Rufford Park Primary School

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

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Mrs Alison Anslow Headteacher Rufford Park Primary School Rufford Avenue Yeadon Leeds West Yorkshire LS19 7QR

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Short inspection of Rufford Park Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 2 March 2017, 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 January 2012.

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Short inspection of Rufford Park Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have successfully led a raft of developments in the school since the last inspection. Rufford Park is now a foundation school and part of the Aireborough Learning Partnership. You also agreed an increase in the number of pupils admitted to the school from 2014. This resulted in building an extension to the school and in organising classes with more than one year group. From September 2016, you have taken over the Nursery, which was previously based on the school site but owned by a private provider. This means the school now makes provision for children from three to 11 years old.

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Short inspection of Rufford Park Primary School

Despite these big strategic projects, neither you nor the governing body have lost sight of ensuring that pupils get a good education and receive a high level of care and support. In 2016, three quarters of Year 6 pupils achieved the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics. Progress for the most able pupils in mathematics was particularly strong. The proportion of Year 1 pupils reaching the expected standard in the phonics check also improved significantly. In 2014, the results were below most other schools but have risen over time and were 10 percentage points above most other schools in 2016.

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Short inspection of Rufford Park Primary School

You have also ensured that the vast majority of parents remain confident that the school meets the different needs of their children. You listen to their comments, for example at parents’ evenings, and make appropriate changes. You are in the process of introducing an app so that parents can keep up to speed with events in school on their phones.

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Short inspection of Rufford Park Primary School

Pupils enjoy coming to school and appreciate the wide range of additional activities in place for them. Their participation, for example in the Shakespeare Schools Festival, gives them opportunities to develop their confidence and aspirations as they perform in front of large audiences at professional venues. As the inspection took place on World Book Day, I could clearly see how much pupils enjoy reading and talking about their favourite authors.

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Short inspection of Rufford Park Primary School

Throughout the day, we discussed aspects of the school’s work that need further consideration. For example, increasing the pace of developments in the Nursery and making sure policies and information on the school’s website fully reflect the work you are doing, particularly in regards to disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. I also agreed with governors that development plans would be more effective if they more clearly defined the impact new activities should have on pupils’ progress.

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Short inspection of Rufford Park Primary School

The safeguarding team works tirelessly with the rest of the school staff and other agencies to ensure that pupils get the support they need when they encounter difficulties in their lives. A slight drop in attendance in 2014/15 led you to introduce the post of family support worker (FSW) to your team. This decision has proved highly effective as the FSW now provides direct support to families relating to a wide range of issues. Consequently, pupils attend school regularly and feel emotionally secure enough to be effective learners.

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Short inspection of Rufford Park Primary School

The deputy headteacher and FSW keep well-ordered records about their work to safeguard and protect pupils. You take appropriate actions when you disagree with the decisions other agencies make.

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Short inspection of Rufford Park Primary School

Your diligent approach is also reflected in the checks made on the suitability of staff. The record is detailed and backed up by well-organised staff files.

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Short inspection of Rufford Park Primary School

Pupils say they feel safe in school and are confident that incidents of bullying and teasing are dealt with by staff. Parents confirmed that the actions staff take clear up any problems effectively, so they do not reoccur. You have made sure there are many ways pupils can talk about their feelings and ask tricky questions, for example through the ‘Ask it basket’. The work of the learning mentor, through lunchtime club and individual sessions, creates additional opportunities for pupils to share any worries.

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Inspection findings

 Together, we looked at the progress the school has made since the last inspection. One area for improvement identified was developing the way you records and track pupils’ progress. You have collaborated with several other schools in the Aireborough learning partnership to create a detailed approach to tracking pupils’ progress in all the subjects of the new curriculum. The information you collect is based on a combination of tests and teacher assessments. Crucially, teachers use this information to identify any pupil who is falling behind. Equally importantly, it is used to identify pupils showing signs that they could be challenged to reach the higher standards. Everyone keeps a keen eye on how well disadvantaged pupils are doing. You then make sure the right interventions and challenges are put in place to enhance their progress.  At the last inspection, you were also asked to improve the impact of subject

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Inspection findings

leaders and teaching assistants. I met with subject leaders and teaching assistants and I am confident that great strides have been made in developing their effectiveness in these roles. Subject leaders are responsible for checking the work of other teachers and guiding them when introducing new approaches. This has led to measurable improvements, for example in the assessment of writing. However, their plans for further developments do not specify how they will measure the difference new activities make to pupils’ progress. Equally, teaching assistants now have specific areas of responsibility, as well as supporting pupils in lessons. I could see from the records that interventions, for example in reading, led by a well-trained teaching assistant, are accelerating the progress pupils make. This is particularly the case for disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Inspection findings

 I was curious about how you have responded to the attainment of Year 2 pupils in 2016. Considering the level of development they reached by the time they left the Reception class, I was surprised that more did not reach the expected standards or were working at greater depth. Various staffing difficulties, now resolved, led to these lower than expected outcomes. You have changed how the classes are staffed, using teachers with particular skills to ensure that pupils across different year groups get the support they need. You have also made sure that this group of pupils, now in Year 3, are making rapid gains in their learning.  I was equally curious about how you ensure that disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make strong progress in their learning. The information you publish on the school’s website does not do justice to the work you do with either of these groups of pupils. Over the last few

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Inspection findings

years, disadvantaged pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, have not always made good enough progress and, therefore, have not done as well as other pupils. You and the deputy headteacher are working far more systematically to make sure that the additional money the school receives for these pupils is spent wisely. The different timely interventions, based on your very detailed analysis of pupils’ progress, have positive impact. Over half of the current Year 6 pupils are disadvantaged. Additionally, a third of these disadvantaged pupils also have special educational needs. You and the staff fully embrace this challenge. Work in pupils’ books and assessment information shows that most pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, are making good gains in their learning from their different starting points.  As the Nursery is new to the school, we also looked at the provision being made

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Inspection findings

for the three-year-olds. The Nursery offers very flexible part-time provision, which helps to meet the different needs of children and families. Children’s learning journals show most are making strong progress from their different starting points. Parents contribute to the ongoing assessment of their children’s knowledge, skills and understanding by sending in WOW records of new skills they have seen at home. You recognise that the range of activities on offer, and how staff prompt and support children’s learning, needs further development. You are being supported by a specialist early years consultant in this aspect of the school’s work.  The governing body have a very firm grip on the work of the school. They challenge you, other leaders and teachers to think of different ways of improving the progress all pupils make. They know that some of the development plans in place do not give them enough information about the difference you want new

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Inspection findings

activities to make to pupils’ progress. They understand that this limits the depth of challenge and support they can bring to their work as governors.

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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 pace of development in the new Nursery increases, both in terms of the range of activities on offer and how well the staff prompt children to move on to their next steps in learning  policies and other information published on the school’s website is kept up to date and fully reflects the work of the school  development plans more clearly define how new activities will improve the rate of progress different pupils make.

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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 Leeds. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

We visited a range of lessons across the school, including the Nursery. We reviewed samples of pupils’ books. I listened to pupils read their work and asked them about their learning. I talked with pupils during their breaktime. I also joined the lunchtime club and visited the breakfast club.

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Information about the inspection

I met with the chair of the governing body and six other governors, subject leaders and a group of teaching assistants. I held a telephone conversation with a representative of the local authority. I considered the 30 responses written to Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, including the 18 written responses.

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Information about the inspection

I reviewed a range of information particularly relating to the work of the governing body, support for disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. We reviewed the information about vulnerable pupils with the FSW.

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