The Richmond School, Skegness

Inspection of The Richmond School, Skegness Richmond Drive, Skegness, Lincolnshire, PE25 3SH

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Inspection dates: 14 and 15 September 2021

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Requires improvement 14 and 15 September 2021

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy at The Richmond School. They are proud to be part of the Richmond family. They learn to respect other people and to embrace difference. Pupils like working with Evie, the trainee therapy dog, and were delighted to be part of her naming process through the ‘Great British Bark Off’. The curriculum is enriched by pupils attending educational visits. Pupils have many opportunities to take part in sporting activities and the arts.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There are some weaknesses in the school’s curriculum. This means that pupils do not remember what they have learned as well as they should. There are inconsistencies in the way that phonics has been taught, which means that pupils do not read as well as they could. Leaders have been unsuccessful in getting pupils to develop a love of reading. Pupils said that they do not enjoy reading and have read only a few books.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, generally, get on well, however, a few pupils do not behave as well as they should.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know what to do if they have a worry or concern. Pupils say that some bullying takes place in the school. However, they say that leaders deal with individual incidents when they occur.

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better?

The school is successful at helping pupils to develop personally and socially. The school’s curriculum for relationships, sex and health education is well planned and sequenced. Pupils know about how to eat healthily. Pupils know how to stay fit, both physically and mentally.

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better?

The school’s curriculum is still being developed. In some subjects, like physical education and mathematics, plans set out what pupils need to know and remember, and the content has been carefully sequenced. In some other subjects, including science and history, leaders have not thought carefully enough about the order in which content is taught. Teaching in such subjects does not systematically build on what has gone before and prepare pupils for what will come next. As a result, pupils do not always remember what they have learned over time.

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better?

Over time, some pupils have fallen behind in phonics. A new programme for teaching phonics has very recently been put in place. The new programme makes clear which sounds pupils will learn and when. However, this is not being taught consistently. In some classes, teachers do not check on how well pupils are practising the sounds that they are learning. As a result, some pupils continue to not acquire knowledge of sounds quickly enough or fall further behind. 14 and 15 September 2021

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Some older pupils have not developed a love of reading. They told inspectors that they do not enjoy reading. They said that they do not read widely or often. There is a new reading curriculum in place to deal with this, but this is at a very early stage of being used and has not yet had a positive impact.

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Children enjoy their time in the early years. They are happy and play well together. Adults make sure that children are looked after and are safe. Adults have created a positive environment, which promotes meaningful learning for children in some of the areas of learning. However, the curriculum plans are not always precise in setting out exactly what children should learn during their time in the Reception Year. Therefore, children are not gaining detailed knowledge across all of the curriculum as well as they might.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities get the help they need. Staff know these pupils well and help them to learn the school’s curriculum. They receive good quality pastoral support.

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A few pupils do not behave well and are, occasionally, disrespectful towards adults. Some staff need clearer guidance on how to manage pupils if they misbehave. Leaders keep records of poor behaviour and follow up any instances of misbehaviour. However, leaders do not always review or check the records to look for any patterns or trends. This limits their ability to see what needs to be improved.

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Leaders remain ambitious for the school. They are determined to provide a good quality of education. They have improved how the schools’ leadership team is organised. They have helped staff to make workload manageable. Nevertheless, the school’s curriculum is not sequenced consistently across all subjects. Also, improving the teaching of phonics and early reading remains a priority for leaders. While improvements are gathering pace, there is a long way to go before these aspects of the schools work are securely good.

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Governors are enthusiastic and keen to improve the school. They know what the school does well. They challenge leaders about the rate of improvement.

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Pupils’ attendance is high. Leaders work tirelessly to ensure that pupils attend school regularly. Leaders and the school’s family welfare officer work well with parents to bring around improvements. 14 and 15 September 2021

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is a positive culture of safeguarding in the school. Staff quickly raise any safeguarding concerns, regardless of how minor they might appear to be. Leaders identify where help is needed and make sure that the right sort of help is put in place.

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Safeguarding

The school’s family welfare officer provides a wide range of help and support to pupils and their families. They make sure that work with other agencies is joined up and working as well as it should.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have not made sure that there is a consistently well-sequenced curriculum in all subjects. This limits the ability of pupils to acquire and recall sufficient knowledge over time. Leaders should implement a coherent and sequenced plan in all subjects.  There are inconsistencies in the way that phonics and reading are being taught. This has meant that some pupils do not read well enough and that older pupils, in particular, are not developing a love of reading. Leaders should fully implement the new programme for phonics and reading to address these issues.  Leaders have made a start in setting out what children should learn and know in the areas of learning in the early years foundation stage. However, for some areas of learning the plans do not set out precisely the content that needs to be covered. This means that children may be missing or not reviewing some of the most important knowledge that they need to learn during the Reception Year. Leaders should complete

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

and implement the plans that set out clearly what children are expected to know before they start key stage 1.  Leaders keep detailed records of any misbehaviour that occurs. However, they do not review the records to identify any trends or patterns of misbehaviour. This means that they are not identifying any steps they can take to improve pupils’ behaviour or support staff in preventing any reoccurrence of poor behaviour. Leaders should be proactive in considering actions they can take to address the issues presented by the few pupils in the school who misbehave.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection. 14 and 15 September 2021

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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. 14 and 15 September 2021

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School details

Inspection number 10200016 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Stephanie Preston-Hall

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School details

Website http://www.therichmondschoolskegness. com/ Date of previous inspection 28 November 2017, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 There have been no significant changes since the last inspection.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation.  Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, curriculum leaders, the special educational needs coordinator and the early years leader.  Inspectors did deep dives in five subjects: reading, mathematics, science, history and physical education. They met with curriculum leaders, visited lessons, looked at pupils’ work, listened to pupils read and met with teachers and pupils.  The lead inspector met with eight governors, including the chair of the governing body. He also held a telephone discussion with a representative from the local authority. 14 and 15 September 2021

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 Inspectors took account of the 53 responses to the Ofsted Parent View survey and 38 written comments from parents. They also considered the single response to Ofsted’s pupil survey and the 26 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey.  Inspectors met with safeguarding leaders and reviewed school documents relating to safeguarding and attendance.

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Inspection team

Vic Wilkinson, lead inspector Her Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Damien Turrell Her Majesty's Inspector 14 and 15 September 2021

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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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