Rickleton Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school. The school has improved rapidly in a relatively short time because the new headteacher has very substantially raised teachers' and parents' expectations of what pupils can achieve.

Achievement is good. The above average Year 6 national test results in 2014 were much better than in 2013 and pupils' current standards have risen further because teaching has improved. There is an excellent atmosphere for learning throughout the school and pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding.

When pupils have not met the challenging targets that the school has set for them, teachers and classroom assistants provide very ef...fective support to enable them to catch up. Teaching is good and continually lifts pupils' attainment and rates of progress. Pupils are very eager to learn and they behave outstandingly well.

They say that there is no bullying and that poor behaviour is rare. Since the new headteacher arrived, attendance has improved rapidly to above average levels and persistent absence is now low. Arrangements for pupils' health and safety are outstanding.

The headteacher, governors and managers at all levels are effective in ensuring that teaching and pupils' achievement continue to improve. It is not yet an outstanding school because : Pupils' progress slows on the few occasions when teachers' planning, questioning and organisation do not fully enable pupils to make the rapid progress of which they are capable. Teachers do not routinely equip pupils with the skills necessary to evaluate their learning and progress fully.

Information about this school

Rickleton Primary School is much larger than the average primary school. The current headteacher has been at the school since February 2013. Almost all pupils are White British.

A smaller than average proportion of pupils is supported through school action, school action plus or a statement of special educational needs. The proportion of pupils who are disadvantaged and are therefore eligible for pupil premium is below average but rising. (The pupil premium is additional funding for pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and those looked after by the local authority.

) A small number of pupils attend Sunderland local authority special provision for speech and language development or for assistance with behavioural issues. The headteacher provides support for Waverley Primary School and Newburn Manor Primary School, both in Newcastle upon Tyne. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress.