Setting

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

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Emma Cooper Headteacher Roundhill Primary School Mount Road Southdown Bath BA2 1LG

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Roundhill Primary School

This letter sets out the findings from the monitoring inspection that took place on 18 September 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 was the third monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require special measures following the graded (section 5) inspection that took place in June 2023.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Roundhill 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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Special measures monitoring inspection of Roundhill Primary School

During the inspection, Ben Jordan, His Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), and I discussed with you the actions that have been taken to improve the school since the most recent graded inspection. We also met with executive leaders and the chief executive officer (CEO) of the trust, a member of the interim executive board and the chair of the board of trustees. We discussed the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also visited lessons, looked at samples of work, spoke to pupils and groups of staff, considered the results of the parent and staff surveys and scrutinised monitoring reports and the school’s rapid improvement plan. We have considered all this in coming to our judgement.

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Leaders have made progress to improve the school, but more work is

necessary for the school to no longer be judged as requiring special measures.

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Leaders have made progress to improve the school, but more work is

HMCI is of the opinion that the school may appoint early career teachers. The school should take further action to:

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Leaders have made progress to improve the school, but more work is

 Ensure that activities and adult interactions in the early years closely match children’s needs to help deepen their understanding across the curriculum.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Since the previous visit, some senior leaders and teachers have left the school. As a result, some staff are new to their role, including you as the headteacher. With support from the trust, senior leaders have benefited from strong transition arrangements. These informed them of where more work was needed. This is further enhanced by increasingly knowledgeable subject leaders who feed into improvement work successfully. This has allowed the pace of improvements to be sustained despite the staffing changes. The school roll has fallen further, which has meant some changes to the class structures.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Together with other leaders, you have been determined and focused to improve the quality of education for pupils. You have prioritised work to improve the way in which the curriculum is designed in key stages 1 and 2 as well as the order in which pupils learn it. It is now more ambitious. However, changes to the writing curriculum have not been fully rolled out so it is too soon to see an impact on pupils’ learning.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Reading remains a priority for the school. You, along with your staff, have provided all staff with appropriate phonics training. This is helping most staff to deliver the agreed phonics programme with increasing effect. Where this is the case, staff check pupils’ understanding carefully. Staff ensure that books match the sounds pupils know, including for those pupils who struggle to read. Consequently, younger pupils are growing in confidence to blend and decode new words. However, due to historic low outcomes, a significant number of pupils have gaps in their phonics knowledge and require further support. Some of this work is at an early stage.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Inconsistencies in the implementation of the curriculum remain. However, the significant reduction in temporary staff is starting to reduce this variability. Where the implementation of the curriculum is most effective, staff model new ideas well and have high expectations of what pupils can do. They check pupils’ understanding and use this information to adapt future learning. When this happens, pupils learn well. This continues to be the case in mathematics, where pupils are developing more secure knowledge of times tables. However, some staff present too much information to pupils and do not adapt learning well enough to consider what pupils can already do. This hampers how well some pupils progress through the curriculum.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

The school has improved its systems to identify pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities earlier. This means the school is now aware of which pupils need more help. However, these pupils have targets that are not precise enough. This means that in some classes, pupils do not benefit from the precise support they need to help them to achieve well. The school is now starting to check the impact of the nurture base provision more effectively. Pupils now share social times, which helps them to establish positive relationships with their peers. Staff develop warm relationship with pupils to help them to understand how to manage their emotions. However, there is still more to do. In particular, the curriculum that pupils learn does not dovetail well enough with the curriculum that pupils learn in their regular class. As a result, pupils’ academic learning in the provision is disjointed.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

You have introduced a new behaviour system, which is having a positive impact on pupils’ behaviour. Suspensions have fallen as these approaches have taken root. The school typically has a calm and orderly feel, particularly for older pupils. A small number of pupils find it difficult to live up to the school’s expectations. You are continuing to ensure that staff are supported to help meet these pupils’ needs effectively.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

You have built on, and improved, existing systems to track attendance patterns. The school uses this information to work with vulnerable families and pupils and to involve external agencies so that the attendance of individual pupils improves. Despite this, overall attendance and persistent absence remain below national averages.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

In the early years, the curriculum does not consider well enough how children’s learning builds as it moves from the Nursery to the Reception Year. The classes do not work closely enough together to ensure that there is a cohesion in what children learn and experience. Furthermore, some learning activities are not sharply focused on exactly what children need to learn. Some staff do not engage in high-quality interactions with children. As a result, children do not develop important knowledge and skills as well as they could.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Staff are positive about the new leadership team. They value you listening to their views. For example, staff have helped shape the training to improve their teaching expertise. Staff are confident to share any workload concerns they may have.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Some parents and carers have concerns about the amount of staffing changes that have continued to occur. You are acutely aware of this and have already worked to build strong relationships with them.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

The trust has increased its support since the last inspection. It has drawn on expertise in the trust to share good practice and improve staff’s skills. The trust quickly provided effective interim leadership support following the departure of some senior leaders. The interim executive body holds the school to account for its performance well. The school has utilised external support from the local authority effectively to support the necessary improvement work in the early years.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

I am copying this letter to the chair of the board of trustees and the CEO of The Partnership Trust, the Department for Education’s regional director and the director of children’s services for Bath and North East Somerset. This letter will be published on the Ofsted reports website. Yours sincerely

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