Richmond Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 8 November 2022

Pupils are excited and eager to tackle the challenges of the school's ambitious curriculum. They particularly enjoy using a range of technology to support their learning and to communicate their understanding. Pupils acquire a range of knowledge and skills. If they are behind, teachers help them to catch up quickly. Everyone who works in this school cares deeply about the pupils. Each and every pupil matters. Pupils' mental health is a high priority. Pupils feel listened to. They value the support provided by the trained emotional literacy support assistants (ELSAs) and the time they spend with Dudley, the school dog. As one pupil said, 'The adults here care about our emotional well-being and we feel safe.' The school's values of compassion, respect, truth and friendship are promoted throughout the school day. Pupils learn to value and celebrate diversity and difference. They respect each other's different beliefs and opinions. The school has an inclusive ethos. Pupils often use Makaton sign language when greeting visitors. Pupils are kind, polite and friendly to one another, and to school staff. When pupils do fall out with their friends, staff help them to resolve this quickly. This means that friendship issues rarely escalate.

What the school should improve

• In a small number of subjects, leaders have not identified explicitly enough the key knowledge that pupils need to learn. Furthermore, the tasks some teachers set do not help all pupils to learn the crucial curriculum content well enough. This means pupils cannot always confidently recall prior learning or build on what they have already learned. Leaders need to ensure that the key knowledge pupils need to know in all subjects is explicitly clear. They also need to provide training so that teachers set tasks that help pupils to learn the curriculum content well.
• Too many pupils in Year 2 are behind in their learning of phonics. These pupils are not yet confident and fluent readers. Leaders need to strengthen their efforts further to provide these pupils with the high-quality, additional support they need to catch up quickly.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)