Ravensdale Primary School

Ravensdale Primary School Inspection report

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103682 Unique Reference Number Coventry Local Authority 308385 Inspection number 20 February 2008 Inspection date Alison Grainger Reporting inspector

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

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Primary Type of school Community School category 3 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 465 School The governing body Appropriate authority Vacant Position Chair Sarah Malam Headteacher 21 June 2004 Date of previous school inspection Ravensdale Road School address Coventry CV2 5GQ 02476 444966 Telephone number 02476 445890 Fax number

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3-11 Age group 20 February 2008 Inspection date 308385 Inspection number .

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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 two Additional Inspectors. The inspectors evaluated the overall effectiveness of the school and investigated the following issues: whether the school promotes consistently good progress from entry in the Nursery to the end of Year 2; the achievement of pupils currently in Years 3 to 6 and whether action taken by the school is accelerating progress in these years; and how well leaders and managers identify specific weaknesses in provision and take effective action for improvement. Evidence was gathered from scrutiny of the school’s records of pupils’ attainment and progress and other documents; visits to lessons and scrutiny of pupils’ work; discussions with staff, governors, pupils and parents; and analysis of responses to the parents’ questionnaire. Other aspects of the school’s work were not investigated in detail but inspectors found no evidence to suggest that the

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Introduction

school’s own assessments of these areas, as given in its self-evaluation, were not justified, and these have been included where appropriate in this report.

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Description of the school

This large primary school is oversubscribed. It draws pupils from a broad range of social and economic backgrounds, not only from the immediate area but also from further afield. Most pupils are White British and about a quarter of pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds. A few are at an early stage of learning English. The percentage of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is below average. When children start in the Nursery, most have the skills expected for their age, although speaking and listening skills are good and many children are socially confident.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 9 Inspection Report: Ravensdale Primary School, 20 February 2008

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Grade: 3

This is a satisfactory school. There are some things that it does well. As one parent pointed out, it 'promotes good behaviour and respect for others'. Pupils' personal development and well-being are good because of the attention given to them in the curriculum and through some strong aspects of care, guidance and support, particularly the pastoral care. Many parents say that the school is friendly and welcoming, and see it as providing their children with a happy, positive environment that helps shape them into well-rounded and balanced individuals. There are also some areas requiring improvement, most notably pupils' achievement, which is only just acceptable. Standards are close to the national average at the end of Year 6. While this represents satisfactory achievement in relation to pupils' attainment on entry to the Nursery, pupils' progress is not consistent. The school has rightly identified that progress dips in certain year

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Grade: 3

groups and that the gains made by pupils in recent years have been insufficient from the start of Year 3 to the end of Year 6. Pupils are catching up in Year 6, having fallen behind in earlier years. Currently, there is no year group in which progress is good overall. Although pupils are making just enough progress now and the dips in past progress are being tackled, the school has not been meeting its targets. Teaching and the curriculum are satisfactory overall in promoting pupils' progress. There are some good features to both. The wide range of clubs, visits and extra activities, such as school productions, contribute much to pupils' good enjoyment of school, as do practical subjects such as art and design. Lessons are usually well organised, with teachers providing clear instructions and explanations. Relevant use is made of interactive whiteboards to reinforce teaching points. There is generally accurate teaching of basic skills, for example, in linking

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Grade: 3

sounds and letters to help with reading and spelling. However, the main reason why teaching does not promote a faster and more secure rate of progress is that it is not closely matched to all pupils' needs. Too often, the whole class is given the same activity to do without enough variation in the level of difficulty for pupils of different capabilities. Linked to this, expectations of the standards all pupils are capable of attaining are not consistently high enough. Through the emphasis given to their personal welfare, pupils develop a good understanding of how to stay fit and healthy. They know a lot about what constitutes a healthy diet, and the take-up of extra-curricular sporting activities is good. Pupils know how to stay safe in school and when outside, for example, they have good road safety awareness. Pupils get on well with each other and say that the adults in school are approachable. Pupils with learning difficulties

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Grade: 3

and/or disabilities are included well in class activities. The school is racially harmonious. Pupils make a good contribution to the school community by taking on responsibilities and help the wider community through activities such as raising funds for charities. While pupils' personal attributes and good attendance do much to prepare them for their future lives, their rate of progress in literacy and numeracy results in their preparation for their next school being only satisfactory. Leadership and management are satisfactory. Leaders and managers are successful in ensuring that pupils' personal development and well-being are well supported and that the school runs smoothly. Parents value the easy access they have to the headteacher and her frequent presence at the school gate at the beginning and end of the day. All staff and governors are committed to improvement and to accelerating pupils' progress across the whole school.

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Grade: 3

The school has correctly identified the most significant areas that need development. However, its self-evaluation is not always sharp and focused enough. For example, much monitoring is 4 of 9 Inspection Report: Ravensdale Primary School, 20 February 2008 undertaken but the analysis of the impact of teaching and the curriculum on pupils' progress is not rigorous enough. This means that areas for improvement in individual classes, year groups or stages are not precisely enough identified for action taken to result in swift improvement. The school improvement plan identifies many appropriate actions but these are not prioritised to help the school to meet its targets. Furthermore, the targets themselves are not sufficiently related to pupils' current attainment to be realistic as well as challenging. As a result, the school is not making adequate use of targets to raise standards. Nevertheless, the school's development

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Grade: 3

since the last inspection has been adequate, although uneven. The school has a satisfactory capacity to improve.

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Grade: 3

Children make a satisfactory start in the Nursery and Reception Years. Most children reach the standards expected for their age and a few exceed them by the time they transfer to Year 1. Strengths in pupils' social, speaking and listening skills are satisfactorily maintained. Good relationships are fostered and the good personal development evident throughout the school begins at this early stage. Teaching and the curriculum are satisfactory. There is a reasonable balance of adult-led and free-choice activities but what children should learn from each activity is not always clear enough. There is some good deployment of teaching assistants, for example, in Reception, to take different ability groups for work on sounds and letters. There are, however, missed opportunities for adults to intervene in activities to support learning. Adult-led activities are not always sufficiently matched to children's different needs. As in the rest of the school,

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Grade: 3

expectations of children are not consistently high enough. The current areas for improvement have been correctly identified by the school.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Make sure that all pupils consistently make the progress of which they are capable.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Closely match teaching to all pupils' needs and raise expectations of the standards they are capable of attaining. ■ Sharply analyse the influence of teaching and the curriculum on pupils' attainment and progress, and take swift action to rectify weaknesses. ■ Use data to set attainment targets that are both realistic and challenging and focus on the most important priorities for reaching them. A small proportion of the schools whose overall effectiveness is judged satisfactory but which have areas of underperformance will receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before their next section 5 inspection. 5 of 9 Inspection Report: Ravensdale Primary School, 20 February 2008 .

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What the school should do to improve further

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 of 9 Inspection Report: Ravensdale Primary School, 20 February 2008

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Inspection judgements

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

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Overall effectiveness

How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 3 The effectiveness of the Foundation Stage 3 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

3 How well do learners achieve? 3 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 3 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

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

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and interests of learners?

3 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average to below average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low. 7 of 9 Inspection Report: Ravensdale Primary School, 20 February 2008

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and supporting all learners?

How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education 4 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities Yes Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? No Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 8 of 9 Inspection Report: Ravensdale Primary School, 20 February 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

21 February 2008 Dear Pupils Inspection of Ravensdale Primary School, Coventry, CV2 5GQ Thank you for helping us when we visited your school. We enjoyed talking with you, watching your lessons and looking at your books. You behave well in lessons and around the school and get on well with each other. Your sensible behaviour helps to make the school a safe place. You know a lot about how to keep fit, healthy and safe. You told us that you enjoy the extra activities such as clubs. It is good that so many of you take up the opportunity to keep fit through sport. You told us too that the adults are approachable and that you feel well looked after. Your attendance is good. Your school is satisfactory. It does some things well. It helps you to develop into considerate and thoughtful young people. We heard that you are looking into how to support a child in Africa by raising the money yourselves for this. You make satisfactory progress overall during your time in the school. The adults want to speed

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

up your progress and we have told them that this is a very important thing for them to do. We have asked them to:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Make sure that your progress is always as good as possible in every class and year.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Match teaching closely to your different needs and aim for you to reach higher standards.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Really carefully check on how well teaching and the curriculum help you to learn and quickly make improvements when necessary. ■ Work on the most important areas that will help you to do better, rather than making lots of changes at once, and check that these few improvements are successful. You can help by continuing to work hard and by doing your best. Thank you once again for being so welcoming and helpful. Yours sincerely Alison Grainger Lead inspector 9 of 9 Inspection Report: Ravensdale Primary School, 20 February 2008

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CV2 5GQ

Thank you for helping us when we visited your school. We enjoyed talking with you, watching your lessons and looking at your books.

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CV2 5GQ

You behave well in lessons and around the school and get on well with each other. Your sensible behaviour helps to make the school a safe place. You know a lot about how to keep fit, healthy and safe. You told us that you enjoy the extra activities such as clubs. It is good that so many of you take up the opportunity to keep fit through sport. You told us too that the adults are approachable and that you feel well looked after. Your attendance is good.

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CV2 5GQ

Your school is satisfactory. It does some things well. It helps you to develop into considerate and thoughtful young people. We heard that you are looking into how to support a child in Africa by raising the money yourselves for this.

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CV2 5GQ

You make satisfactory progress overall during your time in the school. The adults want to speed up your progress and we have told them that this is a very important thing for them to do. We have asked them to:

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CV2 5GQ

• Make sure that your progress is always as good as possible in every class and year. • Match teaching closely to your different needs and aim for you to reach higher standards. • Really carefully check on how well teaching and the curriculum help you to learn and quickly make improvements when necessary. • Work on the most important areas that will help you to do better, rather than making lots of changes at once, and check that these few improvements are successful.

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CV2 5GQ

You can help by continuing to work hard and by doing your best. Thank you once again for being so welcoming and helpful.

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