Setting

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Alison Stringer Headteacher Rokeby Primary School Anderson Avenue Rugby Warwickshire CV22 5PE

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School

Following my visit to your school on 19 July 2016, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in March 2015. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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School

Senior leaders and governors are not taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the last section 5 inspection in order to become a good school.

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School

The school should work with the local authority and take urgent action to:

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School

 ensure that leaders place a greater emphasis on the achievement of different groups so that they can provide teachers with the advice they need to help pupils make faster progress  make sure that the governing body holds senior leaders rigorously to account for pupils’ achievement and ensures that the school website meets requirements on the publication of specified information  ensure that teachers plan activities that deepen pupils mathematical understanding and that they make sure pupils spell correctly, use punctuation and grammar accurately, and present their work neatly  ensure the school improvement plan identifies the exact actions that will be taken to raise the achievement of different groups.

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Evidence

During this inspection, meetings were held with the headteacher, the leaders with responsibility for English and mathematics, and the chair and vice-chair of the governing body to discuss the actions taken since the last inspection. Telephone conversations were held with two local authority representatives. The school improvement plan was evaluated. A range of documentation was reviewed, including the most recent information about pupils’ achievement, written feedback to teachers following visits to lessons and reviews of pupils’ work. The headteacher joined me on brief visits to most classes. We spoke with some pupils and looked at examples of pupils’ work in different subjects.

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Context

Since the previous inspection in March 2015, two class teachers have left the school. The governing body recruited two temporary teachers for both classes. One of these temporary teachers recently left the school. The headteacher has been teaching in this class since June 2016.

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Main findings

You and the governing body have not responded quickly enough to the weaknesses in pupils’ achievement. Work in pupils’ books shows that rates of progress remain variable and pupils are not consistently making enough progress in writing and mathematics. As a consequence, there are groups of pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, who do not have the skills and knowledge expected for their age.

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Main findings

The school’s unvalidated results for 2016 present a mixed picture. The vast majority of children in Reception class are expected to reach a good level of development. Similarly, most pupils in Year 2 are expected to reach the standards expected for their age in reading, writing and mathematics. In contrast, the proportion of current Year 1 pupils meeting the standard required in the phonics (letters and the sounds they make) check has declined from 94% in 2015 to 79% in 2016. The provisional results for current Year 6 pupils are lower than the national figures in reading, writing and mathematics.

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Main findings

During our brief visits to lessons, we looked at examples of pupils’ work. In mathematics, the most able pupils and those who grasp concepts quickly are not given the chance to deepen and extend their mathematical knowledge within lessons. They spend too long answering basic questions and this inhibits the progress that they make. Opportunities for pupils to write have increased significantly since the start of the academic year. Teachers plan a suitable range of writing activities across different subjects. However, when pupils write, their work often contains errors. This is because some teachers do not make sure that pupils spell correctly and use punctuation and grammar accurately. The presentation of pupils’ work has improved but remains variable. This is because there are still occasions when teachers allow some pupils to scribble in their books, to form letters incorrectly and to draw lines without a ruler.

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Main findings

The actions taken in response to the way teachers mark pupils’ work have had a positive impact. Following the last inspection, senior leaders worked with staff to revise the school’s marking policy. They also introduced regular reviews of pupils’ work so that they could check how well staff were adhering to the marking policy. These checks have led to a consistent approach across the school. Teachers make sure that pupils respond to the advice they receive.

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Main findings

You, other senior leaders and governors are still not making effective use of pupils’ achievement information. Previously published information for pupils in Years 2 and 6 shows significant differences between the achievement of boys and girls and disadvantaged pupils and their classmates. At the time of this inspection, senior leaders were not sure if the gaps between these different groups had closed. Senior leaders visit lessons, look at pupils’ work and meet with staff to discuss the progress of individual pupils. However, senior leaders do not focus enough on the achievement of different groups. Consequently, the advice that staff receive is at times too general and does not identify the precise actions teachers need to take to help accelerate pupils’ progress.

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Main findings

The external review of governance has not had enough of an impact. The governing body is still not holding senior leaders rigorously to account. In part, this is because the information they receive from leaders is incomplete. In March, for example, governors did not receive information about the achievement of pupils in Year 3. Yet this was not queried or followed up by governors. Governors are starting to ask pertinent questions about teaching and pupils’ learning. However, they too readily accept what senior leaders say and do not check if leaders’ actions are making enough of a difference to pupils. This is especially the case for disadvantaged pupils. Governors know how pupil premium funding is spent but do not know if gaps between disadvantaged pupils and their classmates or pupils nationally are closing. The school does not meet the requirements on the publication of specified information on its website. Although senior leaders have all the relevant information

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Main findings

in school, this information is not available for parents on the school’s website.

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Main findings

Records relating to safeguarding have been completely reorganised. Senior leaders, together with the school’s family support worker make sure that information relating to concerns about pupils are kept in chronological order with details of the actions taken by school staff. Senior leaders and governors also make sure that robust checks are made prior to the appointment of staff and that all relevant information is retained. During this inspection, I was presented with information about staff working at the school and a list of all the safeguarding checks undertaken. However, there was some information missing from the list that I was shown. This list was updated by the end of the inspection. The pupils I spoke with confirmed that they feel safe in school. They also knew how to keep themselves safe, such as when walking to and from school.

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Main findings

The school improvement plan was revised following the inspection. The actions within the plan are not precise enough. For example, the plan does not state how leaders and teachers will make sure that the most able are consistently set challenging work.

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Main findings

I recommend an external review of the school’s use of pupil premium.

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Main findings

Ofsted may carry out further monitoring inspections and, where necessary, provide further support and challenge to the school until its next section 5 inspection.

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External support

The impact of the local authority has been limited. This is because you and the governors have not implemented the required changes quickly enough. Since the previous inspection, a local authority adviser has visited the school regularly. These visits have consisted of discussions with the headteacher and working alongside the leaders with responsibility for English and mathematics to check pupils’ work. The subject leaders have responded enthusiastically to the guidance they have received. They have had a positive impact on the feedback teachers provide to pupils. Further training is planned for subject leaders.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body and the director of children’s services for Warwickshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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