Rednal Hill Infant School

Inspection of a good school: Rednal Hill Infant School Irwin Avenue, Rednal, Birmingham, West Midlands B45 8QY

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Outcome

Rednal Hill Infant School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Rednal Hill Infant School is a happy and welcoming place where staff care deeply for its pupils. Pupils recognise this and feel safe in school as a result. Everyone is included and valued, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils say, ‘Everyone is kind here – all of the teachers and all of the children.’ Pupils and staff embody the school’s values of respect, resilience, responsibility, fairness, trust and honesty.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders and staff want pupils to do well. In some subjects, this desire is realised. Where it is realised, pupils perform very highly. They rise to leaders’ expectations that they should always behave well. They are sensible in class and listen attentively most of the time. They behave very sensibly at playtimes. They take advantage of the varied activities on offer cooperatively.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from a wide range of opportunities that enrich the curriculum. These promote pupils’ confidence and sense of responsibility. Pupils can take on leadership roles, such as school councillors and litter pickers. School councillors enjoy being able to make decisions. For example, planting trees in the school ground so that each of their classes, all named after trees, has a tree on site.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Children get off to an excellent start in the early years. The environment is calm but exciting. It promotes pupils’ independence and deepens their understanding through expertly chosen tasks and activities. The outdoor space is equally as impressive. It enables the children to investigate and explore in different ways, including using real tools and materials.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders prioritise reading. Children start to learn to read as soon as they start school. Highly effective, structured phonics lessons are taught skilfully across all different groups. 27 and 28 June 2023

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Pupils practise what they have learned in phonics with books that match their ability. This results in most pupils being able to read age-appropriate texts confidently and accurately by the end of key stage 1. If pupils do fall behind, extra support is provided so they are able to catch up. The school environment is awash with very high-quality reading books. Leaders have intentionally chosen books to reflect the diverse world the pupils live in. They also help them to make sense of a variety of different feelings and emotions. Great care has been taken in how these are displayed. No space is wasted to promote a love of books and reading.

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Leaders have recently adopted a new approach to teaching mathematics. They realise the importance of pupils being able to recall important facts quickly. This is at the early stage of having impact. Other curriculum subjects are taught through ‘enquiry’. Pupils experience many different curriculum subjects in one session. As a result of this, pupils do not always get the chance to broaden and deepen their understanding in some curriculum subjects. Small steps of learning have not been clearly identified. Consequently, they cannot always build their knowledge based on what they have learned before. Effective assessment systems are not in place for all subjects. This means that teachers do not always accurately assess how well pupils understand the learning. As a result of this, work is sometimes too difficult or too easy for some pupils. Pupils do, however, demonstrate impressive skills in writing. They can write accurately, using ambitious and interesting

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Leaders accurately identify pupils with SEND and put the right support in place. The nurture and care provided for these pupils is impressive. Leaders have prioritised helping these pupils to feel calm and safe so they are in a position to learn. They do this very well. Parents said, ‘Children are well cared for and nurtured and their well-being is important.’ Leaders acknowledge that some pupils with SEND need their learning broken down into even smaller steps to ensure all pupils make recognisable progress. This all helps pupils with SEND to achieve well.

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Leaders place great emphasis on developing pupils’ character. Pupils understand that it is wrong to treat anybody differently because of how they look or what the believe. They learn about a variety of religions and this learning is supported by visits to a mosque, a gurdwara and a local church. Pupils learn to care for others and the environment. Exciting after-school clubs, such as sign language and chess, broaden the offer for pupils outside of what they learn in the classroom.

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Governors know the school well. They visit regularly so they can see it in action. Senior leaders are highly respected by parents and staff. Staff appreciate the efforts leaders take to support them. They describe the school as ‘like a family’. Leaders understand what they need to do next to make the school an even better learning environment. Everyone who is part of the Rednal Hill family is very proud to be so. 27 and 28 June 2023

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is a strong culture of safeguarding. All staff are confident in knowing what to do if they have concerns about a pupil. Leaders ensure that there are accurate records of any concerns raised by staff. They discuss these concerns in a timely fashion and take action swiftly when needed. In some cases, this may include working with external agencies to support and help families. Leaders make sure that pupils get the information they need to keep themselves safe in an age-appropriate way. This includes being aware of how certain emotions will have a physical effect on their bodies.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some curriculum subjects, leaders have not precisely identified the key knowledge and skills that pupils need to know and remember. This means that it is unclear how pupils can build on what they know and make connections in their learning. Leaders should identify the specific knowledge and skills pupils need to know, and ensure it is organised in a logical order, so it enables them to do this.  Leaders have not fully developed clear assessment systems in some subjects. This means that leaders and teachers do not always check what pupils have learned and use this information to identify gaps in knowledge. Leaders should develop and embed effective ways for teachers to use assessment in the wider curriculum to help teachers plan appropriate subsequent learning.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called an ungraded inspection and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually, this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in March 2018. 27 and 28 June 2023

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How can I feed back my views?

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. 27 and 28 June 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10282693 Type of school Infant

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 20 March 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 This is a larger than average infant school.  This school does not make use of any alternative provision.  The pupils have access to a before school breakfast club and an after-school club that is run by the adjoining junior school.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspector held meetings with the headteacher, deputy head and subject leaders.  The inspector spoke on the telephone with a representative of the local authority.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, and geography. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with subject 27 and 28 June 2023

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leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspector also looked at samples of pupils’ work in a range of subjects, including RE, writing and topic books.  The inspector spoke with members of the governing body, including the chair, and pupils and staff.  The inspector spoke to parents on the school playground.  The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons at different times of the day and at breaktimes and lunchtimes. They spoke formally with groups of pupils, as well as talking to pupils in lessons and around school.  The inspector met with leaders about the school’s safeguarding procedures. The inspector reviewed policies and records relating to safeguarding and attendance. The inspector spoke to pupils and staff about pupils’ safety.  The inspector reviewed a wide range of documents, including the school’s self-

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evaluation and information on the school’s website.  The inspector talked informally with pupils and staff to gather general information about school life. In addition, they took account of the responses to Ofsted’s surveys of staff’s, pupils’ and parents’ views.

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Inspection team

Keri Baylis, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 27 and 28 June 2023

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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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