Ratby Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Ratby Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 26 June 2018, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in September 2014. This school continues to be good.

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. As a reflective, determined and committed leader you are focused on continual school improvement. You have shared high aspirations, expectations and the passion to achieve the very best for all pupils with your senior leadership team.

Your st...rong focus on research is central to your work and, once tested, approaches are developed across school. Leaders regularly monitor and evaluate the impact of the quality of teaching on pupils' progress. This has contributed to senior leaders and governors having an accurate understanding of the school's strengths and weaknesses.

You use this well to drive improvement. You have implemented effective procedures to track pupils' progress. This has enabled teachers and governors to understand how well pupils are achieving in school and to address any barriers to learning.

Teachers use this information to identify pupils who would benefit from additional support and plan activities to meet their needs. Teachers eagerly respond to well-planned training, which is raising expectations in classes. Because of more effective teaching, outcomes for pupils are showing improvements and they are making faster progress in their learning.

Leaders and governors show determination and grit in forging the right path for the school. The school joined the Bradgate Education Partnership multi-academy trust in May 2018. The trust is providing effective support to bring about further improvements.

Governors are knowledgeable, committed and effective. They do not shy away from challenge or making difficult decisions. Governors hold leaders effectively to account and work well with you to improve the school.

They are proud of the fact that 'they do not expect to be told but they expect to find out.' Several new teachers have joined the school since the last inspection. You have ensured that the quality of teaching is maintained and continues to improve.

New teachers receive effective training. Teachers and other staff needing additional support have received coaching to improve their teaching. You rightly have high expectations.

You know about the few inconsistencies in teaching and learning, particularly in reading and mathematics; however, you are focusing on improving these. Leaders have effectively tackled the areas for improvement identified at the last inspection. Together with senior leaders you have introduced a new scheme of work for mathematics.

There is now greater consistency in the quality of mathematics teaching across the school. Teachers provide different levels of challenge through mathematics activities and pupils are directed to increasingly challenging activities. They know what they need to do to improve their work.

Parents and carers value the work you do. Almost all parents who made their views known are positive about the school. A typical parent comment was: 'Teachers have always been able to identify my children's strengths and weaknesses and provide me with the best information to support them at home as well as school.

I'm very pleased with the school's approach to learning in a safe and happy environment.' Throughout school, behaviour in lessons and at lunchtime is typically good. Pupils appreciate the range of activities provided for them during lunchtimes.

They were observed eagerly joining in structured games or self-chosen activities, including dance and table tennis. In lessons, pupils demonstrated confident and enthusiastic attitudes with an eagerness to learn. For example, pupils in Year 6 were writing 'pros' and 'cons' for a debate about removing animals from their natural habitat for scientific research.

This learning linked effectively to their curriculum topic on Charles Darwin. Pupils spoke confidently, applying prior knowledge to their reasoning. Safeguarding is effective.

You have ensured that safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. The school's checks and procedures meet statutory requirements. Staff are appropriately trained in safeguarding.

This has successfully equipped them with the knowledge to deal effectively with any concerns raised. They are knowledgeable and vigilant, clear about pupils' needs and alert to change. Staff confidently communicate the processes they follow to parents, including when making referrals to the local authority if needed.

Valuable safeguarding information is available for pupils and parents on the website. You promote pupils' safety well. Pupils are confident about how to keep themselves safe online, including when they encounter something which worries them.

Pupils reported: 'There is hardly any bullying in school.' Leaders ensure that appropriate risk assessments are in place to minimise any risk to site security. Adequate measures have been implemented to improve school security.

Governors take their responsibility for safeguarding seriously. The governor responsible for safeguarding has significant expertise in this area. Regular checks are made to ensure that pupils feel safe.

Procedures for staff training, records and procedures for checking and vetting staff are completed and recorded effectively. Inspection findings ? You have ensured accuracy of assessments by providing clear systems for moderation within school, across the teaching school and through the local authority. Through regular checking of pupils' progress, you and your leadership team rightly identify areas for improvement.

• Improving reading is a priority for your school. Pupils' inference, deduction skills and stamina for reading are the main barriers to learning. You have introduced new strategies to improve pupils' reading skills through your curriculum, with a focus on developing language skills.

Through training, staff skills and expertise have increased. In Years 3 and 4 we saw pupils predicting and inferring about a Viking character, using sophisticated language. ? A greater love of reading is promoted alongside parental engagement to ensure that pupils read regularly and often.

Pupils speak positively about reading and enjoy their new library and the range of books in school. Pupils read unfamiliar books confidently and demonstrated the skills of inference and deduction. Pupils in the early stages of reading broke words down effectively using their knowledge of phonics.

• The school's latest performance information shows that progress and attainment at the end of each key stage have improved, with more pupils working at the higher standard in 2018. You agreed that work needs to be done to embed, sustain and further develop the rise in pupils' outcomes. ? A new, well-coordinated approach to support disadvantaged pupils has been developed.

Provision is evaluated quickly and, where needs are not met, adaptations are made. You provide disadvantaged pupils with a successful range of support activities. These may be tailored to individual need, for example by providing emotional and mental health support.

A greater proportion of pupils are reaching the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics across the school. However, you are aware that the proportion of pupils who reach the higher standard is typically below the national average. ? Progress of prior middle-attaining pupils in reading and mathematics has been below average for two years.

Pupils reported that they 'find maths easy'. Some pupils are not always given activities to build upon what they already know. You have focused on challenging pupils in their learning and application of their skills.

Evidence from your school assessment information shows that pupils at the end of key stage 2 are making better progress than they have in the past. This is also evident in other year groups and was corroborated while looking at Year 2 and Year 5 books. However, you agreed that this is not consistent across school, particularly in mathematics.

Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? recently introduced reading strategies are embedded and strengthened to ensure improved outcomes for all pupils ? effective strategies to improve the rates of progress for disadvantaged pupils, particularly the most able, in reading and mathematics are developed ? teachers use their knowledge of what pupils can do to set challenging tasks in mathematics. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the chair of the board of trustees, the chief executive officer of the multi-academy trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Leicestershire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

Yours sincerely Jacqueline Stirland Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I met with you, the deputy headteacher and the special educational needs coordinator. I also met with four representatives of the governing body and the chief executive officer of the Bradgate Education Partnership. I spoke with staff to discuss their understanding and processes of safeguarding in the school.

I considered the responses to Ofsted's online survey, Parent View, and all the free-text comments. I also spoke with 11 parents at the start of the school day. I studied the results of Ofsted's staff and pupil questionnaires.

Together we visited classes across the school. Year 2 pupils were not present as they were on a residential visit. I scrutinised samples of pupils' work from different year groups and abilities.

I observed pupils' behaviour in lessons and on the playground. I also met formally with a large group of pupils. I heard pupils from key stages 1 and 2 read.

I scrutinised a range of documents, including leaders' evaluation of the school's current performance, plans for further improvement and pupils' assessment and progress information. I considered several school policy documents, including those for safeguarding. I examined the school's website to check that it meets the requirements on the publication of specified information.