Rosedale Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Rosedale Primary is a school which has undergone a period of rapid transformation since joining the trust in 2022. It is a place of learning that provides a warm, welcoming and purposeful environment for all of its pupils. Pupils develop positive relationships with the adults who care for them.

They are happy and safe at school.

Pupils form strong habits for learning from the start. In Nursery and Reception, children benefit from clear routines.

They display high levels of concentration in their work and play. As pupils move into the main school, behaviour in lessons and around school is calm. Leaders recognise that some pupils need extra help to manage their... emotions.

Staff do this in a sensitive way and guide pupils back to learning as quickly as possible. Pupils are respectful towards their peers, staff and visitors.

The school supports pupils' academic knowledge and their wider development.

Leaders have high expectations of what pupils at Rosedale can and should achieve. They recognise that previous outcomes for pupils have not consistently met their high ambitions. New leaders have taken swift action to improve this.

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

In the early years, children get off to an exceptional start. The calm, yet purposeful, environment enables them to develop their independence and social interactions. Children demonstrate high levels of self-control.

For example, when waiting to use a piece of equipment, children politely ask others if they will share with them. Children focus well on activities. Adults skilfully move them on in their learning in a sensitive way.

This enhances rather than disrupts children's enjoyment in the tasks that they have chosen.

Since the last inspection, the teaching of reading has been transformed. The trust has supported the school with a significant investment in books and thorough training for all staff.

The phonics programme is now front and centre of the school's work. The teaching of early reading is clearly structured and delivered with precision. Leaders rigorously address the needs of any pupils at risk of falling behind.

These pupils are quickly identified and well supported to catch up. Careful consideration has been given to the reading curriculum in key stage 2. Daily structured reading lessons support pupils to gain the wider skills they need to be competent and confident readers.

Several staff, and leaders at all levels, are either new to the school or to their role. The school, supported by the trust, has tackled the areas highlighted in the last inspection successfully. Leaders are in the process of reviewing the curriculum to ensure that pupils' learning is consistently strong across all subject areas.

They have worked methodically to improve each subject. In subjects such as art, the knowledge that pupils need to learn has been clearly identified. Pupils access a well-sequenced curriculum and produce work closely matched to the intended learning.

Pupils practise skills before applying them. Changes to other subjects are more recent. In subjects such as history, further refinements are still required.

There has not been enough emphasis on ensuring that pupils develop all of the knowledge required to prepare them for the next stage in their education. Leaders and staff recognise that more needs to take place to tighten the curriculum further.

In mathematics and science, there are well-sequenced curriculums which are appropriately resourced.

The curriculums are broken down into small steps to meet the needs of the pupils at Rosedale. However, pupils' understanding in lessons is not checked consistently well. On occasion, staff are not clear about pupils' knowledge and understanding.

There are clear procedures in place for identifying pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Leaders ensure that pupils and their families receive the support they need from wider services, such as speech and language therapy. Leaders have high expectations that all pupils can and will access the curriculum, including those with SEND.

Staff make adaptations to enable this to happen.

Leaders expect regular attendance from all pupils. The school has put measures in place to check pupils' attendance and punctuality meticulously.

Leaders are taking effective steps to understand the reasons for less-than-regular attendance. They put support in place when necessary. Recently, there has been significant improvement to the attendance of some groups of pupils.

The school has established a programme to support pupils' wider development. Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe in their locality as well as online. Leaders ensure that pupils have an age-appropriate understanding of relationships.

Older pupils talk about what makes a positive, healthy relationship with others. Pupils have a thorough understanding of discrimination. The school is welcoming and accepting of everyone who attends and visits.

The trust has been pivotal in bringing about the much-needed improvements at the school. It is relentless in its pursuit to deliver a high quality of education for the pupils who attend Rosedale Primary School. The trust board members, as well as local governors, are skilled and experienced.

Staff at the school are proud to be part of such a supportive team.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a few subjects that have recently been refined, there is not enough emphasis on ensuring that pupils acquire the key knowledge that they need to prepare them well for subsequent learning.

Therefore, there are gaps in pupils' understanding in these subjects. The school should identify and deliver the key knowledge that pupils need across all subject areas. ? Systems to check pupils' understanding in lessons are not consistent.

This means that staff are not fully clear about what pupils know and understand. As a result, some pupils are not given sufficient opportunities to practise or consolidate their learning. The school should ensure that systems for checking what pupils know, understand and remember are used consistently well across year groups.