Ripple Primary School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Ripple Primary School Suffolk Road, Barking, Essex IG11 7QS

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Outcome

Ripple Primary School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are safe and happy in this nurturing community. They appreciate the caring support they receive from all staff. One pupil summed this up saying, ‘Teachers encourage you and make you more confident.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations for all pupils to learn and achieve well, starting in the early years. It has designed an ambitious curriculum and, by the time they move to the next stage of education, most pupils achieve well. The school is focusing well on continuing to improve pupils’ achievement in all subjects. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are included in every aspect of the school’s life. They achieve well, alongside their peers.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well in classrooms and around school. They play together harmoniously in the playground, taking turns and cooperating in games. Pupils know that if they are worried about anything, there is a trusted adult they can talk to and who will sort things out for them swiftly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy a range of enriching activities that bring their learning to life, including trips to local parks and museums. They are proud of their school and enjoy opportunities to contribute to their school community. For example, members of the school choir perform at a local residential home.

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

The school has designed a curriculum that is broad and ambitious. This enables most pupils to grasp important ideas securely and develop their knowledge as they progress through the school. For example, children in Nursery learn about seeds and how you care 29 and 30 April 2025

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for them to make them grow. In Reception, they learn about the parts of a plant. This prepares children for learning about different life cycles in Year 1. Pupils with SEND who access the specially resourced provision benefit from a bespoke curriculum tailored to their individual needs. Staff make appropriate adaptations so that, wherever appropriate, these pupils successfully join in with learning alongside pupils in the rest of the school.

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Pupils learn to express their ideas and use subject-specific vocabulary when talking about their learning. For example, in geography lessons, pupils in Year 1 discuss the difference between human and physical features of the landscape of China. In the early years, staff skilfully develop children’s use of language to build their communication skills. They model new vocabulary throughout the day and help children to make sense of the world around them.

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In most instances, teachers check pupils’ understanding regularly to identify and address any misconceptions. This helps pupils to build on their learning as they move through a sequence of lessons. On occasion, teachers do not make sure that pupils are secure in their understanding before moving on to new learning. This leads to some gaps in pupils’ knowledge and understanding.

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The school encourages pupils’ love of reading. Pupils enjoy regular visits to the school library and listening to their teachers reading to them daily from a wide range of books. The school has made improvements to the teaching of reading. Teachers typically deliver the school’s phonics programme well. Pupils have ample opportunities to practise how to blend sounds to make words and read books that match the sounds they know. If pupils fall behind the phonics programme, they receive effective support to catch up quickly. However, at times, the delivery of phonics is less consistent. As a result, some younger pupils struggle to develop their reading fluency.

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The school identifies the needs of pupils with SEND accurately and, in most cases, provides effective support to help pupils with SEND make secure progress in their learning. This includes, where appropriate, the use of visual resources and support from additional adults.

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The school’s behaviour policy fosters strong, respectful relationships throughout. Pupils want to behave well because they know that it is ‘the right thing to do.’ The school’s values are important to pupils, and they respect and embrace everyone’s differences. The school identifies any patterns in absences and follows up very carefully. As a result, pupils’ attendance is improving.

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The school provides a range of opportunities to develop pupils’ character and widen their aspirations. Regular visitors to the school, such as the local fire brigade, enrich the curriculum. The school has a whole-school celebration of different cultures every year. There is an ‘All About Me’ afternoon, where pupils and their parents and carers can share aspects of their heritage, including food and clothes. 29 and 30 April 2025

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School leaders are dedicated to continuing to improve the school. Governors provide a balance of support and challenge. Staff are very positive about working here. They know their well-being is a key consideration in school decisions.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Sometimes, teachers introduce new learning too quickly and do not address key misconceptions effectively enough. Where this happens, some pupils do not secure the important knowledge as well as they could. It also means that some younger pupils do not learn to read confidently and with fluency. The school should ensure that teaching is consistently effective and supports all pupils, including those with SEND, to secure the knowledge and skills they need as they move through the curriculum and become fluent readers.

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Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted’s website. From September 2024, graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade. This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

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Background

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. 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’s work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection 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 second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in May 2016. 29 and 30 April 2025

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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). 29 and 30 April 2025

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 28 and 29 January 2020, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school uses one registered alternative provision.  The school provides three specially resourced provisions for 47 pupils. These cater for pupils with social, emotional, and mental health needs, those with autistic spectrum disorder and those with complex learning and medical disability needs.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation 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.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff, and pupils; considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first. 29 and 30 April 2025

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 Inspectors spoke with the headteacher, senior leaders and subject leaders. They also held meetings with the members of the governing body and a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors visited a sample of lessons, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted’s online surveys completed by pupils and staff. They also reviewed the responses to Ofsted’s online survey for parents, Ofsted Parent view, including the free text comments.

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Inspection team

Eleanor Ross, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

David Worrall Ofsted Inspector 29 and 30 April 2025

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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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