Rednal Hill Infant School

Rednal Hill Infant School Irwin Avenue, Rednal, Birmingham, B45 8QY

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Through rigorous and accurate monitoring and good guidance, school leaders manage and successfully improve pupils’ learning and the performance of teaching and support staff.  The quality of teaching is good. As a result, all groups of pupils achieve well, including those who join different year groups at different times.  Children make particularly good progress in the Nursery. Here, staff are highly skilled at teaching children how to speak clearly, communicate with others and improve their learning.  Pupils behave well and they enjoy school. They are proud of their achievements and eager to learn more and more. They feel safe in school and trust the staff to help them should they have any concerns. Parents echo these views.  The school is extremely vigilant in caring for and supporting pupils and their families, including when factors outside school affect the pupils’ ability to learn well.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The governing body has an accurate view of the school’s strengths and areas needing improvement. It makes good use of training to hone its skills and challenge the school to do better.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 There is not enough outstanding teaching to enable pupils to make consistently rapid progress.  There are some weaknesses in the teaching of phonics.  Staff do not often enough insist that pupils write neatly, form letters correctly and present their work well. Nor do they consistently show pupils how to do these things well.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching in 19 lessons. Two observations were undertaken jointly with the headteacher.  The observations included visits to several sessions where pupils were being taught phonics (letters and the sounds they represent).  Play and lunchtimes were observed and discussions were held with pupils, governors, staff and a representative of the local authority.  The 36 responses in Parent View, the Ofsted online questionnaire for parents, were considered, as were the views of a number of parents as they brought their children to school.  Account was taken of the 12 responses to the Ofsted questionnaire for staff.  A wide range of documents was scrutinised, including information about pupils’ progress and attendance, the school’s development plan and its self-evaluation document, and records and policies about safeguarding.  Teachers’ planning and the work in pupils’ books were also examined.

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Inspection team

Doris Bell, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Patricia Hazlehurst Additional Inspector Dennis Brittain Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This infant school is similar in size to the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs who are supported through school action is average. The proportion of such pupils supported at school action plus or who have a statement of special educational needs is above average.  The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives additional funding, known as the pupil premium, is well above average. This funding is, in this school, for pupils in local authority care, and those known to be eligible for free school meals.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is average. Very few speak English as an additional language.  As this is an infant school, there are no government floor standards setting the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The school shares its site with a junior school.  The school provides school-to-school support for other schools to help them raise the quality of

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the quality of teaching so that more is outstanding, including by:  achieving consistency in the teaching of phonics, and ensuring that all staff demonstrate to pupils how to pronounce the sounds of letters correctly, make sure tasks are at the right level of difficulty, and give all pupils more opportunities to practise writing letters and spelling words in phonics sessions  making sure that all staff show pupils how to present their work well, write neatly and form letters correctly at all times.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children start school in Nursery with skills that are well below those expected for their age, as do the children who join them as they move into the Reception class. Children who attend the Nursery make excellent progress in their communication skills. By the end of Reception, attainment is still below average despite good progress, because of children’s low starting points.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 By the end of Year 2, attainment is in line with the national average. This represents good progress overall.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The results of the phonics screening for pupils in Year 1 were below those found nationally in 2013. While pupils can sound the separate letters they see in new words, they sometimes have difficulty joining the letters together to read the words accurately. Nevertheless, pupils enjoy reading. Most of those heard could read fluently, understand what they read, and re-tell the story.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils, including boys, enjoy writing because it is most often linked to their topic work, and therefore has a purpose. For example, pupils write thank-you letters to visiting speakers, letters to the headteacher requesting more toys for the playground, and accounts of their visits out of school.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Some of the work in pupils’ books is untidy because handwriting is not always well-formed and some letters are reversed. This was noted also in phonics sessions, where, for example, pupils were not picked up for writing the letter ‘h’ the wrong way round.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils gain a good understanding of number, which they apply well when solving mathematical problems. They also learn how to count money, to measure accurately, and to interpret the information in the bar charts that followed surveys of favourite colours.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make good progress. As with other pupils, their progress is tracked each half term and swift action taken to adjust learning to help them progress further. These pupils receive good support from teaching and support staff.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In 2013, pupils who were eligible for the pupil premium were approximately two terms behind other pupils at the end of Year 2 in reading, writing and mathematics. This is broadly the same as is found nationally and, for the pupils concerned, represents the same good progress as all other pupils.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds also make good progress. They are fully integrated into the school and fully involved in all aspects of its work.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils thoroughly enjoy the range of sporting activities made available through the sports funding for primary schools. They include, for example, teaching the youngest children to ride two-wheeled bicycles, and a wide range of play and sports activities during the day, including at breaks and lunchtimes.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers plan learning that is based on their in-depth knowledge of how well their pupils are doing, and they readily adjust plans, if necessary, during lessons. Activities capture pupils’ interest, often in imaginative ways. For example, in Year 1, a ‘wow’ moment occurred as the teacher dressed up to help pupils understand how to give and write instructions.

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The quality of teaching is good

 All staff probe and extend pupils’ learning well by asking searching questions and requiring full explanations, in complete sentences. This helps pupils to communicate clearly. This approach is consistent across the school and contributes to the pupils’ overall good progress.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers usually manage pupils’ behaviour well, so that learning proceeds uninterrupted. However, pupils occasionally lose interest and become restless when they are itching to get onto the tasks that will show what they have learned from listening to the teacher.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Staff do not always make sure that all pupils form letters or spell words correctly in phonics sessions, or give them enough practice in this. Some staff mispronounce letter sounds or do not correct pupils when they reverse letters, thus limiting their progress. Additionally, where the same sounds are taught to the whole class, the work is too easy for some and too difficult for others.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Despite the above, teaching and support staff successfully help pupils to read and to understand what they read. Time is set aside daily for staff to listen to pupils who might not be heard to read at home, to give all pupils the opportunity to practise their reading skills.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers’ marking is mostly good because it shows pupils how to improve, and the degree of support given, so that progress can be more easily tracked. However, teachers’ handwriting is not always a good example for the pupils in how to write neatly or present work well.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Parents are happy with what the school does for them and their children. Pupils say they feel safe, and show they know how to keep themselves safe. They have a good understanding of the dangers associated with using computers and mobile phones.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of pupils is good. The school achieves much success in supporting pupils who have behavioural difficulties. Pupils know staff will always help them and they very much appreciate the systems that foster good behaviour, talking animatedly about moving up or down the rocket, or going for gold. Incidents of poor behaviour, including bullying, are rare, and they are dealt with quickly and effectively.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ attitudes to learning are mostly positive, although at times, when not working directly with a member of staff, they falter and learning slows. Pupils usually respond quickly to requests to return to their tasks or pay attention to their teacher, but there are occasions when they take too long to do so.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils learn to take responsibility well, for example, as monitors or school councillors, who are proud of their part in getting new toys for the playground. Pupils learn about democracy as they apply to be councillors and persuade people to vote for them.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils participate wholeheartedly in sporting activities where they learn about competitive sport and the importance of following rules in games.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Attendance is currently above average, although it fluctuates from year to year. Despite the school’s best efforts to impress on parents the importance of good attendance, a small number still do not get their children to school regularly or on time.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher’s strong determination to ensure that all pupils make at least good progress, personally and academically, is shared by all staff. Good teamwork is evident throughout the school as staff plan pupils’ work together, share ideas, and moderate their assessments of pupils’ learning to ensure they are accurate. This gives the school strong capacity for further improvement.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders at different levels fulfil their roles well. All are involved in the rigorous checks made on teaching and learning and in helping to improve the performance of all staff. Areas for improvement are always followed up and staff are constantly challenged to do better.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher encourages teaching and support staff to gain additional qualifications by attending courses and sharing what they learn with everyone else. Thus, the school has a highly trained, skilled staff that contribute to each other’s improvement as well as that of the pupils.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school’s evaluation of its own effectiveness is accurate. It is securely based on the information gained from the meticulous tracking of pupils’ progress and the checks made on the quality of teaching. There are clear links between it, the school development plan, the objectives set for staff during the management of their performance, and the targets set for pupils.

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The leadership and management are good

 The imaginative way subjects are brought together in topics contributes to pupils’ love of learning. It supports the development of skills in all subjects, and further enhances pupils’ reading, writing and mathematics skills alongside their personal skills. It also encourages them to reflect on their learning, their behaviour, and their place in the wider world. Overall, the school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school organises many visits and visitors, usually related to the topics being studied, that enhance pupils’ learning and personal development, and give them a wide range of experiences they might not otherwise have.

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The leadership and management are good

 Safeguarding procedures meet the government’s current requirements and all training is up to date. The school goes the extra mile to support pupils and their families when they face difficulties. It also promotes equality of opportunity well and teaches pupils to be caring, and to respect others, regardless of background, culture or ability.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority has not provided the school with any support for some time. Rather, it recognises that the school is good and improving, and uses it to help other schools improve.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governors have a good understanding of data about achievement. They use the information well to ask questions and challenge the school to do better. They visit the school regularly to check on pupils’ progress, and particularly to see whether pupil premium spending is making a difference for the pupils who are eligible for it. They help the headteacher make decisions about pay based on staff performance, and support her in making difficult decisions when staff do not perform well enough. Governors have made sensible decisions about how to use the sports funding for primary schools. For example, they have employed a sports coach to help staff teach physical education better, to introduce pupils to competitive sports, and to increase the range of games that pupils play at break and lunchtimes. All this helps to increase their enjoyment and their physical well-being.

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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 103249 Local authority Birmingham Inspection number 440489

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School details

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.

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School details

Type of school Infant School category Community Age range of pupils 3–7 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 259 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Damon Hewson Headteacher Elaine Le Gros Date of previous school inspection 23-24 November 2010 Telephone number 0121 4532636 Fax number 0121 4537134 Email address office@rednalhill-inf.bham.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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