Rawcliffe Bridge Primary School

Rawcliffe Bridge Primary School Bridge Lane, Rawcliffe Bridge, Goole DN14 8NH

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

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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

This is a school that requires improvement

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leaders have an overly positive view of the quality of education that the school provides.  Over time, leaders have not been successful in ensuring that teaching, learning and assessment are consistently good across the school. Therefore, outcomes are not consistently good.  The level of challenge for the most able pupils has been too low. As a result, the proportion of pupils achieving the greater depth standard in Year 2 and the higher standard in Year 6 has been below the national average for three years in reading, writing and mathematics.  Not all staff give clear explanations when setting pupils’ tasks. The quality of questioning used by adults also varies.  Leaders’ work on school improvement has been hindered by changes in staffing. Many of their actions are recent and have, therefore, not yet had an impact on pupils’ outcomes.  Staff do not always recognise misconceptions or take effective action to address them quickly

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

enough.  The teaching of phonics is not pitched at the right level for many pupils. When pupils are in the early stages of learning to read, books are not well matched to their phonics knowledge.  Many parents do not have a positive view of the school. They feel that school leaders could do more in response to their concerns.  Rates of absence and persistent absence are above the national average.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and well-being is very effective. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is strong.  Safeguarding policies and procedures are effectively implemented by staff.  The curriculum is broad and balanced. Pupils have opportunities to develop skills, knowledge and understanding in a wide range of subjects.  Children get off to a good start in the early years. Improvements to teaching have had a positive impact on children’s progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the impact of leadership and management by: – ensuring that the quality of teaching, learning and assessment in key stages 1 and 2 is consistently at least good.  Improve teaching, learning and assessment by: – increasing the level of challenge for the most able pupils in key stages 1 and 2 – ensuring that misconceptions are picked up and addressed quickly – ensuring that all staff give clear explanations and use questioning well – making sure that work is pitched at the right level for all abilities in phonics – making sure that pupils’ reading books are well matched to phonics knowledge.  Continue to build relationships with parents to make sure that: – parents raise any concerns they have with school leaders – leaders act swiftly to address any concerns raised.  Continue to develop strategies to improve attendance so that: – overall attendance improves to at least the national average – the proportion of pupils who are disadvantaged by persistent attendance reduces.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 Since the last full inspection, there have been a number of changes in leadership in the school. These include the appointment of an executive headteacher in September 2017 to lead this school and Rawcliffe Primary School. An executive leadership team and a senior leadership team were established in September 2018, when the two schools formally federated.  Leaders have an overgenerous view of the school’s effectiveness. Their actions have failed to secure consistently good teaching across the school over time. Many improvements are very recent and have not yet had a positive impact on outcomes for pupils.  Leaders have identified areas for improvement for the school and have written plans indicating how they intend to address these priorities. However, their success criteria are qualitative and do not relate to improvements in outcomes for pupils. This limits how well leaders can evaluate the impact of their actions.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 Leaders have identified training needs for individuals and for the school as a whole. They have provided a range of appropriate professional development opportunities. However, the impact of this work is limited and has been hampered by staffing changes. It has not resulted in enough improvement to ensure that all pupils receive consistently good teaching.  A new assessment system was introduced in September 2017. This is helping leaders to track the progress that pupils are making in reading, writing and mathematics. Leaders are now in a better position to hold teachers to account for the progress that pupils are making.  Over time, leaders have not used funding for disadvantaged pupils effectively in order to help them to catch up quickly in reading, writing and mathematics. Recent changes have ensured that the impact of the support that these pupils receive is now carefully checked and is much more effective.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 Until recently, the effectiveness of the use of extra funding to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) was not carefully monitored. Changes have been made to the support that these pupils receive, and leaders’ checks show that spending now has a more positive impact.  Leaders describe the curriculum as ‘ever evolving’. It is constantly being changed to reflect global events. Different subjects are often taught through project work, which sometimes involves the whole school. Leaders monitor timetables to check the amount of time spent on each subject. They expect teachers to plan against a skills progression document for each subject, which helps to ensure that there is year-on-year development in each subject.  Staff morale is high. All staff who made their views known to the inspector say that they are proud to be a member of staff at this school. They say that leaders use professional

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

development to encourage, challenge and support improvement.  The curriculum is enhanced by a wide range of different experiences, such as visitors in school and educational trips. These experiences support pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. Pupils also have opportunities to explore British values in many ways, including through school debates.  The primary physical education and sport premium is well spent. Leaders have broadened the range of sports available to pupils in school time and at after-school clubs. Many pupils have been able to take part in sporting competitions with other schools.

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Governance of the school

 Governance, over time, has not been effective in holding leaders to account for the impact of their actions. This has contributed to the decline in the quality of education since the last full inspection.  A new governing body was created in September 2018 when the school federated with Rawcliffe Primary School. This relatively new group is actively working to become a more effective team.  Governors now receive lots of valuable information from school leaders. They use this, together with published data and information gathered during visits to school, to evaluate the school’s effectiveness. They know that the school has been hindered by a history of weaker teaching and are supporting leaders to make improvements.  Governors are beginning to act as critical friends, providing a balance of support and challenge. They monitor the spending of additional funding to make sure that it is used effectively. They carry out their statutory duties effectively.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. All members of staff are checked for their suitability to work with children. An accurate and up-to-date record of these checks is maintained.  Leaders have made sure that all policies and procedures are fit for purpose. Thorough training and regular updates have ensured that all staff are aware of their responsibilities. They are vigilant and confidently report any concerns, no matter how small. Record-keeping is well organised and shows that, where necessary, actions are taken in a timely manner. The school has developed good partnerships with external agencies. As a result, there is a strong culture of safeguarding across the school.  Pupils say that they feel safe in school. They talked about how they trust the adults to look after them and are confident that they will be given support, should they need it. However, some parents expressed a different opinion when responding to Ofsted’s online

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Safeguarding

survey, Parent View. Many say that their children are not well looked after at this school and do not feel safe.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 The quality of teaching over time has not been good. Although there have been recent improvements, it is still not consistently good and, therefore, still requires improvement.  The quality of questioning is inconsistent. Some adults use questioning well to provide both challenge and support, but others are less effective. Explanations by adults also vary in quality. This leads to pupils not always understanding the tasks they have been asked to complete.  The quality of teaching in phonics varies. Pupils do not always have the right level of challenge. Nor do they consistently have the right level of support to be able to apply their developing phonics knowledge in their writing.  The use of assessment information is inconsistent and, therefore, work is not always well matched to pupils’ needs. This leads to some pupils being asked to complete tasks which are too difficult, but, more often, it is the most able pupils that are asked to complete

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

tasks which lack challenge.  Misconceptions are not always picked up or addressed quickly enough. Equally, errors in basic skills are regularly not picked up or not picked up quickly enough. For example, the spelling of high frequency words is not always addressed, so incorrect spelling becomes embedded.  Recent work to improve the teaching of mathematics is beginning to have a positive impact on pupils’ progress. Teachers now make sure that pupils are consistently given opportunities to develop fluency, reasoning and problem-solving skills.  Teachers and teaching assistants have secure subject knowledge. They use age- appropriate subject-specific vocabulary, especially in English and mathematics, and they encourage pupils to do the same.  Pupils have lots of opportunities to practise and apply their English skills in a wide range of subjects. They also have good opportunities to apply their mathematical skills in real

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

contexts. For example, pupils used their knowledge of ratio to alter recipes during their ‘Master Chef’ challenge.  Pupils with SEND are now well supported. Structured tasks and support are used to enable them to access the curriculum and to learn alongside their peers.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Leaders ensure that the well-being of everyone in school is always a key priority. The introduction of ‘Fitness Friday’ has raised the profile of work on staying healthy. Each week pupils take part in a wide range of activities that are carefully designed to teach them about healthy eating, exercise and mental health and well-being. Pupils enjoy being able to wear their purple hoodies to school on Fridays and they spoke with enthusiasm to the inspector about the wide range of sporting activities they have been able to try.  Pupils were keen to explain how they have opportunities to take on additional responsibilities. These include being representatives on the Joint Generation Council and school council or acting as reading buddies, office helpers or librarians.  Pupils could explain how they are taught to keep themselves safe. They gave examples

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Personal development and welfare

of work about online safety, pedestrian and cycling skills and awareness of abuse. They demonstrated how they have been taught to remember, with the aid of actions, the telephone number for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.  Pupils are clear about the different forms that bullying can take. They insist that there has been no bullying in school for a very long time. They explained that there has been some cyberbullying outside school. When this was brought to the attention of school leaders, it was dealt with swiftly and has not reoccurred for over a year.  However, some parents expressed a different view by responding to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View. Many say that the school does not deal effectively with bullying or respond well to any concerns they raise.  Most pupils have positive attitudes to learning and present their work neatly. However, some pupils’ books are untidy.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.  Pupils’ attendance is below the national average. Although the school leaders have systems in place to monitor absence and to reward 100% attendance, their actions have not had significant impact. The proportion of pupils who are disadvantaged by persistent absence is above the national average.  Although some parents do not think that the school makes sure that pupils are well behaved, the number of incidents of poor behaviour has reduced over time. Pupils explained that following a debate about football, they voted to ban it for a while. They say that this has dramatically reduced the amount of quarrelling at breaktimes. Records show that a very small proportion of lessons are disrupted by poor behaviour and this too has reduced over time.  Pupils are well behaved in lessons and around school and display good manners. Children of different ages get along well together, with older ones often helping and

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Behaviour

supporting the younger ones at breaktimes.  Pupils know and understand the school’s behaviour policy and say that it is consistently applied by most staff. They think that sanctions and rewards are appropriate.

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 The small number of pupils in each year group means that each pupil’s performance has a marked effect on the school’s overall attainment figures. However, even when this is taken into account, a legacy of weaker teaching has meant that outcomes for pupils requires improvement.  The proportion of pupils reaching the required standard in phonics in Year 1 has been below the national average for three years and has declined. In-school data shows that the proportion of pupils currently on track to reach the expected standard this year does show some improvement.  The proportion of pupils reaching the expected standards at the end of Year 2 in reading and mathematics was above the national average in 2018 but below in writing. The proportion reaching the greater depth standard in reading increased in 2018 but no pupils have reached this standard for three years in writing and mathematics.  The proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard at the end of Year 6 in reading

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

and grammar, punctuation and spelling has been above the national average for 2 years. The proportion reaching the higher standard remains below the national average but increased in 2018. In writing, the proportions reaching the expected and higher standards were below the national average but increased in 2018. Attainment in mathematics is more concerning. The proportion reaching the expected standard was below the national average in 2018 and no pupils have reached the higher standard for three years.  In-school data shows variable progress for each year group from starting points at the end of Reception and that overall progress over time is not good. However, data showing progress for each year group over the current academic year shows a more positive picture. It shows that pupils in Years 4, 5 and 6 have made good progress. This data is supported by work in books, which shows that progress has improved, especially over

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

the last term.  Published data shows that progress across key stage 2 improved from 2017 to 2018 to average in reading, writing and mathematics.  The progress of disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND has been carefully tracked over this academic year. In-school data and work in books show that progress for both groups of pupils is variable.  Pupils of all ages say that they enjoy reading and listening to stories. Many can name their favourite authors and enthusiastically explain why they have enjoyed their books. However, when pupils are in the early stages of learning to read, books are not always matched to phonics knowledge. The most able readers are frequently not challenged by the books they choose to read but there is evidence of some redirection to quality texts by adults.

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Early years provision Good

 Children enter the early years with skills and knowledge which are broadly typical for their age. They are welcomed into the mixed-age class by enthusiastic staff, and children quickly settle in to the daily routines. The proportion of children reaching a good level of development was above the national average in 2018. School records show that current children are making good progress.  The curriculum is well designed to meet the needs and interests of the children. Adults are quick to intervene to provide additional support and challenge. Activities are well designed to enhance personal development, behaviour and welfare.  Children are well behaved and have positive attitudes to learning. They move calmly and purposefully between activities and make good use of their learning time. They cooperate well to share resources and happily complete tasks together and alongside each other.  Children are encouraged to explore and investigate. The organisation of resources allows

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Early years provision Good

them to do this with some independence, and staff have plans to develop this further. Staff use questioning well to extend and challenge children’s thinking. However, the quality of the teaching of phonics is not yet of a consistently high standard.  The indoor and outdoor areas are well resourced and organised to allow children to access all areas of learning. Both areas are rich in language and in number. Children have a wealth of opportunities to practise their developing writing skills. Nevertheless, opportunities to experience shape, space and measure are rather limited.  Children are encouraged to assess situations and to take sensible risks. For example, a child balanced on a plank, that was being used to build a house for an alien, to check that the structure was stable.  Staff in the early years have developed good relationships with parents. Parents value the information that they receive about their child’s learning and most contribute

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Early years provision Good

regularly to online records.  All statutory welfare requirements are in place and safeguarding is effective.  Leaders have correctly identified the strengths and areas for development within the early years setting.

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School details

Local authority East Riding of Yorkshire

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 17 July 2018

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Information about this school

 Rawcliffe Bridge Primary School is a much smaller than average-sized primary school.  Almost all pupils are of White British heritage.  The proportion of pupils with SEND is above average, but no pupils have an education, health and care plan.  The proportion of pupils supported through the pupil premium varies from year-to- year, but is average overall.  The school runs a breakfast club and several after-school clubs.  Pupils are taught in small, mixed-age classes.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed teaching and learning in all year groups. Some of the observations were undertaken jointly with the executive headteacher.  The inspector looked at work in pupils’ books alongside senior and middle leaders.  The inspector met with members of the governing body and held a telephone conversation with a representative from the local authority.  Various documents were scrutinised, including the school’s self-evaluation document, the improvement plan, minutes of governing body meetings, records of checks on teaching and learning and attendance and safeguarding information.  The inspector met formally with a group of pupils and listened to some pupils read. The inspector spoke informally with pupils in lessons and at breaktimes.  The inspector met formally with a group of staff and took account of the 11 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey.  The inspector considered the views of parents by meeting several informally at the

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Information about this inspection

start of the school day, reading written evaluations from parents, following their attendance at school events, and through the 55 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View.

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Inspection team

Chris Cook, lead inspector Her Majesty’s 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

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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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