Rossington St Michael's CofE Primary School

Rossington St Michael’s C of E Primary School Sheepbridge Lane, Old Rossington, Doncaster, South Yorkshire DN11 0EZ

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leaders, including governors, have not done enough to improve the school. They have failed to tackle most of the areas for improvement raised at the last inspection, including those that were related to the quality of teaching. As a result, pupils’ outcomes have not improved rapidly enough.  Leaders, including subject leaders, have not been rigorous enough in checking how well pupils are taught and the quality of work pupils produce. The progress of pupils has therefore been allowed to slip.  The leadership of the school has an over- generous view of how well the school is doing.  Leaders’ plans to improve teaching and pupils’ outcomes are not sufficiently detailed or challenging.  Outcomes for pupils are not good enough, especially at the end of key stage 2 in reading, writing and mathematics, because the quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate.  Standards in reading are unacceptably low at

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

key stage 2 because of the lack of a rigorous system for the teaching of reading skills.  The standards that disadvantaged pupils in the school achieve are not improving rapidly enough.  Teachers’ expectations of what pupils can do are not high enough. Pupils of different abilities often complete similar work that is repetitive and unnecessary. The work planned, particularly for the most able, is not challenging enough.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The teaching of phonics has improved, and as a result the proportion of younger pupils meeting the required standard has risen.  Pupils behave well and they are eager to learn. They feel safe and say the school keeps them safe.  Children get off to a good start in the early years. They are taught well and make good progress. They are well prepared for Year 1.

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Full report

In accordance with section 44(1) of 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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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Rapidly improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment so that pupils’ outcomes improve, especially at key stage 2, by: – raising teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve so they are consistently high across the school – making certain that a rigorous programme for the teaching of reading is quickly introduced and its impact is robustly monitored – accurately matching the work pupils do to their level of ability, so that unnecessary repetition is avoided and all groups, but especially the most able, make rapid progress in reading, writing and mathematics – ensuring that feedback in books follows the school’s policy so that it supports pupils to make better progress. – ensuring that pupils consistently and accurately apply what they have learned in lessons about English grammar, punctuation and spelling to their written work in other subject areas.  Strengthen and improve the capacity of leadership by:

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

− urgently reviewing the priorities for teaching, learning and assessment, and pupils’ outcomes, identified in the school improvement plan, and implement more stringent actions to raise expectations so that improvement is more rapid − introducing a more rigorous system to monitor the quality of teaching and its impact on learning, so where teaching is not good enough support and training can be put into place to improve teaching and, therefore, pupils’ outcomes − ensuring that the newly appointed middle leaders are given the appropriate support to quickly address the priorities needed to improve outcomes for reading, writing and mathematics − making certain that pupil premium funding is used to quickly reduce the differences in outcomes between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils nationally − continuing to develop the skills of the governing body.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Leaders have not been rigorous enough in tackling most of the areas for improvement identified at the last inspection. Weaknesses in teaching remain, especially at key stage 2, and as a result outcomes have not improved rapidly enough. Recent results at key stage 2 indicate a significant decline in outcomes, especially for reading.  Leaders have an over-generous and inaccurate view of the school’s performance. Although there are noticeable improvements in early years, and some improvement at key stage 1, pupils are underperforming significantly in key stage 2 and are not achieving the standards of which they are capable.  Procedures for leaders to check on the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, and the impact it has on learning, are not stringent. Consequently, pupils are completing work that is often inappropriate for their abilities. The most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, are regularly completing work that is too

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

easy.  Leaders’ plans to secure improvement in pupils’ outcomes lack detail and precision. The activities planned to address the improvements that are urgently needed are not robust or challenging, especially for leadership and management, teaching and outcomes.  Middle leaders, especially subject leaders for English and mathematics, are new to their roles and have yet to address the weaknesses associated with their areas of responsibility. They are keen to do well, but currently lack the capacity to urgently tackle poor teaching and underperformance in pupils’ outcomes.  Systems for managing staff performance are in place. Targets for improvement are linked to priorities in the school improvement plan and staff have access to school-wide as well as bespoke training, to help them improve their practice. However, because there is an over-generous view of the quality of teaching and the progress pupils make,

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

the appraisal system has not improved pupils’ achievement sufficiently in some classes.  The several new teachers that have been recently employed, including newly qualified teachers, feel they receive good support from school leaders. However, it is too early to say whether this support is improving the quality of teaching.  Since the last inspection there has been an external review related to the use of pupil premium funding to support disadvantaged pupils. This has yet to have a significant impact on reducing the differences in attainment between disadvantaged and other pupils.  Pupil premium funding is used to support equality of opportunity. For example, leaders ensure that all pupils have access to music lessons and musical events, school visits and after-school clubs. However, leaders’ use of this funding is failing to have a significant impact on diminishing the difference in attainment and progress between

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

disadvantaged pupils and their peers nationally.  The funding the school receives to support pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is used well to provide effective support. Staff training is carefully focused and pupils benefit from individual support in the classroom.  The curriculum is broad and balanced. Subjects such as history are addressed through topic work, but some subjects such as science are taught discretely when it is more appropriate. Pupils regularly visit places linked to topics, such as a museum when learning about Romans. Music is a particular strength of the school. Pupils have opportunities to learn to play a musical instrument and be a member of the school’s orchestra, which has enjoyed success at a range of music festivals and events.  The school prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding is developed through the promotion of the schools’

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

Christian values. Specific themes in the curriculum address issues such as prejudice and intolerance, and pupils study other cultures and faiths. During the recent referendum on membership of the European Union, pupils participated in their own democratic process when electing the school council. This process, which involved speeches from candidates, debates and pupils voting for their preferred candidate, was overseen by local councillors.  The school actively promotes health and well-being. The primary school physical education (PE) and sports funding is used well and pupils have access to a range of after-school clubs such as tennis and football. Staff at the school have been very proactive in encouraging pupils and parents to cycle to school and as a result there has been a noticeable increase in the proportion who do so.  Newly qualified teachers may not be appointed.

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Governance of the school

 Since the school was last inspected the governing body has been strengthened. A review of governance has been undertaken and a national leader of governance appointed to the governing body. However, this has yet to have an impact on pupils’ achievement as governors have not, until recently, challenged school leaders rigorously enough.  Governors are committed to school improvement and are beginning to provide support and challenge to school leaders. Governors visit the school regularly to complete learning walks.  Governors understand how well the school is achieving in comparison with other schools nationally and are well aware of the challenges they face. They have a clear view of finances, including how the pupil premium funding is used and the link between teachers’ pay and pupils’ performance. However, governors have not effectively held leaders to account for the quality of teaching in the school and for the

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Strong arrangements for safeguarding and child protection are overseen by the headteacher. Staff have access to regular training, and weekly staff meetings include an item on the agenda that deals specifically with any safeguarding concerns. The school works effectively with outside agencies to ensure that pupils who are not attending school or are dual registered are safe. Leaders have supported parents who have had safeguarding concerns for their children outside the school.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

 The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inconsistent in key stage 1 and key stage 2. Currently it is too weak overall to have the much-needed impact on raising standards, especially in key stage 2.  Teachers’ expectations of what pupils can do are not high enough in most classes. This is especially the case for most-able pupils, who often complete work that not only lacks challenge but is similar to the work other pupils do.  Teachers do not accurately check what pupils are achieving, particularly in key stage 2. Consequently, pupils complete work that is similar to work they have done previously. For example, in mathematics pupils of different abilities are completing similar number calculations repeatedly and correctly, and are not given enough opportunities to reach a greater depth of understanding.  Ensuring pupils’ work is routinely marked and provides clear guidance was an area for

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

improvement in the last inspection. This has not been addressed fully, because too frequently some teachers do not follow the school’s marking policy and their written feedback does not support pupils to improve further.  A scrutiny of pupils’ books indicated that grammar, punctuation and spelling skills are taught as standalone activities. However, pupils are not encouraged to apply what they have learned to their written work consistently. Furthermore, in some learning activities that were observed during the inspection, pupils were completing work on grammar that was inappropriately matched and far too easy for their abilities.  There is some uncertainty among pupils, staff and leaders about when and how reading should be taught, specifically in key stage 2. As a result the teaching of reading is ineffective, resulting in consistently low outcomes.  The teaching of reading in key stage 1 has improved. Current information on the

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

proportion of pupils meeting the required standard in the phonics screening check for Year 1 pupils has noticeably improved.  Teaching assistants do provide some helpful support to pupils. They support individual pupils and groups of pupils well in class and help them with their learning.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Pupils work cooperatively with each other during lessons. On the playground pupils play happily, or chat with one another in quieter areas. Just occasionally pupils can be over-boisterous on the playground and can momentarily, and unintentionally, forget the need to have regard for the well-being of others.  The school provides many opportunities that support personal development. There are a range of after-school clubs and a residential each year for older pupils. Pupils participate in sponsored events to raise money for the school and charities.  Pupils say that they feel safe in school. They understand the different forms bullying can take, including cyber bullying. They say bullying is rare in school and where it happens it is dealt with well by staff.  Elections to the school council give pupils a developing understanding of how

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Personal development and welfare

democracy works.  Pupils have positive relationships with staff. They listen well in lessons and do what teachers and teaching assistants ask of them.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Around the school pupils are courteous and polite and learning is rarely interrupted by low-level disruption.  Pupils have good attitudes to learning and classrooms are calm working environments.  Attendance in 2016 was similar to national averages. Currently, attendance is improving and is above national averages.  A small minority of parents spoken to by the inspectors and those who responded on Parent View expressed some concern about the behaviour of pupils at the school.

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

 Since the last inspection, outcomes have not improved significantly.  Progress at key stage 2 has not been rapid enough to improve standards and recent results are indicating that outcomes at the end of key stage 2 remain unacceptably low, especially for reading. As a result, pupils are not fully prepared for their next stage of education.  Attainment at the end of key stage 1 has remained broadly average since the school was previously inspected. The proportion of pupils achieving the higher levels has only slightly improved. This represents expected progress from pupils’ starting points.  The standard of work in pupils’ books shows wide variation across the different year groups. In key stage 2, the progress pupils are currently making is limited because work lacks challenge and pupils are not moved on to more demanding work when they are clearly ready to do so. This is especially the case for pupils in Years 3 to 5.

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

 Most-able pupils have consistently underperformed since the last inspection and recent results show no improvement. An analysis of pupils’ work during the inspection shows that the most able pupils, including disadvantaged pupils who are most able, are not challenged well enough across a range of subjects to achieve well.  From their different starting points, disadvantaged pupils make similar expected progress as other pupils. However, the progress that disadvantaged pupils are making is not rapid enough to reduce significantly the differences in attainment between this group of pupils and other pupils.  The proportion of pupils entering Year 1 with a good level of development in reading, writing and mathematics has improved since the last inspection. Furthermore, the teaching of phonics in Year 1 has improved. As a result, recent results show that the proportion of pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, who achieve the required standard

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

in the Year 1 phonics screening check has increased to above national averages.  Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities receive good support and as a result they are currently making reasonable progress from their starting points in reading, writing and mathematics.

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Early years provision Good

 Children start school with skills and abilities that are typical for their age. They make good progress as they move through the Reception class and an increasing number of children are achieving a good level of development by the time they enter key stage 1. Year-on-year the proportion of pupils achieving a good level of development has increased to above national averages. Consequently, pupils are well prepared for learning when they start Year 1.  The early years is well led, which accounts for the improving trend in outcomes. Leaders in the early years have successfully tackled areas for improvement from the last inspection. They have ensured that any differences in achievement between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils are reducing rapidly.  Teaching is effective in the Reception class and the curriculum is providing good opportunities for children to learn indoors and outdoors and practise basic skills in both

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Early years provision Good

areas. Children are encouraged to explore the environment and initiate their own activities, such as digging for treasure, when they are exploring the outside wooded area.  Adults question children well to challenge them and extend their learning. As a result, the proportion of children exceeding expectations is rising, although no child exceeded expectations in number for 2016. Just occasionally, the most able children, who are ready for more challenge, are not identified soon enough and as a result their learning does not move on at a greater pace.  Staff work with parents well and involve them fully from the start of their child’s journey through the early years. Parents contribute to the ongoing and final assessment of their child’s progress.  Children behave well and adopt positive attitudes to learning. The school provides a safe environment and all welfare requirements are met fully.

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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

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.rossingtonstmichaelscofe.org.uk/

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School details

Email address head@st-michaels.doncaster.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 16−17 September 2014

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Information about this school

 The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.  Rossington St Michael’s Church of England Primary School is larger than the average- sized primary school.  Several teachers are new to the school, having taken up their posts at the start of the current school year.  The large majority of pupils are of White British heritage.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disability is similar to national averages.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils who are known to be eligible for support through the pupil premium funding is below average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  In the early years, Reception children attend full time.  A very small number of pupils are dual registered at The Levett School, where they

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed learning in all classes. Some activities were observed jointly with the headteacher.  Pupils’ work from all classes was scrutinised.  The inspectors listened to pupils read.  Meetings were held with pupils, the headteacher, other staff, members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority.  The inspectors observed pupils moving around the school outside lessons, on the playgrounds during breaks and in the dining hall.  The inspectors met with parents at the end of the school day.  The inspectors scrutinised the school’s view of its own performance, including current pupil progress data and school improvement plans, and documents relating to attendance and safeguarding.  Inspectors analysed the 71 responses that had been submitted to the online questionnaire for parents (Parent View).  Inspectors took account of the online questionnaire completed by members of the

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Inspection team

Alan Chaffey, Lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Nicola Shipman 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

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. www.gov.uk/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and- alternative-provision-settings .

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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.

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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

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