Rectory Farm Primary School

Inspection of Rectory Farm Primary School Olden Road, Rectory Farm, Northampton, Northamptonshire NN3 5DD

p.1

Inspection dates: 19 and 20 September 2023

p.1

Overall effectiveness Good

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

p.1

Overall effectiveness Good

The executive headteacher of this school is Becca Williams. This school is part of Northampton Primary Academy Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Julia Kedwards, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Jeremy Stockdale. 19 and 20 September 2023

p.1

What is it like to attend this school?

There is a calm and purposeful atmosphere throughout this school. Staff develop highly respectful and supportive relationships with pupils. They instil positive attitudes and values. Pupils are conscientious and work hard. They are courteous in class and around school.

p.2

What is it like to attend this school?

The school provides a highly nurturing environment. Pupils feel happy and safe. Pupils know adults will listen to them and help if they have any worries or concerns. This help extends beyond school, towards family life too.

p.2

What is it like to attend this school?

Children quickly settle in the Reception class and get off to a flying start with their education. Pupils study an ambitious and well-constructed curriculum. They enjoy lessons. Leaders promote high standards, and pupils know and remember more over time.

p.2

What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have designed an enrichment programme that gives pupils a wider view of the world and encourages them to be aspirational for their futures. Woven through the curriculum are an array of cultural experiences. For example, pupils take a train journey, visit museums and places of worship, learn to play the ukulele, prepare work for an art gallery and perform a Shakespearean play. Pupils have opportunities to enhance their sporting abilities through extra-curricular clubs.

p.2

better?

Like the attractive and cosy library, reading is at the heart of the school’s work and the curriculum. Learning to read and enjoy books is a priority right from the first days of school. Children in the Reception Year are quickly immersed in exciting stories. They enjoy learning their first sounds. Story time and adults reading to pupils is a daily pleasure for all throughout school. Staff have been trained to deliver the new phonics programme, and do so well. Staff listen to pupils read books that match the sounds they know. Through regular checks, staff quickly identify pupils who struggle with reading. They make sure these pupils get the right support to become fluent readers.

p.2

better?

Leaders have improved the breadth and ambition of the curriculum. There is a clear sequence of learning that runs from the early years to Year 6 in all subjects. Increasing pupils’ acquisition of new vocabulary is a key aim. In Latin lessons, pupils quickly spot the origins of words from their own language. Making these connections particularly excites and supports the many pupils who speak English as an additional language.

p.2

better?

Confident and knowledgeable subject leaders support teachers to deliver the curriculum effectively. Teachers present information clearly. Lesson activities are appropriate and engaging. Teachers revisit learning often. Pupils explain how ‘retrieval practice’ helps them remember what they are learning. A sharp focus on times tables practice has had a positive impact on how quickly pupils recall 19 and 20 September 2023

p.2

3

multiplication facts. Teachers use a range of ways to check what pupils know and can do. They use this information to adjust their plans and teaching to address any gaps in pupils’ knowledge.

p.3

3

Typically, staff adapt the curriculum well for most pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Most pupils with SEND study the same curriculum as their peers. Effective support and precise targets enable them to learn the curriculum well. There is extensive support for the many pupils with speech and language difficulties. Occasionally, the school’s ambitions for pupils with SEND are not as high as they need to be. Some pupils with SEND do not get the right help to enable them to access the curriculum.

p.3

3

Leaders recently increased their expectations of pupils’ behaviour. Pupils understand how the new approaches help them behave responsibly. They remain focused in lessons and behave sensibly during social times. Children in the early years learn the rules and routines quickly. At the snack table, they serve themselves fruit and milk and chat politely with each other before clearing up after themselves.

p.3

3

Leaders develop pupils’ character through the ‘caterpillar values’. For example, pupils learn how to communicate respectfully. They can build on or challenge other people’s views appropriately. Older pupils contribute to the community as members of the school council or as play leaders.

p.3

3

Committed and well-informed governors promote the school’s success. They are a familiar face in school, providing a balance of support and challenge. Staff enjoy working at the school and feel well supported. The trust provides quality professional development at all levels. This allows leaders and staff to continually drive forward school improvement.

p.3

3

Leaders regularly communicate with parents. However, some parents say that they do not understand why some changes have been made. Some parents do not feel that they have been listened to.

p.3

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

p.3

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Ambitions for pupils with SEND are not universally high. Some pupils with SEND do not access the curriculum as well as they might. The school should make sure that everyone has high expectations of what pupils with SEND will be able to do. It should make sure that barriers to the curriculum are removed and that pupils with SEND can enjoy all aspects of school life.  Some parents do not know enough about what their children are learning. This 19 and 20 September 2023

p.3

4

means that these parents feel that they cannot support their children as well as they would like. The school should ensure that it continues to engage with all parents so that they understand what the school is doing and why.

p.4

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.

p.4

How can I feed back my views?

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

p.4

Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

p.4

Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 19 and 20 September 2023

p.4

School details

Headteacher Becca Williams (Executive Headteacher)

p.5

School details

Dates of previous inspection 21 and 22 January 2020

p.5

Information about this school

 The school is part of Northampton Primary Academy Trust.  The executive headteacher has been in post since September 2022. She is also the headteacher of another local primary school.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

p.5

Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

p.5

Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspectors met with the executive headteacher, the deputy headteacher, the special educational needs and disabilities coordinator, the early years leader, 19 and 20 September 2023

p.5

6

subject leaders and groups of staff and pupils.  The lead inspector met with representatives of the governing body and also of the trust.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspectors took account of the responses to the Ofsted Parent View survey and the written comments from parents.  The inspectors took account of responses to the pupil and staff surveys.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, history and languages. Inspection activities for each deep dive included discussions with curriculum leaders about their curricular thinking, lesson visits, scrutinizing samples of pupils’ work and discussions with both teachers and pupils

p.6

6

about learning. The inspectors also spoke with subject leaders and looked at plans for other curriculum subjects.

p.6

Inspection team

Claire Stylianides, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

p.6

Inspection team

Mark Westmoreland Ofsted Inspector 19 and 20 September 2023

p.6

7

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.

p.7

7

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.7

7

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/ , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.7

7

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.7

7

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.7