strengths. Teachers give pupils clear direction as to how to improve their work and time to act on their suggestions. Pupils check their work against ‘success criteria’ assiduously because they know this will help them to succeed.  Teachers explain things well and, typically, they use computer technology to highlight teaching points.  Pupils are used to discussing ideas or checking their work with a ‘response partner’ and this helps them to articulate their thoughts and gain confidence.  Teachers have the art of saying the same thing in different ways and asking pupils to say in their own words what they have understood. While this helps those who struggle to grasp new

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The quality of teaching is good

concepts the first time round, it sometimes slows the pace of learning for the most-able pupils who could start independent work sooner.  A strength in mathematics teaching is the strong focus on practical tasks. Most pupils say that it is their favourite subject because it challenges them to think for themselves, as when Year 5 pupils set each other problems involving ratio and proportion and included bogus information to make it even harder.  Teachers tend to do a bit too much of the thinking for Reception and younger pupils in Key Stage 1. They miss chances sometimes to let pupils learn through making discoveries and working things out for themselves.  In the best lessons, teachers ask very searching questions to get pupils thinking. At other times, teachers question for specific information rather than creating a dialogue where pupils ask questions too and have opportunities to develop a richer vocabulary.

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The quality of teaching is good

 An area of excellence is the way that teaching assistants are deployed. They give expert help to disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, using questioning very skilfully indeed to see how much pupils have understood.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils are cooperative, courteous and confident. They thoroughly enjoy school. They interact and socialise together extremely well at break times, lunchtimes and in lessons when they work in groups or with a partner.  Pupils say, ‘Everyone’s friends, everyone’s welcome.’ Over 70% of pupils attend extra-curricular activities because they really enjoy learning and there is so much to do that interests them.  Pupils have a strong eco-awareness. Lessons in the woodland area, growing vegetables in the school allotment, responsible jobs such as ‘eco warriors’ who take charge of energy saving and recycling, spark pupils’ curiosity about the natural world and sustainable living. Their latest project, building a greenhouse out of recycled bottles, contributed to the school’s fourth green flag award.  The school council has important responsibilities and a clear action plan. Pupils certainly feel that they have a say in what goes on at school because they see that their suggestions are valued.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils feel extremely safe. They know about the different types of bullying, including cyber- bullying. They and their parents think that bullying is negligible.  The school’s records confirm pupils’ positive views that there have been no racist incidents in this academic year. Pupils say there is very little name-calling. Pupils explain, ‘You must never retaliate. You should never start anything and don’t hurt anyone.’  Every day, pupils reflect on their behaviour and attitudes to learning. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 take charge of this themselves. The 10 minute candlelit reflection time at the end of the day is used extremely well to underpin high standards of behaviour and review the day’s learning.  The school’s exceptionally rich curriculum supports pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development very well indeed.

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The leadership and management are good

 Regular meetings between staff and key stage leaders ensure that pupils have equal learning opportunities and the right support for their individual needs.  The leadership of teaching is good. The headteacher and leadership team check teaching quality and pupils’ progress often. Lesson observations, checks on pupils’ progress in books and weekly discussions ensure that staff are accountable for pupils’ achievement.  Performance management is used well to ensure that staff receive relevant professional development. This is linked to performance related pay.  The strategy to ‘gap teach’ arose out of careful tracking of where pupils had gaps in their knowledge. This especially helps newcomers and those who are supported through school action. As a result, these pupils move swiftly off the school action register.  Excellent systems support the learning of pupils with special educational needs, ensuring that

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The leadership and management are good

pupils with significant learning needs have pertinent, personalised learning programmes.  These systems are shared by the ‘family of schools’, a group of schools, including the secondary school, that share training, educational consultants and ways of working. Pupils, therefore, receive consistent support for their learning needs throughout their schooldays.  School development planning is extremely detailed. However, it lacks a sharp focus on priorities because it lists so many possible areas to develop further, often repeating information. This tends to obscure what it does well.  The local authority gives light touch support to this good school and the extra funding it provides for pupils with specific educational needs contributes well to this group’s outstanding progress.  A major strength is the school’s success in engaging most parents in their children’s learning. This is why pupils achieve well and have excellent attitudes to learning.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governors know how well pupils, including those supported through the pupil premium funding, are progressing. They make sure that the money is spent wisely through checking on pupils’ progress. They visit school regularly, talk to pupils and look at pupils’ work with teachers. They know first-hand how well teaching is led and where it needs to improve further. Governors are closely involved in the management of staff and tackle staffing recruitment capably.

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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 107077 Local authority Sheffield Inspection number 405077

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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 Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 286 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Ian Saunders Headteacher Janet Hamilton Date of previous school inspection 16 June 2011 Telephone number 0114 2475767 Fax number 0114 2480599 Email address enquiries@reignhead.sheffield.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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