Rise Park Primary and Nursery School

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

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Mrs Natasha Kelly Acting Headteacher Rise Park Primary and Nursery School Bestwood Park Drive West Rise Park Nottingham Nottinghamshire NG5 5EL

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Short inspection of Rise Park Primary and Nursery School

Following my visit to the school on 17 November 2016, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in February 2012.

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Short inspection of Rise Park Primary and Nursery School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

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Short inspection of Rise Park Primary and Nursery School

During the current leadership changes, you and your senior leadership team have stepped up quickly to your leadership roles and you are doing remarkably well to maintain continuity for staff, pupils and parents. You are supported well by governors who are considering recruitment options carefully and utilising the expertise of the retired headteacher effectively. The feedback that I received from parents during the inspection indicates that they feel well informed about the current changes in leadership, as this comment suggests, ‘I am extremely happy that, due to the fantastic and devoted staff, any transition has been seamless.’

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Short inspection of Rise Park Primary and Nursery School

Your school is a busy place where pupils are keen to learn. In the lessons I visited, pupils talked readily about their work. They shared ideas with each other and listened to adults well. Pupils said they enjoy reading. The most able pupils read confidently and like choosing fiction and non-fiction books. Those who find reading more difficult use what they learn about phonics to help them to make sense of what they read. You and your staff provide plentiful opportunities for pupils to take on responsibilities to aid their personal development and to build their confidence. The pupils I spoke to told me that they enjoy the various jobs that they have around the school, including being playtime buddies and eco monitors. Pupils understand the importance of good attendance and like receiving rewards for being in school regularly.

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Short inspection of Rise Park Primary and Nursery School

You, and your senior leaders, evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum well. You check the quality of teaching and the amount of progress that pupils make regularly. You set ambitious targets for staff and pupils to work towards and provide good support to help staff to do their jobs well, illustrated by the positive response from the questionnaires submitted by staff. This academic year, as a result of your findings, you have already observed the quality of teaching in phonics and introduced a whole-school approach to the teaching of handwriting and spelling. This is leading to consistent teaching throughout the school and pupils are putting their new learning into practice well.

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Short inspection of Rise Park Primary and Nursery School

Since the previous inspection, you have made good progress with the key areas for improvement that were identified in the inspection report. The quality of teaching, including in the early years, is now consistently good and subject leaders monitor their areas of responsibility well.

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Short inspection of Rise Park Primary and Nursery School

Following this inspection, I have asked you to ensure that the tasks provided to the most able pupils ensure that they are consistently challenged and make even faster progress. I have also asked you to continue to diminish the difference between the outcomes of disadvantaged pupils and those achieved by other pupils nationally. Finally, I have asked that the governors monitor more closely the progress made by the school to meet the priorities outlined in the school development plan.

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Short inspection of Rise Park Primary and Nursery School

Pupils receive good guidance on how to keep themselves safe because safety issues are addressed well by the curriculum. For example, during the week of the inspection, activities were helping pupils to recognise, and understand how to deal with, bullying. The pupils I spoke with knew about the different forms that bullying can take and the potential risks of using technology, including social media. They said that bullying is not a problem in their school. The school’s records show that incidents are rare but any that do arise are followed up quickly and effectively. Pupils say that they feel safe in school and all of the parents who responded to the online questionnaire, Parent View, agree.

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Short inspection of Rise Park Primary and Nursery School

You and your staff help pupils to value their school community, promoting kindness and respect towards each other. You ensure that issues which pupils might encounter, including raising their awareness of drugs misuse and keeping safe from extremism and exploitation, are covered by the curriculum in an age-appropriate way. To reinforce this further, you include workshops and assemblies run by outside agencies such as the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

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Short inspection of Rise Park Primary and Nursery School

You and your designated leaders are methodical in your record-keeping. You make sure that staff receive the training and information that they need in order to keep pupils safe. The vetting procedures for adults who work with children are thorough. Any child protection concerns are recorded in detail. You establish positive links with external agencies and parents in order to follow up any worries that may arise over children’s welfare. You have effective ways of following up any unaccounted absences from school.

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Inspection findings

 Since the previous inspection, leaders and governors have addressed the areas for improvement well. In the early years, the information that staff gather about children’s achievement is now used effectively to plan tasks that take into account children’s interests and the range of ability. As a result, the proportion of children who reach a good level of development by the end of the early years is improving year on year, including for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Although these children do not yet reach levels that are typical for their age by the end of the early years, they are now making more accelerated progress from their starting points due to effective extra support in the early years classes.  Leaders make sure that teaching across the school is consistently good, which is reflected in the good progress that pupils make. Leaders maintain a focus on the most able pupils, including those from disadvantaged

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Inspection findings

backgrounds. These pupils make good progress overall but leaders recognise that they could do even better. The inspection found that some tasks do not expect enough of the most able pupils to enable them to reach their full potential.  Thorough analysis of pupils’ progress means that leaders quickly identify those pupils who need extra help. The pupil premium funding is used effectively to aid eligible pupils’ personal development and to help them to do well if they fall behind. This is diminishing the differences in performance between eligible pupils and other pupils nationally in key stage 1. Although they are helped to catch up in Year 2, a below-average proportion of disadvantaged pupils reach the expected standard in phonics while they are in Year 1. By the end of Year 6, disadvantaged pupils reach standards in reading, writing and mathematics that are above those of other pupils nationally. Attendance and punctuality for this group of pupils

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Inspection findings

is improving due to the school’s efforts. The school’s information shows that disadvantaged pupils make particularly good progress when they receive extra adult help, often by working in small groups and being involved in before-school activities. However, the inspection found that, in some lessons, this progress is not sufficiently well built upon to firmly consolidate pupils’ learning.  Since the previous inspection, leaders have strengthened the roles of subject leaders who have a range of ways to check the quality of teaching and learning in their subjects. They contribute to school development planning and help to identify what the school needs to do to continue to improve. Plans for school improvement are realistic and set out expected timescales. Various leaders are involved in checking how well the school is doing towards reaching its main priorities. However, governors are not as fully involved as they could be in monitoring at regular intervals how well

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 the differences in the performance of disadvantaged pupils and that of others continue to diminish by ensuring that the work they receive in lessons builds strongly upon the progress they make when they receive additional support outside of lessons  teachers provide the right level of challenge for the most able pupils by fine tuning what they expect them to achieve during lessons  the role of governors in monitoring how well the school is moving towards its priorities is more systematic and regular.

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Next steps for the school

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

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Information about the inspection

When I visited your school, I looked in detail at a number of key lines of enquiry.

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Information about the inspection

 Is safeguarding effective and how well is safety and anti-bullying promoted by the curriculum?  How well have leaders addressed the areas for improvement from the previous inspection?  What are leaders doing to diminish the differences for disadvantaged children and to improve their attendance?  Are leaders ensuring that all groups of pupils make consistently good progress, especially in the early years and key stage 1? During the inspection, I met with you and the retired headteacher, who is currently undertaking the role of strategic lead. I met with the leader of the early years, the leader responsible for key stage 1 and the English leader. I met with the chair and two other members of the governing body. I visited some classes with you to observe teaching and learning. I spoke to pupils about their work and I heard some of the most able and the least able pupils read. I observed pupils’ behaviour around the school and in class. I also met

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Information about the inspection

with a group of pupils. I took account of the 32 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, and the 31 free text responses from parents. I also spoke to parents at the end of the school day. I analysed the 37 responses to the questionnaire submitted by staff. I scrutinised a range of documentation, including the school’s improvement plan and assessment information. I checked the single central record of recruitment checks and other documentation relating to safeguarding. The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

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