Roundhill Primary School

Roundhill Primary School Mount Road, Southdown, Bath, Somerset BA2 1LG

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Inadequate

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Early years provision Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Outstanding

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The quality of education has declined significantly since the previous inspection. Leaders have not taken the action required to improve school performance.  Leaders, including governors, do not monitor the performance of groups of pupils closely enough to address underachievement. The proportion of current pupils working at the standards expected for their age has decreased over time. Leaders have failed to halt this decline.  Absence rates are higher than national averages and are climbing. The proportion of pupils who are persistently absent is too high.  Teachers do not provide regular, good-quality reading opportunities for pupils. Pupils who rarely read fall further behind their peers.  Teaching does not support pupils to develop their mathematical reasoning and problem- solving knowledge.  Teachers’ expectations are not high enough. Consequently, pupils make poor progress, particularly lower-attaining pupils, the most

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

able and pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities. Too often, teachers fail to deploy support staff effectively, limiting their impact on raising outcomes for pupils.  Middle leaders have had little impact on raising standards in their subject areas. They have been slow to identify weaknesses and challenge poor performance.  The use of the pupil premium has not been effective. Leaders have failed to meet their own targets. Disadvantaged pupils make poor progress and too many are absent or persistently absent.  The teaching of writing does not provide pupils with opportunities to learn key concepts or to write independently. Outcomes in writing are poor across all year groups.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The early years provision helps children to develop their personal and social skills well. Adults help children to develop their confidence, communication and language skills well.  Leaders’ use of the sport premium grant ensures that pupils increasingly engage in sporting activity and develop their health and well-being.

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Full report

In accordance with section 44(1) 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 in the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the impact and effectiveness of leadership and management at all levels by making sure that: – the quality of teaching, learning and assessment urgently improves across the whole school to ensure that more pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those who have SEN and/or disabilities, make rapid progress from their starting points – leaders and governors have a precise and accurate analysis of school performance to help them challenge poor performance and plan effective improvements, through regular and detailed monitoring – leaders successfully address the rising absence and persistent absence rates for pupils – middle leaders receive the training and support they need to drive improvement in their subject areas.  Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by ensuring that teachers: – carefully consider assessment information and plan appropriate activities closely matched to pupils’ needs, including for disadvantaged pupils and those who have

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

SEN and/or disabilities – raise their expectations of what pupils can achieve, to provide challenging activities, particularly for most-able pupils – deploy support staff effectively, resulting in improved outcomes for pupils.  Improve outcomes for pupils by ensuring that: – pupils make strong progress from their starting points in reading, writing and mathematics so that the proportion of pupils working at expectations for their age and the higher standard increases over time – the proportion of children who achieve a good level of development at the end of the Reception Year increases and is closer to the national average – reading opportunities for all pupils are high in quality and frequent, particularly for lower-attaining pupils – the proportion of pupils that meet the standard in the phonics screening check increases – disadvantaged pupils and those who have SEN and/or disabilities are well supported

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

and make strong progress – pupils have access to a rich mathematics curriculum which provides them with frequent opportunities to develop their fluency, reasoning and problem-solving knowledge.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

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’ actions have been too slow to address the decline in teaching, learning and assessment. Over time, leaders have not taken appropriate action to improve the poor quality of teaching, learning and assessment across the school. Consequently, the quality of teaching remains inadequate.  Leaders do not use assessment information effectively. School improvement planning reflects a lack of urgency to improve pupils’ underperformance. Leaders readily accept the slow pace of improvement as the norm. For example, despite knowing that writing is the worst-performing subject across the school, leaders’ actions are failing to arrest this decline.  Middle leadership is underdeveloped. Leaders have not provided sufficient opportunities and training to enable middle leaders to carry out their roles effectively. Consequently, middle leaders do not fully understand their roles and responsibilities. As a result, the proportion of pupils working at expectations for their age in a range of

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

subjects has declined over time.  Leaders do not make effective use of the additional pupil premium funding. Their actions to improve the attendance and progress of disadvantaged pupils have not had sufficient impact. The pupil premium leader has raised staff awareness of disadvantaged pupils and refocused the school on improving the academic outcomes of these pupils rather than solely providing pastoral support. However, inadequate teaching remains a barrier to improving pupils’ performance. It is too early to see the impact of this work.  Leadership of provision for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is not yet fully effective because additional funding for these pupils has not yet resulted in provision that consistently meets their needs. The current leader has overhauled systems, trained staff and has ensured that the identification of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities in the early years has led to provision that more closely meets children’s

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

needs. However, her work is recent and so systems are not yet consistently raising the achievement of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities across the school.  The use of the sport premium is effective. More pupils are gaining access to regular sporting activities, resulting in greater participation. However, leaders have not published a report detailing expenditure for the current academic year on the school’s website.  The school should not appoint newly qualified teachers.

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Governance of the school

 In the past, governors have not received all the information they need to hold leaders to account for raising pupils’ achievement. Recent changes to the leadership of governance are encouraging but are yet to make a tangible difference to the school’s performance. The newly appointed chair and vice-chair have an increasing awareness of the school’s strengths and weaknesses.  Governors acknowledge that the pace of change in the school has been too slow. They recognise that until recently, they have not focused precisely enough on pupils’ academic performance. They have not ensured that senior and middle leaders have sufficient opportunity to carry out their roles effectively.  Governors have not fulfilled their statutory responsibilities to measure the impact of additional funding for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities or those for whom they receive the pupil premium. Targets in the current pupil premium report have ‘rolled

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Governance of the school

over’ from the previous academic year, due to lack of discernible impact.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. The procedures for staff recruitment are robust, ensuring that leaders only employ those who are suitable to work with children. At the beginning of the inspection some of the required information was missing from the school’s central register. Leaders resolved weaknesses in recording, using information held in school, so that the single central record now meets requirements.  Leaders provide training for all staff to ensure that pupils’ welfare is a priority. Staff effectively communicate any concerns they may have with the designated leader for safeguarding. Leaders act proportionately and make appropriate referrals to involve external agencies where necessary.  Leaders ensure that safeguarding arrangements for those pupils who attend an alternative provision meet requirements. Leaders take this strand of their work very seriously to maintain pupils’ well-being.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

 Teaching, learning and assessment fail to meet pupils’ needs. Leaders have not acted in an effective or timely manner to bring about much-needed improvements to the quality of teaching. Consequently, too often teaching fails to meet pupils’ needs; underachievement is prevalent with little sign of improvement.  Teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve are too low. Consequently, teachers do not ensure that pupils are working at expectations for their age.  Teachers do not use assessment information effectively or consider pupils’ prior knowledge sufficiently. Some classes repeat work that is much too easy for pupils, while in others, pupils with lower than average attainment cannot learn effectively because activities are too difficult. Too often activities are not closely matched to the needs of pupils and restrict the progress that pupils make over time.  The teaching of reading is weak. Teachers do not ensure that pupils read widely and

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

often or provide pupils access to reading books that match their reading development and reading ability. As a result, too many pupils are unable to read the words on the page at a fluent rate. This significantly impedes their ability to recall what they have read.  Teaching does not challenge the most able pupils. Despite efforts to improve the levels of challenge for pupils across the school, the impact of this has been far too inconsistent. Teachers do not monitor whether pupils are selecting activities that are challenging enough. As a result, pupils choose activities in lessons that are too easy and progress stalls.  Teachers do not deploy support staff effectively. The school has a high number of support staff, some of whom support pupils on a one-to-one basis. However, their work has had too little impact on helping pupils to catch up and reach the standards expected for their age.  The teaching of writing is poor. Teaching is not enabling pupils to secure basic writing

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

skills, nor support them to write at expectations for their age. The school’s approach to writing is not enabling pupils to write independently. Teachers heavily scaffold writing which, in some cases, pupils are unable to read back. In key stage 2, pupils do not use capital letters and full stops consistently well. Teachers do not notice pupils’ basic errors in punctuation and grammar, which continue over time.  The support for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is weak. Targets for pupils are often vague. Teachers do not ensure that pupils’ needs are met. Over time, pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities have not made the progress they should.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is inadequate.  The majority of pupils leave school working below expectations for their age, with few ready for the increased expectations in secondary school.  Over the last few years, pupils’ absence rates have been too high. Persistent absenteeism is too high, well above the national average. Leaders’ actions are not yet reversing poor attendance and as a result too many pupils are regularly missing school. This significantly hinders pupils’ education and personal development.  Pupils who do attend regularly are knowledgeable about the risk of sugary drinks and value the sporting provision across the school which keeps them healthy.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is inadequate. Rates of exclusions are too high. Too often pupils’ challenging behaviour disrupts learning; the many behaviour incidents recorded by staff show little sign of reduction. During the inspection, there were no incidents of this very challenging behaviour. Pupils stated that they know the school rules and pupils were generally compliant both in lessons and at times which are less structured, such as lunch and breaktimes.  Teaching does not fully engage pupils’ interests or enthusiasm. Pupils’ attitudes to learning are not good enough. Too often, pupils lose attention and focus in lessons. Furthermore, pupils lack pride in their work, so their presentation and handwriting suffer.  Some pupils attend an alternative provision full time. Senior leaders are beginning to work to reduce the time pupils spend at the alternative provision by providing an increased timetable in school.

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

 Over time, pupils’ progress and achievement have declined significantly. In 2016, pupils’ progress across key stage 2 was significantly below the national average. In 2017, only one third of pupils reached the expectations for their age in reading, writing and mathematics, significantly lower than the national average. Furthermore, in both 2016 and 2017, no pupils reached a higher standard by the end of Year 6.  Current pupils are making slow progress. In too many year groups, the proportion of pupils working at expectations for their age is declining in reading, writing and mathematics. Each year, too many pupils are falling behind, with gaps in learning increasing.  Disadvantaged pupils make weak progress and too few are working at expectations for their age. Currently, disadvantaged pupils are also making less progress than their peers. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils working at expectations for their age is

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

declining. In some years, only one in three disadvantaged pupils are working at expectations for their age.  Over each of the last three years, phonics outcomes at the end of Year 1 have been consistently lower than the national average. Although some pupils go on to meet the standard by the end of Year 2, the proportion remains below national averages.  Outcomes in writing across the school are weak. Pupils’ weak command of spelling, punctuation and grammar impedes their progress in writing. As pupils move through the school, teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve are not high enough. Consequently, too few pupils have the knowledge and skills expected for their age in writing.  Lower-attaining pupils have too few opportunities to develop their reading, limiting their ability to catch up. Consequently, as pupils move through the school, a decreasing proportion of pupils reach age-related expectations.

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

 In mathematics, pupils do not develop the knowledge and skills expected for their age. Too often pupils complete activities that lack challenge. As a result, over time pupils’ progress in mathematics has been significantly below national averages. Outcomes for current pupils suggest a continuing trend of underperformance.  Lower-attaining pupils and pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are making insufficient progress. Targets for these pupils are vague and lack precision. Too often assessments do not accurately identify their learning needs and fail to ensure that they access appropriate support that helps them to catch up.  Most-able pupils make poor progress. Despite leaders’ assessment information showing that more pupils are working at a higher standard, pupils’ work does not reflect this. Pupils do not have access to suitably challenging work, significantly impeding their progress.

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Early years provision Requires improvement

 Over time, not enough children have made good progress across the different areas of learning during their time in the early years. The proportion of children reaching the early learning goals in reading, writing and mathematics has been lower than national averages in recent years.  Despite high adult to child ratios, staff do not provide consistent levels of challenge for children. While some children have good-quality learning opportunities and make good progress as a result, other activities do not help children to rapidly develop and build their learning and development.  The early years leader is proactive in seeking additional support for children. She works closely with the leader for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities to ensure early identification of children who have SEN and/or disabilities. As a result, children are now receiving appropriate specialist support in the early years of their school life.

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Early years provision Requires improvement

 The early years provision helps children to develop their personal and social skills well. Children are confident to share their learning with adults and engage in role play.  Adults are aware of the need to promote speech and language across the provision and provide opportunities for children to develop in this area. This has resulted in children becoming increasingly confident to communicate with their peers and other adults.  Children are safe in the early years provision. Leaders have completed statutory checks and have appropriately trained staff to fulfil their responsibilities to keep children safe.

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School details

Local authority Bath and North East Somerset

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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 roundhill_pri@bathnes.gov.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 6–7 July 2016

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Information about this school

 Roundhill Primary School is a larger than average primary school. It was formed by the merger of two schools, Southdown Community Infant School and Southdown Junior School.  The local authority has issued the school with two warning notices with concerns over poor performance and leaders’ capacity to bring about improvements.  The proportion of pupils entitled to free school meals is higher than national averages.  The proportion of pupils identified as requiring SEN support is higher than national averages.  The school operates a daily after-school club as well as a range of after-school activities.

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Information about this inspection

 The school was selected for inspection under section 8(2) of the Education Act 2005 (The Act). While on site, inspectors found it necessary for the inspection to be deemed a section 5 inspection under section 9 of The Act.  The lead inspector met with representatives from the governing body, including the chair and vice-chair. The lead inspector also met with representatives from the local authority.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher and assistant headteacher, middle leaders including subject leaders, the leader responsible for the sport premium grant, the early years leader and the leader responsible for both the pupil premium and pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities.  Inspectors observed teaching and learning in each class. Inspectors also scrutinised a range of pupils’ workbooks from Years 1 to 6, as well as children’s learning diaries in nursery and reception. Inspectors conducted a scrutiny of pupils’ workbooks and

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Information about this inspection

checked the school’s assessment information.  Inspectors met with pupils from key stages 1 and 2 to gather their views about the school.  Inspectors took account of the views of 69 parents and carers who responded to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View.  Inspectors reviewed safeguarding documentation and the school’s single central register. Furthermore, inspectors reviewed the school’s safeguarding policies, their work with external support and the school’s records of concerns.  Inspectors considered a range of documentation, including external reviews of school performance, recent local authority reviews and reports, the school’s evaluations of its own performance and the current school development plan.

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Inspection team

Nathan Kemp, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Susan Horsnell 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

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open- government-licence/ , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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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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