Rawmarsh Ashwood Primary School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Dawn Roper Headteacher Rawmarsh Ashwood Primary School Ashwood Road Parkgate Rotherham South Yorkshire S62 6HT

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Ashwood Primary School

This letter sets out the findings from the monitoring inspection that took place on 14 January 2025, on behalf of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills. The monitoring inspection was carried out under section 8(2) of the Education Act 2005 and took place because the school meets the monitoring threshold as set out in the Monitoring Inspection Handbook .

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Ashwood Primary School

The purpose of a monitoring inspection is not to grade the school’s key and (where applicable) provision judgements, but to identify and report on the school’s progress. It is to highlight to the school and parents any improvements that school leaders have made since the school’s previous graded inspection.

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Ashwood Primary School

During the inspection, I discussed with you and the chief executive officer (CEO) of the trust, other staff, trustees and governors the actions that have been taken to improve the school since the most recent graded inspection. We discussed the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. I also visited lessons and reading sessions for small groups of pupils and individual pupils. I met with staff and pupils and scrutinised school documents, including school development plans and curriculum information. I looked at safeguarding records, including the single central record. I have considered all this in coming to my judgement.

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Main findings

Since the last inspection, the school has strengthened its phonics provision. Staff have received further training in phonics. Improved approaches to checking pupils’ reading knowledge ensure that pupils who need extra help with their reading receive timely support. This is helping pupils who find learning to read more challenging to keep up with their peers. In addition, the school now ensures that pupils in key stage 2 read regularly to an adult. It prioritises those key stage 2 pupils who are still at an early stage of reading. The actions taken by the school have contributed to improved outcomes in the Year 1 phonics screening check and in key stage 2 reading assessments. The school’s reading outcomes are now broadly in line with the national average. The school is aware that it should continue to strengthen its reading provision, particularly with regard to the quality of additional phonics support for those pupils who have fallen behind their peers.

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Main findings

The school, supported by the trust, has acted with appropriate rigour and urgency to address the areas for improvement identified at the last inspection. The trust has developed a new writing curriculum that the school implemented at the start of this academic year. This curriculum is already having a positive impact on pupils’ transcription and oral composition skills. The school continues to focus on improving pupils’ attainment in writing at the end of key stage 2. It has now established a curriculum that can bring about sustainable improvement.

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Main findings

I am copying this letter to the chair of the board of trustees, and the CEO of the Wickersley Partnership Trust, the Department for Education’s regional director and the director of children’s services for Rotherham. This letter will be published on the Ofsted reports website.

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