Rivelin Primary School

Rivelin Primary School Morley Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S6 2PL

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Overall effectiveness Good

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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This is a good school

 The headteacher and other leaders, including governors, are ambitious for the school. Their leadership has been highly effective in improving the school since the previous inspection.  Leaders and managers have worked effectively to improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment which are now good.  Teaching in the early years is good. As a result, children make good progress and are well prepared for their learning in Year 1.  Pupils make overall good progress in reading, writing and mathematics across Years 1 to 6.  Pupils, including the most able, the disadvantaged and those with special educational needs, make good progress in writing in Key Stage 2. Rates of progress for all pupils in reading and mathematics are improving rapidly.  Pupils’ personal development, behaviour and welfare are good. Pupils are respectful of one another and adults, and show positive attitudes to their learning.

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This is a good school

 Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is effectively promoted. Staff help pupils to respect people from different backgrounds, and to value differences in ideas and opinions.  The wide range of extra-curricular clubs, visits and out-of-school experiences ensure pupils leave the school well prepared for the next stage in their education and to become active citizens in their local community.  Governors take their responsibilities seriously, are regular visitors to the school and provide a good balance of challenge and support for the school’s leaders.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Overall, pupils’ progress in reading and mathematics, while improving rapidly, is not as strong as in writing across Key Stage 2.  Pupils do not always have enough opportunities in Years 3 to 6 to use their mathematical skills to solve problems.  Not all teachers check pupils’ learning carefully in lessons, and adjust their work accordingly.  Some teachers move some pupils on too quickly with their work, before they have fully understood what they are learning.  The attendance of disadvantaged pupils is below the national average.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching even further, by:  ensuring all teachers check fully all pupils learning in lessons and adjust the work accordingly, to keep all pupils fully interested and challenged  ensuring all teachers provide sufficient time for all pupils to consolidate their understanding before moving on to other tasks and topics.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of pupils making good and better progress in reading and mathematics across Key Stage 2 by:  embedding all the recently introduced strategies to hone pupils’ reading skills, especially their abilities to infer and deduce hidden meanings in formal, and informal, texts  providing regular opportunities in all classes for pupils to use new mathematical knowledge to solve problems and thereby deepen their understanding  ensuring all teachers constantly probe pupils’ levels of mathematical understanding and extend their thinking, through regular questioning that encourages them to explain and justify their answers and calculations.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the attendance of a small minority of disadvantaged pupils so that it is at the national average, by persuading even more rigorously individual families to send their children regularly to school.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 The headteacher, senior leaders and governors are ambitious for the school. They work effectively as a team to bring about continuous improvement. They have been successful in creating a culture of high expectations, since the previous inspection, in which good teaching, learning and behaviour now flourish.  The headteacher has successfully tackled all of the historically poor teaching, and much that required improvement. Leaders provide effective support and training to teachers to continue to improve the quality of teaching. As a result, teaching is good and improving, and pupils make good progress.  Teachers’ pay progression is linked rigorously to their performance, measured closely against the teachers’ standards.  Middle leaders are increasingly effective in their roles. They receive good support and training, including opportunities to check the quality of teaching and learning. They work with teachers effectively to

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

improve the quality of their teaching, and hold them more responsible for the progress their pupils make. They know the main strengths of the school and its priorities for development.  Leaders and managers ensure that pupils’ progress is carefully tracked. Regular checks on pupils’ progress ensure that senior leaders and staff quickly identify pupils who are not doing as well as they should. Additional support is put in place to help these pupils to make better progress. As a result, different groups of pupils, including those with special educational needs and disadvantaged pupils, make good progress. This demonstrates leaders’ commitment to promoting equality of opportunity for pupils.  All adults tackle any rare instances of discriminatory or prejudiced behaviour robustly and successfully. These actions underpin the school’s strong sense of community and its positive environment.  The curriculum is effective in developing pupils’ basic reading, writing and mathematical skills. Interesting

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

topics make good links between some subjects; for example, the topic on Romans in Year 4 encouraged enthusiastic writing through exploring artefacts and ‘real-life’ experiences. Philosophy for children poses thought-provoking questions such as ‘Can we be happy being alone?’ and ‘Why is there so much violence in the world?’  Additional opportunities provided by visitors to the school, enrich pupils’ experiences further. They help to bring learning alive. Pupils say how much they enjoy learning about life in Britain in the fifties and sixties, upholding the school’s ‘eco code’ and encouraging recyclable waste. They eagerly participate in a wide array of sporting teams and competitions that encourage teamwork.  Staff promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development effectively. Pupils learn about the different cultures and faiths represented in modern Britain. British values are carefully promoted through,

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

for example, pupils’ involvement in the democratic process of electing members of the school council and learning about the importance of remembrance and Armistice Day. As a result of this work, pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain. Pupils’ appreciation of art and music is less well developed.  The school’s use of the primary physical education and sports premium funding has increased the range of sporting opportunities available to pupils, and has resulted in greater pupil participation in sports and more competitions against other schools. School leaders have not yet fully investigated the extent to which it has helped to develop staff confidence in teaching physical education.  Leaders, including governors, ensure that the additional funding for disadvantaged pupils is used effectively. Small-group support in reading, writing and mathematics, and additional resources to support

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

home learning and Year 6 revision, have helped to ensure that these pupils make similar progress to all other pupils.  A large majority of the parents responding to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, including the parents that inspectors spoke to during the inspection, say that the school is well led and managed. Almost all staff responding to the staff questionnaire agree with them.  The local authority, an external consultant and local primary schools provide effective support to help to continue to improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, and the accuracy and reliability of the school’s self-evaluation procedures.  The governance of the school  Governors receive a wide range of information about the school’s work, and are confident in holding senior leaders to account for the school’s performance and its safeguarding arrangements.  Governors keep a close watch on how funding, such as the pupil premium, is deployed to meet

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

priorities, and whether it is having its required impact on pupils’ outcomes.  Governors have worked with the headteacher to improve the quality of teaching since the previous inspection. They have a clear understanding of the quality of teaching and its impact on outcomes for pupils. Governors know about the management of teachers’ performance and the links between this and teachers’ pay progression. They have put to place similar robust arrangements for evaluating the headteacher’s annual performance.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders, governors and staff work closely with a range of external agencies and individual families to ensure that pupils are safe. All staff receive regular training on safeguarding, and are aware of how to identify whether pupils are at risk and to report any concerns. Almost all parents responding to Parent View say that their children feel safe at school.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 Leaders, including governors, and managers have been successful in improving the quality of teaching since the previous inspection. The quality of teaching is good and ensures that pupils make overall good progress with their learning. Teaching is typically stronger in the early years and Key Stage 1 than Key Stage 2.  A strong feature of teaching is the calm and purposeful atmosphere for learning, with teachers and teaching assistants establishing strong working relationships with their pupils.  All adults expect much of pupils and most pupils have good attitudes to learning. The vast majority strive to do their best, and cooperate well to share their views and ideas. For example, pupils in a Year 6 lesson were engaged in deep discussions as they planned to recount the discovery of deoxyribonucleic acid . Similarly, in a Year 1 literacy lesson, pupils persevered very well to match individual words to pictures to

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

recount a short story.  Teachers gain and hold the attention of pupils because they make learning interesting and challenging. Teachers are knowledgeable and enthusiastic about what they teach and generate confidence in pupils that they can succeed, from whatever their starting point.  The school has introduced a new system of assessing pupils’ progress since the previous inspection. Assessment information is used increasingly effectively, by the vast majority of teachers, to plan lessons that are appropriate to the needs of the different groups of pupils.  The quality of marking of pupils’ work has improved since the previous inspection, in line with the school’s policy on marking. Pupils are given guidance on how to improve their work which they generally use to good effect.  The most-able pupils are often provided with additional challenges to deepen their learning. As a result, they make good progress.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 Teaching assistants work well with pupils who have particular needs, including those who are at risk of underachievement. They provide them with effective support. As a result, pupils with special educational needs, those who speak English as an additional language and disadvantaged pupils make good progress.  The vast majority of pupils enjoy reading. Most staff use the daily reading sessions increasingly effectively to listen to pupils read, discuss their reading with them and teach them techniques to make sense of unfamiliar words and phrases. Phonics (the sounds that letters make) is taught effectively across the school, and is helping pupils to read more fluently and with greater understanding.  The teaching of writing is good. The handwriting of most pupils is of a high quality. Written work is presented with high levels of care. Teachers pay good attention to showing pupils how to sequence ideas,

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

spell accurately and use correct grammar to develop complex sentences.  The teaching of mathematics equips pupils well with a good range of calculation skills and mathematical vocabulary. However, not all teachers provide sufficient opportunities for all pupils to test their new knowledge and skills to the full in solving mathematical investigations and word problems. Not all teachers ensure all pupils have sufficient time to deepen their understanding about mathematical concepts before new learning starts.  Most teachers know their pupils well. In general, teachers plan effectively to meet pupils’ needs. On occasions, teaching does not check carefully whether all pupils understand sufficiently what they are learning before moving on to new activities. At times, some teachers do not adapt activities to meet pupils’ changing needs. As a result, the most able sometimes find the work too easy and become bored

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

while the least able find the work too difficult and become restless.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Pupils are proud of their school. They are respectful and caring of each other and adults. Pupils from different backgrounds work and play together happily.  Pupils have positive attitudes to learning and are keen to do their best. They interact with each other well, for example when working with a partner or in small groups.  Pupils enjoy the different responsibilities they are given, including members of the school council, eco warriors and helping roles within the many out-of-school clubs and activities.  Pupils say they feel safe in school and can approach a member of staff easily if they have any concerns about their safety. They are confident that staff will not tolerate any language or actions that may be offensive. Pupils are taught well how to keep themselves safe, and know about, for example, road and fire safety and how to keep safe when using the internet.

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Personal development and welfare

 Pupils have a good awareness of different types of bullying, including racist and homophobic bullying and cyberbullying. Pupils say that bullying is rare. This is confirmed by the school’s behaviour records which show very few incidents of poor behaviour.  The many visits and visitors to school promote well pupils’ all round spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. As a consequence, they are well equipped for their future learning in secondary school and for their roles as active citizens in the local community.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Expectations of how everyone should behave are made clear, in line with the school’s published vision in every classroom, and are understood by the pupils. They appreciate the rewards they get for positive behaviour and achievements, and understand that there are consequences for unacceptable behaviour.  Pupils are polite and friendly, and conduct themselves well around the school. In the playground and dining room, pupils are helpful and considerate.  In lessons, the vast majority of pupils are eager to learn, they behave well and there is very little disruption to learning. Occasionally, some pupils are inattentive and lose concentration, especially if they are not sure what to do or are not sufficiently stretched. As a result, their progress slows.  The school’s leaders work hard to encourage pupils to attend school regularly. Most do so, and are generally keen, and on time, to start their lessons. As a result, attendance is at the national average and

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Behaviour

persistent absence is falling. However, the attendance of a small minority of disadvantaged pupils is below the national average.  Most parents and staff responding to the Ofsted online questionnaires agree that pupils’ behaviour is good.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 Pupils’ achievement has risen since the previous inspection and is good. Improvements in teaching are leading to pupils making better progress throughout the school.  The school’s own information shows that pupils make good progress throughout the school in a range of different subjects, including in writing and mathematics. The vast majority also make increasingly good progress in reading. This is confirmed by the good progress seen in pupils’ books and in visits to lessons across the different year groups.  Pupils’ attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 in 2015 was overall average, higher in mathematics than in reading and writing. Pupils make good progress because of the strong teaching in Years 1 and 2.  Pupils’ attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 is rising, as teaching improves. However, the initially published information for 2015 does not entirely support this picture. This is because it does not take

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Outcomes for pupils are good

account of a very large proportion of pupils who unusually joined Year 6 during the academic year 2014/15, many with complex needs and some at an early stage of learning English. This was due to a reorganisation of educational provision elsewhere in the local authority.  Attainment in writing in 2015 was above average for the pupils who attended school across Years 3 to 6. Attainment was average in reading and mathematics. Given this cohort’s just-below-average starting points at the beginning of Key Stage 2, especially in reading and writing, these outcomes represent overall good progress.  The school’s information and inspection evidence shows that all groups of pupils make increasingly good progress across Years 1 to 6 in reading, writing and mathematics. This is because of the increasingly good teaching and well-matched activities that interest and motivate pupils of all abilities.  The most-able pupils are largely well challenged in lessons, and the school’s information confirms that

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Outcomes for pupils are good

they make increasingly good progress across the year groups. In 2015, at the end of Key Stages 1 and 2, a significant proportion of the most-able pupils attained the higher levels in reading, writing and mathematics.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, as well as those who have fallen behind and need to catch up in their learning, also make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. This is because their progress is tracked carefully and they receive effective care and support from staff.  Disadvantaged pupils make increasingly good progress, and the gaps with their classmates are closing in all subjects, in most years in school. Gaps vary with other pupils nationally because several pupils receiving pupil premium support have additional learning needs, and the numbers in some year groups are small. Overall, the end of Year 6 gap with other pupils nationally in reading has closed over time to

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Outcomes for pupils are good

sixteen months, but has widened in writing and mathematics. In 2015, gaps in these subjects were approximately eight and six months with other pupils nationally.  There is no discernible difference from their White British peers in the achievement of the small numbers of pupils from different ethnic backgrounds, as well as the very small minority speaking English as an additional language.  By the end of Key Stage 1, the proportion of pupils who achieve the expected level in phonics is above the national average. Pupils’ knowledge of the sounds that letters make is helping them to enjoy reading. Daily guided reading sessions, together with new strategies to support pupils in understanding what they read and in making inferences and deductions, are improving pupils’ reading skills. Not all of these strategies are fully embedded in all years. As a consequence, a small minority of pupils do not yet make

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Outcomes for pupils are good

the good progress in reading of which they are capable.  Attainment in writing is particularly strong across the different year groups. This is because pupils are encouraged to plan and write at length, and across different subjects and topics. Teachers pay particular attention to widening pupils’ vocabulary, enhancing their accuracy in the use of grammar and developing confidence in sequencing their ideas in well-structured paragraphs.  Pupils make increasingly good progress in mathematics. This is a result of teachers’ secure subject knowledge and insistence on pupils practising daily their times tables and basic skills. There is still scope for more pupils to make good progress in mathematics, through applying more frequently their mathematical knowledge in a range of relevant problem-solving activities and through explaining more readily their approaches to individual calculations.  Achievement across most subjects of the curriculum is good. Overall, pupils are prepared well for

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Outcomes for pupils are good

secondary school. They develop particularly good all-round knowledge and skills in science, religious education and physical education, but less so in art and music.

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Early years provision is good

 Most children enter the early years with skills that are typical for their age, although a minority experience some difficulties in speaking, understanding and reading, and with aspects of their personal development.  An increasing proportion of pupils make good progress from these starting points due to good teaching and effective care and support. In 2014 and 2015, a much larger number of children achieved a good level of development by the end of the Reception Year than seen nationally. Overall, children are well prepared for transition to Year 1.  Boys do not always do as well as girls, particularly in reading and writing. Leaders have taken action on this and have improved outdoor learning to support boys’ learning further. The small number of disadvantaged children generally make good progress with their learning.  The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good. The information that is gathered through

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Early years provision is good

assessment is used effectively to plan for the needs and abilities of children, especially the most able.  There is a good balance of adult-led and independent activities where the children make their own decisions about what they wish to do. For example, in a lesson on letters and sounds, children used both indoor and outdoor learning areas to engage in activities on sounds and letters, and joined in with the activity on rhyming words. Inspectors saw how well adults ignited children’s curiosity in an investigation on giant African snails, and encouraged their talking during the writing of Christmas shopping lists.  Learning journals are well presented, with photographs and annotations describing children’s achievements. These provide a good record of the progress of each individual child, including the next stage in their learning, for parents and staff as well as for the children themselves.  Good relationships with parents ensure that they are well informed about their child’s progress. They are

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Early years provision is good

encouraged to work in partnership with the school to support their child’s learning. There is strong parental engagement when children start in the Nursery Year, through ‘meet and greet’ opportunities.  The children’s welfare and safety are given the highest priority and as a result they are happy, safe and confident.  The leadership of early years provision is good. Leaders have a clear view about the strengths and areas for development of the provision, and use the assessment information effectively to plan for improvements. Leaders use additional funding especially effectively to close gaps in progress between disadvantaged children and their peers.

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School details

Unique reference number 107081 Local authority Sheffield Inspection number 10002048

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School details

This inspection 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 425 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair David Higgens Headteacher in charge Joanne Powell Telephone number 0114 234 1304 Website www.rivelinprimary.co.uk Email address enquiries@rivelin.sheffield.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 12 September 2013

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Information about this school

 This is a larger than average-sized primary school.  The majority of pupils are of White British heritage.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils who are supported through the pupil premium is below the national average. The pupil premium is additional government funding to support those pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those looked after by the local authority.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is below the national average. There are currently no disabled pupils in school.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress by the end of Year 6 in reading, writing and mathematics.  The school receives support from the local authority, an external consultant and from local primary schools, including Stannington Infant School, Sheffield.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching and learning in a range of different lessons, of which one was observed jointly with the headteacher.  Pupils’ work was sampled informally in lessons in a range of subjects. In addition, mathematics and writing from Years 5 and 6 were sampled separately.  Inspectors also reviewed a range of documents, including the school’s own information on current pupils’ progress, planning and monitoring documentation, minutes of governing body’s meetings, records relating to behaviour and attendance, and documents pertaining to safeguarding.  Inspectors held meetings with pupils in Years 3 to 6, with governors and with school staff, including those with management responsibilities.  Inspectors evaluated the 80 responses of parents to the Ofsted online questionnaire (Parent View). Inspectors also took into account the views of 24 members of the school’s staff through the questionnaires they returned. No pupils completed the Ofsted online questionnaire, but inspectors

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Information about this inspection

evaluated pupils’ views in response to a recent school questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Andrew Swallow, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Susan Twaites Ofsted Inspector James Reid Ofsted Inspector guidance 'Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . 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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Inspection team

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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Inspection team

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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted .

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Inspection team

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 and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Inspection team

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Inspection team

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

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