Rose Street Primary School

Inspection of Rose Street Primary School Rose Street, Sheerness, Kent ME12 1AW

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Inspection dates: 29 and 30 November 2022

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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 Good Previous inspection grade Good 29 and 30 November 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Rose Street Primary is a friendly place where everyone cares about each other. Pupils and staff have a strong sense of belonging to their school community. Pupils feel proud of their school and are clear about what the values of ‘respect, kindness, honesty, responsibility, happiness, courage’ mean in practice.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well. Classrooms are calm places where pupils focus on their learning. During social times, pupils take part in a range of different activities on the playground. At lunchtimes, older pupils enjoy mixing with younger pupils.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils understand well the expectations that leaders have for how they should behave. Disruptive or unkind behaviour is not commonplace. When it does happen, leaders and staff deal with it quickly. Consequently, pupils feel safe and trust staff will help them with any worries they may have.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders and staff want the very best for all pupils. Children get off to a good start in the early years, where they listen to stories and explore their interests. However, leaders do not have clear systems in place to ensure that pupils are able to learn well across all subjects in the school’s curriculum.

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better?

Pupils study a broad and interesting range of subjects. Leaders have responded swiftly to last year’s low outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics by prioritising the improvements needed in these subjects.

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better?

Pupils get off to a good start with their reading. This starts in early years. Staff are well trained, so they are able to help pupils effectively. Pupils confidently apply their phonics knowledge when reading. They practise their reading using books that match the sounds they are learning at school. Leaders closely monitor any pupil who may be falling behind and put in place additional support to help these pupils catch up.

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better?

Leaders have carefully considered books that teachers can read to pupils as they move up the school, and they have implemented a clear approach to helping pupils develop their reading skills. There is an attractive and well-stocked library that pupils use regularly. Leaders recognise that further work is needed to strengthen and embed the culture of reading and further support pupils in their writing.

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better?

Pupils enjoy their mathematics lessons. There is a systematic approach to the teaching of mathematics, including in early years. This ensures that pupils are becoming increasingly secure in their knowledge and understanding of number and calculation. 29 and 30 November 2022

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However, pupils do not learn as well as they should in many of the other subjects. This is for a number of reasons. These subjects are not structured well. This means that pupils do not acquire the knowledge and skills they need over time to achieve the best possible outcomes. There are many new teachers working at the school who require further support to develop their subject knowledge and expertise. The documents leaders provide teachers about the curriculum are difficult to follow or implement. Assessment processes are not secure or well embedded. Finally, subject leaders, many of whom are also new to their roles, do not have the necessary leadership skills or understanding to develop their subject effectively. This means that leaders’ monitoring of the quality of education is not as effective as it should be.

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The pastoral support for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), is effective. Leaders quickly identify pupils’ needs and provide a range of appropriate support. Nonetheless, leaders need to adapt the curriculum in some subjects to make sure these pupils are helped to make the best possible progress from their starting points.

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Leaders are determined that pupils are given opportunities to develop into well- rounded individuals. For instance, some pupils visit a local farm each week where they can work with animals and learn about farming. Through assemblies and the school’s ‘taught’ curriculum, pupils learn about different cultures and religions. Pupils show high levels of respect for each other and a mature understanding of their differences. Leaders are beginning to reintroduce some of the clubs that were paused during the COVID pandemic. Currently, these are mainly sports based.

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Staff morale is high and all staff spoken to on inspection want to do their best for the pupils in their care. Staff feel valued and listened to. They enjoy their work and want to improve.

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Despite a leadership restructure in recent years, the roles and responsibilities of senior leaders who work across the federation are not clearly defined or fairly balanced. Consequently, governors are not holding leaders to account well enough to ensure that there is improvement to the significant areas of weaknesses.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders mantra that ‘keeping pupils safe in school is the responsibility of everyone, everyday’ is resolutely put into practice. Leaders make sure that all staff have the appropriate training. When staff report concerns, they know that leaders will deal with them promptly. Leaders work closely with external agencies. This means that pupils and their families get the help and support they need. Leaders complete all the appropriate checks on adults who work at, or visit, the school. These records are meticulously maintained. 29 and 30 November 2022

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Pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe through the curriculum, assemblies and visitors coming into school.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The quality of the curriculum across many subjects is too variable. This means that pupils, including those with SEND, do not acquire knowledge or develop skills cumulatively across these subjects. Leaders must ensure that the curriculum is well designed in every subject and ensure that staff have the right expertise and subject knowledge to deliver it effectively.  Leaders’ approach to monitoring and evaluating the quality of education is not fully effective. Their work does not have as much impact as it should. Leaders should ensure that their approach to monitoring and evaluating the curriculum is well defined and robust.  Although pupils get off to a strong start when learning to read, leaders recognise that further work is needed to develop pupils’ vocabulary, comprehension and writing skills. Leaders should continue their work to strengthen the culture of reading as pupils move up the school.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The roles and responsibilities of senior leaders who work across the federation are not clearly defined or appropriately distributed. As a result, governors do not hold leaders to account well enough for the necessary actions to drive school improvement. Governors must ensure that leaders’ roles and responsibilities are well understood by all so that rapid improvements are made where needed.

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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.

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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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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. 29 and 30 November 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10227965 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Headteacher Anna Pattenden (Executive headteacher) Sam Mackay (Head of school) Website www.sheernesswestfederation.org.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 25 April 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Along with another local school, West Minster Primary, the school is part of the Sheerness West Federation. Following an external review, changes were made to the leadership structure across the federation. In April 2021, an executive headteacher was appointed. The executive headteacher oversees both schools. The head of school is responsible for the day-to-day running of Rose Street Primary.  The governing body works across both schools in the federation. A new chair of governors was appointed at the start of this academic year.  There have been many changes to staffing and leadership since the previous inspection.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. 29 and 30 November 2022

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 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the executive headteacher, the head of school and other leaders, including the special educational needs coordinator.  The lead inspector met with a representative from the local authority as well as members of the local governing body, including the chair.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, science, physical education and geography. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors also looked at pupils’ work in art, religious education and history.

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 As part of the inspection of safeguarding, inspectors reviewed the school’s safeguarding arrangements. Inspectors scrutinised the school’s single central record and the systems in place for recruitment.  In order to gather the views of the parents, inspectors considered responses to the Ofsted Parent View survey and free-text comments. An inspector spoke to some parents at the start of the first day of the inspection.  Inspectors considered responses to Ofsted’s confidential staff survey and met with some staff, including nine early career teachers, during the inspection.  Inspectors met with pupils in key stage 2 and spoke to a range of pupils throughout the inspection to gather their views of the school.

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Inspection team

Frances Nation, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Lorraine Greco Ofsted Inspector 29 and 30 November 2022

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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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