Setting

Mrs S Hasan Headteacher Rangefield Primary School Rangefield Road Downham Bromley BR1 4RP

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Ofsted monitoring of schools with a notice to improve

Thank you for the help which you and your staff gave when I inspected your school on 19–20 November 2009 and for the information which you provided during my visit. Please pass on my thanks to Mrs Daley, Chair of Governors, and the local authority school improvement partner and school improvement officer for making their time available to me.

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Ofsted monitoring of schools with a notice to improve

As a result of the inspection on 9–10 March 2009, the school was asked to:

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Ofsted monitoring of schools with a notice to improve

 improve the provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage to raise children’s achievement, particularly their language and literacy skills  improve teaching to ensure consistently higher expectations of what pupils can achieve in English, particularly in writing, and in mathematics  ensure that teachers consistently use information about pupils’ progress, marking and target setting to challenge them and to help them improve their work.

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Ofsted monitoring of schools with a notice to improve

Having considered all the evidence I am of the opinion that at this time the school is making good progress in addressing the issues for improvement and in raising the pupils’ achievement.

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Ofsted monitoring of schools with a notice to improve

Provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage is improving, particularly in relation to resources, planning and use of assessment. The introduction of daily lessons in phonics is improving children’s reading skills. Written observations of children’s reading and calculating are used well to tailor teacher-focused activities to the needs of individual children. There are fewer opportunities to make observations of independent writing because children are not stimulated enough to choose mark- making activities. The 2009 Foundation Stage Profile indicates a rise in achievement Tribal Inspections 1-4 Portland Square BRISTOL BS2 8RR T 08456 40 40 40 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Page 2 since 2008 in most areas, except writing. Progress in raising achievement, particularly in language and literacy skills, is therefore satisfactory rather than good.

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Ofsted monitoring of schools with a notice to improve

Decisive leadership, increased accountability of teachers for pupils’ progress, and good quality professional development are securing outstanding progress in ensuring consistently higher expectations of pupils. Unsatisfactory teaching has been eradicated and the proportion of good or better lessons has increased to 50%. The involvement of teachers in monitoring pupils’ progress towards challenging targets has raised their expectations of what pupils can achieve, particularly in writing and mathematics. As a result, the school’s data indicate the proportion of pupils in Year 6 who attained Level 4 and above in English and mathematics in the end-of-key-stage tests in 2009 rose significantly from the previous year and was broadly in line with the 2008 national average. The results have yet to be validated. Across Years 1 to 5, pupils made good progress in the large majority of classes. Observation of lessons

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Ofsted monitoring of schools with a notice to improve

and samples of pupils’ work indicate the rising trend in achievement is continuing for current pupils.

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Ofsted monitoring of schools with a notice to improve

Good progress has been made in ensuring that teachers consistently use information about pupils’ progress, marking and target setting to challenge them and to help them improve their work. Senior leaders challenge teachers to address any underperformance of individual pupils and to ensure that all are on track to reach their challenging targets. They engage subject leaders in monitoring the implementation of the whole-school marking policy. As a result, more teachers are identifying the ‘next steps’ to improvement for pupils. The majority of teachers are now using assessment information to match lessons more closely to the needs of all pupils. Particularly good examples of this were seen in Year 6 lessons and this is resulting in accelerated progress in this year group.

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Ofsted monitoring of schools with a notice to improve

The local authority’s statement of action is fit for purpose. The comprehensive action plan, together with high quality support provided by the local authority, has contributed significantly to the good progress made on the previously identified areas for improvement.

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Ofsted monitoring of schools with a notice to improve

The school’s procedures for safeguarding children reflect good practice in regularly updating checks on the suitability of staff to work with children.

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Ofsted monitoring of schools with a notice to improve

I hope that you have found the visit helpful in promoting improvement in your school. This letter will be posted on the Ofsted website.

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