Rabbsfarm Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Rabbsfarm Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils look forward to coming to this school every day.

They are happy and polite. Pupils are confident and welcoming of all. Parents and carers value the nurture and care given to their children.

Leaders and staff have high expectations for pupils' learning and behaviour. The school is a calm and orderly learning environment. Behaviour in lessons is of a high standard.

The school's values encourage pupils to aim high and achieve well. Pupils spoke about how they particularly enjoyed their learning in art and science.

The pupils we spoke with feel safe and well ...cared for.

They also know how to stay safe online. Pupils understand what bullying is but say it is rare and not an issue in their school.

Pupils value the many opportunities they have to take on extra responsibilities.

These help to develop their social and personal skills. Pupils take on roles such as librarians, reading buddies to younger children and interpreters.

Leaders want pupils to enjoy the benefits of going to school in this locality.

They use the local area as a resource for learning in history and geography. Pupils take part in a wide range of arts, sports and music clubs after school.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

All subjects have been carefully planned.

Senior leaders and subject leaders have mapped carefully what pupils will learn and when. Leaders, staff and governors have high expectations of what pupils can achieve and help them to do so. Clear subject plans support staff to teach what pupils need to learn in a clear and logical order.

Leaders make sure that reading is a high priority in the school. Children get off to a good start in the early years. They settle quickly and are happy and safe.

They listen to a wide range of music and nursery rhymes. In Nursery and Reception, teachers focus on developing children's language and communication skills. They promote an early love of books.

Phonics is taught daily in every class. In key stage 1, teachers make sure that reading books are well matched to the letters and sounds pupils know. Most pupils become confident readers from an early age.

Leaders check that any pupil who is falling behind in their reading gets extra support. Staff are skilled in supporting pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) achieve well.

Staff in the nurture base develop pupils' communication skills exceptionally well. Older pupils told us that they enjoy reading a wide range of books. Throughout the school, pupils have access to well-stocked reading areas and libraries.

More needs to be done to develop the fluency and comprehension skills of older pupils when reading non-fiction texts.

The teaching of mathematics is strong throughout the school. In the early years, we saw children learning to count and subtract numbers.

Children in the early years have high-quality indoor and outdoor areas in which to learn early mathematical skills. Teachers have good subject knowledge. They build on pupils' previous learning and present new concepts clearly.

Pupils are confident mathematicians and are given challenging tasks matched to their ability.

Across the wider curriculum, the knowledge and skills that pupils need to learn are carefully mapped out. In science, geography and art, the programmes of study are planned well.

Teachers ensure that pupils with SEND learn the same broad range of subjects as other pupils. Staff adapt work to meet pupils' needs. In all key stages, pupils take part in experiments and investigations in a range of subjects.

For example, we saw pupils in Years 3 and 4 learning about the properties of rocks and magnets. Art and design and technology lessons provide many opportunities for pupils to develop their creative talents. Pupils' work is celebrated throughout the school in high-quality displays.

Pupils build on their knowledge and skills while making connections to learning in other subjects. In geography, apart from Year 6, the planned curriculum and content are not being consistently followed. As a result, the coverage in geography is not as good as it is in other subjects.

Leaders care about the well-being and workload of everyone in the school. They ensure that teachers have good opportunities for professional development. Leaders offer them guidance and support.

Staff say that they feel valued in this school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

There is a strong culture of safeguarding in the school.

Leaders make sure that staff are well trained in all aspects of safeguarding. Staff know what to do if they have any concerns about a pupil. Leaders work well with external agencies to support vulnerable pupils and their families.

The school provides early help when needed.

Staff know the pupils and their families well. They build positive relationships and always listen with care to pupils' concerns.

Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe when they are online. Digital safety is part of the computing curriculum for all pupils.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

Older pupils' comprehension and inference skills are not as well developed when they read non-fiction texts.

This means that their reading skills in some subjects are not as good as they should be. Leaders need to develop these key skills further. .

The curriculum map in geography is well planned and sequenced for all key stages. This map is not being consistently followed across the school. As a result, coverage of the subject is not as good as coverage in other subjects.

Leaders should ensure that the planned curriculum is being implemented in all key stages. Lessons need to provide more opportunities for pupils to deepen their knowledge and understanding of the world we live in.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called a section 8 inspection of a good school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good on 6–7 July 2016.