Raynham Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Raynham Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 26 September 2017 with Jonathan Newby, Ofsted Inspector, 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 December 2012. This school continues to be good.

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. An increased focus on the professional development of teachers has brought significant improvements in the quality of teaching. Parents and carers are clear that the school is good.

Comments such as... 'The teachers go above and beyond… they show real dedication to ensure my children progress' are typical of parents' views. Pupils, staff and parents value your leadership. You are very ambitious for your school and have an accurate understanding of what the school does well and where the school needs improving.

Senior and middle leaders are effective. Your skilful development of leaders means that they support teachers well in classrooms. This leads to pupils making better progress in phonics, reading, writing and mathematics.

Leaders know, nonetheless, that there is more to do to raise achievement further in reading through key stage 2. Governors are knowledgeable, involved in the work of the school and offer you strong strategic support. Working together, you have ensured that pupils gain a secure grasp of the basic skills expected for their age.

Leaders, including governors, understand that they need to ensure that attendance continues to improve, particularly for disadvantaged pupils. Teachers give pupils very clear guidance on how to make their work better and this is proving very helpful in ensuring that all, particularly the most able pupils, are making good progress. You have given good attention to improving the level of challenge for most-able pupils since the last inspection.

This is proving successful. Leaders recognise that too few pupils make good progress in reading through key stage 2. Leaders have accurately identified the reasons for this and have taken swift and effective action.

Pupils are making much stronger progress now. You have developed the learning environment considerably and all classes have attractive and inviting reading areas, which are helping to promote pupils' enthusiasm for books. Pupils behave well and have positive attitudes towards the school, which actively values all pupils.

Teaching assistants make a valuable contribution to supporting pupils' progress. This enables all pupils to achieve well and keep trying, even when they find the work challenging. Safeguarding is effective.

Leaders and governors have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are effective and records are complete. All checks on the suitability of staff to work at the school are in place. Adults in the school know the designated safeguarding leaders, and they understand and follow agreed procedures consistently.

Clear systems are in place for staff to make referrals when concerns arise, and subsequent actions are followed up effectively. Leaders work well with families and external agencies to ensure that pupils receive well-targeted support, as required. Staff training, including that related to the 'Prevent' duty, is up to date.

Your staff have a good knowledge of potential concerns within the community the school serves. This increases their vigilance in spotting and reporting concerns about pupils' well-being. Pupils report that they feel safe in school and that behaviour is good, with bullying being a rare event.

Pupils enjoy coming to school and have great confidence that all the staff are working hard to support their education and well-being. Inspection findings ? For the first line of enquiry, we agreed to look at key stage 2 pupils' progress in reading. This was because, last year, pupils' progress was weaker in reading than in writing and mathematics.

You had already identified this as a priority. ? Visits to classrooms, listening to the reading taking place and reviewing current assessment information provided us with compelling evidence that pupils' progress is now good. Being exposed to a wide variety of texts and genres is inspiring pupils to become more avid readers who enjoy developing the reading skills they are being taught.

For example, Year 5 pupils confidently worked out the meanings of unfamiliar words in the demanding text they were reading about in their science lesson. ? As well as focusing on increasing how accurately pupils read, you have also concentrated on improving pupils' comprehension skills. Well-considered training from the school's leadership team has enabled staff to develop expertise and strengthen their practice in small-group reading sessions.

• For the second line of enquiry, we agreed to look at writing outcomes for middle-attaining and most-able pupils in key stage 1. This was because, in the 2016 key stage 1 assessments, fewer pupils achieved the highest standards in these subjects, when compared with other pupils nationally. ? Again, you and your senior leaders have wasted no time in ensuring that these pupils are now making much better progress.

Close attention is given to pupils to enable them to develop a deeper understanding of the texts they read. Similarly, pupils' writing is improving well, with pupils writing with increased flair and confidence in a range of genres. Nevertheless, the quality of pupils' handwriting is variable, and this hinders them from consistently producing writing at the standard of which they are capable.

You have already identified this and have been successfully working on this area. ? We next agreed to consider differences in the quality of writing between boys and girls, because you had noticed these in the latest assessment outcomes. In lessons, boys, as well as girls, are making good progress.

This is due to very good feedback, which pupils use well to improve their work. In several classes, teachers have enriched or changed the planning to make work more motivating and interesting for boys, and to help them to raise their standards further. ? Finally, we looked at pupils' attendance.

In 2016, disadvantaged pupils and those who had special educational needs and/or disabilities were persistently absent more than is typical when compared with the national average. ? Pupils are encouraged and rewarded for their good attendance. Staff identify any concerns promptly, and follow these up through meetings with parents.

Families are actively discouraged from taking extended breaks away from school during term time. You and your staff work effectively with the local authority attendance officers to support the parents of all pupils whose attendance is a concern. ? Although these strategies are improving attendance overall, you recognise that there is further work to do to ensure that the attendance of disadvantaged pupils is as good as that of other pupils nationally.

We agreed that it would be useful for the school to maintain its focus on this. Next steps for the school Leaders and governors should ensure that: ? all pupils make good progress in reading through key stage 2 ? strategies to improve pupils' attendance and attitudes to school are developed further to ensure that disadvantaged pupils attend school as regularly as their peers. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Enfield.

This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Tim McLoughlin Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During this inspection, I held several meetings with you and your two deputy headteachers. I met with two governors and a representative from the local authority.

I also held a meeting with subject leaders. I held informal discussions with parents on the playground and considered written comments made to Ofsted. You and your deputy headteachers accompanied me on visits to classrooms.

I talked to pupils about their learning. I looked at pupils' books and listened to a range of pupils read as they were engaged in their learning. I also evaluated a range of school documentation including school development plans, safeguarding records and information about current pupils' achievement and attendance.

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