Rampton Primary School

Rampton Primary School

Address: Retford Road, Rampton, Retford, Nottinghamshire, DN22 0JB Unique reference number (URN): 122671

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Pupils’ attendance is broadly in line with national averages. Leaders work hard to continually promote positive habits. For example, pupils enjoy celebrating their regular attendance through rewards such as book vending-machine tokens. Leaders have robust processes to intervene when attendance becomes a concern. They work proactively with families to identify barriers and provide support. This leads to notable improvements.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Pupils are friendly and polite and behave responsibly. Older pupils help younger ones at playtimes and lunchtimes. Pupils’ attitudes are generally positive. They engage well with learning and try their best.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Leaders, staff and pupils contribute to the school’s calm, orderly and respectful environment. Leaders support staff to establish high expectations. Staff apply the school’s supportive and positive behaviour approaches consistently. For example, the daily ‘mood tracker’ checks help staff understand pupils’ emotions. Staff teach pupils how to manage their emotions and resolve disagreements by considering others’ perspectives. They provide nurturing support and effective adaptations for those who find this difficult. Pupils actively promote the school’s ‘always be kind’ rule, recording acts of kindness in the ‘kindness book’. Pupils are confident that bullying is rare. Staff respond quickly and effectively to any incidents of bullying or discrimination.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

The school’s well-considered personal development programme provides meaningful opportunities to prepare pupils for life in modern Britain. Pupils gain an age-appropriate understanding of fundamental British values, which they learn about through discussions and assemblies. They recognise that people have different needs and know that they need to protect people from discrimination, for example if they are disabled. Leaders and staff make sure that pupils develop a secure sense of right and wrong. Pupils show respect for people of different cultures and faiths. For example, they make peace stones to promote cooperation with one another. Pupils are chosen as leaders in a democratic way. They are proud to have a voice as sports leaders, anti-bullying ambassadors and house-team captains, and they take their roles seriously.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders have developed a well-structured personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) curriculum. Pupils learn about important topics, such as how to stay healthy and safe, including when online. In addition to learning practical aspects, such as not sharing personal information, pupils understand how being online can affect their mental health and wellbeing. They learn financial awareness and how to plan a budget. Leaders enhance PSHE topics with trips and visitors. Older pupils gain in-depth knowledge of issues such as hate crime, risks of substance abuse and the effects of peer pressure.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

The school provides a range of opportunities to broaden pupils’ experiences and develop their character, such as visiting museums and adventurous outdoor trips. Staff nurture pupils’ talents and interests through activities such as dance and sports clubs, music lessons and singing at the supermarket or church. Leaders track pupils’ participation in

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Needs attention

extra-curricular activities to ensure that everyone benefits equally. They offer financial support and free clubs to ensure that disadvantaged pupils benefit from these experiences alongside their peers.

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Achievement Needs attention

Pupils’ achievement has declined to below national outcomes when they leave in Year 6. Many pupils do not secure their basic knowledge well enough. This is particularly the case for elements of mathematics and writing. This leads to considerable gaps in knowledge as pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, move through school. These gaps persist because pupils do not receive effective support to close them quickly. Pupils enjoy reading and understand its importance. Due to leaders making some improvements in phonics, gaps in this knowledge are closing more quickly.

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Achievement Needs attention

Pupils’ progress through the wider curriculum is variable. This is due to inconsistencies in the effectiveness of teaching, and sometimes pupils’ gaps in essential knowledge hinder their learning. Overall, pupils are not as well prepared for their future education as they should be.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Across the school, there are inconsistencies in how well staff deliver the curriculum. Leaders know this and have a generally accurate view of the quality of the teaching. They are focusing on the right areas to make improvements. These actions are still at an early stage.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

The school has an ambitious and coherent curriculum. Staff have secure subject knowledge and explain new concepts clearly. Leaders are developing a more consistent lesson structure to ensure that staff revisit previous learning to improve pupils’ recall of knowledge.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders have improved the school’s phonics programme and skilled staff teach it well. Pupils who need extra help with reading are catching up. In mathematics, staff provide opportunities for pupils to practise new concepts, using mathematical equipment when needed. However, leaders and staff do not ensure that pupils secure important foundations in mathematics and writing. They do not address gaps in this knowledge quickly or consider gaps well enough when teaching new concepts. Without suitable adaptations, it is difficult for some pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, to build well on their knowledge.

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Early years Needs attention

The quality of teaching in the early years is too variable. Staff's interactions with children often do not help them secure their understanding of key concepts and important vocabulary or extend their learning. Through recent improvements, the teaching of phonics is now generally effective. Children in Reception develop their early reading skills well. Staff ensure that children learn to hold tools, such as pencils, correctly in readiness for writing. However, staff model inconsistent approaches to letter formation and often set writing activities beyond children’s current knowledge. Overall, this hinders children from securing sufficient depth of knowledge across all areas of learning in readiness for Year 1.

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Early years Needs attention

Throughout the early years, there is a welcoming environment. Staff have nurturing relationships with children and care for them well. The sharp focus on children’s personal, social and emotional development is a strength. Children start learning the expectations and routines of school life in the ‘Nestlings’ provision for 2-year-olds. They engage eagerly in learning and play, developing increasing levels of cooperation and independence. Staff foster positive relationships with parents and carers so they have a shared understanding of how well children are developing between home and school.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders identify pupils who have additional needs or barriers to learning when they start school. They collate detailed information about pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils. Leaders work closely with parents, carers and professionals to support their understanding of pupils’ needs. However, staff do not use this information consistently well to set suitable targets for these pupils or ensure they get the precise help they need. Leaders use some of their additional funding for disadvantaged pupils to provide extra support. They check pupils’ progress, but they do not consider carefully enough whether pupils’ targets and support are having the intended impact. Consequently, leaders do not revise ineffective approaches soon enough.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders work proactively with external agencies and professionals and draw on their expertise to provide training for staff. However, staff training is insufficient in some key areas of pupils’ need. Therefore, some staff do not have the expertise to make suitable adjustments to enable all pupils to learn successfully. Leaders have made some improvements recently, but these are still in their infancy. That said, staff make suitable adjustments to help pupils feel valued and included in school life.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Following a turbulent period, leadership of the school is currently in transition. Until recently, leaders, including governors, did not have an accurate enough understanding of the school’s strengths or the areas that needed to develop, particularly regarding pupils’ achievement. This is because they had not checked the quality of the school’s work rigorously. Consequently, leaders are only just starting to identify and prioritise the right actions for improvement.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Governors understand their responsibilities. However, they are only now beginning to challenge leaders effectively about pupils’ underachievement to ensure that they have a secure overview of it. They are just starting to ensure that decisions are taken in the best interests of pupils, particularly vulnerable pupils and those with barriers to learning. Recent actions by leaders and governors are now addressing the quality of provision more effectively. As these actions are in the early stages, it is too soon to measure their impact, and leaders and governors know there is more work to do. Following a challenging time, staff now feel that leaders and governors consider their wellbeing and workload thoroughly. Staff are highly committed to making improvements and appreciate that leaders engage them in developing the school. They feel confident to share their views and that leaders will listen to them. More recently, their professional learning

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

aligns with the improvements staff need to make.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. They appreciate recent improvements in communication and feel reassured by the changes.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Rampton Primary is a small, close-knit school where staff know pupils individually. Pupils benefit from the warm, nurturing relationships they share with staff. Pupils gain confidence strongly and a deep sense of belonging, because they know that staff care about them. Staff identify pupils who have any additional needs or may face barriers to learning when they start school. They provide helpful support to address pupils' needs. However, staff do not adapt the curriculum and teaching consistently well, so that all disadvantaged pupils, and all those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, can achieve successfully.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils have positive attitudes and are keen to succeed. However, too many pupils do not achieve well enough, including when they leave the early years. For example, many pupils do not secure essential knowledge of mathematics. The school does not ensure that gaps in pupils' knowledge close quickly enough. Leaders are improving their understanding of the quality of the curriculum and teaching but have only recently focused on the right priorities. While there are green shoots of improvement in the delivery of the curriculum, there is still more to do.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils enjoy school and most attend regularly. This is a happy school where pupils behave with kindness and respect. Pupils follow the school’s ‘golden rules’ responsibly. Staff support pupils effectively with high expectations and helpful routines. Pupils appreciate that staff recognise their positive behaviour with ample praise and rewards. Poor behaviour is uncommon, and staff resolve any unkindness quickly.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

The school supports pupils’ personal development well. Pupils speak enthusiastically about residential and class visits, clubs and other opportunities that enable them to develop interests, learn and secure important team skills. Leaders make sure that pupils develop the wider knowledge and skills they need for life beyond school, enabling them to grow into healthy and responsible citizens.

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Next steps

Leaders should maintain a comprehensive understanding of the quality of the curriculum and teaching to consistently identify the right priorities for sustained school improvement and raising pupils’ achievement.

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Lead inspector:

Claire Stylianides, His Majesty's Inspector

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Team inspector:

Karen Slack, Ofsted Inspector Leaders should ensure that staff receive focused and high-quality professional development to embed highly effective teaching across the school so that all pupils make sufficient progress across the curriculum. Leaders should support staff to strengthen the quality of their interactions with children in the early years so that these consistently build on children's knowledge and extend their learning. Leaders should ensure that pupils acquire the foundational knowledge they need in mathematics and writing, including in the early years, and that any gaps in this knowledge are addressed quickly. Leaders should strengthen their oversight of inclusion and ensure staff are trained well to fully understand the needs of disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, to make consistently suitable curriculum adaptations that enable these pupils to achieve well.

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Team inspector:

Governors should ensure that they have secure oversight of the school’s work in order to provide appropriate support and challenge.

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About this inspection

The chair of the board of governors in this school is Kate Hardie.

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About this inspection

Inspectors carried out this full inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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About this inspection

Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMIs) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with the acting headteacher and other school leaders. They also spoke with leaders about their oversight of the school’s work in particular aspects, such as inclusion.

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About this inspection

The lead inspector met with representatives of the governing body.

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About this inspection

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the school:

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About this inspection

The acting headteacher has been in place since January 2026.

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About this inspection

The school currently uses no alternative provision.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The data was used by the inspector(s) during the inspection. More recent data may have been published since the inspection took place.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils currently at this school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils who can attend the school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years. National average: 26.3%

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan. This covers pupils with more support than is available through special educational needs support.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with reported special educational support needs at the school.

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What does this mean?

Based on the English Indices of Deprivation (2019) and the school's location, we have calculated whether the school is located in a more or less deprived area.

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What does this mean?

Whether school has Resourced Provision or SEND unit (if applicable).

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standards in a combined reading, writing and mathematics measure.

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average

2022/23 (final) 54% 60% Close to average

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing.

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average

2022/23 (final) 77% 71% Close to average

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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average

2022/23 (final) 77% 73% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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average

2022/23 (final) S 59% S ‘S’ in the table above indicates the data has been suppressed, which is usually due to small cohorts. The suppression rules applied by the DfE when publishing the data have been mirrored and applied in the report card.

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance gap

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after. The school disadvantage gap is the difference between the performance of the school's disadvantaged pupils compared to the performance of all non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics, including the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics and the disadvantaged gap.

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average

‘S’ in the table above indicates the data has been suppressed, which is usually due to small cohorts. The suppression rules applied by the DfE when publishing the data have been mirrored and applied in the report card.

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Overall absence

The percentage of all possible mornings and afternoons missed due to absence from school (for whatever reason, whether authorised or unauthorised) across all pupils.

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national average

2024/25 (2 term) 5.7% 5.2% Close to average

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national average

2022/23 (3 term) 5.4% 5.9% Close to average

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Persistent absence

The percentage of pupils missing 10% or more of their possible mornings and afternoons.

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national average

2024/25 (2 term) 11.7% 13.3% Close to average

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national average

2022/23 (3 term) 14.5% 16.2% Close to average

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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