Rokesly Infant & Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Rokesly Infant and Nursery School

Following my visit to the school on 1 May 2019, 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 June 2015.

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 continued to improve the quality of teaching and learning, well supported by the deputy headteacher.

Your collaborative approach means that middle leaders take responsibility for different areas of the curriculum, and they moni...tor pupils' progress. As a result, leaders have successfully tackled one of the areas for improvement following your last inspection. Nearly every parent who responded to Ofsted's inspection questionnaire said their child is taught well.

Governors have detailed knowledge of the school. They visit regularly, and know the strengths and areas you are working to improve. Together, you are ambitious to improve the school further, and to ensure that all groups of pupils achieve equally well.

Some improvement initiatives should be more rigorously evaluated to ensure that their impact is clear on pupils' outcomes. Additionally, the school's website should be checked more carefully to ensure that it meets legal requirements. Pupils achieve well, and their behaviour is good.

The school is safe, happy and inclusive. Pupils are full of excitement as they play and learn together. Parents appreciate this, and one parent commented that the school has 'a lovely mix of professionalism with warmth for the kids'.

Attendance is above average. Displays of pupils' work around the school show a strong commitment to learning outside. The school's wildlife garden is well used.

For example, pupils drew beautiful pictures of the daffodils and found different ways to measure their height. Pupils enjoy visits within the local area and beyond. These experiences are effective in promoting pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding.

Safeguarding is effective. The leadership team ensures that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. All checks on adults who work in the school are carried out and recorded correctly.

The pupils I spoke to all said that they feel safe in school. Leaders and staff undertake regular training to keep up to date with procedures to keep pupils safe. Governors are knowledgeable about safeguarding.

The culture of safeguarding is firmly established. Staff have positive relationships with pupils. Pupils learn how to manage risks and keep themselves safe, including through the range of physically challenging activities on offer.

For example, they learn how to use tools safely in forest school sessions. The school's work in partnership with external agencies is effective. Where necessary, you make referrals to external agencies and check that your concerns are acted on promptly.

Inspection findings ? At the start of the day, we agreed the key areas of focus for this short inspection. Firstly, we looked at how effective your work has been to support disadvantaged pupils and other vulnerable pupils. This is one of the school's key priorities for improvement.

• Leaders have developed a comprehensive range of interventions to help pupils overcome barriers to their learning. Small group activities, for example, help pupils improve their handwriting and drawing. Leaders check that these interventions are effective by closely monitoring pupils' progress.

• We observed pupils taking part in a programme called 'sensory circuit'. You have designed this programme with an occupational therapist to help pupils who have difficulties with social skills and managing impulsive behaviour. Pupils were highly engaged in a range of activities.

For example, they practised moving around a large space in different ways, such as balancing and using the trampoline. These activities help pupils to improve their behaviour and learning in class. ? Governors provide strong support and challenge.

In particular, they have supported a focus group to improve leaders' understanding of barriers faced by black and minority ethnic families. ? Leaders and governors do not routinely evaluate the impact of improvement initiatives. This means you do not always know if they are successful.

Additionally, some of the school's improvement planning does not make clear when different actions should be undertaken. As a result, there is no clear timeline for embedding improvement. You do not routinely note whether actions have impacted positively on the achievement of disadvantaged and other vulnerable pupils.

• Our second area of focus was mathematics. Standards of attainment have been above national average for the last two years. Nonetheless, you have identified further improvement of pupils' achievement in mathematics as a priority for the year.

You have used information about pupils' achievements to determine your priority, which is to improve pupils' reasoning skills. You have concluded that this focus will help to ensure that pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education. ? Middle leaders skilfully promote new approaches to teaching reasoning in mathematics.

We saw examples of well-planned work to develop pupils' reasoning skills in lessons. For example, Year 2 pupils took part in an activity outdoors that focused on deepening pupils' understanding of angles and direction. Pupils listened attentively to the teacher and to each other.

Pupils' reasoning was challenged as they considered some difficult questions from the teacher. For example, pupils were asked, 'If you do a half-turn anti-clockwise, will you be facing the same way as if you did a half-turn clockwise?' ? In the early years, children in the Reception Year typically develop strong mathematical skills. For example, they explored different ways of counting to 10 as they played.

They are becoming fluent and accurate in their counting and addition. Nursery children had tremendous enjoyment investigating the size of their feet. Some compared their feet directly with an adult's, taking care to line up their heels.

Children were observed trying to measure their shoes with cubes, and they noticed the line of cubes was too long. An adult asked, 'To get that right, what do you have to do?' After thinking for some time, a child replied, 'Take one cube away.' ? Our scrutiny of pupils' work highlighted how teachers identify pupils who do not have a secure understanding of number.

These pupils receive additional help to catch up. Where pupils do not fully grasp an idea in a mathematics lesson, they are given extra help the following morning, before the next lesson. This ensures that they do not fall behind in their learning.

• High levels of challenge in mathematics demonstrate that you have addressed an area for improvement from your previous inspection. However, some support staff do not routinely and promptly correct pupils' misunderstandings in mathematics lessons. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? the extra provision, which you offer disadvantaged and other pupils, is evaluated sharply at key points during the year so that differences in pupils' outcomes continue to reduce ? support staff routinely and promptly correct pupils' misunderstandings in mathematics lessons.

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Haringey. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Julian Grenier Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During this inspection, I met with you and other school leaders to discuss the school's work.

I visited lessons with you and the deputy headteacher to observe the quality of teaching and learning. I spoke to pupils in lessons about their work. I made visits to the early years with you to observe children's learning and play.

I spoke with pupils in the dining hall and on the playground. I considered 131 responses to Parent View, Ofsted's online questionnaire. I held a meeting with the chair of the governing body and three other governors.

I spoke to the local authority's school improvement adviser on the telephone. I evaluated the school's safeguarding procedures. I scrutinised documentation provided by you, including the school's self-evaluation document, the improvement plan and pupil performance information and behaviour logs.

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