Ramshaw Primary School

Inspection Report Ramshaw Primary School

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114099 Unique Reference Number Durham LEA 279312 Inspection number 2 March 2006 to 3 March 2006 Inspection dates Mr John Heap Reporting inspector

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This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Oaks Bank School address Primary Type of school Evenwood Community School category Bishop Auckland, County Durham DL14 9SD 4 to 11 Age range of pupils

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01388 832411 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01388 835593 Fax number 55 Number on roll Mrs Rachel Webb Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Janet Grainger Headteacher 1 October 1999 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 279312 2 March 2006 - 4 to 11 3 March 2006 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by one additional inspector.

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Description of the school

This is a small school serving an area of social and economic deprivation. Children enter the school with very low attainment, particularly in the basic social and literacy skills. All of the children are from white British backgrounds. An average proportion of children is entitled to a free school meal. The proportion with learning difficulties or disabilities is above average and includes children with challenging behaviour. The school has Healthy Schools status.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Ramshaw Primary School, 2 March 2006 to 3 March 2006

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Grade: 2

Inspectors agree with the school that it gives a good education and good value for money. Children and parents hold it in high regard. As one parent put it: ‘… school plays a large part in her life and as a parent I feel she is progressing really well at Ramshaw Primary School.’ Children enter the school with very weak basic skills and the good provision in the Foundation Stage (reception) enables them to achieve well. Children continue to progress well from Year 1, so that, by the end of Year 6, standards are close to average. Challenging national test targets predict at least average standards this year and inspection findings support this. Children’s personal development is good and they develop strongly as caring and responsible members of this happy school. The school successfully guides, develops and challenges the children through effective teaching, a strong curriculum and good care. Children’s academic strengths and weaknesses are

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Grade: 2

tracked effectively and general targets are set for further improvement. However, individual learning targets are not set frequently enough. Children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities make good progress and benefit equally from what the school offers. Good links with partners promote children’s learning. This strong picture is promoted by the good leadership and management, particularly of the headteacher. Provision has improved well since the previous inspection and is set to continue to do so. Self-evaluation is effective and particular emphasis is rightly given to monitoring teaching and learning. Nevertheless, records of observations are more concerned with teacher performance than with what the children are learning in the lesson. The school has a good capacity to improve.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Set challenging individual learning targets for children in a more frequent and consistent way. • Focus lesson observation more sharply on the quality and depth of children’s learning in the lesson seen.

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Grade: 2

Achievement is good. Children start in reception with very narrow knowledge and experience of the wider world. By Year 6, standards are satisfactory with children attaining close to average levels because they make consistently good progress and achieve well. Results in national tests fluctuate because of varying, but usually high, numbers of children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. Throughout the school these children make good progress because of effective identification and the support they receive. The school rightly maintains high expectations and the challenging targets set, and mostly met, reflect this. 2 Inspection Report: Ramshaw Primary School, 2 March 2006 to 3 March 2006 By the end of reception, standards are well below average but progress is good. This is due to the effective work of the staff in improving basic social and literacy skills and fostering independence. Children in Years 1 and 2 make good progress and standards

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Grade: 2

are below average by the end of Year 2. In 2005, none of the children reached the higher Level 3 in the national tests for reading, writing and mathematics. The school has successfully introduced better assessment procedures to help improve this. However, work is still needed on improving individual skills by setting detailed personal targets.

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Grade: 2

Personal development and well-being are good. From very low social skills, children quickly grow in confidence, show a lot of care and interest in their peers and adults, and enjoy school. Behaviour, attitudes and relationships are good. The school has a secure family atmosphere and children trust the staff to look after them. Children play safely and know that eating healthily and exercising are good and sensible. Children with challenging behaviour are managed really well. Older children shoulder responsibility well and do so with energy and care. As one Year 6 child put it, ‘I really enjoy looking after the younger ones and making sure they are OK’. School council representatives are keen and lead well in areas such as, fundraising for charity and improving the school’s play facilities. In short, the children are becoming caring young citizens who are well prepared for their future stages in education and life. Attendance

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Grade: 2

is satisfactory. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Children are reflective thinkers. They know the difference between right and wrong and understand that any society needs helpful guidelines, particularly in matters such as drug misuse. They talk and write well about the visits and visitors that broaden their good knowledge and understanding of our diverse society.

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Grade: 2

Teaching is good and promotes the good learning and progress made by all children. Lessons are effectively planned and tasks matched accurately to groups of children. Most tasks are demanding and the children are clear about what they need to do and the expectations on them. Good, well-used resources foster effective learning, particularly in the well-designed reception area of Class 1. Children use the learning areas prudently, either from choice or as part of an activity led by staff. Independent learning is promoted well and children are interested and challenged. Teachers know their children well and recent improvements in group target-setting, marking and the use of information and communication technology (ICT) have brought greater rigour to teaching and learning. However, targets are not sufficiently focussed on each child’s 3 Inspection Report: Ramshaw Primary School, 2 March 2006 to 3 March 2006

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Grade: 2

particular learning needs. Teachers show good knowledge and understanding of subjects, including French. Strong classroom management is the norm, so that pupils learn without distraction. Lessons move along at a brisk pace and questions are searching. In a good Year 5/6 religious education lesson, some difficult ideas about God and Christianity were discussed and debated. Children are interested in their lessons and enjoy discovering things.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum is good. It more than meets requirements and is well matched to local needs. Provision for ICT is much better than at the time of the previous inspection and has become a very useful tool for teaching and learning. The school is well aware that skills in literacy, numeracy and ICT are improved by their use across the full range of subjects. The use of writing and number in subjects such as history and science is at least adequate, and it is strong in Years 5 and 6. There is effective provision for children’s personal development, particularly in health issues and through the good enrichment activities. These include visits and visitors who broaden children’s knowledge and understanding of cultural diversity. Children and their parents appreciate the way that this small staff provides a good range of out-of-school activities. As a result of this strong programme and effective support, children benefit equally well

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Grade: 2

Care, guidance and support are good. The monitoring of behaviour and attendance is effective in this challenging school, which is doing all it can to remedy the poor attendance of a small minority of children. Overall attendance is satisfactory. Teachers are supported well by outside agencies such as the education welfare officer and the behaviour support team. The effective tracking of children’s achievements contributes well to the good teaching, learning and progress. Child protection procedures are robust and understood by all staff. The breakfast club provides children with a safe and welcoming environment. Daily assemblies give good guidance to children. On one excellent occasion, a doll was used very effectively to raise awareness about welcoming people and helping them to be part of the group. The school is a safe environment, but it poses difficult challenges because of limited space for storage.

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Grade: 2

Inspectors agree that leadership and management are good. The headteacher gives a strong and active lead to the school’s work. The school has effectively managed the many challenges presented by low academic standards on entry, above average levels of extra needs and changes in staffing. The clear vision for the school puts the many and various needs of children and adults to the fore. The headteacher vigorously 4 Inspection Report: Ramshaw Primary School, 2 March 2006 to 3 March 2006 fosters the understanding that children are entitled to a rigorous, interesting and challenging time in school. As a result, the programme includes French; children are expected to challenge themselves to improve, and the community supports all, regardless of their needs. The headteacher is well supported by the relatively inexperienced staff. They are successfully taking on increased levels of responsibility and play a helpful part in the school’s successful self-evaluation. As a result, a shared

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Grade: 2

understanding of the school’s present effectiveness makes it well placed to go on improving. A significant part of this work is the monitoring of teaching and learning. While the school’s overall judgement is accurate, the analysis of lessons is more focussed on teacher performance and less on children’s learning. Governors are well informed, particularly on standards, curriculum and the effective financial management. There are good procedures for ensuring value for money in purchasing supplies and services. This has helped governance to improve satisfactorily since the previous inspection. However, their performance is judged to be satisfactory because they are too reliant on the work and guidance of management. 5 Inspection Report: Ramshaw Primary School, 2 March 2006 to 3 March 2006 .

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set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s

website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Ramshaw Primary School, 2 March 2006 to 3 March 2006

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Overall

Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

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learners?

NA 2 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? NA 2 The quality and standards in foundation stage NA 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation NA Yes The capacity to make any necessary improvements NA Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 How well do learners achieve? NA 3 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners NA 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

NA 2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 2 The behaviour of learners NA 3 The attendance of learners NA 2 How well learners enjoy their education NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles NA 2 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community NA 2 How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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needs and interests of learners?

NA 2 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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needs and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low.

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and supporting all learners?

NA 2 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 2 How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review NA 2 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can NA 2 How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money NA 3 The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities NA Yes The adequacy and suitability of staff to ensure that learners are protected

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The extent to which schools enable learners to be healthy

Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to eat and drink healthily Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to take regular exercise Yes Learners are discouraged from smoking and substance abuse Yes Learners are educated about sexual health

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The extent to which providers ensure that learners stay safe

Yes Procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements Yes Risk assessment procedures and related staff training are in place Yes Action is taken to reduce anti-social behaviour, such as bullying and racism Yes Learners are taught about key risks and how to deal with them

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The extent to which learners make a positive contribution

Yes Learners are helped to develop stable, positive relationships Yes Learners, individually and collectively, participate in making decisions that affect them Yes Learners are encouraged to initiate, participate in and manage activities in school and the wider community

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The extent to which schools enable learners to achieve economic well-being

Yes There is provision to promote learners’ basic skills Yes Learners have opportunities to develop enterprise skills and work in teams NA Careers education and guidance is provided to all learners in key stage 3 and 4 and the sixth form NA Education for all learners aged 14–19 provides an understanding of employment and the economy

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 0207 421 6800 F 0207 421 6707 Ofsted helpline 08456 404045 Mrs Janet Grainger Ramshaw Primary School Oaks Bank Evenwood Bishop Auckland County Durham DL14 9SD 02 Mar 2006 Dear children I thoroughly enjoyed being in your school this week. It was a pleasure and privilege to work with you and the staff of the school. I was very pleased when many of you wished to talk with me and impressed by the courtesy and help you provided. What I liked about your school: the way that you and your parents clearly like the school the important role the School Council plays in the school on your behalf the considerate way that you treat each other and particularly the help and support the older children give to the younger ones the good progress made by all children your good understanding that healthy eating and exercise are good for you the good teaching, curriculum and care given by the school

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

the way that the headteacher and staff are determined that your knowledge and understanding of the wider world are fully developed. I have asked your teachers to look even more carefully at how well each of you is doing in your lessons, and give you learning targets that help you to move quickly on to the next level of achievement. You can help greatly by always doing your best work and by making sure that you achieve your own targets as quickly as possible. I wish you all good luck for the future. Yours sincerely

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