Rainbow Forge Primary Academy

Inspection of Rainbow Forge Primary Academy Beighton Road, Hackenthorpe, Sheffield, South Yorkshire S12 4LQ

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005 7–8 January 2020

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are enthusiastic about the subjects they enjoy at school, particularly music, art and physical education (PE). They are becoming confident mathematicians. Improving pupils’ reading is a priority for the school. Some pupils do not receive the support they need to help them to read with fluency and accuracy.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The ‘Job Shop’ helps pupils to start to develop a good work ethic. Pupils are ‘paid’ in school dollars for their hard work, for example at lunchtime. Pupils take these roles very seriously. They are encouraged to be responsible and think independently in many aspects of their school lives. They have opportunities to share their views and debate their ideas with others. Their opinions are valued.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ behaviour and attendance have improved. Pupils say that behaviour is good because adults have clear expectations and listen to them when they have a problem. An effective curriculum helps pupils to stay safe. Pupils spoken to during the inspection said that they do not worry about bullying. They have confidence in adults in school giving help if it is needed.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Early years staff care very much for the children. Staff’s expertise varies across different age ranges and subjects. This means that, in some areas of learning, children do not achieve as well as they could.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school community is positive about being part of LEAD Academy Trust. Parents and carers, pupils and staff see the benefits since joining the trust.

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better?

Leaders are working hard to improve the curriculum so that it helps more pupils to achieve well. Pupils enjoy, and are building knowledge in, mathematics, art, music and PE. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported to achieve in some aspects of their work. However, like other pupils in school, their achievement varies across different subjects.

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better?

Leaders have identified that reading needs to be better. They know that subjects such as history, geography and modern foreign languages need improvement too. Some teachers do not have the subject knowledge they need to teach all areas of the curriculum well. Many curriculum leaders are new to their roles. They are being supported in their work by trust specialists.

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better?

Some children do not achieve as well as they should in reading. This has been a trend over time, despite strategies that have been put in place by leaders. The phonics curriculum in Year 1 is effectively planned. Pupils generally apply the sounds they have learned well to writing. However, variable opportunities to practise reading limit the progress that pupils make. Pupils with lower starting points struggle to read with fluency as they move on through school. This affects their understanding and some of their access to other subjects. 7–8 January 2020

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The books pupils read in guided reading sessions are well matched to their abilities. In key stage 2, there is now a more structured approach to teaching reading. Adults have higher expectations of the quality of pupils’ responses to questions. Pupils know how to find information in the books they read. However, pupils with lower starting points do not consistently get the practice they need to become successful readers. Overall, disadvantaged pupils achieve less well than other pupils in reading.

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Leaders have much work to do to promote a love of reading among pupils. Leaders are aware of this. They have introduced some strategies to engage families. They have offered reading workshops and given pupils reading passports that contain ‘good read’ recommendations. They have introduced reading apps so that pupils can read online. However, many pupils and families do not access these resources. Many pupils do not take school books home to read.

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The quality of education varies across the early years. Learning for the younger children is sometimes disrupted. There are challenges with access to the toilets. Groupwork sometimes takes place in walk-through spaces. Some adults do not have good subject knowledge in phonics. Because of this, adults sometimes introduce misconceptions for nursery children.

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Local governance has recently been strengthened. The range of skills and experiences of governors means that they are now better placed to challenge and support school leaders. New governors have quickly established the strengths and weaknesses in the school. Information sharing and quality assurance from the trust are timely and well organised. However, the school improvement and subject plans are not precise enough for governors to be able to check leaders’ work in the depth needed.

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The welfare and personal development of pupils are carefully considered by leaders and staff. Pupils are encouraged to be independent and try to solve problems themselves. They know that adults are always close at hand if needed. Pupils remember the important messages leaders give them in assemblies. They respect people’s differences.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Comprehensive systems, policies and checks on processes are in place to ensure that staff know how to keep pupils safe. Frequent training and updates by the local authority and the trust cover a wide range of relevant issues that may face pupils. Leaders have effective systems in place to check that all staff are confident about their responsibilities in this area.

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Safeguarding

Record-keeping is fit for purpose. Communication is effective between school staff and leaders, trust safeguarding leaders and other agencies. 7–8 January 2020

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Leaders have put in place a carefully thought-out curriculum plan to ensure that, over their time in school, pupils increase their awareness of how to manage potential safety risks they may face.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 A considerable proportion of pupils do not read with fluency and accuracy. Pupils with lower starting points do not have enough opportunities to practise and become familiar with texts so that they quickly gain confidence and enjoy this crucial aspect of the curriculum. Leaders should carefully consider and implement plans to foster a love of reading in pupils of all ages and abilities. Leaders should ensure that pupils who find reading difficult are given sufficient opportunities to practise and become confident readers.  Pupils’ achievement in different subjects varies widely. This is because curriculum plans are at various stages of implementation. Teachers’ subject knowledge is much stronger in some subjects than it is in others. Leaders should continue their work to improve the curriculum in all subjects, making sure that they are specific about what pupils will learn and when. Leaders should make sure that training

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

and support are in place to ensure that teachers have strong subject knowledge across the primary curriculum.  Children do not achieve as well as they could over their time in the early years. The curriculum and learning environment across the early years are not organised and planned appropriately for children’s different ages and stages of learning. Adults do not have a consistently strong understanding of how to teach phonics. Leaders should review the curriculum across the early years so that it is appropriately ambitious for children. Leaders should ensure that the curriculum is taught well by providing staff with the training they need so that children are prepared well for Year 1.  Leaders’ intended plans for improvement are not consistently carried out across the school. Plans do not detail exactly what needs to improve within a particular subject or aspect of school. This limits the extent to which governors can hold

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

leaders to account. Leaders should review the plans to ensure that they precisely define the actions, timescales and expected impact. Governors should ensure that they use this information to challenge senior and curriculum leaders about the difference their work is making to the school.

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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. 7–8 January 2020

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

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If you are the school and you are 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. 7–8 January 2020

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School details

Inspection number 10121650 Type of school Primary

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Rainbow Forge Primary Academy converted to become part of the LEAD Academy Trust on 1 February 2017. When its predecessor school, Rainbow Forge Primary School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to require improvement.  The early years consists of provision for two-year-olds, a Nursery class and two Reception classes.  The school is larger than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils with SEND is higher than the national average.

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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

 We met with the headteacher and deputy headteacher throughout the inspection. We met with members of the local governing board, the trust’s director and the trust’s director of schools. 7–8 January 2020

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 We did deep dives into reading, mathematics, art and history. This involved discussions with pupils, curriculum leaders, teachers and teaching assistants. We looked at pupils’ work, visited lessons and listened to pupils read.  We undertook a wide range of activities to check the school’s arrangements for safeguarding. These included speaking to pupils, parents and staff and looking closely at safeguarding records.  We spoke to parents at the start of the school day to ask for their views about the school. We considered the 28 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View.  We spoke to many staff during the inspection. We took into account the 28 responses to Ofsted’s online staff questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Kate Rowley, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Fiona Dixon Ofsted Inspector 7–8 January 2020

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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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