Riverside School

Strengths

• Pupils attend school very well, and leaders use detailed attendance information to remove barriers and improve attendance.
• Behaviour is calm and respectful, with pupils following routines, moving calmly and showing positive attitudes to learning.
• Pastoral care and personal development are strong, helping pupils feel safe, valued and confident.
• PSHE, protected characteristics, British values, online safety and social, moral, spiritual and cultural understanding are taught effectively.
• A wide enrichment offer, educational and residential visits, and a comprehensive careers programme prepare pupils well for adulthood.
• Pupils are well supported to transition into school and into further education, training or employment.
• Inclusion systems identify needs accurately, and leaders work closely with families, previous schools and professionals to support pupils.
• Leadership, governance and staff work effectively together, and recent changes are viewed positively by staff and parents.
• The post-16 curriculum is broad, well sequenced, appropriately accredited and helps students prepare for their next steps.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective, with an open culture and all legal requirements met.

Areas for Improvement

• Teaching across the curriculum is inconsistent and does not always meet the school's expectations for developing pupils' learning over time.
• Phonics teaching is variable, so some pupils who are ready to read are not consistently becoming accurate, fluent readers.
• The impact of recent training on routine classroom teaching is not yet evident.
• Sixth-form teaching requires greater consistency.
• Leaders need to ensure all staff have the knowledge and skills to implement the curriculum as intended consistently.
• Leaders need to ensure all staff consistently deliver the systematic synthetic phonics programme as intended.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools