Ravenscroft Community Primary School

Inspection of Ravenscroft Community Primary School Ebony Way, Tower Hill, Kirkby, Liverpool, Merseyside L33 1XT

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement 17–18 September 2019

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What is it like to attend this school?

Ravenscroft has improved and is now a good school. The pupils are a credit to the school and their families. As we walked out at breaktime and lunchtime, chatty, confident, friendly pupils greeted us with good manners. Pupils make good use of the outdoor equipment to play and socialise. The pupils are proud and very enthusiastic about their school. As we visited lessons, we watched pupils listening to the adults and behaving well. They told us that there is little name-calling or bullying. The staff deal with any incidents well. In lessons, pupils concentrate on their work. Pupils are keen to learn in each subject. Science, reading, religious education (RE) and music are all strong subjects.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff have high expectations for all pupils. They teach the pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well. These pupils, and disadvantaged pupils, learn a full and ambitious curriculum. Leaders inspire pupils for the future. They learn about career options through links with universities. Pupils are well- prepared for secondary school.

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better?

Children get off to a good start in Nursery and Reception. Most of them settle quickly. They learn the class routines, including where to get their ‘wellies’ and protective clothes. There is lots of space for them to play and learn. As I was sitting on the wooden train, children spoke to me, full of excitement about what they were learning. The activities outdoors help the children to improve their physical skills. For example, they carefully balance the pipes for the water to travel down.

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better?

Reading is a high priority and starts from the very first days in school. Around the school, there are displays to motivate pupils to read, for example ‘reading makes your mind blossom’. The staff are well trained and expert in teaching reading. By the end of Year 2, almost every pupil has attained the expected reading standard. This is because staff are quick to spot any child who is falling behind. They put in extra teaching to help pupils catch up.

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better?

The quality of education is good. Leaders have created a well-designed curriculum. Pupils do not have reduced subjects to boost their results at the end of Year 6. Leaders are ambitious. They want all pupils, including those with SEND, to at least meet the expected standard. In science, RE and music, teachers follow a clear sequence of lessons. These build pupils’ knowledge and their skills. Teachers introduce and explain new ideas well. They check on pupils’ work and their answers, and they spot any mistakes. The activities in most subjects build pupils’ knowledge. However, pupils in history find it difficult to know how topics and time periods fit together over time. The history curriculum is not planned or sequenced effectively. It is clear from the actions that leaders have already taken that they can make changes to plan next year’s history curriculum. They have plans to train staff in how 17–18 September 2019

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to deliver it, and they are in the process of bringing this about. In writing, the main reason why pupils’ attainment is lower is because they do not have enough opportunity to practise their skills. This is particularly the case with a lack of writing in other subjects, including history, science and geography.

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The school is well led. Leaders have taken decisions to keep the workload for teachers manageable. Leaders have introduced activities to look after the well-being of the staff. Staff told us that they are protected from harassment. Members of the governing body have a good understanding of what happens in school. They challenge leaders about decisions and give some useful support.

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Through subjects such as RE, music, history and science, pupils reflect on other cultures and countries in the world. They learn about how to respect other religions and people who are different to themselves. They learn about different families. The school’s policies and procedures sometimes unwittingly divide boys and girls, for example when lining up at the end of breaktime. In Reception, girls wore pink wellies and boys wore blue wellies. Pupils learn about how to behave. Teachers show pupils how to be polite and how to work well with others. They meet the needs of pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders, through their policies and actions, show that safeguarding is a high priority. Leaders have built up good relationships with families and the community. Staff are vigilant in identifying and then following up any child not arriving at school. Leaders see early help as the key to protecting children. There has been thorough training on issues such as neglect.

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Safeguarding

Pupils told us that they feel safe. They learn a lot about how to stay safe, particularly when working or playing online. Some pupils are e-cadets, acting as role models to help others be safe.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Pupils’ work shows that some of the aims of the history national curriculum are not well covered. Teachers should increase pupils’ understanding of chronology, their interpretation of historic sources, and their understanding of historic concepts and terminology.  The school has been working on developing pupils’ writing skills. Pupils have the knowledge that they need about grammar and punctuation. Their writing is hampered by only having a few opportunities to write at length. This is particularly the case in other subjects, including history, science, geography and RE. Teachers should increase pupils’ attainment by providing more opportunities 17–18 September 2019

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to apply their writing skills.  The school is committed to equality and diversity. Some of its policies and procedures unwittingly build up gender stereotypes. Leaders should make sure that all of the protected characteristics identified in the 2010 Equality Act are covered in the school’s policies and procedures, and in the curriculum.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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How can I feed back my views?

If you’re not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

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. 17–18 September 2019

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School details

Local authority Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council

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School details

Inspection number 10087801 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 19–20 April 2017

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Information about this school

 Approximately half of the teachers are new since the last inspection in 2017.  The school runs a breakfast club in the school’s hall.  The school caters for pupils with communication difficulties. It also works with pupils who have social, emotional and health needs as well as those with physical needs. Teachers work with pupils who have delays in their ability to learn.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 To judge how well the school protects pupils, we spoke with leaders and other staff. We looked through documentation, including policies and case studies of how the school has helped pupils. We checked attendance and exclusion information. Importantly, we asked pupils whether they feel safe.  We looked in depth at four subjects: reading, writing, science and RE. In these subjects, we met the subject leader and visited some lessons. From the lessons we visited, we spoke with pupils about their work and looked at their completed work from the previous year. We heard some pupils read. We also looked at how 17–18 September 2019

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well the school teaches history and music.  We met with two representatives of the local authority and five members of the governing body. We looked through some reviews of the school’s work from external specialists.  We observed and spoke to pupils at breaktimes. No pupils completed Ofsted’s online survey. We met several groups of pupils to talk about their work and about school.  We spoke with a range of staff who taught the lessons we visited. No member of staff completed Ofsted’s online survey.  We took account of the views of eight parents who wrote about the school in Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View.  We met with the headteacher and members of the senior leadership team.  We looked briefly at the before-school breakfast club in the school’s hall.

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Inspection team

Allan Torr, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Andrew Morley Ofsted Inspector 17–18 September 2019

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regulates and inspects to 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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