Lake View Primary and Nursery School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that their initiatives for improvement are applied consistently by all staff.
• Improve further the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by ensuring that all teachers:
  • have high expectations of the accuracy of pupils’ spelling, grammar and punctuation
  • teach pupils to effectively evaluate, edit and improve their own work
  • match work in mathematics more carefully to pupils’ needs and develop pupils’ problem-solving and reasoning skills.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher and senior leaders are clear sighted in their ambitions for the school. They have established a culture of increasingly high expectations that is shared by all staff.
• Leaders have an accurate overview of the school’s strengths and areas in which it can improve. The school improvement plan is rigorous.
• Pupils make good progress. Leaders and other staff use assessment well to check pupils’ progress carefully. They identify pupils who may be falling behind. Leaders meet with teachers to discuss possible barriers to pupils’ learning and actions that need to be taken. Personalised approaches are used well to meet the needs of individual pupils.
• Leaders identify where teaching is less strong and provide support, coaching and training to improve the quality of teaching. Leaders provide teachers with relevant targets for improvement and link these with pupils’ progress. Though some inconsistencies remain, the quality of teaching is strong throughout the school.
• Leaders provide relevant training to improve the quality of teaching and to develop leadership roles. Support for newly and recently qualified teachers is effective.
• Senior leaders are strengthening leadership roles at all levels. Middle leaders are enthusiastic and being supported well to develop their expertise. Those new to their roles are positive about the support and training they receive. Middle leaders check standards and support and work alongside staff to secure improvements.
• The coordinator for pupils with SEND ensures that additional funding is used well to support pupils’ learning. Staff review pupils’ learning carefully. Pupils make good progress from their starting points.
• Leaders are outward-looking and draw upon external support where this is relevant. The school works closely with a local cluster of schools as well as within a teaching school alliance. This has supported improvements in, for example, developing teachers’ expertise in assessing pupils’ learning. Support from the local authority over time has been effective in enabling the school to improve.
• Leaders and other staff ensure that the school provides a broad and balanced curriculum. Staff promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural education very well. Pupils greatly value the opportunities they have to develop their artistic skills. This is evident in the many school displays of pupils’ work. Teachers ensure that pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, also benefit from a range of enrichment activities and school clubs, such as book club, drama, cookery, table tennis and football.
• The pupil premium is used well to ensure that disadvantaged pupils make good progress. The funding has been used largely to provide additional teaching to support pupils’ learning. Individual ‘pupil passports’ identify barriers to learning and focused support. Leaders are acting upon the findings from a recent pupil premium audit, including ensuring that the pupil premium plan is more sharply focused so that the funding has the maximum impact.
• Leaders use the additional funding for physical education and sports effectively to support the development of teachers’ expertise in teaching physical education as well as widening pupils’ opportunities to engage in sporting activities. The new leaders are now more carefully checking and reviewing the impact of the funding on improving pupils’ participation in sporting activities and events.
• Leaders are effective in bringing about improvements in, for example, the teaching of mathematics, leadership of the early years, the teaching of phonics, the development of pupils’ vocabulary and the uses of assessment. However, they have not ensured that some aspects of their work are as securely and consistently embedded as they could be. Some inconsistencies in the quality of teaching and the curriculum remain.

Governance of the school

• The knowledgeable governing body has a good overview of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement. Governors are clear on their role in holding leaders to account. They place improving pupils’ achievement as well as their personal development and welfare at the centre of their work.
• Members of the governing body undertake regular visits to the school to, for example, meet with school staff, check standards or review safeguarding arrangements. Governors have clearly defined roles and areas of interest, such as provision for pupils with SEND, the early years or specific subjects. Governors value the reports provided by middle leaders. They have a good understanding of school life and practices.
• The governing body receives detailed reports from the headteacher on key aspects of the school’s work. Governors explore these reports, and the minutes of their meetings show that they sometimes question the information provided. Their questions, however, are sometimes not as challenging as they could be, including in relation to the uses and impact of additional funding.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. There is a strong culture of safeguarding. The school’s ethos of care is evident in pupils’ positive interactions with teachers and with each other.
• Leaders make rigorous checks on adults before they are able to start volunteering or working alongside pupils. The school’s records meet all statutory requirements as well as recording additional safeguarding information.
• The designated leaders for safeguarding ensure that all members of staff are kept up to date with the latest guidance on keeping pupils safe in education. Staff have received training on the government’s ‘Prevent’ duty.
• Staff are vigilant in reporting any concerns they have about a pupil, in accordance with the school’s policy. Leaders record these carefully, including the actions taken. They are tenacious in involving external agencies where this is required.
• All pupils who spoke with the inspectors said that they feel safe. Bullying is very rare, and pupils are confident that adults deal with any concerns they have. However, some parents and carers did raise some concerns. The inspectors could find no evidence to substantiate their views. Leaders’ records show that they follow up reported concerns carefully and in accordance with the school’s policies. Leaders have ensured that there are many routes by which both parents and pupils can share any concerns they may have.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers are enthusiastic and capture pupils’ interest. Teachers and other staff create a positive climate for learning in classrooms. They praise pupils’ work, efforts and behaviour. Pupils are confident sharing their ideas and collaborating. This supports their learning and progress effectively.
• Teaching is consistently strong across the school. Teachers have good subject knowledge. Teachers use information about pupils’ learning to plan sequences of lessons that build on pupils’ previous learning.
• Teachers promote pupils’ understanding and use of vocabulary well. This was observed in an English lesson, for example, in which pupils suggested synonyms for feeling sad. Pupils’ offered powerful words such as ‘confusion’, ‘grieving’ and ‘crestfallen’.
• Teachers and other staff are often highly effective in using questioning to check pupils’ understanding and develop their thinking. In mathematics, for instance, teachers consistently ask pupils ‘Why?’ and ‘How do you know?’ There is an expectation that pupils are able to explain their thinking.
• Phonics is taught very well. The teaching of phonics is well organised and structured. Lessons are lively and engaging. Staff check pupils’ learning carefully, and work is appropriately matched to pupils’ abilities. Staff promote pupils’ reading comprehension skills well across the school.
• Teaching assistants are deployed well and provide effective support for pupils’ learning when working with individual pupils or small groups.
• Leaders and other staff have ensured that there is a consistent ‘mastery’-based approach to the teaching of mathematics. Inspectors observed many instances in which teachers made highly effective use of visual imagery and apparatus to support pupils’ understanding. This enables pupils to gain fluency in understanding mathematical concepts. However, sometimes teachers do not match work as well as they could to pupils’ needs. Sometimes, work is too hard for the least able, or not challenging enough, when relevant, for the most able. Teachers sometimes do not develop pupils’ problem-solving and reasoning skills as well as they could.
• Teachers ensure that pupils make good progress in writing. However, their expectations of the accuracy of pupils’ spelling, grammar and punctuation are variable. Teachers do not consistently ensure that pupils are able to effectively evaluate, edit and improve their own work.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. Pupils conduct themselves excellently at all times of the school day, including in corridors, assemblies, at lunchtimes or on the playground.
• Leaders and other staff ensure that the school is a calm and orderly place to work and learn. For example, older pupils lead ‘Take 5’ sessions in classes at the beginning of afternoons. Pupils do gentle exercises and are encouraged to think calming thoughts. This creates a calm start to lessons after a busy playtime. Pupils explained to the inspector that ‘it’s fun and it helps us to get ready to learn’.
• Leaders and staff have high expectations of behaviour. Staff manage pupils’ behaviour consistently well. No low-level disruption was observed. Pupils apply themselves well to all that is asked of them.
• Pupils show impeccable manners. They are polite, respectful and friendly. They were happy to speak with the inspectors. On several occasions, pupils enthusiastically and proudly offered to show the inspectors their work.
• Attendance is currently similar to the national average. Leaders check attendance carefully, including that of disadvantaged pupils or pupils with SEND. The absence of a small number of pupils for legitimate reasons has impacted on overall figures. Leaders take attendance seriously and emphasise the importance of attendance to parents. They work with the small number of families whose children have persistent absence.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Published outcomes show that in key stage 2, progress in reading, writing and mathematics has been strong and often above the national averages for the last two years. In 2018, pupils’ attainment of the expected standards in reading, writing mathematics and grammar, punctuation and spelling was above the national averages.
• At the end of key stage 1 in 2018, pupils’ attainment in reading was above the national average. Attainment in writing and mathematics was similar to the national averages. The proportions of pupils achieving the required standards in the Year 1 phonics screening check have been above those seen nationally for the last two years, as have the proportions of children in the early years achieving a good level of development.
• Pupils’ current work shows that pupils make good progress in reading, writing, mathematics and other subjects. Disadvantaged pupils make progress in line with, and sometimes better than, that of other pupils.
• Progress in reading is particularly strong. Pupils rapidly acquire phonics skills and make progress in developing their inference and deduction skills. Pupils have positive attitudes to reading and read increasingly widely.
• Effective teaching ensures that pupils make good progress in improving their writing skills. Over time, the sophistication and quality of pupils’ work improves. Staff ensure that the quality of pupils’ work is consistently strong in different subjects. Pupils present their work well. However, the quality of pupils’ writing is sometimes let down by inaccurate spelling, grammar and punctuation.
• In mathematics, pupils gain proficiency in key mathematical skills well over time. However, on some occasions, teachers do not ensure that work is matched well to pupils’ needs. Sometimes, the least and particularly the most able pupils do not make the progress they are capable of.

Early years provision Good

• The large majority of children join the Reception Year with knowledge and skills that are typical for their age. The proportion of children who achieved a good level of development in 2018 was above the national average. Children, including those who are disadvantaged, make good progress in the early years. They are prepared well for key stage 1.
• Leadership of the early years is effective. Leaders and other staff analyse children’s learning and development carefully in both the Nursery and Reception classes. They use this information to identify focused priorities for improvement. Plans for improvement are rigorous.
• Parents contribute effectively to assessments of children’s learning. They add photos or comments about their children’s achievements at home.
• Staff develop children’s personal development well. Children have positive attitudes to their learning. They collaborate and are respectful of each other. Children’s behaviour is good. They follow instructions quickly and routines are well established. Children move carefully from adult-led activities to independent tasks.
• Children settle quickly to tasks and show independence and the ability to concentrate. They engage positively and busily with the tasks provided for them. They talk confidently about what they are doing and about their learning. One child, for example, explained to an inspector why he was wearing a hard hat for his building work.
• Teaching is effective across the early years. Teachers and adults are enthusiastic. They use questioning skills well to develop children’s thinking and support their development and independence.
• The teaching of phonics is effective and appropriately challenging. In the Reception class, for example, children excitedly worked together as ‘sound detectives’, using their phonics skills to find ‘hidden’ sounds in the classroom. Inspectors saw evidence of pupils applying their phonics skills effectively in their writing.
• Leaders manage transition arrangements well. Children are well prepared as they move through each stage of the early years and into Year 1.
• Leaders ensure that the welfare requirements for the early years are met.
• Activities are often creative and engaging. In the Nursery, for instance, children were engrossed in ‘painting’ the playground or were in the mud kitchen excitedly weighing vegetables, independently making recipe lists for ‘soup’, examining peppers and planting the seeds. Teachers ensure that the indoor and outdoor learning areas provide children with a broad range of opportunities across the curriculum. However, leaders have not ensured that the quality of provision is consistent across the early years. Some activities are not planned as well as they could be to stimulate children’s interest and provide sufficient challenge.

School details

Unique reference number 122674 Local authority Nottinghamshire County Council Inspection number 10057652 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 Community 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 221 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Heidi Warnes Sally Warrington 01623 401404 www.lakeviewprimary.org office@lakeview.notts.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 20–21 September 2016

Information about this school

• Since the last full inspection, a deputy headteacher has been appointed.
• Lake View Primary and Nursery School is smaller than an average-sized primary school.
• The school has a breakfast club.
• The proportions of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds and of pupils who speak English as an additional language are below those seen nationally.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is above the national average.
• The proportion of pupils with SEND is above the national average.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, other senior leaders and middle leaders. The inspectors met with the chair and other members of the governing body and spoke with a representative of the local authority. Discussions explored a wide range of subjects, including safeguarding arrangements.
• The inspectors visited 16 lessons, some jointly with the headteacher. During these visits, the inspectors looked at pupils’ work and spoke with them to evaluate the quality of their learning. The inspectors scrutinised pupils’ work alongside leaders, met with groups of pupils and listened to pupils read.
• The inspectors spoke with parents informally at the start of the school day. Account was taken of the 35 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, and free-text responses, as well as the 20 responses to the staff questionnaire. There were no responses to the pupil questionnaire.
• A range of documents were scrutinised, relating to safeguarding, behaviour, attendance, the quality of teaching, learning and assessment and pupils’ attainment and progress. The inspectors looked at plans for improvement as well as leaders’ evaluation of the school’s performance. The inspectors also considered the range and quality of information provided on the school’s website.

Inspection team

John Lawson, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Dorothy Stenson Ofsted Inspector