Rainham Village Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Rainham Village Primary School Upminster Road South, Rainham, Essex RM13 9AA

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Outcome

Rainham Village Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a welcoming and happy school where, overall, pupils achieve well. Pupils enjoy school because their friends are kind and adults help them to learn. Pupils behave well when moving around the school and during social times. They know that if they have a worry adults will take the time to listen and help them. This means they feel safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils take on positions of responsibility. For example, school councillors and the catering company worked together to make the lunch menu even better. Pupils are proud that their suggestions were valued and taken seriously.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have regular opportunities to learn about and celebrate events from different cultures, such as Sukkot and Harvest. These opportunities help pupils to understand and respect people with different beliefs and customs.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school provides opportunities for pupils to debate and consider the views of others. For example, pupils in Year 6 considered if there was really a winner from World War 2. These experiences help pupils to develop their own ideas and share their opinions.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders provide a wide range of clubs, including ultimate frisbee, curling and calm club. These activities help pupils to develop their talents and pursue their interests.

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

Early reading is prioritised right from the start. This is because the school wants every pupil to learn to read fluently and without delay. Staff read to pupils daily. Pupils visit the local library and are awarded certificates and stickers for reading regularly. These experiences develop a love for reading.

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

Pupils are given books to practise reading that are matched to the sounds that they know. Pupils read with increasing fluency and confidence because they have been taught 3 and 4 October 2023

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effective strategies to decode words. Staff are well trained in the teaching of phonics. They check the sounds that pupils know regularly. Pupils who find reading difficult are given the help they need to keep up.

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The school is ambitious for all pupils to achieve well. Training, support and guidance help staff to deliver the curriculum effectively. The curriculum is well structured. Leaders have broken down learning that pupils need to secure from the early years to Year 6. For example, in Reception pupils are encouraged to recognise small numbers of objects without counting them. Pupils in Year 6 confidently explain how to multiply a three-digit number by a two-digit number. This is because they have previously been taught multiplication facts and place value.

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Pupils’ vocabulary development is given priority here too. Adults in Reception reinforce language such as ‘next to’, ‘on top’ and ‘in front’ when helping children to talk about a map they have made out of blocks. However, sometimes pupils struggle to remember key knowledge, skills and vocabulary and have gaps in their learning. This is because the school does not always check pupils’ learning quickly enough. Furthermore, in a few subjects leaders and teachers do not have effective processes in place to check pupils’ understanding.

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Staff identify pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) quickly and effectively. The school works with a range of external professionals, such as therapists and educational psychologists. These professionals provide effective training for teachers and teaching assistants. As a result, staff adapt their teaching strategies and approaches so these pupils can access the curriculum and achieve well.

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Pupils behave well here. They are polite and respectful. This means the curriculum can be taught without any interruption. Staff help pupils to understand and regulate their feelings, including children in the early years. Pupils explain how taking part in the daily mile helps them to get ready for learning. Leaders take appropriate action to encourage good attendance.

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The school aims for pupils to become empowered and caring citizens. The personal, social, health and economic curriculum is well structured. Pupils are taught how to identify risks, and how to recognise healthy and unhealthy relationships. Pupils experience democracy through voting in school council elections. Pupils are taught about protected characteristics. They explain how some people might need to be treated differently if they have specific needs. Pupils are taught about finance and budgeting. For example, pupils in Year 2 grow plants and sell them. This helps them to understand about profit.

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Leaders have created a caring, happy environment for both pupils and staff. Staff are very proud to work here. They value the care and assistance they receive from the school to support their well-being and workload.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 3 and 4 October 2023

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 On a few occasions, teachers do not check pupils’ understanding as sharply as they could. As a result, some pupils have gaps in their learning. The school should check pupils’ understanding quickly and ensure that processes are in place to check that pupils remember taught knowledge, skills and vocabulary over time.

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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 December 2017.

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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’ 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). 3 and 4 October 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 12 and 13 December 2017, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school runs a breakfast club.  The school does not make use of any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.

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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 the school and has taken that into account in her evaluation of the school.  The inspector held meetings with the senior leadership team to discuss school development.  The inspector met with representatives of the local governing body. She also met with a representative from the local authority.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered 3 and 4 October 2023

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the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspector scrutinised a wide range of documents, including those related to pupils’ personal development and behaviour. She also met with groups of staff and pupils to discuss these aspects of the school’s work.  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 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 discussed the curriculum in some other subjects.  The views of parents and carers and staff were also considered, including through Ofsted’s online surveys.

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Inspection team

Deborah Walters, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 3 and 4 October 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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