Stafford Leys Community Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

In accordance with section 44(1) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management at all levels by ensuring that:
  • leaders precisely define and rigorously monitor plans for school improvement
  • governors and senior leaders challenge, and hold to account, all staff to urgently improve outcomes for pupils, particularly those who are disadvantaged and the most able
  • leaders use the pupil premium funding to rapidly improve the progress of the disadvantaged pupils
  • the governing body checks the school’s performance more systematically and holds school leaders robustly to account for pupil and staff underperformance
  • leaders monitor thoroughly and urgently improve attendance of those pupils who are disadvantaged.
• Improve the quality of teaching and thereby outcomes by ensuring that:
  • teachers accurately assess and use information about pupils’ attainment and progress to plan activities which engage and motivate, and are suitably challenging, particularly for the most able
  • teachers have high expectations of all pupils and particularly the disadvantaged and the most able pupils
  • teachers address pupils’ misconceptions quickly and support pupils to learn from their mistakes
  • teachers provide pupils with more opportunities to develop their reasoning skills in mathematics
  • teachers better match reading books to pupils’ abilities and offer more opportunities for pupils to improve their inference, deduction and comprehension skills.
• Improve the quality of provision in the early years by:
  • ensuring that teachers plan purposeful and engaging experiences which allow children to think critically and build on their previous learning
  • ensuring that teachers and teaching assistants support children’s learning more effectively, particularly their communication and language skills. An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved. An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

• Since the previous inspection, when the school was judged to be good, there has been a period of decline. During this time, the outcomes for pupils fell to unacceptably low levels. In particular, this applies to the outcomes for those who are disadvantaged and for the most able pupils.
• Leaders have an overgenerous view of the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, outcomes for pupils and the school’s effectiveness. They have made invalid excuses and are unable to accurately explain the decline in progress.
• Leaders’ lack of urgency to improve outcomes for pupils has resulted in a continued decline in progress. Senior leaders have not promoted a culture of high expectations for pupils’ progress. Consequently, low expectations have been, and still remain, apparent throughout the school and particularly of the most able pupils.
• Leaders’ plans for improvement lack precision, strategic direction and accurate analysis of impact. As a result, the prioritised actions taken to improve outcomes for pupils have been misguided and have not had the necessary impact to improve standards over time.
• Leaders have not monitored the quality of teaching and learning well enough since the previous inspection. Leaders do not take action quickly enough to check that improvements are made following their monitoring activities. Consequently, their actions have had little impact on the progress of pupils over time.
• Inaccuracies in teachers’ assessments of pupils’ progress have not been identified by leaders. Therefore, leaders do not have an accurate view on the progress pupils are making. This limits their ability to accurately determine the appropriate support required for each pupil to achieve well.
• Leaders have not accurately evaluated the impact of the ways they spend the pupil premium funding. The fund is not being used effectively by leaders and is failing to improve the progress of disadvantaged pupils.
• Pupils have too few opportunities to learn about different faiths and cultures. Consequently, they are not as well prepared for life in modern Britain as they could be. The pupils do learn about democracy and they elect a school council to help them make improvements to the school.
• The leader for special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities has only recently taken on this responsibility. There are clear systems in place for identifying pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities, and interventions are put in place. Attendance of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities has improved. A new system to monitor the progress of this group of pupils has been put in place. It is too early to identify the impact of the leaders’ actions.
• Leaders have introduced a new behaviour and reward system. Pupils have responded well to the praise and nurturing they have received. As a result, recorded incidents of pupils struggling to participate in whole-class activities have diminished. Inspectors did not observe any incidents of poor behaviour during the inspection.
• The primary physical education and sports premium funding has been used to increase pupils’ participation in a wider range of sports and to enable them to enter local competitions. The school became champions in a local Tri-Golf tournament last year after the introduction of the sport to pupils.
• The vast majority of parents and carers are happy with the school. They say their children are happy and that they would recommend the school to another parent. Several parents have commented on the warm and inviting atmosphere in the school and that they are pleased with the approachable nature of the headteacher and staff.

Governance of the school

• Governors have failed in their responsibility to hold the headteacher to account for the performance of the school. They have not challenged leaders effectively about the impact of how the additional funding for disadvantaged pupils was spent, for example.
• Governors are not clear enough about their statutory duties such as ensuring that the single central record is accurate and up to date.
• Governors do not have a good enough understanding of the progress pupils make. They do not insist on receiving precise information on pupils’ progress and attainment from senior leaders, and do not check or challenge the information they are given. They have been too focused on pupils’ attainment without understanding that too many pupils are not making the progress of which they are capable so as to attain even better.
• Governors are actively involved in the life of the school and participate in some monitoring activities. However, they do not follow up identified areas for improvement or key school priorities consistently.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. By the end of the inspection, leaders had ensured that the single central record met requirements. However, governors and senior leaders must implement immediate changes to ensure that their statutory duties regarding the single central record and recruitment procedures are carried out much more rigorously.
• Staff receive regular training in safeguarding. Records show that concerns are dealt with effectively and in a timely manner and illustrate the steps taken to secure pupils’ safety and welfare.
• Pupils, and the vast majority of their parents, agree that the school is a safe place to learn. Pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe including when on the internet, in lessons and in assemblies. They are aware of what cyber bullying is and what to do if they become worried. Pupils are also taught about how to stay safe on the roads outside of school.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

• For too long, the quality of teaching, learning and the use of assessment has not met the needs of the pupils and therefore it is inadequate.
• Teachers do not have high-enough expectations of what pupils, especially those who are disadvantaged and the most able, can achieve. As a result, teachers do not suitably challenge these pupils, which slows their progress.
• Too often, higher-attaining pupils are given the same work as lower-attaining pupils. They complete the work, but many appear bored. This is because pupils have become resigned to a diet of an unchallenging curriculum which is failing to engage their interest and enthusiasm for new knowledge.
• Work in pupils’ books demonstrates teachers’ lack of attention to detail when supporting pupils’ progress. Pupils’ errors in basic spelling, punctuation and grammar are not consistently addressed and therefore progress in this area is weak.
• Pupils are not given time to reflect on their learning and to learn from their mistakes. Consequently, errors made last September are still being made. Leaders are aware of these inconsistencies; however, impacts of their actions are not evident.
• Pupils’ reading books are not consistently well matched to their abilities, particularly for the most able pupils. The teaching of reading skills is inconsistent across the school. Too few opportunities are available for pupils to develop their vocabulary and critical thinking skills to help them understand the meaning of texts.
• Teachers have not ensured that pupils have enough opportunities to practise their reasoning skills in mathematics. This is a key reason for the decline in pupils’ progress in this subject. Leaders have recognised this but have been too slow in their actions to improve it. Consequently, the development of pupils’ reasoning skills remains inconsistent across the school.
• Where teaching is most effective, teachers and learning support assistants use their secure subject knowledge to skilfully question pupils. In doing so, pupils’ understanding of concepts is deepened and their learning more secure.
• Pupils are provided with many opportunities to write across the curriculum. In Year 1, pupils were learning about Antarctica in geography and were using their knowledge to collect ideas to write a poem. In Year 5, pupils were applying their knowledge from their Ancient Greece topic to create their own Greek god or goddess.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.
• Pupils’ engagement in their learning is not always as high as it could be. This occurs when tasks are not well matched to pupils’ abilities. Inspectors did not observe pupils displaying curiosity during lessons. Rather, pupils are compliant in their learning behaviour. Consequently, pupils’ progress is not as rapid as it should be.
• Pupils’ personal development and welfare is not inadequate because relationships between adults and pupils are positive. This is the result of the nurturing culture leaders have promoted throughout the school. There is a visible ethos of mutual respect between the pupils themselves, as well as with the adults. One parent volunteered that the headteacher, ‘has created such a positive, happy environment and the children really respect him’. Pupils are polite, well-mannered and friendly.
• Pupils are proud of the variety of responsibilities offered to them in school such as school council, eco-warriors, sports leaders and house captains. They have learned about the democratic process through the election of school council members, and the importance of key skills needed for a job through having to apply for other responsibilities. Pupils wear their role model lanyards with pride when they are awarded and this has helped to improve behaviour across the school.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.
• In lessons, when tasks were not well matched to pupils’ abilities, some off-task behaviours were observed. When this happens, not all pupils are able to participate in the learning intended. They become disengaged and their progress is slowed.
• Attendance of disadvantaged pupils remains below the national average as too many do not attend school regularly. This affects the progress they make over time.
• Behaviour is not inadequate because the school is a calm place to be during the school day. Pupils generally conduct themselves well at different times of the school day including break and lunchtimes. Clear and well-established routines are visible throughout the school. Pupils generally respond to adults’ instructions quickly and therefore little time is lost between transitions in activities.
• Pupils with whom inspectors spoke during the inspection said that incidents of bullying are rare but when they do occur they are effectively dealt with by the adults in school. Pupils were clear about what bullying is and understood the difference between bullying and general falling out.

Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

• Outcomes for pupils are inadequate due to the decline in progress over a period of years. Progress of pupils, particularly the disadvantaged and the most able, in reading, writing and mathematics has declined significantly. As a result, the school is currently in the bottom 10% of all schools nationally for progress.
• Work in pupils’ books and observations of learning show that pupils continue to make inadequate progress over time from their starting points. This is particularly the case for the disadvantaged and the most able pupils. As a result of the inadequate progress pupils make, outcomes are not improving. Therefore, the school is failing to prepare pupils well enough for their next level of education.
• Teachers do not fully understand assessment information or where pupils are in their learning. They do not use their knowledge of what pupils already know to plan learning that is appropriate to their needs. Consequently, the rate at which pupils make progress is slow.
• By the end of key stage 2, in 2017, pupils’ progress in reading did not improve and remained in the bottom 10% of all schools nationally for the second consecutive year. Progress for disadvantaged pupils decreased further from the previous year and remains inadequate. As a result of inadequate progress of the most able pupils, attainment for these pupils remained below the national average.
• By the end of key stage 2, in 2017, pupils’ attainment in writing declined significantly and dropped below the national average. Progress in writing plummeted from being significantly above the national average to now sit within the bottom 10% of all schools nationally. This was particularly true for the disadvantaged and the most able pupils. As a result of inadequate progress of the higher-attaining pupils, attainment for these pupils is now well below the national average.
• By the end of key stage 2, in 2017, pupils’ progress in mathematics also declined significantly and is now in the bottom 10% of all schools nationally. Progress for disadvantaged and higher-attaining pupils in mathematics decreased significantly from the previous year.
• By the end of key stage 1, in 2017, pupils’ attainment at levels higher than the expected level declined and is now below the national average in reading, writing and mathematics. As a result, progress of the most able pupils is inadequate. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils in key stage 1 is too small to report on their progress without the risk of identifying them.
• Published data for 2017 shows that the proportion of pupils in Year 1 achieving the expected standard in phonics is in line with the national average. However, the proportion of pupils catching up with their peers by the end of Year 2 is below the national average.
• Children enter the early years with levels of development which are typical for their age. From these starting points, children make the progress which is expected of them and the vast majority enter Year 1 at a level of development which is broadly in line with the national expectation.

Early years provision

• Provision in the early years requires improvement.

Requires improvement

• Leaders and staff do not use their assessments well enough to promote children’s development. Teachers do not consistently plan engaging or motivating activities based on children’s needs to ensure that children make more rapid progress. Consequently, while the children are usually occupied, tasks and activities sometimes lack purpose and progress is slowed.
• Teachers and teaching assistants do not interact with the children as well as they could. The lack of quality questioning does not extend children’s development of critical thinking and communication and language skills. Training of staff is not as effective as it could be as it has not always transferred into practice.
• School’s information and work in children’s books show that they are making the progress which is expected of them from their different starting points. Adults’ assessments of children’s work are accurate. These assessments are moderated regularly within a local network of schools to confirm their accuracy.
• The curriculum is broad and balanced and based on children’s interests. The current fairy tales theme was popular. A group of boys were busy mixing a ‘wish potion’ outside and were keen to discuss what they would wish for. The outdoor environment has been transformed since the previous inspection. It is now an inviting and exciting place to learn.
• Children are inquisitive and keen to talk about what they are learning. For example, a child who had completed a piece of writing in a card she had made for her mother happily read what she had written with the inspector. Another was keen to demonstrate his thinking when using a program on the computer to dress a bear in as many different ways as he could.
• The leader has a secure understanding of the needs of young children. Staff monitor children’s progress closely and ensure that judgements are accurate through regular discussions and reviews of children’s work. Most parents are actively involved with the school’s assessment and reporting system. Leaders have targeted resources effectively, such as the pupil premium, allowing disadvantaged children to make the progress which is expected of them.
• Safeguarding in the early years is effective and statutory duties are met. There is a high level of parental engagement which is actively promoted by the leader.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 138154 Leicestershire 10047517 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Academy converter 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 612 Appropriate authority Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Board of trustees Allison Hammond Andrew Kitchen 0116 239 2482 www.staffordleys.com office@staffordleys.com Date of previous inspection 12–13 March 2014

Information about this school

• The school is a stand-alone academy converter. The trustees of the academy are also members of the governing body.
• The current headteacher, and CEO of the board of trustees, was appointed in September 2015.
• The school is much larger than average and has three classes per year group.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set out the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics.
• The school has not met the Department for Education’s definition of a coasting school based on key stage 2 academic performance results in 2016 nor in 2017.
• The proportion of pupils who are supported by the pupil premium funding is well below the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is well below the national average.
• Children attending the early years are educated in their own classrooms and attend school full-time.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed learning in 36 lessons, all of which were conducted jointly with either the headteacher or one of the three deputy headteachers, across all classes. They looked at pupils’ work in books covering a range of subjects, abilities and year groups.
• Inspectors met with the headteacher, deputy headteachers, subject leaders with responsibility for the early years, special educational needs and/or disabilities, English and mathematics, and the sports premium.
• Inspectors met with members of the governing body and representatives from the board of trustees.
• Inspectors met with a group of pupils and considered their views of the school. They also spoke informally with pupils during lessons and during breaktimes.
• Inspectors considered the responses from the parents’ online survey, Parent View, as well as the free-text service, and spoke informally with parents at the start of the school day.
• The inspectors looked at a range of documentation including the leaders’ self-assessment of the school’s performance, the school improvement plan, governors’ minutes and note of visits to the school, the school’s most recent information on pupils’ progress and achievement and information related to safeguarding, behaviour and attendance.

Inspection team

Heidi Malliff, lead inspector Graham Boyd Lynn Corner-Brown Karen Lewis

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector