Rufford Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 4 June 2024

Pupils at Rufford Primary School are polite and well-mannered. They settle well to their learning in lessons and work hard. Pupils are warmly greeted each day by staff and 'Luci' the school dog. There is a strong culture of safeguarding and well-being across the school. Pupils are safe and say they are happy in school. Parents and carers agree. They are very supportive of the school and its ethos. At social times, pupils enjoy playing together and chatting with friends. Pupil well- being champions are on hand to help out and support any pupil who needs it. The school's 'RISE' values 'resilience, integrity, self-awareness, excellence'' help pupils to understand right and wrong. Staff consistently apply the school's 'traffic light' system to managing pupils' behaviour. Adults deal effectively with rare incidents of poor behaviour. Pupils appreciate the range of clubs to nurture and develop their talents. These include choir, crochet, cricket, frisbee, Italian reading and football clubs. Opportunities such as a museum visit, local factory workshop, pantomime and opera trip help pupils to deepen their learning. Pupils talk excitedly about their overnight school camping experience and residential visits which help them to develop confidence and teamwork skills.

What the school should improve

• Some pupils do not attend school regularly. This means they miss out on important learning. The school should continue to work with parents and external agencies, to instil the importance of regular school attendance and overcome any barriers to attending.
• The school has not yet set out clearly how writing composition should be taught. In addition, there is an inconsistent approach to the teaching of handwriting. This results in variability in expectations and inconsistency in pupils' writing. The school should set out clearly how writing is taught so that teachers can improve pupils' writing skills.
• The school's monitoring has not been sufficiently rigorous in some subjects. As a result, there are inconsistencies in some subjects in how the curriculum is taught and whether gaps in learning are closed. The school should ensure that leaders systematically check how well the curriculum is being taught and learned, and that inconsistencies in teaching or gaps in learning are addressed.

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