Rockingham Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school The headteacher, supported well by the deputy headteacher and other senior leaders, has transformed the school since the last inspection. Leaders have introduced robust systems to every aspect of school life. This ensures that all pupils receive a good standard of education.

The much-changed governing body is a strength of the school. Governors discharge their duties with rigour and enthusiasm. They are well aware of the school's strengths and future areas for development.

Despite staff changes, the quality of teaching and use of assessment are consistently good across the school. Staff receive high-quality guidance and training from seni...or leaders and also from the trust. The school has a caring ethos that values pupils and families alike.

Staff know families well and pupils feel safe and secure. Pupils' personal development and behaviour are good. They work hard in lessons and take pride in their work.

Pupils trust and respect staff and get on with each other well. However, leaders should ensure that attendance for different groups of pupils, particularly those from non-disadvantaged backgrounds, is closer to or above the national average. Pupils make good progress in all year groups in reading, writing and mathematics.

Children in the early years make particularly good progress in writing. However, in key stages 1 and 2 some pupils do not punctuate their writing as well as they should. The deputy headteacher has a very clear overview of the progress all pupils are making in reading, writing and mathematics.

She uses this knowledge to work closely with other staff to ensure that any pupils who are falling behind are quickly given the support they need to catch up. Some pupils in key stage 1 are not given sufficiently challenging texts in order to extend their vocabulary and deepen their comprehension skills. Disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress from their different starting points.

Effective teaching assistants make a particularly valuable contribution to the progress of these pupils. Parents are supportive of the improvements made at the school since the last inspection. They say that communication is good and that expectations of pupils are high.

Pupils benefit from a wide range of extra-curricular and enrichment activities, including sports clubs, musical instrument tuition, educational visits/visitors and residential visits.

Information about this school

Rockingham Primary School is an academy school sponsored by the David Ross Education Trust. The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish online.

The school is an average-sized primary school. Children start the early years in a full-time Reception class at the beginning of the year in which they are five years old. The proportions of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds and those pupils who speak English as an additional language are broadly average.

The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above average. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is well above average. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.