Roehampton Church Forest Primary School

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

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Mr Richard Woodfin Headteacher Roehampton CofE Primary School 245 Roehampton Lane London SW15 4AA

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Short inspection of Roehampton CofE Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 7 November 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 March 2013.

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Short inspection of Roehampton CofE Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have developed a strong and effective leadership team, which shares your aspirations for the school. Your senior and middle leaders work collaboratively to bring about school improvement. Staff in the school know individual pupils and families well and are committed to continual development.

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Short inspection of Roehampton CofE Primary School

Parents are very positive about the school and greatly value the support and care that their children receive. Pupils are equally proud and happy to attend this school. They highlighted all the opportunities they had to be of service to others as a distinctive feature of this school. Pupils’ behaviour is good in classrooms and in the playgrounds. Relationships between teachers and pupils are positive and mutual respect is equally evident.

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Short inspection of Roehampton CofE Primary School

Since the previous inspection, you commissioned an independent review of governance in order for governors to be more effective. Governors now provide a good balance of challenge and support to you. They know the school well and track the progress of individual classes and groups of pupils. Governors are also ambitious for the whole school community to further develop the wider curriculum.

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Short inspection of Roehampton CofE Primary School

In the school’s previous inspection report, it was reported that the quality of teaching was not consistent. You have worked tirelessly to improve teaching. You have used a combination of coaching, mentoring and training and development to improve teachers’ practice. Monitoring of lessons is rigorous and teachers are being well supported. However, you do recognise that further work is still needed to develop staff’s effectiveness in the teaching of reading and comprehension skills to key stage 2 pupils.

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Short inspection of Roehampton CofE Primary School

The school is inclusive and successfully promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Parents talked positively about your efforts to develop community spirit within the school.

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Short inspection of Roehampton CofE Primary School

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding records are fit for purpose. Records are well maintained and of high quality. The single central record of recruitment checks and arrangements for ensuring that staff are suitable to work with children meet statutory requirements. As designated safeguarding lead, you have made sure that your training, as well as training for staff, is up to date. Governors check safeguarding arrangements regularly. Referrals to the local authority and other agencies to report safeguarding concerns are closely monitored. The safeguarding team is experienced and knows the context of this school.

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Short inspection of Roehampton CofE Primary School

Pupils said that they feel safe in school and their parents confirm this. They also reported that bullying is rare and that they have confidence that adults will quickly deal with any incidents of bullying that may arise. They know who to talk to to help them sort out any problems or worries they may have. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe when using the internet. They were confident in talking about the rules they had learned in school about online safety.

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Inspection findings

 At the start of the inspection, we agreed to examine the provision for disadvantaged pupils in the early years. The classrooms we visited are well set out and are appropriate for young children. However, opportunities for children’s physical development in the outside area are limited. We saw a lively mathematics session in the Nursery Year where children were combining music and counting on their fingers. In the Reception Year, children were learning about Judaism and its links to Christianity.  The school’s information showing the current attainment and progress of disadvantaged children in the early years shows that this group is doing better than the rest of the children. Teachers keep high-quality records in the early years. They use them effectively to plan the next steps for children to learn. The outcomes for reading and writing show that disadvantaged children are making rapid progress.  Next we looked at attainment in mathematics for key stage 1 pupils who had

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Inspection findings

below-average skills in mathematics and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff know their pupils well and have a detailed knowledge and understanding of their needs and abilities. This ensures that pupils receive effective support so that they achieve well.  We then agreed to look at reading standards in key stage 2. This is because attainment in reading has been below the national average for the last two years. You recognised the need for greater emphasis on the development of older pupils’ reading and comprehension. Recently, the school introduced a new reading programme. However, you have correctly identified that further staff training is needed to ensure that pupils’ comprehension skills are improved.  Finally, we looked at pupils’ attendance and persistent absence rates. We agreed to examine this area because for the last three years, rates of absence and persistent absence were above national averages. This was the case for a wide

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Inspection findings

variety of groups within the school. It became apparent that the high level of persistent absence was due to a small number of pupils missing school. The school is working with other agencies and this issue has now been addressed. Currently, persistent absence is much lower than in previous years. Attendance is still, however, below the national average.

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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

 training is provided for teachers to help older pupils to improve their reading and comprehension skills  attendance rates of pupils who do not attend regularly enough are improved so that they are in line with the national average.

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Next steps for the school

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

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Information about the inspection

During this inspection, I held discussions with you, senior and middle leaders. I held a meeting with the chair of the governing body. I spoke with pupils in class and informally. I also spoke to parents. I observed pupils’ behaviour in class, in the playgrounds and as they moved around the school. I scrutinised pupils’ work in a range of subjects. I heard a wide range of readers across all key stages and spoke with pupils about the books they are reading. I also made visits to all classes, alongside senior leaders. I examined the school’s progress information and assessment records. A wide range of documentation concerning safeguarding, welfare and attendance was scrutinised. I also looked at behaviour and bullying incident logs. I considered the responses of 22 parents to Parent View and the responses of pupils and staff to Ofsted’s online surveys and the school’s own internal surveys.

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