Rimon Jewish Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Rimon Jewish Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 21 November 2018 with Ruth Dollner HMI, 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 March 2014. This school continues to be good.

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have galvanised your staff to ensure that standards have risen as the school has continued to expand since the previous inspection. Staff are very supportive of you and your leadership team.

They understand wh...at you expect from them and they are committed to the school's mission and high expectations to do their best for the children you serve. The school's motto of 'wisdom, knowledge and joy' is embedded in the day-to-day life of the school. Ensuring that you develop leadership beyond the senior team is a priority for further improvement.

You acknowledge the need for further training of middle leaders to ensure that they consistently have an impact on their areas of responsibility. You have established an aspirational culture for all pupils. With your team, you ensure that the school is a kind, caring place for the pupils to develop in all aspects of their life.

Pupils, parents and carers, staff and governors are proud to be part of the Rimon community. Pupils are very appreciative of what their teachers do for them and respond accordingly. Pupils' behaviour is exemplary.

They are polite and courteous to visitors and staff. Around the school and on the playground, pupils show great respect and care for each other. In the classroom, they respond well to their teachers.

They try their best and support each other in their learning. In your previous inspection, you were asked to improve teaching to raise pupils' achievement in mathematics. It is evident that, over time, attainment in mathematics at key stage 1 has been at least in line with national levels.

In writing, as a result of effective teaching and opportunities to write extended pieces of work, an increasing proportion of pupils are working at age-related expectations. Continuing to increase the proportion of pupils that achieve greater depth in writing is a current priority. The governing body is a strong ally in your work and provides effective support.

For example, they ensure that financial resources are targeted to where they are needed most. Although governors ask questions of leaders about pupils' attainment, they do not offer sharp enough challenge about the impact of teaching on pupils' progress. Governors are proud of, and ambitious for, the school.

Safeguarding is effective. Leaders have successfully created a culture where keeping children safe is the highest priority. All safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of high quality.

Staff are well trained and know what to do if they have any concerns about a child. Referrals are made to the relevant outside agencies when any concerns arise. Site security has a very high priority.

Full-time security guards man the school site. The school works closely with the Community Security Trust (CST) to ensure that no stone is left unturned when it comes to the safety of pupils and staff. Staff and pupils know what to do in an emergency situation such as lockdown.

In their responses to Ofsted's survey, parents, staff and pupils agreed that pupils feel very safe at school. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe, and they know how to protect themselves when online. Pupils show a good awareness of the different forms that bullying might take.

They know what to do if they experience bullying, and all feel confident to report it to a member of staff. Inspection findings ? The inspection focused on three lines of enquiry which we agreed at the start. The first of these related to looking at pupils' progress across the school.

This is because at the time of the previous inspection the school comprised just two classes: Reception Year and Year 1. Currently, the school is one-form entry up to Year 6. ? It is clear that pupils are making strong progress in all year groups.

This is largely due to the implementation of a strong curriculum and effective teaching. Leaders are skilful at evaluating the impact of teaching on pupils' learning and progress. They are confident in checking pupils' progress using several sources of evidence, including focused observations and scrutiny of pupils' work.

Leaders' analysis and evaluation of pupils' learning and progress are both sharp and accurate. ? There is clear evidence in pupils' books of strong progress over time. This is particularly true in pupils' written work, where pupils write effectively in a number of different styles, including stories and recounts.

In mathematics, teachers ensure that pupils are asked to apply their skills to solve a range of problems, justify their reasoning and reflect on the appropriateness of their answers. ? You agreed, however, that the most able pupils are not challenged consistently well in lessons, especially in literacy. In an English lesson, for instance, the most able pupils were very confident in their knowledge of key features of a persuasive text.

Nevertheless, they continued to highlight these features without moving on to more demanding work. ? The second line of enquiry looked at the effectiveness of the curriculum in promoting British values. This is because the school highlights the importance of British values on its website and their links to the school's seven guiding principles.

• Inspectors' evidence shows that British values are well-embedded in both 'Kodesh' (Jewish) studies and the secular curriculum. In all year groups, pupils learn about other faiths and cultures; they demonstrate admirable tolerance and understanding of difference, often with a maturity beyond their years. Older pupils have a good understanding of the importance of democracy and the rule of law.

They discuss and debate current issues on a regular basis, for example our responsibilities as citizens for the homeless people in London. The impact of this work on pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is very strong. ? Both Kodesh studies and the secular subjects have a strong impact on pupils' personal development and well-being.

In art, for instance, key stage 2 pupils created their own 'tapestry of diversity', drawing inspiration from the 'tapestry of sisterhood', the work of a contemporary American artist. Pupils' charity work extends well beyond the Jewish community to international causes and animal welfare. Pupils are critical and thoughtful when writing and talking about challenging issues such as terrorism, climate change, war and refugees.

• The third and final line of enquiry was about the impact of leaders on improving the quality of teaching, learning and assessment across the school. This is because ensuring consistency in quality has an impact on the progress and achievement of all pupils. ? Your evaluation of teaching is accurate because you check what you see in classes alongside pupils' books.

This gives you a sense of the teaching that pupils experience each day. Effective practice in classrooms is celebrated and shared. Teachers benefit from a range of training opportunities to refresh and refine their teaching skills.

For example, teachers reported on the benefits they have gained from the weekly 'joint professional development' sessions. This, coupled with ongoing support and feedback that leaders provide, has improved their effectiveness in the classroom. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? the most able pupils are provided with more demanding work in lessons, particularly in literacy ? middle leaders are provided with the training they need to become more effective leaders and managers of their subjects ? governors offer sharper challenge to leaders about the impact of teaching on pupils' learning and progress.

I am copying this letter to the chair of the board of trustees, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Barnet. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Nasim Butt Her Majesty's Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, inspectors met with you, your leaders, staff and governors.

Inspectors carried out short observations of teaching and looked at pupils' work in books and on display. You and your deputy headteacher joined us for these observations. Inspectors talked with pupils in lessons and met with a group of pupils to gather their views.

By the end of the inspection, there were 82 recent responses on Parent View, Ofsted's online questionnaire. Inspectors took account of these responses as well as the 15 responses to the staff survey and 55 responses to the pupils' questionnaire. Inspectors looked at several documents, including pupils' progress information, the school's own evaluation of its performance, development plans, and a range of school records.

Inspectors observed pupils' behaviour in lessons and around the school. Inspectors also checked the school's website and the procedures for keeping pupils safe. In addition, inspectors asked members of staff and pupils about safeguarding matters.

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