Rufford Primary and Nursery School

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

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Mrs Alison Tones Headteacher Rufford Primary and Nursery School Hoewood Road Bulwell Nottinghamshire NG6 8LE

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Short inspection of Rufford Primary and Nursery School

Following my visit to the school on 27 November 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 May 2015.

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Short inspection of Rufford Primary and Nursery School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the previous inspection. You lead the school extremely well. Staff and parents regard your leadership highly. You have formed a strong team in which all leaders make an effective contribution to the quality of teaching and learning within their areas of responsibility. The Nottingham Schools Trust, which the school has joined, provides a very good-quality source of effective challenge and support for the school. The governing body also carries out its role effectively. Governors are well organised and know the school in detail. The governing body has recently commissioned an external check on its work. This check confirmed how well the governing body carries out its functions.

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Short inspection of Rufford Primary and Nursery School

All leaders share a detailed and accurate view of the school. Leaders hold regular meetings with class teachers to discuss the attainment and progress of each pupil. Any pupil at risk of not doing as well as he or she might is given additional help, either in class or through catch-up sessions. Leaders check carefully the progress of particular groups of pupils, such as the most able or disadvantaged pupils. All groups of pupils achieve well. Regular and well-organised pupil progress meetings are just one of the many ways that leaders ensure that all pupils make good progress throughout the school.

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Short inspection of Rufford Primary and Nursery School

Pupils throughout the school behave well, work hard and concentrate in lessons. They act safely and show respect for the safety of others. Pupils understand the school’s behaviour policy and staff implement it consistently. Staff give close attention to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils understand the school’s ‘magnificent seven’ and learn how to be caring, respectful, determined, confident, ambitious, honest and curious. Staff manage pupils’ attendance well, and rates of attendance are close to the national averages.

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Short inspection of Rufford Primary and Nursery School

Since the previous inspection, the quality of teaching and the use of assessment have improved. Staff adopt consistent approaches to many important issues, such as how reading, writing and mathematics are taught. The areas for improvement have been addressed well. Teachers use assessment effectively in lessons, and many pupils, especially in older classes, show a clear understanding of where to focus their efforts to improve and to move on to the next stage of their learning.

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Short inspection of Rufford Primary and Nursery School

Because provision in the early years is good, children by the end of the Reception Year attain standards that are not far short of those that are typical for children of their age. In 2018, standards were higher than previously and a proportion of children achieved a good level of development at the national average by the end of Reception. Children in the early years enjoy their learning and cooperate well. They learn to behave well and are prepared effectively for Year 1. Because reading and phonics are well taught, results in the national phonics screening check are close to national averages.

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Short inspection of Rufford Primary and Nursery School

Throughout the school, reading and mathematics are very well taught. You have taken action to ensure that standards in these subjects have risen so that pupils leave the school attaining standards at the national average. Writing is not as strong as in reading and mathematics and you have begun some useful work to improve standards in writing.

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Short inspection of Rufford Primary and Nursery School

None of the parents I spoke to during the inspection were critical of the school, and the vast majority held the school in very high regard. The school’s own survey of parents’ views also showed that parents rate the school highly.

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Short inspection of Rufford Primary and Nursery School

Safeguarding procedures are fit for purpose and fully meet requirements. Records are of good quality and are detailed. A culture of safeguarding is evident throughout the school because all staff are well trained and fully understand their responsibilities and the importance of keeping children safe in school. Parents recognise the great emphasis placed by the school on pupils’ welfare and personal development. The governing body, ably led by the lead safeguarding governor and the local authority, regularly checks that safeguarding arrangements are robust and effective. Outside agencies are appropriately involved in safeguarding issues.

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Inspection findings

 Leaders have taken effective action to improve the curriculum and the quality of teaching of reading and mathematics throughout the school over the last few years. The effect of this action is evident in the results of recent end-of-key-stage assessments and in the school’s own accurate records of pupils’ attainment and progress. In mathematics it is also evident in the books that I looked at. The greatest improvement in mathematics has been in pupils’ understanding of number and in their reasoning skills. Pupils’ knowledge of number, such as multiplication tables, is not so strong, but you have already arranged to improve this. Although standards in writing are improving, pupils do not yet achieve as well in this subject as they do in reading and mathematics.  Improvements in the teaching of reading have helped enhance pupils’ reading skills and their enjoyment of reading. Particularly useful have been the

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Inspection findings

introduction of daily shared reading and a much-improved home-reading programme. Pupils really value the rewards they are given for regular reading.  You have ensured that they have addressed the areas for improvement in the previous inspection report. You have overhauled and greatly improved the way that assessment is used to guide pupils’ learning. Pupils now show a good understanding of where they need to concentrate to improve their work, and this is helping them achieve well.  Children progress well from their starting points in the early years. They benefit from the good-quality learning environment you have created, especially indoors where well-organised areas help children make good progress in all areas of learning. The outside areas also provide stimulation for learning, but outdoors there is scope for further enriching the provision for children’s language development. Staff have high expectations of children’s behaviour in the early

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Inspection findings

years and children respond well to these. Children are happy and able to sustain concentration when working either with adults or independently.  Monitoring and evaluation are accurate and comprehensive, and the school invariably works at improving appropriate issues. The school has established a strong track record of ensuring, through good-quality guidance for staff, that improvements are implemented consistently. This means that the school is very well placed to continue to improve.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:  pupils make consistently strong progress in writing, so that standards in writing are at least as high as in other subjects.

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

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Information about the inspection

Before and during the inspection I analysed the performance of the school in comparison with other schools nationally. During the inspection, I evaluated the school’s own records of pupils’ attainment and progress. We jointly observed teaching and learning in classes. I also looked at past and current work of pupils of different abilities, and compared pupils’ work with the school’s assessment records. A meeting was held with two members of the governing body. I analysed documents, including plans for the school’s improvement and reports showing the school’s view of its own performance. I looked at recent reports on the school’s effectiveness. I held a telephone conversation with the school improvement adviser who works for the Nottingham Schools Trust. I looked at the recent audit reports of governance and safeguarding. I evaluated the school’s website. Safeguarding documents, policies and records relating to pupils’ personal development,

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Information about the inspection

behaviour, welfare and safety, and attendance were inspected.

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Information about the inspection

There were insufficient responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, to provide information, but I was able to ascertain the views of parents. I did so by analysing the results of the 62 returns to the school’s own survey of parents’ views undertaken in December 2017, and by speaking to 46 parents of 81 children outside the school on the day of the inspection. Pupils’ views were gathered through a pre- arranged meeting and informally around the school.

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