Raleigh Infant School and Nursery

Raleigh Infant School and Nursery Admirals Way, Thetford, Norfolk IP24 2JT

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Safeguarding is not effective. Leaders, including governors, do not fulfil their statutory responsibilities to keep children in the early years and pupils in key stage 1 safe.  Leaders do not always take effective action when staff raise concerns about pupils’ welfare. They are unable to demonstrate that they take appropriate action to protect the most vulnerable pupils.  Leaders and governors have not established a culture of safeguarding. They do not carry out statutory checks to ensure the suitability of staff who work at the school.  Governors do not scrupulously hold leaders to account. They do not undertake thorough checks to make sure that all pupils are both safe and achieving as well as they can.  Early years provision is inadequate because children are not safeguarded because of weaknesses in whole-school systems.  Leaders do not review their work thoroughly enough. As a result, leaders do not know

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

accurately the difference that they make to the quality of provision in the school.  Leaders do not check the quality of teachers’ work well enough. Leaders do not hold teachers to account for the progress pupils make or provide appropriate support to help teachers to develop and improve.  Teachers’ use of assessment is inconsistent, as is the quality of teaching and learning. Pupils, especially the most able pupils, are not supported to make the progress that they should.  Leaders and governors have not ensured that they have used effectively the additional funding they receive to improve outcomes for pupils. The school’s website is not compliant with statutory requirements.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Pupils behave well. They are consistently polite and show respect, both towards each other and to all adults in the school.  Teaching and learning in the early years are effective. Both Nursery and Reception children make good progress, often from low starting points.  Teaching assistants have received high-quality support and training. This is resulting in better support for pupils, in particular those pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities and for those pupils who speak English as an additional language.

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Full report

In accordance with section 44(2) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires significant improvement, because it is performing significantly less well than it might in all the circumstances reasonably be expected to perform.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Leaders need to urgently make sure that safeguarding systems and processes are effective in safeguarding children and pupils by: – reviewing all policies and practices – ensuring that all leaders, staff and governors receive relevant training in safer recruitment of staff to ensure that the necessary pre-employment checks are completed, recorded well and kept up to date – acting immediately and effectively on any concerns raised via the school’s systems, recording the actions they take and meticulously following up and monitoring the next steps to be taken – following up incidents so that any trends or concerns in pupils’ behaviour are quickly identified and appropriate support is put in place – ensuring that all staff receive appropriate child protection and safeguarding training in accordance with ‘Keeping children safe in education 2016’ and other statutory guidance.  Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by ensuring that:

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

– the spending of additional funding, including the physical education (PE) and sport premium and funding for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils, is carefully evaluated so that leaders know it best serves its purpose and contributes to raising pupils’ achievement – improvement plans are precisely focused on the areas of weakness and actions are implemented, reviewed and evaluated so that all leaders, including governors, know the difference they are making to school improvement – self-evaluation is accurately based on secure evidence of the impact of leaders’ work – leaders rigorously evaluate the effectiveness of teaching, so weaker aspects of teaching are identified and improved quickly – performance management of staff is effective in contributing to improving standards.  Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment and increase rates of progress for all pupils from their starting points, including in the early years, by making

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

sure that: – teachers and adults use assessment information, and a knowledge of what pupils know and can do, to plan teaching and learning which support pupils to achieve well, especially when pupils are ready to move on at a more rapid pace – teachers have high expectations about what the most able pupils can achieve so that they make accelerated progress and consistently achieve the highest outcomes – assessment and teaching support pupils’ progress in the wider curriculum, particularly to develop their writing skills. An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved. An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Leaders and governors have not ensured that pupils are kept safe. They have failed in their statutory duty to ensure that all safeguarding concerns are made fully known to external agencies, are recorded appropriately and are carefully checked. Additionally, at the time of the inspection, leaders and governors had not satisfied themselves that they had carried out appropriate checks on all adults working at the school.  Leaders have not shown the attention to detail necessary to ensure the safety of pupils. For example, the school’s behaviour records and notes of incidents are not appropriately followed up, monitored and reviewed. Leaders and staff are consequently unable to assess the actions necessary to improve safeguarding or to identify the impact of their actions.  Senior leaders, including governors, do not check to see if the way they are using the additional funding is improving the learning and progress of disadvantaged pupils.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Additional funding for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is spent appropriately and the school’s assessment information shows it to have a positive impact on pupils’ progress. However, the evaluations in place to identify the specific needs of pupils and to monitor the impact of the support lack precision and rigour. This means that leaders do not always know if they could be more effective in identifying and supporting pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities.  There are plans to deploy the sport premium funding to provide opportunities for pupils to take part in different sporting activities and improve the uptake for these clubs. Some work has been done, for example through the organisation of the whole school’s participation in the regional ‘Thetford games’. However, the leader responsible for this is new to the role and has inherited a weak analysis of how this funding has been used in the past.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Leaders do not have a thorough oversight of or insight into the attendance of pupils. Leaders do not monitor and evaluate the impact of their work in this area well enough. Despite work with the local authority, leaders do not have a clear knowledge of trends and specific groups of pupils who are regularly absent. Consequently, they are not effectively bringing about sustained improvements in pupils’ attendance.  The school’s ‘child-led’ curriculum is developing across the school alongside mathematics and English lessons. Leadership of the curriculum is in transition to the re- establishment of the roles of subject leaders. Most leaders of the curriculum are new to post. As a result, the monitoring, assessment and review of pupils’ achievement in the wider curriculum are not yet well developed or established.  Pupils learn about a range of different cultures and faiths. Pupils talk clearly about their

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

understanding of why it is important to respect people who have different beliefs. For example, pupils shared their understanding of Jewish wedding celebrations. They said they had the chance to ask questions, comparing differences in religious ceremonies.  Pupils have a developing understanding of fundamental British values, such as democracy and tolerance. These are discussed in assemblies alongside the school’s values, demonstrating that the school’s provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is apt. The school’s curriculum is therefore playing a part in preparing pupils for life in modern Britain.  The local authority has provided light-touch support for the school since the previous inspection, in line with the school’s previous inspection judgement of being a good, self-sustaining school. More recently, the local authority became aware of weaknesses in leadership and management. Leaders and governors at the school have not been

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

active in requesting additional support from the local authority. The combination of these factors has meant that leaders have not undergone close enough scrutiny and monitoring, particularly in relation to safeguarding.

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Governance of the school

 The governing body is not working cohesively to ensure that pupils are safe or in challenging leaders to raise standards further at Raleigh Infant School and Nursery.  There is an uneven distribution of responsibility and accountability being taken by the governing body. This is resulting in only a few governors undertaking important monitoring of the school’s work.  Governors do not adequately challenge what they are being told and have not been able to hold leaders to account for the impact of their proposed actions. They have not identified where the school is failing, nor evaluated the impact of their work thoroughly enough.  Governors are unaware of some of the safeguarding issues because they have not been checking information about the effectiveness of the school’s safeguarding arrangements for pupils.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.  Leaders have failed to ensure that they undertake the appropriate statutory checks on the staff that they employ, or who are working in the school. They have not efficiently maintained an up-to-date register of these checks.  Current systems and processes to keep pupils safe are weak and not fit for purpose. Although pupils say that they feel safe, the leaders and governors of the school have not observed the statutory safeguarding requirements.  Leaders have not shown the attention to detail necessary to ensure the safety of pupils. The recording of incidents which could affect the safety of pupils is not fully effective in allowing leaders and staff to assess the actions necessary to improve safeguarding or to identify the impact of their actions.  The recording of other incidents, which could affect the safety of pupils, for example behaviour records and analysis of the information, is not fully effective. It does not

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Safeguarding

enable leaders to evaluate how well they are supporting pupils, particularly those who are more vulnerable.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 Teaching, learning and assessment require improvement because there are too many inconsistencies across all year groups and subjects in the curriculum.  Teachers do not always take account of what pupils’ starting points are before planning their lessons, especially for the most able pupils. Teaching does not routinely plan activities that set a level of challenge for the most able pupils. On occasions, these pupils are given work they can already do, or receive tasks that do not require them to deepen their understanding.  The teaching of writing is underdeveloped. There are opportunities for pupils to rehearse their handwriting and complete pieces of topic-based writing using the school’s system of the ‘Raleigh write approach’. However, pupils are not always clear about the specific writing skills they need, and so apply these skills inconsistently to their extended written pieces.  Handwriting has been a whole-school focus and pupils practise regularly. While this has

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

led to improvements in presentation, not all teachers’ expectations are high enough in ensuring that pupils transfer their handwriting skills accurately when they complete pieces of sustained writing. This results in inconsistent presentation.  Pupils’ experience of mathematics across the school is inconsistent. Pupils are not being given routine opportunities to demonstrate what they can do. Leaders are not able to use this evidence systematically to assess the progress that pupils make in mathematics, neither do leaders always identify where additional support is needed rapidly enough.  Some teaching practices are not consistent with school policies. For example, scrutiny of the work in pupils’ books shows pupils do not consistently receive high-quality guidance in line with the school’s policy. As a result, some pupils do not have the opportunity to improve their work in order to achieve better in lessons.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils are generally well supported by teaching assistants who know the pupils’ needs well. Teaching assistants successfully support these pupils to access the curriculum. There is a strong sense of teamwork between teachers and teaching assistants that further enhances the effectiveness of how well adults work in the classroom.  Where learning is stronger, teaching assistants, following intense high-quality training, use precise questioning to help pupils explain their understanding and consequently deepen their thinking. For example, in a Year 1 class, a teaching assistant was leading a group discussion about the changing state of materials and skilfully asked pupils questions about burning or changing the temperature of certain materials and whether they could retain their original state. Pupils were encouraged to explain their answers

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

and successfully did this because the adult tailored questions according to the ability of the pupils.  Pupils who speak English as an additional language are supported particularly well by adults. Consequently, these pupils successfully overcome language barriers and make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics.  Most teachers have a sound subject knowledge of the wider curriculum. For example, in a Year 1 class, the teacher was helping pupils to apply learning from a previous science lesson to design a broomstick. The teacher’s knowledge assisted pupils in using appropriate vocabulary and in considering the best material to use based on their prior learning. In a Year 2 PE lesson, the teacher demonstrated a secure knowledge of safety, both verbally and by modelling, when ensuring that pupils were warming up to start physical exercise.  Where teaching fosters pupils’ progress most successfully, explanations are clear and

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

support learning effectively. Resources are well prepared and tasks suit the needs of all groups and abilities of pupils. In these instances, pupils work well together, while the adults support other pupils’ learning well, for example in small groups. However, this is not yet consistent across classes.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.  Despite inadequacies within the school’s safeguarding culture, staff do ensure that pupils are kept safe while they are on the school site on a day-to-day basis. However, adults have not ensured that information they gather is used thoroughly to identify where pupils may require additional support or guidance in their behaviour and development.  Aspects of the school’s curriculum teach pupils about online safety and e-safety. Pupils have a basic understanding about the need to stay safe online, but do not demonstrate a good understanding about how to do so.  Pupils say they feel safe and know to tell an adult if they are concerned about anything. Pupils feel confident speaking to any adult in the school. For example, pupils were very complimentary about the ‘pink ladies’, who are the lunchtime supervisors

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Personal development and welfare

they identify as adults who listen to their worries.  Pupils feel that there is very little bullying in school and have a clear understanding of what this is. Pupils feel that staff sort out any problems well and this makes them feel safe.  Pupils are very respectful of each other. This is well demonstrated by the work of the ‘young interpreters’. These assigned pupils are pupils who speak English as an additional language and are trained to help other pupils who also speak English as an additional language. This is especially supportive for new pupils joining from other countries and contributes towards their effective induction into the school.  Pupils’ access and response to well-being and welfare support programmes are effective. The school’s chosen methods of ‘THRIVE’ and ‘PATHS’ are well developed and embedded into the day-to-day life of pupils. As a result, pupils’ emotional well- being is supported. Several parents and carers commented that one of the reasons

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Personal development and welfare

they chose the school was because of its pastoral care.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Pupils are respectful and kind to each other, both in class and during breaktimes. Pupils were observed playing well together and taking good care of one another.  In lessons, pupils follow the teacher’s instructions and apply themselves diligently. Pupils listen and engage fully in activities. They demonstrate positive attitudes to each other and towards their learning. Pupils do not misbehave or disrupt the learning of others. This ensures that all pupils have a fair chance to do the best they can.  Pupils have a good appreciation of the value of rules. Pupils said, ‘Behaviour is good for much of the time’ and, ‘Any poor behaviour is very rare’. They enjoy celebrating the ‘Raleigh stars’, who are pupils who always follow the school’s rules.  Pupils have consistently positive attitudes to learning and are confident and keen to contribute their ideas in lessons.

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Behaviour

 Overall, parents feel that behaviour is good. Recent responses to Ofsted’ Parent View survey show that the majority of parents feel that pupils behave well and leaders respond to any concerns raised.  Over time, overall attendance has been in line with the national average. Leaders now know that they need to follow the attendance of specific groups of pupils with greater rigour, particularly for those pupils who are persistently absent, to ensure that all pupils come to school as regularly as they should.

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 While the attainment of pupils was above the national average in 2017, the progress that pupils make from varied starting points is not consistently good in all classes and year groups. Too many pupils, including the most able, are not making the progress they should in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils could achieve better. This is largely because learning activities are planned without considering pupils’ various starting points. Additionally, there is a lack of challenge for the most able pupils.  Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities attain below the national average in reading, writing and mathematics. However, a significant proportion of these pupils have lower starting points and make better progress because of the quality of the individualised support they receive.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils attaining the expected standard and greater depth in writing is below the national average. However, the achievement of these

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

pupils in reading and mathematics is stronger. Gradually the differences are diminishing between their achievement and that of non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.  Achievement across the wider curriculum is inconsistent. This is because pupils receive varying opportunities across the school to demonstrate what they can do well and to apply their core skills effectively.  Pupils who speak English as an additional language progress well from their lower than typical starting points. By the end of key stage 1 in 2017, this group of pupils attained above the national average in writing for both the expected standard and greater depth, and in line with the national average for the expected standard in reading and mathematics.  The teaching of phonics throughout the early years and key stage 1 is effective and, because of this, pupils quickly develop their understanding of the sounds letters make across Year 1. Despite poorer outcomes in 2015, the proportion of pupils who achieved

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

the expected standard in the Year 1 national phonics screening check since this time has been in line with, or above, the national average.  The proportion of pupils who achieve the expected standard by the end of Year 2 is above the national average in reading, writing and mathematics. As a result of this, pupils are academically ready to move on to key stage 2.

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Early years provision Inadequate

 Early years is solely inadequate because the nature of the safeguarding issues in the school means that leaders have not ensured that they have taken appropriate actions to safeguard the welfare of pupils, including the youngest children. In addition, leaders do not review records of behaviour carefully enough over time, to see whether they indicate wider safeguarding concerns.  Children enter the early years with skills, knowledge and understanding that are generally below those typical for children of the same age. This is particularly the case in communication, language, speaking and listening.  Attainment at the end of the Reception Year has been variable over recent years. In 2016, the proportion of children who achieved a good level of development was below the national average. In 2017, the most recent outcomes for Reception children were below the national averages. However, current assessment information shows that the

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Early years provision Inadequate

progress children make from their lower starting points is good. Therefore, children are catching up and entering Year 1 equipped with the skills to support them to do well.  Children who leave Raleigh Nursery and move into Raleigh Reception do so confidently and with minimal anxiety. This is because staff talk to one another about each child and transition arrangements are effective. Reception staff know about individual children’s personal and social development, as well as their academic achievements. This information helps staff to consider the needs of all children so they have a headstart.  Adults observe children as they access activities and electronically record details of the progress children make in developing a broad range of skills. Adults use this information to a varyingly effective degree to prepare and plan appropriate activities to support and challenge children to take their next steps. The inconsistency of adults’

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Early years provision Inadequate

work leads to some children not being challenged as well as others to achieve the best they can.  Children settle quickly and behave well. This is as a result of consistent routines being established, the guidance that staff provide and the children participating in planning and accessing tasks that interest them.

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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 head@raleigh.norfolk.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 7–8 March 2013

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Information about this school

 Since the previous inspection, Raleigh Infant School and Nursery has grown by an additional class per year group. The school is now just above an average-sized school for infant pupils and nursery-aged children.  In November 2017, the headteacher began a planned, phased retirement. Currently, the deputy headteacher is the acting headteacher on the days when the headteacher is not in school.  The proportion of pupils who come from minority ethnic backgrounds or who speak English as an additional language is above average.  The proportion of pupils who have additional support to meet their SEN and/or disabilities is below the national average. The proportion of pupils who have an education, health and care plan is in line with the national average.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium is below average.  The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about the

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Information about this school

impact of the spending of the pupil premium and physical education and sport premium on its website.

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Information about this inspection

 All inspectors observed teaching and learning in every class during both the first and the second day of the inspection. Observations were undertaken with the headteacher, deputy headteacher and the early years leader. During this time, inspectors also spoke to pupils and looked at their writing and mathematics books.  There were no responses to the Ofsted pupil surveys. However, inspectors observed and spoke to pupils at breaktimes and lunchtimes as they played on the playground. One inspector also observed phonics teaching and heard some pupils read. Another inspector joined a whole-school assembly.  Inspectors met with groups of pupils and spoke with parents as they dropped their children off at school on the second day of the inspection. Inspectors also considered the views expressed in the 38 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire, Parent View, and comments made by 34 parents using the free-text service.

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Information about this inspection

 Meetings were held with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, the early years leader, the special educational needs coordinator and the subject leaders for mathematics, English and pastoral care. The lead inspector also met with a representative of the local authority and held two telephone conversations with a senior representative of the local authority.  The lead inspector met with the chair and vice-chair of governors twice, once on each day of the inspection. Inspectors spoke to members of staff about safeguarding in particular, and took account of the 20 staff responses to the Ofsted online staff survey.  Inspectors considered an array of documentation, including the school’s self-evaluation and school development plan, published information about pupils’ attainment and progress, and the school’s records about pupils’ current achievement. Additionally, inspectors looked at a varied selection of pupils’ work for all subject areas, as well as

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Information about this inspection

any monitoring information leaders had on the quality of teaching.  The lead inspector considered evidence of the school’s management of teachers’ performance and staff’s continuing professional development. She also scrutinised the school’s website and the minutes of meetings of the governing body and committee minutes.  An extensive range of documents were evaluated regarding the school’s safeguarding arrangements. These included the child protection policy, the single central record, accident and behaviour logs, and records of actions taken to protect children at risk of harm.

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Inspection team

Tracy Fielding, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Jeremy Rowe 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

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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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