Rawtenstall Balladen Community Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high aspirations for all pupils. Caring staff are developing their expertise in providing additional support for pupils who need it. This includes pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Pupils benefit from the school's focus on their wider development. Children in the early years develop confidence and independence. Older pupils are involved in making decisions about the school through its parliament system.

Some pupils are trained to be play leaders and mental health champions. They look forward to carrying out these roles across the school.

Pupils get on well together at social times.

At breaktimes, mos...t pupils are keen to access the outdoor space, where they take part in a range of physical activities. Pupils are polite and respectful as they move around the school.

During lesson time, pupils' behaviour is more variable.

At times, the school does not ensure that pupils maintain the highest standards of behaviour. It does not support pupils who struggle to manage their emotions consistently well.

Most pupils enjoy school.

Their achievement is improving slowly. However, some pupils continue to struggle because they have gaps in their knowledge, including in reading. This makes it harder for them to learn new information.

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

The school has continued to work on the areas that were identified as needing to improve in previous inspections. Incidents of pupils' poor behaviour disturbing learning time or breaktimes have become less frequent. Rates of attendance have improved for most pupils.

These, and other developments at the school, are helping pupils to benefit more from the school's new and ambitious curriculum.The governing body provides effective challenge and support to the school. It has checked that planned new initiatives are manageable and do not cause staff to feel overwhelmed.

The school is firmly focused on increasing pupils' achievement. However, unavoidable staffing changes have continued to thwart the implementation of some of its plans. High rates of pupil absence in recent years have impacted on pupils' ability to learn and recall key knowledge.

Pupils' achievement remains stubbornly low in some subjects, including in English and mathematics.

The new curriculum is still being embedded. In Years 1 to 6, teachers know what to focus on in each subject.

The key knowledge and the order that learning should occur is set out clearly for them. In the early years, a change to the way that the class is organised means that curriculum improvements are at an earlier stage.

Many curriculum leaders are new to their role.

They are still familiarising themselves with what pupils should know and be able to do in each year group, particularly in the early years. This makes it difficult to find out where additional support is needed for pupils or teachers.

The school has raised the priority of reading in the curriculum.

Most pupils enjoy reading and listening to their teacher share high-quality texts.

The phonics programme is delivered well because the school has made sure that staff are well trained and supported. This new programme is having a positive impact on pupils' early reading knowledge.

Children in the early years and pupils in Year 1 are developing the secure phonics knowledge that they need to become confident, fluent readers.

The delivery of several aspects of the curriculum is not as effective as it could be, including in reading, writing and mathematics. This is because gaps in pupils' knowledge are not always identified or addressed.

As a result, some pupils find their learning too hard at times. This is often because pupils struggle to read with fluency or accuracy. Occasionally, this leads to a small number of pupils becoming uncooperative and disruptive.

The school's strategies for managing behaviour successfully are mostly followed. However, in some classes, intervention is not quick enough when pupils begin to lose their focus. Moreover, the school does not ensure that some children in the early years develop their ability quickly enough to focus on learning or follow adults' instructions.

This hinders their preparation for Year 1.

The school provides support for teachers to help them to accurately identify and meet the varying additional needs of pupils with SEND. It also supports staff to understand why some pupils struggle to remain focused or manage their emotions.

This work is ongoing and is not fully embedded. The achievement of pupils with SEND is variable as a result.

Pupils' personal development is a high priority for the school.

Pupils appreciate the opportunities that the school provides to participate in sporting activities. They especially enjoy competing against other schools. Pupils know that being physically active contributes to their mental well-being and ability to focus during lessons.

They also learn about 'stranger danger', including when online. The attitudes and knowledge that pupils acquire at school help them to develop safe and healthy lifestyles in the future.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school does not consider the gaps that pupils have in their knowledge carefully enough when designing the curriculum for each class. This is particularly true for some pupils with SEND. This means that, at times, pupils do not have the fluency in reading, writing and mathematics that they need to access the rest of the curriculum with ease.

The school should ensure that teachers make effective use of what they know about pupils to identify and address gaps in pupils' knowledge quickly and well. ? There is inconsistency in the implementation of the school's agreed policy for managing pupils' behaviour. At times, the school does not provide the support that some pupils need to remain in control of their emotions.

As a result, pupils' focus and attention varies during lessons. This impacts on how well they learn. The school should make sure that staff receive the support that they need to manage pupils' behaviour consistently well.

• In some areas of learning, the school has not defined what it expects children to know or be able to do by the end of the Reception Year. This impacts on how well children are prepared for key stage 1. The school should ensure that curriculum leaders receive the support that they need to understand how learning should build from the early years in their subject.