Langland Community 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 quality of teaching, learning and assessment and their impact on the outcomes of all groups of pupils by:
  • ensuring that information about pupils’ prior learning is accurate and used to plan lessons which meet the learning needs of pupils well, so that they make good progress from their different starting points
  • raising teachers’ expectations about what pupils can achieve, particularly for the most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils
  • ensuring that teachers’ subject knowledge is secure and used effectively to deepen pupils’ knowledge, skills and understanding in English and mathematics.
• Improve pupils’ behaviour and attendance by reviewing and evaluating the impact of strategies already used, and developing new, more effective approaches where necessary.
• Improve the quality of leadership at all levels, including governance, so that leaders can drive significant and sustained improvement, by:
  • developing effective systems for monitoring and evaluating the impact of the school’s work, particularly in relation to the effectiveness of the spending of the pupil premium and the quality of the curriculum
  • refining improvements already made to assessment systems so that they provide reliable information about pupils’ levels of attainment and progress
  • ensuring that monitoring of the quality of teaching and of pupils’ outcomes, particularly by middle leaders, is rigorous and effective, so that teaching enables pupils to make good progress
  • improving the skills and effectiveness of governors so that they provide high levels of challenge to the school’s leaders to improve pupils’ outcomes.
• Improve outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics so that pupils make rapid progress and achieve the standards of which they are capable. 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 pupil premium funding 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

• Leaders at all levels accurately identify many aspects of weakness within the school. However, despite leaders’ well-intentioned efforts, there has been a decline in the quality of teaching, of pupils’ outcomes and of pupils’ behaviour since the previous inspection.
• Leaders recognise that an inability to secure staffing is in part the reason for pupils’ declining outcomes. However, leaders have not overcome this issue and staff turnover remains high. Teachers receive regular and bespoke training aimed at improving their skills. Nevertheless, over time, this has not been successful in sustainably improving the overall quality of teaching. In particular, teachers’ subject knowledge is not used effectively to ensure that pupils deepen their knowledge, skills and understanding in English and mathematics.
• The quality of middle leadership is inconsistent. Over time, some middle leaders have not had enough impact on improving standards. This is particularly the case in key stages 1 and 2. For example, although middle leaders carry out monitoring activities, they do not always accurately identify the quality of what they find. Consequently, weaknesses in the quality of teaching and inaccuracies in pupils’ work remain unchallenged.
• Notably, the good quality of leadership in the early years has been maintained, and oversight of pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities is stronger than in the past.
• After the last inspection, a review of the use of pupil premium funding was carried out and plans put in place to improve its use. However, since then leaders have not monitored the impact of this funding effectively and the progress of disadvantaged pupils has declined. Conversely, the use of funding for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is more effective. Staff are usually deployed well so that pupils receive targeted and effective help which supports their development.
• In the last year, a new curriculum has been introduced. Its aim is to improve pupils’ literacy across the curriculum and to provide exciting activities which engage pupils in their learning. Some aspects of this curriculum are in place. However, leaders are not currently monitoring the quality of the curriculum or its impact on pupils’ learning well enough. The curriculum is not reliably in place in all year groups.
• The curriculum provides pupils with opportunities to develop their spiritual, moral, social and community understanding. Pupils celebrate the multicultural nature of their school. For example, pupils told inspectors that they enjoy learning about the different religious festivals that members of their community participate in. Pupils’ community and social development is further enriched through trips to local places of interest such as Bletchley Park and through outdoor learning activities. A range of extra-curricular clubs, such as athletics and French, augment the curriculum. Through these aspects of the curriculum, pupils are being prepared positively for life in modern Britain. However, pupils’ overall achievement is not high enough to fully prepare them for their next stage of education and future work.
• The headteacher and her deputy show great dedication. Together they have worked under difficult circumstances in an attempt to maintain and improve the school. Some of their work has been successful. For example, the quality of pupils’ welfare, and the quality of provision in the early years remain good. Senior leaders recognise that they need assistance in order to improve the school and have, rightly, actively sought this.
• Support from the local authority has not been sufficiently effective in improving the school. Over time, standards have declined. The local authority has recently brokered some useful help from a local junior school. This has enabled senior and middle leaders to hone their skills and start to improve some aspects of the school. For example, the use of assessment systems is becoming more streamlined.
• Staff morale is mixed. Most staff appreciate leaders’ efforts to improve the school. However, a minority told inspectors that they do not feel well-enough supported in their work. Similarly, the majority of parents and carers spoken to commented favourably about the school, with a minority raising concerns about issues such as pupils’ behaviour and pupils’ progress.
• The school should not appoint newly qualified teachers.

Governance of the school

• Governors know the relative strengths and weaknesses of the school. They recognise that issues around staffing turnover have had a negative impact on the quality of provision, and that leaders need better support to help them to improve the school. Governors have actively sought solutions to improve the levels of support the school receives. For example, they have recently increased the number of senior leadership roles in school. Plans are underway to add further capacity through a federation with a local junior school.
• Governors do not challenge leaders’ assertions about the quality of provision in the school sharply or often enough. Consequently, they overestimate the overall quality of the school. While governors want the best for the school, they recognise that the school needs to improve significantly and they are committed to ensuring that it does.
• Governors have not ensured that leaders have had a sustained impact on improving teaching, outcomes or behaviour. Governors have, sensibly, sought to improve their skills to broaden their understanding of the school.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders and governors rightly place a high priority on ensuring that arrangements for safeguarding are efficient and effective. Staff, including those new to the school, are well trained in safeguarding procedures, including in the requirements laid out in the most recent government documentation. They know the signs to look out for that may indicate a pupil needs help, and they know how to report their concerns.
• Leaders regularly and effectively seek support from numerous outside agencies to ensure that pupils and their families receive timely and beneficial help.
• There is a strong culture of safeguarding in school. Pupils know who to go to when they need support and say that there is always someone who will listen to them if they have any worries. The curriculum supports pupils’ safety, including how to stay safe online.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

• The quality of teaching is inconsistent and, over time, has been poor. Training has helped to improve some teachers’ skills. However, regular turnover of staff means that improvements to the overall quality of teaching have not been sustained. In addition, too often teachers’ planning or implementation of activities are not effective enough to help pupils make progress in their learning.
• Over time, poor-quality teaching has led to a decline in pupils’ outcomes throughout the school, especially at key stage 1. Teachers have not had high enough expectations of what pupils can achieve. Consequently, most groups of pupils underachieve. The progress of disadvantaged pupils, of White British boys and of the most able pupils is especially slow.
• Assessment systems are not effective. Information about pupils’ levels of attainment has been inaccurate or misleading. Often, teachers do not check carefully enough whether pupils understand and remember what they are learning. Over time, teachers have not used the information they have about pupils’ prior learning to plan effectively to meet their needs. All this has contributed to pupils’ slow rates of progress.
• Frequent low-level disruption to lessons limits the progress of some pupils. Sometimes, this disruption goes unnoticed by teachers or is not addressed effectively enough. Use of the school’s behaviour management policy is inconsistent. Frequent and necessary additional support, needed to help particularly vulnerable pupils, sometimes means that adults’ attention is diverted away from the rest of the class.
• Teachers do not identify basic literacy errors in pupils’ work well enough, including in some phonics sessions. This means, for example, that pupils continue to repeat errors in pronunciation, spelling and sentence structure, as they do not know they are getting it wrong. Pupils told inspectors that they do not feel they get enough support to correct errors in their work.
• In mathematics, pupils appreciate teachers’ modelling which helps them to understand how to attempt tasks. They like being able to choose different levels of challenge within their work. However, insufficient attention is paid to developing pupils’ reasoning and problem-solving skills throughout the school. Consequently, pupils underachieve in mathematics.
• The school provides frequent opportunities for pupils to develop their reading skills. The library is well stocked and used regularly. Class time is devoted to exploring books, practising reading and developing comprehension skills. Pupils told me that they enjoy reading. However, sometimes teachers do not match activities well enough to meet pupils’ specific needs and, consequently, pupils’ progress in reading is too slow.
• In most cases, teaching assistants work well to support the needs of pupils who need to catch up or who have SEN and/or disabilities. However, some adults’ knowledge of how to teach phonics effectively is underdeveloped and so limits pupils’ progress in this aspect of their learning.
• There are pockets of stronger teaching. Some teachers plan learning activities which challenge pupils in their learning and some use skilful questioning to check pupils’ understanding of their work, particularly for older pupils. Teaching in the early years is consistently strong.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils know that adults in the school care about their safety, happiness and well-being. Pupils know how to access this help when they need to and feel confident that there is an adult to talk to if they have any problems.
• Adults communicate with pupils calmly throughout the school. They understand the importance of building trust with pupils and show a high level of care, especially for the high proportion of pupils whose circumstances make them especially vulnerable. Additional effective support, including from external agencies, provides extra help for pupils who need it.
• Over time, the effectiveness of adults’ significant and valuable support is noticeable, as individual pupils’ challenging behaviour is much reduced, and pupils are increasingly able to self-regulate their behaviour.
• Pupils say they like school because it is a happy place. They speak positively about the ‘community code’ that they follow at Langland School. For example, they know the importance of being kind, responsible and positive. They like to help each other. For example, in a Year 4 mathematics class, pupils helped each other to work out a particularly challenging mathematical problem. On the playground, pupils know to look out for anyone sitting on the ‘buddy bench’ and play with them nicely.
• Pupils know how to stay safe in school and in their community. For example, they know not to give out information about themselves to strangers on the internet.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.
• Most pupils are polite and friendly. They want to do well at school. They focus on their learning and do not let others distract them. However, some pupils, often boys, lose focus and can cause distractions or allow themselves to be distracted by others. At times, teachers do not notice low-level disruption quickly enough, or do not deal with it effectively enough.
• Pupils report that bullying, including bullying people about being different from each other, is rare. They know that any such incidents are dealt with quickly and effectively by leaders. However, pupils report that friends do sometimes lose their tempers and fall out with each other, and that this can result in fights on the playground. These, too, are dealt with promptly, but leaders acknowledge that the proportion of incidents of poor behaviour remains too high.
• Pupils’ overall attendance is below the national average. Persistent absence is especially high. The attendance of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is particularly low. Leaders and governors work with pupils and their families to emphasise the importance of coming to school regularly. Various initiatives, such as ‘the great attendance race’ and a ‘walking bus’, are in place. However, the impact of leaders’ efforts is not fully evident, as attendance over time has declined.

Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

• Pupils’ progress in key stages 1 and 2 across a range of subjects, but especially in reading, writing and mathematics, is too slow. This is because the quality of teaching over time has not been strong enough. Where some pupils at key stage 2 have made better in-year progress recently, this is still too slow to help them to catch up with their peers nationally across the whole key stage. Progress during key stage 2 is consistently significantly lower than pupils’ progress nationally. It has declined further over time.
• Nearly all groups of pupils across the school make very slow progress. The progress of disadvantaged pupils, White British boys and the most able pupils is especially slow. Teaching is not adapted well enough to meet the needs of different groups of pupils.
• Pupils who speak English as an additional language make better progress than their peers. Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are supported well to make stronger progress from their starting points.
• Fewer children than previously reach a good level of development by the end of Reception. However, this is because children’s starting points are much lower than in the past. Leaders and teachers plan learning activities which ensure that children in the early years do make good progress from their starting points.
• Pupils’ achievement in phonics is inconsistent over time. In part, this is due to a decline in pupils’ starting points. Some teaching of phonics is very effective, but some adults have not acquired the skills to teach phonics well.
• Over time, the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics is consistently well below that of pupils nationally at key stage 1 and key stage 2. Similarly, far too few of the most able pupils are challenged effectively to achieve the ‘high’ and ‘greater depth’ standards. Where there have been slight improvements, these have either not been sustained, or have been too small. This year, pupils’ attainment in writing at the end of key stage 1 was especially low.
• While disadvantaged pupils’ attainment at key stage 2 has risen in reading, writing and mathematics, their rates of progress have slowed significantly. These pupils continue to attain much lower than other pupils nationally and they are not challenged enough to achieve the higher levels of attainment.
• At the end of each key stage, pupils’ skills in reading, writing and mathematics are consistently not secure enough to prepare them well for their next stages of education. Over the last three years, far fewer pupils than that seen nationally achieved the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics in Year 6. This shows that far too few of them are well prepared for secondary school.

Early years provision Good

• Children join the early years in Nursery or in Reception Year with starting points well below those of other children nationally. Although, over time, a smaller proportion of pupils achieve a good level of development than in the past, inspectors found that children make good progress. Children who have attended the school Nursery often make better progress than their peers.
• Over time, leadership in the early years has been strong and effective. Staffing has been more consistent than in the rest of the school. Staff are knowledgeable and work well together. They are well trained in monitoring children’s progress, planning activities which help children to learn well, and evaluating the impact of their teaching.
• Teachers use their accurate assessments of children’s knowledge, skills and understanding when they join the early years to plan a curriculum which meets children’s different needs well. For example, activities to develop coordination and gripping skills at the start of the year help prepare children to be able to hold a pencil properly and to write.
• Teachers and assistants make sure that the learning environment is stimulating and challenging. Children enjoy numerous activities which are carefully planned to help them to make progress across the curriculum. For example, children prepare to learn to write through making letter shapes in sand. Adults use stories well to support the language development of children.
• Children’s behaviour is well managed. Adults constantly encourage children in their learning through praising their achievements. They ask useful questions which help children to think about the choices they make and to develop their confidence. Consistent routines allow children to settle quickly and to maintain good levels of engagement.
• Adults make every effort to work effectively with parents. There are regular activities for parents to attend sessions during the school day and to see examples of children’s work.
• Additional funding is used well to help disadvantaged children to make progress. Gaps in achievement are identified quickly and external support is accessed promptly for any children who require this. For example, children who may have a special educational need are given access to extra help quickly.
• Safeguarding is effective and children are well cared for. All welfare requirements are met. Leaders, teachers and their assistants communicate effectively with each other. They are vigilant in ensuring a safe, calm environment for children.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 110354 Milton Keynes 10052923 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 326 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Dave Moulson Donna Christy 01908 670 712 www.langlandschool.co.uk office@langlandschool.org.uk Date of previous inspection 21–22 June 2016

Information about this school

• The school is a larger than average-sized primary school, with early years and nursery provision.
• Around 55% of pupils are White British, with the others coming from a range of different ethnic groups. The largest of these is of Black African heritage. Approximately one third of pupils speak English as an additional language. The proportion of pupils who start at, or leave, the school other than at the usual times is much greater than average.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is well above average. An above average proportion of pupils have special educational needs and/or disabilities. The proportion of pupils who have an education, health and care plan is below average.
• The school runs a breakfast club and an after-school club for its own pupils.
• Over time, there has been a very high turnover of staff. For example, roughly 50% of staff are new this year.
• Since the last inspection, the headteacher and deputy headteacher have been appointed from within the school staff.
• The school has been receiving support from another local junior school since Easter 2018.

Information about this inspection

• The inspection team observed 26 lessons or part-lessons throughout the school. Three additional interventions were also observed. Inspectors examined pupils’ current and past work, and heard some pupils read.
• Inspectors held discussions with leaders, other staff, pupils and representatives of the governing body. The lead inspector met with a representative of the local authority and with the headteacher of a local junior school, who has been providing support to the school. Inspectors spoke informally with pupils during break and lunchtimes.
• Inspectors considered the views of parents through discussions held at the start of the school day. Inspectors considered the 12 survey responses submitted by pupils and the 21 responses submitted by staff.
• A variety of school documentation was scrutinised, including documentation relating to safeguarding, behaviour, attendance, governance, the quality of teaching and pupil performance. School improvement planning, external monitoring reports and self-evaluation documentation were also scrutinised.

Inspection team

Catherine Old, lead inspector Christopher Crouch Alison Ashcroft

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector