Ravensdale Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Ravensdale Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 12 March 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 February 2015. This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the previous inspection.

You are determined that pupils' academic and personal development are treated as equally important. This belief underpins your vision and continuing targets for the school. Together with a dedicated deputy headteacher and capable mid...dle leaders, you have worked hard to ensure that the school continues to improve its curriculum and the quality of teaching.

Governors know how different groups of pupils are faring because they have a good grasp of performance information. They know the strengths and areas of development for the school. They are proud of the school and ambitious for its future.

All the parents I spoke to and the majority of parents who replied to Ofsted's questionnaire, Parent View, were positive about the school. In particular, they praised the pastoral work of the school and were keen to emphasise how well their children are cared for. One parent described how well the school provided emotional support to pupils.

Another said that her children loved coming to school. Pupils are also proud of the school and appreciate the care teachers show them. One explained how teachers 'don't just tell you things' but take time to explain concepts so pupils understand.

Pupils are enthusiastic about visits and extra-curricular activities. They cited, in particular, a Year 6 residential visit to an outdoor activity centre and a theatre trip for Years 2 and 3. They also love music, sports and physical education (PE) and are thrilled about the numerous performances, competitions and clubs they can take part in.

You have welcomed external advice and support to help you with your work. Your outward-looking approach has not only enhanced the capacity of leaders to continue to improve teaching, but is also enabling you to learn from the best practice at other settings. You have enhanced the school's curriculum with specialist teachers for subjects such as PE and music.

This additional support has benefited pupils, who can, for example, compose music based on a given theme. Teachers use visual media to enhance the teaching of PE. The wider curriculum has also been enriched through themed weeks and clubs.

You are rightly proud of the school's brass band and the school's role in supporting the local youth orchestra. Pupils regularly take part in sporting competitions, including in tennis and football. Pupils also have the opportunity to enjoy a wide range of clubs, including chess, boccia and violin.

Themed weeks include anti-bullying and safe-internet week. At the previous inspection, you were asked to improve provision for mathematics across the school and, in particular, increase opportunities for pupils to apply their numeracy skills to solve problems. In lessons and in pupils' books that I saw, there was evidence that pupils are completing both problem-solving and reasoning activities.

However, some teachers do not move children on to more challenging work when they are ready. The previous inspection also asked you to ensure that teachers set work at the right level of difficulty for their pupils, particularly the most able. Again, evidence from classroom observations and a review of pupils' books show that teachers are mostly aware of the needs of pupils and set work accordingly.

Where this is highly effective, teachers provide groups and individual pupils with carefully tailored work and check how well pupils are doing throughout lessons. Consequently, pupils move on to the next stage of learning at the right time. Where teachers are less skilled at this, they miss opportunities to help pupils deepen their knowledge and understanding.

Safeguarding is effective. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Staff and governors receive regular training so that their knowledge of good practice in safeguarding is kept up to date.

They have a clear understanding of what to do if they are worried about a pupil's well-being, and leaders ensure that any concerns are swiftly followed up. Leaders also ensure that appropriate checks are made on staff, governors, volunteers and regular visitors to the school to make sure that they are suitable people to work with children. Pupils say that they feel safe in school and trust their teachers to look after them.

They have a good understanding of what bullying is, but are confident that bullying is rare in their school. If it does occur, they trust staff to deal with it well. Pupils also understand how to keep themselves safe in different situations, such as when using the internet.

Inspection findings ? The inspection focused on a number of lines of enquiry. The first of these related to what leaders are doing to raise standards in mathematics across key stage 1, with a focus on the most able pupils. Evidence in pupils' books shows that pupils in key stage 1 make strong progress.

The most able pupils are identified by class teachers who ensure that they receive a suitably challenging curriculum that extends their learning. ? The second key line of enquiry was to evaluate leaders' impact on improving progress and raising standards across key stage 2. You have had some success in this area.

Actions taken include: revising the curriculum, making sure that meetings to talk about pupils' progress are sharply focused, improving pupils' fluency in mathematics, providing effective coaching and continual professional development for staff and rigorously checking the impact of this work. You have also used external support effectively to develop both teachers' skills and subject knowledge. Consequently, pupils are making better progress across key stage 2 than in the past, and standards are continuing to rise.

• Teaching in the early years is a strength of the school and children make a very positive start to their education. The proportion attaining a good level of development has improved year on year. This gives them a good grounding for the next steps in their education.

• The third line of enquiry looked at the impact of leaders' work to improve the quality of teaching and learning, leading to better standards. Teaching has improved over time due to your high expectations and effective systems used to support staff. Effective whole-school staff development activities mean that pupils have a smooth journey as they move from class to class.

Teachers know their targets and what they have to do to improve. Senior leaders play a key role in monitoring the quality of teaching and learning and can show the impact of their work. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? teachers move children on in their learning at the appropriate time ? teachers continue to learn from the best practice in the school and apply this in their own classes, so that standards continue to rise in all year groups.

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Coventry. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Nadeem Bhatti Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I met with you, senior staff and governors.

I carried out short observations of teaching and looked at pupils' work in books and on display. I talked with pupils in lessons and met with a group of pupils to gather their views. I spoke with parents at the beginning of the school day.

By the end of the inspection, there were 70 recent responses to Parent View, Ofsted's online questionnaire, and 33 responses to Ofsted's staff survey. I took account of these responses. I also had conversations with parents on the morning of the inspection and looked at emails sent to Ofsted by parents on the day of the inspection.

I looked at several documents, including: the school's evaluation of its performance, development plans and a range of school records. I observed pupils' behaviour in lessons and around the school. I also checked the school's website and the procedures for keeping pupils safe.