Richmond Primary School

Richmond Primary School Inspection report

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Age group 3–11 Inspection date(s) 13–14 June 2012 Inspection number 395453 Unique Reference Number 134246 Local authority Oldham Inspection number 395453 Inspection dates 13–14 June 2012 Lead inspector Diane Auton

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. The registered childcare provision, managed by the governing body, was inspected under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006.

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Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 530 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Kay Thomas Headteacher Tim Hatcliffe Date of previous school inspection 9 October 2008 School address Winterbottom Street Oldham OL9 6HY Telephone number 0161 7708444 Fax number 0161 6283241 Email address info@richmond-pri.oldham.sch.uk

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Registered childcare provision Yes Number of children on roll in the registered childcare provision Date of last inspection of registered childcare provision April 2007 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.

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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.ofsted.gov.uk

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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 Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children's services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Introduction

Diane Auton John Dunne Additional Inspector Additional Inspector Clare Henderson Additional Inspector Cathy Morgan Additional Inspector

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days' notice. The inspectors observed 23 lessons taught by 18 teachers. The inspectors listened to pupils reading and observed the teaching of letters and sounds in the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1. They held meetings with the chair of the governing body, staff, a group of pupils and a group of parents and carers. The inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at a number of documents, including the school development plan, policies for safeguarding and equalities and minutes of meetings of the governing body. The inspectors reviewed information provided by parents and carers in 101 completed questionnaires. They also took into account the views of pupils in Key Stage 2 and those expressed by staff in the questionnaires they returned.

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Information about the school

The school is larger than most primary schools. The proportion of pupils supported at School Action Plus or with a statement of special educational needs is similar to that found in most schools. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is well above average. Most pupils are from British Asian Bangladeshi backgrounds and most speak English as an additional language. In 2011 the school did not meet the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for attainment and progress.

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Information about the school

Since September 2011 the school has been federated with a neighbouring primary school; an executive headteacher has responsibility for leading both schools, supported by an operational headteacher in each school. Since its previous inspection the school has gained the Achievement for All Quality Mark, Healthy School Silver status and the Arts Mark (Bronze).

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Information about the school

The school is registered to provide 126 day-care places for children from birth to five years. These arrangements are under review and currently children aged two to five years are on roll in the day-care provision. The school shares its accommodation with a Children’s Centre, which is run by an independent organisation and is subject to a separate inspection. Its inspection report is available on the Ofsted website. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Key Findings

  In accordance with section 13(3) 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.

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Key Findings

  The school’s overall effectiveness is not satisfactory because pupils in Key Stages 1 and 2 make inadequate progress and their attainment is too low when they leave the school. Teaching is not strong enough to secure rapid and sustained improvements in pupils’ achievement. Similarly, the actions of leaders and managers are not making enough difference to pupils’ achievement. The school has strengths in the Early Years Foundation Stage and its caring ethos.

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Key Findings

 Pupils’ achievement is inadequate. Over the past three years attainment has been below average in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6. Pupils in Key Stages 1 and 2 make inadequate progress over time. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are starting to make more rapid progress than previously, but their overall progress remains inadequate. Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage achieve well, but the school does not build successfully on this good start.

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Key Findings

 Teaching is inadequate in Key Stages 1 and 2. There is some good teaching, but in the majority of lessons seen teaching was mainly satisfactory and sometimes inadequate. Weak teaching over time has resulted in pupils’ inadequate progress. Pupils are not always aware of how well they are doing or what the next steps in their learning should be.

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Key Findings

 Pupils’ behaviour is satisfactory. Pupils feel safe in school. Their attitudes to learning are satisfactory. They follow instructions and try their best in lessons. Attendance has improved considerably this year and is now average.

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Key Findings

 Leadership and management are inadequate. The school’s expectations for pupils’ learning and progress are not high enough, especially for the more able pupils. Strategic planning for improvement is weak. Self-evaluation is over-optimistic and inaccurate. The leadership of teaching and the management of performance are insufficiently effective in improving the overall quality of teaching. The governing body does not have a clear picture of how well the school is doing and does not provide sufficient challenge to the school’s leaders.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so that it is at least good, so that all pupils’ progress accelerates and attainment in English and mathematics rises in Key Stages 1 and 2 by: - ensuring a brisk pace of learning in all lessons and setting an appropriate level of challenge for all groups of pupils, particularly the more able - improving the teaching of reading, and encouraging pupils to write more frequently - developing the use of individual learning targets matched closely to pupils’ developmental and learning needs to ensure they gain an improved understanding of how well they are doing and what they need to do next - building more effectively on the knowledge and skills children develop in the Early Years Foundation Stage through sharing good practice with Key Stage 1 teachers.   Improve the impact and effectiveness of leadership and management by: - developing the leaders’ skills so that they are able to monitor teaching rigorously,

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

with a sharp focus on how effectively pupils learn and make progress, and then take the actions necessary to improve its quality - ensuring that the school development plan includes clear and measurable targets against which success can be judged - ensuring that the school sets appropriately high expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress - ensuring senior leaders regularly share summaries of monitoring activities with all staff and governors through the year, so that everyone has a clear and accurate picture of how well the school is doing - improving the levels of challenge provided by the governing body to school leaders.

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Achievement of pupils

When they first join the Nursery, the children’s skills are below that typically found for their age. They do well in Nursery and Reception because of good teaching and a well-planned curriculum.

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Achievement of pupils

They make rapid progress in learning to speak English; their attainment is rising and this year is broadly in line with what is expected by the end of the Reception year. However, attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 has been significantly below average for the past three years, as has attainment at the end of Key Stage 2, with a declining trend over time. The school’s assessment records show that pupils’ attainment in Key Stage 2 has started to rise in the current year, but too slowly to make up for previous underachievement. Pupils’ work in both key stages shows inadequate progress across the year including insufficient written work completed. The progress of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is improving, but is uneven, and the overall achievement of this group of pupils is inadequate. While most parents and carers confirmed that they are happy with how well their children

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Achievement of pupils

learn, inspection evidence does not support their positive views.

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Achievement of pupils

In lessons pupils readily attempt the tasks they are set, but often they do not do enough work. They are sometimes passive rather than active learners, especially in lessons where they have to sit and listen for too long. In the small number of good lessons observed, where more is expected of them, pupils are enthusiastic, articulate and have plenty of good ideas to offer. When reading, the more able pupils are starting to develop skills that help them tackle new words and understand the meaning of text. However, some pupils of average ability and some who are less able still struggle and guess unfamiliar words, because reading is not taught well enough. Attainment in reading is below average in Year 2, and below average by the time pupils leave school in Year 6.

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Quality of teaching

The overall impact of teaching on pupils’ learning and progress is inadequate over time in Key Stages 1 and 2. During the inspection only a very small proportion of the lessons observed was teaching good enough to promote the accelerated progress required to close the gap between pupils’ current standards of attainment and what they should be achieving. In most lessons teaching was satisfactory, rather than good, and in a significant minority it was inadequate. Inspection evidence, therefore, does not support the mainly positive views expressed by parents and carers. The pace of learning is often too slow, with teachers’ input with the whole class taking too long, which limits pupils’ progress. In many lessons there is insufficient challenge for pupils, particularly the more able.

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Quality of teaching

In their responses to the questionnaire a significant proportion of pupils said that they were unsure about how well they were doing. Inspection evidence shows that, while some work has been done to introduce learning targets for individual pupils, they are not used effectively or consistently across the classes to help pupils understand what it is they are learning and to point them to the next steps. Teachers’ expectations of the progress they want pupils to make are often not high enough and are not usually made clearly known to them. This is reflected in pupils’ books where points raised in marking for example are often not followed up and where a limited amount of work is sometimes accepted without comment.

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Quality of teaching

Teaching assistants make a satisfactory contribution to pupils’ learning and progress and contribute, in particular, to interventions and support for pupils with additional needs. Teaching is good in the Nursery and Reception, and this is also the case in the day-care provision for two- and three-year-olds, which is integrated within the Early Years Foundation Stage. The attractive learning environment, both indoors and outside, supports children’s progress well in all the areas of learning. The curriculum is planned well and is responsive to children’s interests and needs.

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Quality of teaching

The curriculum in Key Stages 1 and 2 has a number of strengths which contribute to pupils’ engagement in learning. Frequent interesting visits feature in cross-curricular topic work. Input by specialists, both external and internal, provide valuable additional learning experiences for pupils for example in music and drama. However, the free-choice sessions that are part of the curriculum each day in Key Stage 1 and in Years 3 and 4 are not organised and planned well enough to ensure pupils learn as much as they should from the activities provided.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils’ behaviour is satisfactory. Staff have appropriate expectations for pupils’ behaviour and manage it consistently. Pupils expressed mixed views: although most pupils said in their questionnaire responses that they think behaviour is good, a minority said they felt that it was sometimes less than good. A small proportion of parents and carers also indicated concerns about behaviour. The findings of this inspection confirm that major disruption is uncommon. Pupils explained that they are aware of, and understand, different types of bullying, including cyber-bullying, and that they learn how to deal with them through the curriculum. Pupils say they feel safe in school and that there is always someone on hand to help them if they have a problem. Almost all parents and carers who returned the inspection questionnaire said they feel the school looks after their children well.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

The school provides sensitive support for children and families whose circumstances make them potentially vulnerable. This is helping to break down barriers to learning and access to education that some pupils sometimes encounter. Attendance is average and is continuing to improve due to the effective monitoring and mentoring actions by the school.

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Leadership and management

Leaders do not have a sufficiently sharp or urgent focus on raising pupils’ achievement. Strategic planning is weak. There are no targets in the school development plan, making it difficult for leaders, including the governing body, to assess the impact of actions taken. The school overestimates how well it is doing because its evaluations are not rooted in a rigorous analysis of the quality of teaching and learning.

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Leadership and management

Senior and middle leaders carry out monitoring activities across the year. However, this has not had enough impact on raising the quality of teaching because it has not been carried out with sufficient rigour in Key Stages 1 and 2. A programme of professional development is in place and this has helped to influence some improvements in provision, especially in the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Leadership and management

Improved systems for assessing, tracking and reviewing pupils’ progress are starting to help staff identify need and plan additional support for individual pupils. However, it is too early to see the impact of these new systems in ensuring the rapid and sustained improvements needed in achievement across Key Stages 1 and 2. This is mainly because the school’s expectations for pupils’ progress are too low. The school settles for satisfactory progress, rather than aspiring to the good or better progress that is required to close gaps in achievement. Pupils’ progress is now reviewed formally every term in each class, but the information from reviews is not summarised and shared with all staff or with the governing body. Leaders, including governors, do not monitor and evaluate well enough the progress the school is making. Governors have not challenged the school about why pupils’ attainment has been low for so many years and how this is to be remedied. Inadequacies in

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Leadership and management

leadership, teaching, pupils’ achievement and the decline since the school’s previous inspection all show that the school does not have the necessary capacity for further improvement.

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Leadership and management

The school does not promote equality of opportunity adequately because it is failing to provide a satisfactory standard of education for a large proportion of its pupils. Nonetheless, the school’s ethos is inclusive and caring; discrimination is not tolerated. Effective leadership in the Early Years Foundation Stage and in the day-care provision ensures good outcomes for the children.

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Leadership and management

The curriculum is satisfactory because it offers pupils enjoyable and interesting experiences in topic work, and through its range of enrichment activities in sports and the performing arts. The curriculum also supports satisfactorily pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development; it provides opportunities for them to experience life beyond school and it promotes sound moral and social values. The school’s procedures for safeguarding meet statutory requirements.

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childcare provision

First Steps at Richmond successfully promotes positive outcomes for the children who attend and its overall effectiveness is good.

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childcare provision

Most children’s skills are well below expectations for their age when they join the setting. They make good progress in all areas of learning. Children who have attended First Steps are fully prepared for Nursery and Reception. They are happy and settled in the setting and show they are gaining in confidence and self-esteem. They make good progress in learning to speak English.

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childcare provision

The setting is well staffed, with a wide range of stimulating activities provided for the children, including visits to the library, local parks and shops, often with parents and carers joining in. There is good provision to ensure all aspects of children’s welfare and safeguarding. Children’s progress is carefully tracked. Additional needs are identified promptly and supported well. Staff work effectively with a range of external agencies to support children’s health, social and learning needs.

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childcare provision

The setting is led and managed effectively and the staff team works together well to ensure that the children’s learning and welfare needs are met appropriately. The role of key workers has been developed well to ensure that provision is personalised for individual children. The staff team is currently working hard to develop an extended range of early literacy and numeracy activities to enhance the provision in these areas.

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childcare provision

These are the grades for the Early Years Foundation Stage of the registered childcare provision, inspected under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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childcare provision

Overall effectiveness of the Early Years Foundation Stage Taking into account: Outcomes for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage The quality of provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage The effectiveness of leadership and management of the Early Years Foundation Stage for the registered provision

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding These features are highly effective. An outstanding school provides exceptionally well for all its pupils' needs. Grade 2 Good These are very positive features of a school. A school that is good is serving its pupils well. Grade 3 Satisfactory These features are of reasonable quality. A satisfactory school is providing adequately for its pupils. Grade 4 Inadequate These features are not of an acceptable standard. An inadequate school needs to make significant improvement in order to meet the needs of its pupils. Ofsted inspectors will make further visits until it improves.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Nursery schools 54 42 2 2 Primary schools 14 49 32 6 Secondary schools 20 39 34 7 Special schools 33 45 20 3 Pupil referral units 9 55 28 8 All schools 16 47 31 6

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

New school inspection arrangements have been introduced from 1 January 2012. This means that inspectors make judgements that were not made previously.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

The data in the table above are for the period 1 September to 31 December 2011 and represent judgements that were made under the school inspection arrangements that were introduced on 1 September 2009. These data are consistent with the latest published official statistics about maintained school inspection outcomes (see www.ofsted.gov.uk ).

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

The sample of schools inspected during 2010/11 was not representative of all schools nationally, as weaker schools are inspected more frequently than good or outstanding schools.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Primary schools include primary academy converters. Secondary schools include secondary academy converters, sponsor-led academies and city technology colleges. Special schools include special academy converters and non-maintained special schools.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Percentages are rounded and do not always add up exactly to 100.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning and development taking account of their attainment.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attainment: the standard of the pupils' work shown by test and examination results and in lessons.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attendance: the regular attendance of pupils at school and in lessons, taking into account the school's efforts to encourage good attendance.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Behaviour: how well pupils behave in lessons, with emphasis on their attitude to learning. Pupils' punctuality to lessons and their conduct around the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving based on its self-evaluation and what the school has accomplished so far and on the quality of its systems to maintain improvement.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Floor standards: the national minimum expectation of attainment and progression measures

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Leadership and management: the contribution of all the staff with responsibilities, not just the governors and headteacher, to identifying priorities, directing and motivating staff and running the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Learning: how well pupils acquire knowledge, develop their understanding, learn and practise skills and are developing their competence as learners.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Overall effectiveness: inspectors form a judgement on a school's overall effectiveness based on the findings from their inspection of the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Progress: the rate at which pupils are learning in lessons and over longer periods of time. It is often measured by comparing the pupils' attainment at the end of a key stage with their attainment when they started.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Safety: how safe pupils are in school, including in lessons; and their understanding of risks. Pupils' freedom from bullying and harassment. How well the school promotes safety, for example e-learning.

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to share with their children. It describes Ofsted's main

findings from the inspection of their school.

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Inspection of Richmond Primary School, Oldham, OL9 6HY

Thank you for the warm welcome you gave the inspectors when we visited your school. It was a great pleasure to meet you all and we enjoyed our conversations with you, because you are such polite and friendly young people. We were pleased to hear from you about how much you enjoy school and all the activities that are provided. Adults take good care of you. You are now much better at coming to school regularly, so well done and keep this up!

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Inspection of Richmond Primary School, Oldham, OL9 6HY

We found that your education gets off to a good start in day-care, the Nursery and Reception. However, we have judged that your school is not giving older pupils a good enough education. Because it needs to improve in some important areas, we have judged that it requires ‘special measures’. This means that your school will receive extra support and inspectors will visit regularly to see how well the school is improving.

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Inspection of Richmond Primary School, Oldham, OL9 6HY

To make sure you all do as well as possible, we have asked the school’s leaders to do several things. We want them to make sure you learn and progress more quickly in English and mathematics so that you reach higher standards by the end of Key Stage 2. An important part of this will be to improve teaching so that you all learn more rapidly. We want the school to set ambitious targets for you, to help you all to do as well as you possibly can. We also want the school’s leaders to make better use of the important information they collect about the school and how well you are doing. This will help the school to build on its strengths and help you do better. You can all help by working hard in every lesson – we are absolutely sure that you can do this.

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Inspection of Richmond Primary School, Oldham, OL9 6HY

We send you our very best wishes for the future.

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Inspection of Richmond Primary School, Oldham, OL9 6HY

Diane Auton Lead Inspector procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . 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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