Rosslyn School

Rosslyn School 1597 Stratford Road, Hall Green, Birmingham, West Midlands B28 9JB

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leaders have ensured that all the independent school standards have been met.  The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good and ensures that pupils make strong progress.  Leaders have implemented a system of regular assessment to monitor individual pupils’ progress. This contributes well to teachers’ planning and enables them to identify appropriate learning for their pupils.  Outcomes for pupils are good. Pupils’ work across the curriculum shows that they apply their learning and understanding well, particularly their writing skills.  Leaders monitor teaching and learning to enable them to identify weaknesses and provide the necessary training to help teachers improve their practice. However, the impact of this training is not monitored robustly enough.  Pupils’ behaviour is exemplary. They are extremely well cared for by all staff and demonstrate high levels of confidence. They are self-assured and their impeccable conduct

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

contributes well to the progress they make in lessons.  The provision for children in Nursery and Reception is good. Consequently, children achieve good outcomes by the end of their Reception Year.  The school’s system of improvement planning does not enable leaders to monitor the impact of their actions on improving provision and outcomes fully. This is resulting in a few improvement priorities not being implemented quickly enough to ensure that all pupils fulfil their potential.  Not enough pupils are making consistently strong progress in mathematics because they do not receive sufficient support and challenge in lessons.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The school meets the requirements of the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 (‘the independent school standards’) and associated requirements.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the leadership and management of the school, including governance, by: – developing an effective system that enables leaders to be held to account for the progress made by pupils and the quality of teaching, learning and assessment – ensuring that improvement plans make clear how the impact of improvement actions will be monitored and evaluated and focus sufficiently on the progress made by all pupils.  Improve outcomes for pupils, particularly in mathematics, by ensuring that: – teaching and learning are consistently matched to the individual needs of pupils, particularly ensuring appropriate challenge for the most able pupils and effective additional support for those pupils who require it – pupils’ understanding is checked regularly in lessons so teaching can be adapted to better meet the needs of pupils and strengthen their knowledge and understanding.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

 Senior leaders have a clear ambition for the school and high expectations for pupils’ outcomes. The school is effective in meeting its aim of ensuring that pupils achieve well by the end of year six. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education.  The curriculum is broad, balanced, rich and engaging. Based on the national curriculum, it is strengthened by the use of a range of specialists who provide lessons in music, physical education (PE) and French. Learning is further enhanced by trips and other experiences, which the pupils enjoy and value. For example, they go on an annual residential trip to the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales, where they learn about sustainable and renewable energy sources. These experiences contribute to pupils’ overall good progress.  The curriculum contributes highly effectively to the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of the pupils. Their understanding of life in modern Britain and awareness of

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

British values are evident in their day-to-day behaviours and attitudes. Displays of pupils’ work around the school promote this aspect of pupil development very well. Pupils demonstrate respect for, and an understanding of, individuals whose backgrounds are different from their own.  The school culture promotes equality of opportunity and diversity well. Pupils and staff work together effectively to prevent any form of discriminatory or prejudiced behaviour or attitudes, including bullying.  Leaders and managers have ensured that the school meets all the independent school standards.  Actions taken by leaders have ensured that the quality of teaching, learning and assessment and outcomes for pupils have remained good.  Leaders have implemented a system of monitoring and managing the performance of teaching staff. This identifies individual targets for teachers to improve their performance and appropriate training. However, the system does not enable the impact of this training

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

on pupils’ outcomes to be rigorously monitored. Consequently, while the quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good overall, further improvements have not been made sufficiently swiftly.  Leaders have completed an evaluation of the school’s provision, which is broadly accurate, and used this well to identify appropriate improvement priorities. However, improvement plans do not yet indicate how leaders will monitor the impact of their actions on progress and outcomes for pupils.

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Governance

 Governance of the school is provided by the board of directors.  Directors have successfully ensured that they fulfil their statutory responsibilities with regard to the safeguarding of pupils.  Governance does not currently hold leaders sufficiently to account for improvements to the performance of the school because directors do not have sufficient information about the progress made by pupils and the quality of teaching and learning. Consequently, they are unable to provide the appropriate level of challenge and support for leaders.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  The safeguarding policy is published on the school’s website and is readily available. It meets the most recent government requirements.  There is a strong culture of safeguarding within the school. Staff undertake regular child protection training; they are aware of the potential risks to pupils and clear about the processes that need to be followed if they have any concerns.  The school’s designated safeguarding lead works well with parents and outside agencies to ensure that pupils are well cared for and supported.  Pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe through the curriculum. For example, they have a very good understanding of different types of bullying and know what to do, and whom to speak to, if they have any worries.  The school implements its policies effectively to ensure that pupils are safeguarded, for example those relating to anti-bullying, health and safety and safer recruitment.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 Teachers demonstrate strong subject knowledge. They have a clear understanding of the requirements of the curriculum and the relevant needs of the pupils they teach.  Working relationships between staff and pupils are strong. Consequently, pupils contribute confidently in lessons and consolidate their learning well.  Teachers demonstrate high expectations of pupils’ conduct. As a result, pupils focus very well in lessons and have highly positive attitudes to their learning. These attributes contribute well to the progress made by pupils in lessons and over time.  Information from regular assessments is used well by teachers to identify pupils’ next steps for learning and to plan appropriate teaching and learning strategies and activities.  Lessons are engaging and sustain pupils’ interest well.  Homework is used effectively to broaden pupils’ knowledge and ensure that learning is consolidated.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 Pupils apply and develop their writing skills well across the curriculum. For example, pupils’ science, history and geography work demonstrates their high-quality writing skills. Pupils’ confident application of mathematics skills is evident in their science work.  Pupils of all ages read well. Phonics is taught effectively and younger pupils use their knowledge of phonics confidently when reading texts that are unfamiliar to them. Older children are able to read and understand challenging texts. Pupils’ reading skills enable them to make good progress across the curriculum.  Parents receive regular, detailed information about their child’s learning and how well they are progressing towards achieving the expected standards. Parents value this information.  Teaching across the school enables the majority of pupils to make strong progress from their starting points and attain well over time. However, at times teaching focuses too

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

heavily on ensuring that pupils complete activities rather than developing the necessary learning. This means that, for some pupils, learning is not sufficiently secure because they are not given enough time in lessons to consolidate their understanding. Other pupils do not progress quickly enough in lessons as the tasks are not sufficiently challenging for them.  Progress in mathematics is not as strong as in other areas of the curriculum. This is because teachers do not consistently make effective use of lesson time by providing opportunities to check pupils’ understanding and adapting lessons in order to strengthen and deepen learning. Consequently, the most able pupils do not receive sufficient challenge and pupils who find the learning difficult do not receive sufficient support.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.  Pupils demonstrate highly positive attitudes to learning. They are confident and self- assured and engage with lessons enthusiastically.  Pupils value the opportunities that are provided by the school and understand the importance of doing their best. They demonstrate highly positive attitudes towards challenges and see making mistakes as an important part of learning.  They listen carefully to each other and demonstrate respect for the ideas and opinions of others. Provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is highly effective and they understand the importance of being thoughtful, caring members of society.  Pupils have a very good understanding of a range of different types of bullying and are confident about how to deal with it should it occur. They say that bullying in school is

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Personal development and welfare

extremely rare. The school’s behaviour logs support this. They know how to keep themselves safe from a range of potential dangers, including when using the internet and when under pressure from their peers. They have a very good understanding of how to stay fit and healthy and make healthy choices.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.  Pupils conduct themselves exceptionally well in lessons and around school.  Rates of attendance are at least in line with national expectations and often higher. There is no persistent absence. Leaders take prompt, effective action to ensure that potential punctuality issues do not become a barrier to learning for pupils.  The school works effectively with parents to ensure that standards of behaviour are high. There is no evidence of disruption to learning in the classroom due to poor behaviour. Parents have no concerns about behaviour, personal development and welfare.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 When pupils enter the school in Reception they are working at levels that are broadly typical for their age. By the time pupils leave the school at the end of Year 6, the majority attain standards above those expected for their age. This means that over time pupils make good progress in their learning from their starting points.  The standard of work in pupils’ books shows that work across the curriculum is of high quality and the majority of pupils are making strong progress in a wide range of subjects.  Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education.  The school carries out useful regular assessments and takes part in moderation activities with other local schools. These moderation activities confirm that the school’s assessments are accurate.  The school’s own assessment information shows that progress in mathematics is not consistently strong across all year groups. This is supported by evidence from classroom

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Outcomes for pupils Good

observations and work in pupils’ books. In particular, the progress of the most able pupils and those who require additional support is not as strong because teaching does not always match the learning needs of these pupils.

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Early years provision Good

 Provision across Nursery and Reception is good and results in good outcomes.  Children make good progress in the early years. Most children enter the Nursery or Reception with skills that are typical for their age. By the end of their Reception Year, the majority of children achieve a good level of development, with some children achieving standards that are above those expected for their age. As a result, the vast majority of children leave Reception well prepared to start Year 1.  The early years lead carries out moderation of the end-of-year assessments with local schools; this ensures that assessments are accurate.  The partnership between home and school is effective. Parents are encouraged to contribute to ‘wow’ sheets. These provide opportunities for parents to share with school on a regular basis their child’s achievements at home.  The quality of teaching across Nursery and Reception is good. Teachers use regular

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Early years provision Good

ongoing assessment to identify the next learning steps for each child and to inform their planning. Learning is also linked to children’s interests and results in children demonstrating good levels of enjoyment, engagement, motivation and independence.  Good-quality activities using a wide range of resources are planned and delivered both indoors and outdoors. Children engage fully in their learning, remain on task for sustained periods of time and explore their own ideas. Their curiosity and willingness to play and work with others contributes well to their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  Personal development and welfare in the early years are good. Children are well cared for throughout Nursery and Reception. Safeguarding is effective and there are no breaches in statutory requirements.  Behaviour is good. From an early age, children are encouraged to demonstrate independence and appropriate learning behaviours. They conduct themselves well and

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Early years provision Good

show respect for others.  Leadership and management of the early years provision are good. Improvements have been implemented which have strengthened provision; for example, the recent addition of a mud kitchen has provided further opportunities for pupils to develop their language, communication and physical skills well.

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008, the purpose of which is to advise the Secretary of State for Education about the school’s suitability for continued registration as an independent school.

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School details

Annual fees (day pupils) Nursery/Foundation: £1,952 Infants: £1,870 Juniors: £2,000–2,043 Telephone number 0121 744 2743

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School details

Email address office@rosslynschool.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 14–15 September 2011

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Information about this school

 Rosslyn Independent School is a non-selective day school for boys and girls on a single site in Hall Green, Birmingham. It is registered with the Department for Education (DfE) to provide full-time education for up to 102 pupils from ages three to 11. There are currently 88 pupils on roll.  The school was established in 1927 originally as a high school for girls. It has been operating as a primary school since 1957.  The school’s mission statement is ‘each talented, each different, all valued’. Its aims are to ‘nurture our children in an atmosphere of one large family, where children feel happy, safe and secure’ and to ‘provide children with the skills that will equip them for life and become independent, lifelong learners who achieve economic well-being’.  The school provides before- and after-school care for pupils who attend the school.  Pupils come from a wide range of social and cultural backgrounds. The majority of pupils

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Information about this school

speak English as their first language.  The school does not use any other site or provision.

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Information about this inspection

 This inspection was carried out by two inspectors over three days. The inspection was also quality assured by a member of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate who joined the inspection for one day.  The school was previously inspected in September 2011, when it was judged to be good.  During this inspection, inspectors observed teaching and learning across all year groups. They also looked at a range of pupils’ work in English, mathematics and the wider curriculum, including history, geography and science.  Nearly all of the classroom observations were carried out jointly with a member of the school’s senior management team.  The inspectors looked at the school’s assessment information for individual pupils and year groups.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, the assistant headteacher, the attendance lead, the chair of directors and the early years lead. Inspectors also spoke to pupils across all year groups.

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Information about this inspection

 An inspector listened to pupils read from Years 2 and 3. The way in which pupils are taught phonics was also observed.  Questionnaires submitted by 12 members of staff were scrutinised.  Inspectors gathered the views of parents by speaking with parents at the school gate and analysing the 11 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire, Parent View, and the 11 responses to Ofsted’s free-text service.  A wide range of documents and policies were looked at, including health and safety checks, records of observations of teaching, safeguarding documentation and records of attendance.  A check of the premises and the facilities provided for pupils was also carried out.

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Inspection team

Janet Satchwell, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Michael Onyon 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

Parent View 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

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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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