Rushy Meadow Primary School

Rushy Meadow Primary School Rushy Meadow Lane, Fellowes Road, Carshalton, Surrey SM5 2SG

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Inspection dates 28 February – 1 March 2017

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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 Inadequate

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Early years provision Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leaders have not done enough to halt the decline in standards since the previous inspection. Their actions have lacked urgency and direction.  Leaders do not have an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement. They have not addressed the key priorities to raise standards.  Previous governors have not held leaders to account or challenged them sufficiently to improve the quality of education for pupils.  Leaders do not check the performance of all groups of pupils accurately. The school’s assessment system is based on attainment rather than progress. As a result, leaders are not clear about the progress that pupils are making.  Teachers do not have accurate information about pupils’ progress to inform their planning. Consequently, teachers cannot identify correctly the areas on which they need to focus for pupils to make progress.  Standards in mathematics and reading are too

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

low. By the end of key stage 2, pupils make progress that is significantly below the national average.  Disadvantaged pupils make inadequate progress across the school. Pupil premium funding is not used effectively to meet their needs.  Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make significantly less progress than pupils from the same starting points nationally.  There is a wide variability in the quality of teaching and learning. Teachers’ expectations of what pupils are capable of achieving are not high enough.  Attendance is consistently below average and shows no signs of improving. Leaders have been far too slow to address persistent absence among groups of pupils.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The hearing impairment unit is well led and managed. The pupils are confident learners and involved fully in all aspects of the school.  Pupils are polite, courteous and friendly. They feel safe and happy at school.

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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?

 Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by: – ensuring that leaders at all levels take effective action to improve key stage 2 pupils’ progress in reading, writing and mathematics – ensuring that self-evaluation is accurate so that development plans are based on accurate information – ensuring that assessment and monitoring processes are fit for purpose so that pupils’ progress is tracked effectively from their starting points – putting in place effective measures to improve attendance, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities – ensuring that pupils are given sufficient opportunities to study science – rigorously evaluating the impact of pupil premium funding on the achievement of disadvantaged pupils.  Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment so that: – there is consistency in the standard of teaching and learning across the school so

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

that all pupils make at least expected progress in reading, writing and mathematics in key stage 2 – teachers use the information about pupils’ starting points effectively to plan learning activities that meet the needs of pupils – teachers have higher expectations of what pupils can achieve, especially the most able pupils – teachers challenge and engage pupils in their learning consistently so that more pupils reach higher standards of attainment.  An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to ascertain how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Since her appointment in June 2015, the headteacher has been too slow to improve outcomes for pupils. She has not addressed the significant issues that the school presents, particularly in relation to the quality of assessment systems, variability in teaching and learning and poor pupil attendance.  School leaders have inconsistent views in their evaluation of the school’s performance. As a result, they do not accurately identify key priorities for improvement and therefore planning is not precise enough.  The poor outcomes in 2016 were a surprise to the leaders, including governors. Leaders have not ensured that either systems for ensuring accuracy or predictions are robust.  The assessment system lacks rigour and clarity. Leaders acknowledge the weaknesses in the system as it is based on attainment rather than progress. Pupils’ progress is not monitored closely enough from their starting points for leaders to intervene quickly

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

when underachievement is identified.  Leaders do not show a clear understanding of the standard of teaching within the school. There is a wide variability of teaching quality across the school that does not match leaders’ evaluations. The new system of ‘lessons learned’ used to monitor and improve the quality of teaching is yet to have a positive impact. However, teachers new to the profession and trainee teachers feel well supported generally.  Leadership of pupils with other special educational needs has not helped pupils to make the progress that they should. Leaders and governors have not sharply evaluated the additional funding for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Learning support assistants are not deployed effectively to ensure that pupils make enough progress.  Leadership of the hearing impairment unit within the school is strong. School staff receive training from highly trained instructors to ensure that pupils are fully integrated

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

into mainstream lessons. Key workers and the unit leader check pupils’ academic and personal progress rigorously. This ensures that their social and emotional needs, as well as learning needs, are met. Daily communication with parents keeps them informed of their child’s progress and how they can support learning at home.  Leaders have reviewed the curriculum to ensure that it gives pupils a broad and balanced education. Pupils learn a range of subjects which are linked by a common theme each half term. However, pupils do not have sufficient opportunities to learn science in any great depth.  The primary school sport premium is used to good effect to raise the profile of sport. A specialist sports coach supports staff in delivering physical education lessons which engage and enthuse pupils. More pupils now take part in inter-school competitions and sports teams have been increasingly successful.  Pupils are encouraged to treat each other with respect and to celebrate diversity within

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

the school. They talk about the school values and the ‘jigsaw’ system, where pupils can nominate each other for demonstrating these values. However, leaders do not promote British values effectively as pupils show little understanding of what this means or how they overlap with the school’s values.

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Governance of the school

 With the support of the local authority, the school’s governing body was restructured in October 2016. Within a few months, the governors have a clear understanding of the challenges facing the school and have strengthened the leadership team. They are beginning to put in place the strategies necessary to improve the school. Governors are now providing more challenge to leaders, particularly with regard to the low standards of progress and attainment. As a result, there is no recommendation made for an external review of governance.  Governors have started to evaluate the additional funding for pupil premium. They recognise that it is not making a difference in improving the achievement and progress of the pupils it is meant to support.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  The designated safeguarding lead is extremely thorough in her approach to keeping pupils safe. This is evident in the detailed records and case files, which show that swift and effective action is taken if there are any concerns. The school works well with external agencies to ensure that families receive the support that they need.  Staff know and follow the school’s safeguarding policies and procedures. The school’s simple motto for safeguarding is ‘notice, check, share’. Consequently, staff are clear about their responsibilities for safeguarding. All staff have received up-to-date training, such as on the ‘Prevent’ duty and female genital mutilation. Pre-recruitment checks on the suitability of staff are carefully carried out.  Pupils report that they feel safe at school. Parents agree and feel that the school provides a safe and caring environment. Pupils speak confidently about how to keep

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Safeguarding

themselves safe online and have been taught how to respond to cyber bullying.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

 The quality of teaching and learning is variable across the school. As a result, over time, pupils do not make adequate progress.  Assessment information is inaccurate and confusing. Teachers assess pupils’ attainment at different stages but do not measure their progress from starting points. This means that they cannot measure the impact of teaching on pupils’ progress over time. Teachers cannot identify correctly the areas they need to focus on because the assessment system does not show this.  Teachers’ expectations for pupils are not high enough. While pupils enjoy the new ‘spicy’ challenge scheme in classes, teachers do not direct pupils consistently to the right level of work for their needs. Some pupils choose ‘mild’ tasks routinely because the work is easy or because they do not understand exactly which level to choose. The most able pupils are often doing work they can already do and as a result, are not

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

being stretched.  Teaching for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is poor. Teachers are not given sufficient guidance to ensure that their teaching is adapted to meet the needs of all pupils. Tasks set for these pupils, particularly in group reading sessions, do not match their needs accurately, and as a result, pupils make slow progress.  School leaders have introduced a new mathematics scheme to target the legacy of poor mathematics teaching in the school. This has not been fully embedded across all year groups; teachers are still getting to grips with the resources and different style of teaching. A few pupils are starting to show some mastery in this subject, particularly in Year 6, but too many pupils struggle with basic mathematical concepts. This is particularly the case with low-attaining pupils.  Specialist staff and teaching assistants are used extremely well to support pupils who

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

are hearing-impaired. They help pupils to take part in lessons but also ensure that pupils have opportunities to learn independently.  Where teaching is effective, teachers use questioning to draw out detailed responses from pupils and demonstrate secure subject knowledge. Teachers model what pupils need to do to be successful in their learning and pupils are engaged and focused.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is inadequate.  Overall attendance is consistently low and does not show signs of improvement. Leaders have been far too slow to address poor attendance among groups of pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Measures put in place recently have not shown any significant impact.  Pupils can talk about the school values that leaders have instilled in them but are unsure of how these overlap with British values. Pupils focus on a school value each month, for example effort or teamwork, and nominate each other for demonstrating that value. They talk enthusiastically about this ‘jigsaw’ celebration but do not have a secure understanding of some British values such as democracy and tolerance.  Pupils feel confident that they can talk to teachers about any problems or use the

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Personal development and welfare

‘worry box’ to write down any concerns. One pupil said, ‘Our teachers are like detectives; they solve problems.’ Staff give advice to pupils, which helps to raise their awareness of how to stay safe, including online, and how to deal with cyber bullying.  Pupils have some opportunities to take on responsibilities. For example, ‘junior supremos’ help pupils at lunchtimes to resolve friendship issues and play together well. Also, classes take it in turns to look after the school rabbits.  Pupils care about each other. They relish the whole-school opportunities to learn sign language. One pupil said, ‘This helps us to communicate better with our classmates who have hearing impairments.’

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.  A new behaviour policy has been implemented, which is not having a significant impact on reducing incidents of poor behaviour . Records show a high proportion of pupils using the reflection room for ‘red card’ or challenging behaviour, usually for incidents outside lessons.  Most pupils display positive attitudes to learning in lessons. They want to learn but can get distracted by the amount of noise in classrooms from some pupils talking off-task or another lesson going on in the adjoining room.  Pupils are polite, friendly and welcoming. They are confident when talking to adults and proud to talk about their school. Inspectors observed warm relationships between pupils and staff.

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

 Outcomes are inadequate because pupils make weak progress over time from their starting points.  By the end of key stage 2, pupils’ progress is too low in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupil progress in mathematics was in the bottom 10% of schools in 2016. Pupils are therefore not prepared for the next stage of their education.  Disadvantaged pupils make consistently less progress than that seen nationally by other pupils in reading, writing and mathematics. By the end of key stage 1, the proportion of disadvantaged pupils achieving the expected standard was below the national average in all subjects.  Outcomes for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are poor. Pupils are not well enough supported in their learning. Current assessment information for this group shows weak progress in almost all year groups.  The attainment over time of the most able pupils, including the most able

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

disadvantaged, shows considerable underachievement. The proportion of middle-ability and higher-ability pupils reaching high standards in reading and mathematics is too low.  While there has been some improvement in current outcomes for pupils, it is not rapid enough to ensure that pupils achieve good outcomes at the end of key stage 2. Consequently, pupils in Years 5 and 6 are still predicted to make below-average progress and attainment in the end of key stage assessments.  The proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in the Year 1 screening check has improved and is now above the national average. This represents good progress, given their starting points.  Hearing-impaired pupils make better progress due to the high-quality specialist support they receive. Individual records show accurate assessment and next steps for each pupil are carefully considered to ensure that pupils are challenged in their learning.

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Early years provision Requires improvement

 Staff in the early years assess children’s level of development when they enter the Nursery. Children’s language and communication skills are generally significantly below those typical for their age. However, these assessments are not moderated internally or externally and as such cannot be relied upon as accurate.  Outcomes in early years have been variable since 2014, particularly for disadvantaged pupils. While the proportion of pupils reaching a good level of development is now in line with the national average, this is not the case for disadvantaged pupils. The proportion of disadvantaged children reaching a good level of development in 2016 was well below the national average. This group of pupils have consistently underachieved in all subjects, particularly in reading and writing.  Leaders acknowledge that there is more work to be done to engage parents fully in their child’s development and learning. Few parents contribute to the initial

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Early years provision Requires improvement

assessments of their children.  The early years leader is new to the role. She has begun to analyse the progress of pupils and put measures in place to meet the needs of pupils who are falling behind. However, there is uncertainty in the accuracy of the assessments procedure due to lack of moderation.  Staff in the early years provision have created a safe and happy learning environment. Classrooms are colourful and displays help children to develop their vocabulary, reading and writing. The outdoor provision has a range of stimulating activities which help children develop their physical, creative and social development skills.  Learning journals are starting to show progress from starting points in each area of learning for most pupils. Children can use their phonics skills to match sounds and letters correctly. Teachers and support staff intervene quickly when there are misunderstandings so that children learn from their mistakes.

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Early years provision Requires improvement

 Deaf children are ably supported by specialist staff in the early years. Children take an active part in lessons and are making good progress, particularly in their speech and language skills.

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Email address office@rushymeadow.sutton.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 15–16 November 2011

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Information about this school

 The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about recent examination results on its website.  Rushy Meadow School is a larger than average-sized primary school.  The Nursery provision is part time (morning and afternoon) and full time in the Reception classes.  The school operates a hearing impaired resource unit for 10 pupils.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils who are eligible for pupil premium funding is higher than average.  The majority of pupils come from a White British background.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above average. The proportion of pupils with a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan is above average due to pupils attending the specialist unit.  The school meets the government’s floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ progress and attainment.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching and learning in all year groups and in a range of subjects. Some of these were jointly observed with school leaders. Inspectors also visited the hearing impaired resource unit and observed specially trained staff working with pupils in lessons.  Discussions were held with the headteacher, assistant headteachers, middle leaders and a range of teachers, including support staff, newly qualified teachers and trainee teachers. A meeting was held with the chair of the governing body and four governors. There was also a discussion with a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors spoke to pupils in lessons, listened to them reading and looked at samples of their work. Inspectors talked to pupils in the playground and around the school. An inspector met a group of pupils to hear their views on the school and two pupils gave a tour of the school. Inspectors also considered the 60 responses to questionnaires

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Information about this inspection

received from pupils.  Inspectors analysed a wide range of documents provided by the school, including leaders’ evaluation of the school’s performance, the school’s development plan and information about pupils’ progress and attainment. Inspectors also examined records related to safeguarding, behaviour and attendance and case studies of pupils with a statement of special educational needs and education, health and care plans. Furthermore, inspectors scrutinised books of a selection of pupils from key stage 1 and key stage 2.  Inspectors took account of 71 responses to Parent View and held informal discussions with parents during the inspection. The views of staff were considered through the 32 staff questionnaires received.

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Inspection team

Jude Wilson, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Martin Roberts 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection team

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 .

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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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