Round Hill Primary School

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

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Adrian Nash Headteacher Round Hill Primary School Foster Avenue Beeston Nottingham Nottinghamshire NG9 1AE

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Short inspection of Round Hill Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 6 February 2018, 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 November 2012.

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Short inspection of Round Hill Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You and the senior leaders have a precise understanding of the school’s strengths and the areas for further improvement. You achieve this through your regular checks on the quality of teaching and on the progress that pupils make, both in their learning and in their personal development. As a result, you know your pupils well. You quickly act when you identify any pupils who are not achieving as highly as they should to ensure that they receive effective support. Because of this, the proportion of pupils who attain at least the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics is high in both key stages 1 and 2.

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Short inspection of Round Hill Primary School

In your commitment to improve the quality of the school’s provision further, you have ensured that your staff work closely with professionals in other schools. You understand the importance of allowing your staff to share best practice and to learn from the practice of others. You are also keen to adopt strategies that have succeeded in other schools, particularly in promoting the progress of your disadvantaged pupils. Working with other schools also ensures that your teachers have regular opportunities to check the accuracy of their assessment of pupils’ learning, including that of the children in the early years provision. This ensures that teachers quickly identify when pupils are not making good progress and put appropriate support into place.

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Short inspection of Round Hill Primary School

In response to the recommendation from the last inspection, your teachers now carefully plan activities to ensure that pupils make good progress. In each lesson, teachers set activities based upon three increasingly difficult challenges. This is particularly effective in ensuring that the most able pupils make at least good progress. These pupils are quick to complete the most challenging work and so move on to attain the higher standard in reading, writing and mathematics. However, not enough middle-prior-attaining pupils attain the higher standard, particularly in writing and mathematics. This is because they do not always move on quickly enough to complete the more challenging work that enables them to deepen their understanding.

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Short inspection of Round Hill Primary School

You have identified that there has been an increase in the number of pupils attending your school who speak English as an additional language. You recognise that these pupils require specific support to allow them to make rapid progress, particularly in developing their language skills. You have been quick to provide this support. This remains a key priority for your school.

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Short inspection of Round Hill Primary School

The pupils that I met said that they enjoy coming to school because the staff care for them well and make learning fun. Pupils engage well with their learning and are keen to receive the ‘star of the week’ award. Their positive attitudes to learning ensure that pupils behave well. Pupils said that incidents of poor behaviour, including bullying, are rare. The school records confirm this to be the case. Pupils said that, when any such incidents do occur, staff are quick to take effective action. Most parents and all staff who expressed a view agreed that this was the case.

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Short inspection of Round Hill Primary School

The many lunchtime activities that you provide for pupils are well attended. Pupils spoke enthusiastically of the diverse nature of these clubs, which include art clubs, sports clubs and a 60-piece orchestra. These clubs encourage pupils to develop their skills beyond the classroom and to grow in confidence. Consequently, pupils make strong progress in their personal development.

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Short inspection of Round Hill Primary School

Governors have a precise understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses due to their own regular and rigorous checks on the quality of the school’s provision. These checks focus sharply on what governors identify as aspects of the provision that are not yet strong enough. They enable governors to provide you and other leaders with high levels of challenge and support.

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Short inspection of Round Hill Primary School

Governors are equally rigorous in checking on their own effectiveness. They commissioned an external review of governance that has helped them to sharpen their practice even further. Governors are uncompromising in their ambition for the school, its staff and its pupils.

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Short inspection of Round Hill Primary School

Senior leaders take timely and effective action to support any pupils about whom they have a safeguarding concern. They work closely with parents and carers and a range of external agencies, to ensure that pupils receive appropriate support. This includes any local issues they identify that may affect their pupils’ well-being. You and other senior leaders have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. All staff understand their responsibility to keep pupils safe. They receive regular safeguarding training and know that they must inform a senior leader when they have a concern about a pupil’s well-being. Staff are highly vigilant of the signs that may indicate a concern about a pupil’s welfare, including any patterns of absence.

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Short inspection of Round Hill Primary School

Pupils learn how to be safe in a variety of circumstances. When I inspected your school, pupils were completing an online safety awareness day. Pupils of all ages were able to identify different ways in which they can keep themselves safe when online. Pupils said that they have staff that they can speak to if they have a concern. They are confident that staff will take effective action to help them to resolve their concern. Almost all parents who expressed a view, both through the online survey and to me personally, said that your staff look after their children well, and that their children are happy at the school and feel safe.

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Inspection findings

 Senior leaders have been quick to review why, in 2017, Year 6 pupils’ progress in mathematics and writing was not as strong as the above-average progress that they achieved in reading. Leaders have been quick to ensure that current pupils across all year groups receive further support to ensure that they make at least good progress in writing and mathematics.  As a result, across all year groups, the proportion of pupils who are on track to attain at least the expected standard in all three subjects is above national levels.  The majority of the most able pupils across all year groups are on track to attain the higher standard in reading, writing and mathematics.  The proportion of middle-prior-attaining pupils who are on track to achieve the higher standard in writing and in mathematics, while improving, is not as high as it should be. This is because teachers do not always ensure that these pupils

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Inspection findings

move on quickly enough to the more challenging tasks that would help them to develop the higher-level skills in these subjects.  Pupils in Year 2 in 2016 underachieved in reading, writing and mathematics. Most of these pupils, who are now in Year 4, have caught up and are attaining at least the level expected of them in all three subjects. This is due to the close support that teachers have provided for these pupils to help them catch up quickly. However, not enough middle-prior-attaining pupils in Year 4 are on track to attain the higher standard, particularly in writing and mathematics.  The difference between the attainment of disadvantaged pupils, including those of low prior-attainment, and other pupils nationally is closing in reading, writing and mathematics. This is because of the close support that disadvantaged pupils receive, including through your effective use of additional government funding.

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Inspection findings

 For the fourth consecutive year, attainment in the early years in 2017 was well above the national level. This is because adults carefully plan activities that allow children to explore their reading, writing and mathematical skills fully. Adults also provide parents with regular information about their child’s progress. This helps parents to support their child effectively.  Attendance at the school is well above the national average and has been so for some time. This is due to leaders’ close checks on pupils’ attendance. These checks ensure that leaders identify early any issues about individual pupils’ absence. Leaders are quick to put into place well-targeted support when they identify any pupil who is struggling to attend school regularly.

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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

 they further develop the quality of teaching to ensure that greater proportions of middle-prior-attaining pupils attain the higher standard in writing and mathematics  they continue to adapt the support that they provide for pupils who have recently arrived at the school who speak English as an additional language, so that these pupils make rapid progress, particularly in developing their language skills.

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

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you, other senior leaders, a selection of staff and four governors, including the chair of the governing body. I observed learning in all year groups, jointly with you as headteacher and other senior leaders. During these visits to lessons, I spoke with pupils. I looked at pupils’ books as a separate activity. I observed pupils’ behaviour when they arrived at the school, during which time I also spoke with parents. I met with a selection of pupils from Years 3, 4, 5 and 6. I also spoke with pupils informally when I observed behaviour at breaktime. I listened to three pupils read. I spoke with a representative of the local authority by telephone. I examined a range of documents, including those related to safeguarding, attendance, pupils’ attainment and progress, and the school’s use of pupil premium funding. I also took into account the school’s self-evaluation and its

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Information about the inspection

improvement plan. I scrutinised the school’s recruitment procedures and records of the checks made on new staff and volunteers. I took into account the 169 responses to Ofsted’s online survey for parents, including the 97 responses to the free-text service. I considered the 26 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey and the 122 responses to the online survey for pupils. At the end of the day, I gave feedback to you, other senior leaders and members of the governing body.

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