Paston Ridings Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Paston Ridings Primary School Paston Ridings, Paston, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire PE4 7XG

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Inspection dates: 31 January and 1 February 2024

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Outcome

Paston Ridings Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending Paston Ridings Primary School. Pupils talk about how their school has improved. They know that the school has raised the expectations it has of them. Pupils have responded positively to this increased aspiration and ambition by working and trying hard. Pupils have begun to remember what they have been taught. They enjoy learning and talk enthusiastically about what they know. The quality of their work has increased significantly in recent months. Pupils relish this success, and they want to achieve even more.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well. They are polite and engaging. In lessons, they listen to their teachers attentively. They concentrate hard when they are completing activities. This means that lessons generally proceed without interruption. Younger children quickly learn how to work and play together. They learn how to interact politely with each other. For example, during lunch, they dine respectfully with their classmates and with adults.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel cared for by adults and by their peers. They enjoy learning about their friends’ cultures and beliefs. They celebrate the important moments in each other’s lives, such as anniversaries or religious festivals. They feel safe and happy in a community that has their best interests at heart.

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

The school’s new leadership team has redesigned the curriculum. This curriculum is ambitious for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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

The school has embedded reading as a keystone of its curriculum. Staff use their training to deliver the adopted phonics programme consistently. Pupils learn specific letter combinations and corresponding sounds in a logical order. They practise these sounds by reading carefully selected books. Pupils who struggle to keep up are quickly spotted and 31 January and 1 February 2024

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supported. Over time, pupils become confident and fluent readers. They enjoy books and stories, and many read widely and often.

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In the majority of cases, teachers break important knowledge into small, easy-to- understand steps of learning. In most cases, this helps pupils to understand what they are taught before moving on to new learning. This ensures pupils build increasingly deeper layers of knowledge, which they can then use to apply across a range of subjects. However, sometimes teachers’ explanations are not clear enough. Occasionally, teaching overloads pupils so that they are not able to process the information securely enough. In these cases, pupils develop misconceptions and struggle to successfully complete activities designed to secure learning.

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Teachers generally ask well-crafted questions that test what pupils know. However, there are key points when teachers’ checking is not precise enough. They do not always ask questions that accurately test what pupils understand. This means that, sometimes, teachers move pupils to the next stage of learning before addressing any misconceptions. As a result, pupils do not always learn the content of the curriculum in the depth the school intends.

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The school is improving the provision for pupils with SEND. Pupils’ needs are clearly defined. The school provides teachers with the information and support they need to plan effective strategies to support pupils with SEND. Additional adults support pupils with SEND to keep up with their peers effectively. When bespoke provision is needed it is thoughtfully planned and reviewed to ensure it remains appropriate. Pupils with SEND learn alongside, and generally achieve in line with, their peers.

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Pupils value what they learn about different lifestyles and beliefs. They know it is important to understand and respect others. The school provides a number of opportunities for pupils to enrich their studies and develop new interests. The school has thought carefully to plan every activity to maximise its impact. Pupils feel it is a privilege to represent their school in sports or artistic events.

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Generally, pupils have a positive attitude to their education. They want to learn and do well. On the rare occasions when behaviour is below the school’s expectations, teachers respond consistently and fairly.

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Recently, the school has joined a federation of three other schools. Governors have worked with the local authority and the federation to secure rapid and sustainable improvement. They understand the importance of building on this success as they work together to lead the school into the next phase of its development.

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Staff appreciate the changes that the new leadership team has made to the school. They feel listened to and valued. Shared planning helps them manage their workload effectively. Staff embrace the vision for the school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 31 January and 1 February 2024

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Sometimes, teachers do not clearly explain the important knowledge pupils need to learn. Similarly, teachers occasionally overload pupils with too much information. When this happens, pupils do not fully understand the information presented to them. The school should ensure that all teachers deliver information with the precision needed to enable all pupils to achieve as intended.  Some assessment is not exact enough to pinpoint what pupils know. This means that pupils’ misconceptions become embedded, or they forget key information. As a result, pupils do not learn aspects of the curriculum as intended. The school should ensure that teachers use the most appropriate techniques to assess what pupils know and provide support when needs arise.

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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 February 2018.

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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. 31 January and 1 February 2024

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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). 31 January and 1 February 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Headteacher Colette Firth (Executive Headteacher) Amy Jones (Head of School) Website www.pastonridingsschool.co.uk

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 1 and 2 February 2018, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The executive headteacher and head of school took up their positions in May 2023.  The school is part of a federation, working with three other local schools.  There is childcare provision available on the school site. This is run by a separately registered and inspected childcare provider.  The school uses one registered and one unregistered alternative provider.

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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 their evaluation of the school.  The inspector held meetings with leaders, including the executive headteacher, the head of school and the special educational needs coordinator. He met with governors and representatives from the local authority. 31 January and 1 February 2024

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 The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and physical education. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to staff, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The inspector also listened to a sample of pupils read to a familiar adult.  To inspect the curriculum further, the inspector looked at examples of pupils’ writing, reviewed additional curriculum documentation and reviewed the provision in place to support pupils with SEND.  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 the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspector considered the 23 responses to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View,

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and the 19 free-text comments submitted. There were no responses to Ofsted’s questionnaires for pupils or staff. The inspector spoke to groups of pupils about their experiences of school life and their learning in lessons to understand what it is like to be a pupil in their school.

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Inspection team

Dave Gibson, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 31 January and 1 February 2024

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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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