Radnage Church of England Primary School

Radnage Church of England Primary School City Road, Radnage, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire HP14 4DW

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Governance is effective. Governors have secured experienced leadership for the school during a period of considerable change. As a result, the school has continued to improve.  Safeguarding arrangements are effective. Adaptations to the building have further improved pupils’ safety.  Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who are vulnerable are supported well. Their emotional well-being is cared for particularly effectively by the school’s support team.  The quality of teaching is good. Teachers use their strong subject knowledge to structure learning well and help pupils to deepen their knowledge and understanding.  Pupils develop into successful learners, because provision for their personal development and welfare is good. A range of effective strategies enhance their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development to ensure that pupils are ready for life in modern

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

Britain.  Pupils’ behaviour is good. They enjoy learning, listen attentively in class and work cooperatively with each other. They model the school’s values to a high standard.  The early years setting is good. Children enjoy a range of interesting learning experiences. Staff are skilled and support them well in their learning. Children make good progress from their starting points and are ready to achieve well when they start Year 1.  The curriculum is broad and interests pupils. However, planning is not yet sufficiently well developed to ensure that pupils build systematic skills across a range of subjects other than English and mathematics.  Occasionally, some learning activities do not meet the needs of learners closely enough, particularly for the most and least able pupils. This hinders pupils’ progress.  The new assessment systems are beginning to be used to track pupils’ progress. However, sometimes this information is not reviewed

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

sufficiently well to inform teachers’ planning for pupils’ next learning steps.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Further raise the quality of teaching by: – ensuring that staff planning is consistently well aligned to pupils’ needs, particularly for the least and most able pupils – using the improved assessment systems to further inform planning for pupils – ensuring that provision in the wider curriculum focuses on developing sequences of learning that build pupils’ subject-specific skills and understanding.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

 Governors have responded swiftly to a recent range of unexpected leadership changes. A new headteacher has been appointed to start in September. Governors have been proactive in securing experienced leadership to provide consistency and support during the interim period. The part-time acting headteacher has a clear rationale for the role. This has helped to ensure that the school has effective leadership and is well placed to continue to improve.  The development plan has continued to focus on school improvement during this phase. Staff engage with locality groups, for example through shared moderation events. Staff morale is high. They feel well supported by leaders, including governors, and there is excitement about the future.  The leadership of English and mathematics is good. Leaders have supported colleagues effectively in developing secure subject knowledge and in consistently applying agreed

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

approaches to pupils’ learning. They monitor pupils’ progress regularly and carefully to ensure that initiatives, such as increasing pupils’ opportunity to apply mathematical knowledge through problem solving, are raising achievement.  The leadership of provision for SEND is effective. Learning for this group of pupils is meticulously planned and incorporates the views of parents, teachers and other professionals from within the school and beyond. The special educational needs coordinator ensures that these pupils receive the right support so that they can make good progress from their starting points.  Leaders have ensured that the school’s values help pupils become effective learners and model citizens. British values are woven closely through a range of assemblies and additional learning opportunities. Pupils are tolerant and respectful of one another’s differences and are supported well to be ready for life in modern Britain.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

 Additional funding, such as the pupil premium grant and sports funding, is well used to support learners. For instance, leaders have ensured that pupils have the equipment and skills to enjoy a wide range of sports during playtimes. A recent drive to increase pupils’ opportunity to refine these skills further through increased participation in sporting tournaments and competitions is further inspiring pupils to be active and healthy.  Parents and carers are mainly supportive of the school. While some parents remain concerned about the recent changes, others applaud he way that the strong school ethos and nurturing relationships that characterise the school have helped to maintain stability for the children.  As the school has expanded, leaders have ensured that the revised curriculum provides the recommended knowledge for pupils. However, sequences of learning are not yet well connected enough to build subject-specific skills efficiently for pupils across the

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Governance of the school

 Governance is effective. Governors have ensured that they have developed the skills and structures to evaluate school performance accurately. They work productively with leaders to drive the school forward. Governors have worked closely with the diocese to secure stability during a period of leadership turbulence. Their approachability and dedication to their role has helped to reassure staff and ensure that the school remains a positive and happy place in which to learn and work.  Governors fulfil their statutory obligations well. They ensure that all the required systems and training are in place to help keep pupils safe. They keep a close eye on the way additional funding for the small number of disadvantaged pupils is spent to ensure that provision for these pupils meets their needs well.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  Leaders have created a strong safeguarding culture that permeates throughout the school. When recruiting new staff, all appropriate background checks are made. This information is logged accurately on the school’s single central record. The school’s safeguarding practices meet statutory government guidelines.  Leaders provide well-considered training to ensure that staff know how to identify children at risk and what actions to take to keep them safe. School recording systems ensure that safeguarding information is carefully recorded and shared appropriately, including, when necessary, with outside agencies.  Staff know pupils and their families well. They build good relationships. This helps to ensure that, if a little help is needed from time to time, this is understood and provided where possible. In this way, pupils are supported well, and the ethos of the school

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Safeguarding

helps in keeping them safe.  Adaptations to the building, for example the front entrance to the school, have been made to help increase pupils’ physical safety. This has also supported staff in managing the flow of visitors to the school effectively.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good. Current pupils learn well across a range of subjects, including reading, writing and mathematics.  Teachers have good subject knowledge. They use this well to structure learning effectively. They ask pupils searching questions and provide clear and concise explanations that tackle misconceptions well. As a result, teaching helps pupils to deepen successfully their knowledge and understanding.  The teaching of mathematics provides pupils with effective challenge. For instance, in a Year 3 and 4 mixed group, pupils were using restaurant menus to solve problems involving money. Answering questions involved the pupils grappling with increasingly difficult scenarios involving multiple options and calculating change. In the best examples of mathematics teaching, challenge is particularly well matched to pupils’ ability, ensuring that they make good progress.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 The teaching of writing engages pupils well. Pupils enjoy opportunities for writing for a wide range of purposes. They are encouraged to use a rich range of vocabulary. For example, in a mixed Year 5 and 6 class, pupils worked keenly in groups, collecting descriptive phrases inspired by pictures. They then used these well to create evocative poetry.  The support provided by teaching assistants is of high quality. Teaching assistants have strong subject knowledge and are trained well to support pupils effectively. The support that they provide is balanced skilfully with high expectations of the pupils working independently. Consequently, the pupils that they support grow in confidence and learn well.  Teaching is adapted well for pupils with SEND. Insightful planning and preparation ensure that these pupils receive learning support that is well matched to their needs and prior learning. As a result, pupils are fully engaged and confident participants in

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

their learning.  The wider curriculum provides plenty of opportunities for interesting learning across a range of subjects. Teachers ensure that English and, where appropriate, mathematics skills are developed well across the curriculum. Nevertheless, sequences of learning are not sufficiently well developed in subjects such as science, history and geography. Pupils do not have planned opportunities to build on their skills in these subjects.  Occasionally, teaching is not well matched to pupils’ needs. Learning activities are sometimes too easy or too hard and do not challenge pupils sufficiently or break learning down into small steps. When this is the case, pupils do not make strong progress from their starting points.  Teachers are using the school’s new assessment system well to track pupils’ progress regularly. This is providing them with a good overview of how well pupils are doing in reading, writing and mathematics. However, on occasion, they are not yet using the

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

system sharply enough to help to identify particular pupils who need support and to adapt their teaching plans accordingly.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  The school is a calm and purposeful environment, because pupils are polite, focused and kind to each other. They embody the school’s values well, which means that the school is a secure and happy place in which to learn and grow.  There is a high emphasis on nurture throughout the school. Pupils are well known and understood, both by adults and each other. They work together well to ensure that everybody gets what they need to thrive. Vulnerable pupils receive additional high- quality care that supports their emotional well-being and boosts their confidence and self-esteem.  Pupils benefit from opportunities to be involved in the wider life of the school by, for example, leading elements of assembly and by being playtime leaders. Pupils are confident that their viewpoints will be listened to. The recent expansion of club

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Personal development and welfare

provision has been redesigned, following some equalities concerns that pupils raised.  Pupils have a good awareness of healthy lifestyles. For instance, at playtime they engage enthusiastically with the wide range of sporting activity and equipment on offer. They play well together with energy and enthusiasm.  Pupils demonstrate a good knowledge of how to keep themselves safe, including online.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Staff have high expectations of pupils and uphold the school’s behaviour policy fairly and consistently. Pupils respond well to this and model good behaviour, both in class and at play.  Pupils enjoy their learning and work hard. They are keen to do well and show an awareness of their responsibility to demonstrate good learning behaviours. For example, a pupil talking about her mathematics learning proudly said: ‘Algebra used to be a challenge for me, but I persevered and now I can do it.  Attendance at school is generally good. Pupils like coming to school. Leaders are working to support the few remaining families for whom regular school attendance remains a challenge.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 Leaders’ successful actions have led to a rise in pupils’ outcomes. Across the school, current pupils are achieving well in a range of subjects, including reading, writing and mathematics.  Pupils achieve well in phonics. From the Nursery upwards, children demonstrate a strong and growing ability to apply phonics knowledge to sound out new words successfully.  Pupils apply their phonic learning and other strategies well to read confidently across the school. They develop a good awareness of the techniques that authors use, for example to build tension. They talk animatedly about their reading preferences.  Proficient and prolific reading helps pupils to develop an extensive vocabulary, which they use well to make their writing interesting. Pupils use the technical features of writing well to structure their work. High expectations of spelling, punctuation and grammar help to ensure that pupils’ writing is accurate and well crafted.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 Pupils are confident and competent mathematicians. They have a firm grasp of computational skills. This helps them to tackle a wide range of problems well by selecting the most proficient method for the task.  Disadvantaged pupils and those who speak English as an additional language make good progress in a range of subjects. Pupils with SEND are supported very effectively. As a result, they learn well and make strong progress in a range of subjects from their starting points.  Occasionally pupils make less secure progress from their starting points, particularly the most and least able pupils. This is because teaching is sometimes not matched tightly enough to their needs. The new assessment systems are supporting staff in identifying these pupils, but there is more work to be done to ensure that this information is used systematically to guide teachers’ planning and prepare pupils well for the next stage of their education.

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Early years provision Good

 Children get off to a good start in the early years. They make good progress across the curriculum, because their learning needs are met well. As a result, they are well prepared for the next stage of their education.  The early years leader ensures that a wide range of opportunities are available to capture pupils’ interests. For example, during a topic about minibeasts some children were building nests, others gathering mini-beast data, while others looked diligently for ants and other small creatures. A child was able to find the things she needed to mend her scorpion model, because resources are readily available. In this way, independence and choice are well developed.  Children enjoy social occasions such as snack time. Well-developed routines support them in getting their drinks, tidying up and sitting to enjoy this social time together.  Staff are well trained to build children’s skills successfully. For example, in an effective

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Early years provision Good

phonics session, children were supported by skilled teaching which enabled them to confidently decode new words and put these into sentences.  Staff ensure that systems to keep children safe in the early years are rigorous. For example, risk assessments are carried out carefully and accurately to ensure that the setting is a safe place to learn. Staff are trained well and know what actions to take to protect children from harm. All statutory welfare requirements are in place.  As the Nursery closes in September, the early years leader is wisely looking to further develop links with other local providers. Transition support is also planned to link into Year 1, so that children receive support both as they come into and as they leave the early years.

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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

Email address office@radnage.bucks.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 20–21 May 2015

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Information about this school

 The school has recently experienced considerable staffing changes, particularly in leadership roles. The school is currently led by an interim acting headteacher who works at the school for 3 days a week. A substantive headteacher has been recruited and will start in September.  Since the previous inspection, the school has expanded its roll to include Years 5 and 6. The school currently accommodates pupils in 4 classes.  The early years contains both Reception and Nursery provision. From September, the Nursery will cease.  The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school. It has very few pupils who are disadvantaged. The proportion of pupils requiring support for special educational needs is lower than the national average. Most pupils are White British.  The school’s last statutory inspection of Anglican and Methodist schools took place in November 2015.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector, sometimes accompanied by the headteacher, visited lessons across the school. Pupils’ behaviour was observed around the school, including during breaktimes.  The inspector looked at pupils’ work in lessons and checked a selection of pupils’ books with subject leaders.  Meetings were held with the senior leaders, governors and teachers.  The lead inspector met with a representative of the diocese and had a telephone conversation with a representative of the local authority.  The inspector met formally with a group of pupils and spoke informally to other pupils during lessons and around the school. A number of pupils read to the inspector.  A wide range of documentation was considered, including: the school’s self-evaluation and improvement plan; minutes of the governing body’s meetings; reports from the diocese and local authority; information on pupils’ progress and attainment; and

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Information about this inspection

records of pupils’ behaviour and attendance. The inspector scrutinised records related to safeguarding.  The inspectors took account of parents’ views through 54 responses to the Ofsted survey Parent View, including 34 free-text comments, and through informal discussions with parents. A letter and email from parents were also considered.

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Inspection team

Deborah Gordon, lead inspector 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

Parent View 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

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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