Robin Hood Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Robin Hood Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

This extremely popular school is heavily oversubscribed. This is because the school has a strong reputation. It is held in high regard by parents and carers and the local community.

Pupils behave well at Robin Hood. Bullying happens very rarely. Pupils work together to find solutions when problems arise.

They successfully reduced the number of arguments about football that used to happen at breaktimes. Pupils chose teams that they thought were well balanced and then stuck with them. Pupils play football at breaktimes much more happily now that the teams are matched fairly.
<...br/>Leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum. This ambition is not fully realised for the most able pupils, who are not challenged enough. Leaders recognise this as a key priority for improvement.

The curriculum for pupils' wider development is a real strength. Pupils are very excited about the new 'cultural passport programme' that started recently. They enjoyed helping to design the different experiences that pupils could look forward to in each year group.

Some of these link to the first curriculum driver, 'citizenship and community'. Pupils' experiences of linking with care homes is helping to develop their respect for older people.

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

Children get off to a flying start in the early years.

Leaders have skilfully developed the learning environment to maximise children's opportunities to learn when they are playing. This includes the outdoor classroom. For example, pupils practise their counting skills to 10 with large wooden frames outside.

They have fun choosing different objects, such as fir cones or shiny pebbles, to build up their numbers. Children sometimes choose a few of each object to represent number bonds. Children check they are right by carefully re-counting the objects one by one.

This enticing play is helping children to make good progress, consolidating their understanding of numerical patterns.Leaders identified that they needed to improve the curriculum for early reading. They introduced a new phonics curriculum in 2022, which all staff follow to the letter.

Pupils in key stage 1 can read at least as well as they should for their age. Although some reading books match pupils' phonic knowledge well, teachers sometimes give pupils books to read that are far too easy for them. This includes the most able pupils.

This is holding these pupils back.

Leaders work well together in effective curriculum teams. Morale is high because staff feel so well supported by the headteacher.

They also enjoy working at Robin Hood because pupils are so polite and courteous. Pupils behave well in lessons consistently.

Leaders have adapted curriculum plans to include local or regional references wherever possible.

For example, in history, pupils learned about the village's fallen heroes by visiting the war memorial. Leaders explored the library's historical artefacts department to find interesting sources of evidence, such as an evacuation letter from a child from Leeds dated September 1939. This is helping pupils understand the interrelationship between regional, British and wider world history.

In all curriculum subjects, staff use assessments skilfully to check pupils' learning and recall of facts. Teachers appreciate the time that leaders give them to complete this work. Staff say that leaders regularly ask them for ideas to further reduce workload.

They feel valued because leaders listen to their ideas and act on them if they can.

In some subjects, such as mathematics, teachers do not always allow the most able pupils to move on quickly enough when these pupils are clearly ready. Staff backtrack to ensure that pupils' knowledge is secure.

This is important for those pupils who need this repetition. However, in some year groups, teachers provide pupils with more of the same repetitive work, when pupils have already got everything right. This is holding the most able pupils back.

The curriculum is adapted well for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils are given alternative means of recording if they struggle with their writing. Some pupils attend a 'sensory circuit' session before school every day.

This helps to improve pupils' motor skills and balance. They enjoy burning off energy. This helps these pupils to settle into the classroom, ready to learn at the start of the day.

The curriculum for pupils' wider development is rich. Leaders seize learning opportunities from topical events. For example, pupils enjoyed learning about democracy and voting by studying the voting system in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Pupils in key stage 2 enjoyed the lacrosse club so much they have asked for it to be repeated in the summer term. Pupils are learning about the importance of healthy lifestyles.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders, including governors, made checks to ensure that the alternative provision used by the school is safe.

Leaders make all the necessary safeguarding checks when recruiting staff. There was one gap on the single central record that was rectified on day 1 of the inspection.

Leaders have ensured suitable controls for pupil movement across the access road between the school and field, where there is vehicular access during the school day.

The curriculum helps pupils to learn about risks, including vaping, and peer pressure. Pupils have an age-appropriate understanding of risk in real life and online.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The implementation of the curriculum, including for early reading and mathematics, does not always show greater ambition for the most able pupils. Some pupils grasp concepts more rapidly than others. However, evidence of deeper learning tasks for these pupils is limited.

This sometimes holds the most able pupils back. Leaders should ensure that there is sufficient challenge for the most able pupils in all subjects.

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 an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

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

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in January 2018.