Lancastrian Infant School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching so that all groups of pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, achieve well in reading, writing and mathematics by ensuring that:
  • improvements recently made in teaching are securely established in all classes, including the Reception class
  • all teachers have the highest expectations of pupils’ learning and behaviour during lessons and make sure those pupils who lose focus are quickly re-engaged
  • teaching deepens and extends pupils’ learning sufficiently, particularly for the most able pupils
  • pupils have the secure phonics knowledge and skills necessary to support them in reading and writing.
• Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management, by:
  • making sure that governors have an accurate view of the school’s work and hold senior leaders to account rigorously for pupils’ academic achievement and personal development
  • developing middle leaders’ roles in improving the school.
• Improve pupils’ behaviour and personal development by making sure that:
  • all pupils have equally positive attitudes to learning
  • all groups of pupils attend regularly, including those who are disadvantaged. 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. An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• Until recently, leaders and governors have had an overgenerous view of the school’s performance. They have not addressed the key issues for improvement identified at the time of the previous inspection.
• Numerous changes in teaching staff in recent years, combined with inconsistencies in policies and procedures, have caused further delays in improving teaching and learning and pupils’ behaviour.
• Middle leaders, including the special educational needs coordinator, do not contribute strongly enough to improvements in teaching. They do not have a sufficiently clear view of the quality of teaching or of pupils’ progress in different classes and year groups. However, middle leaders are keen to play a more significant role in the school’s development. They have attended subject and leadership training this year and have a better understanding of their roles as a result.
• Leaders do not use pupil premium funding well enough to support disadvantaged pupils’ learning or personal development. The consultant headteacher and interim headteacher, however, have been quick to identify this aspect of the school’s work as in need of urgent attention. They have made sure that disadvantaged pupils’ achievement has a suitably high priority in the school’s revised improvement plan and have improved support for disadvantaged pupils. There are early signs that these developments are beginning to improve disadvantaged pupils’ attitudes to learning and enjoyment of school.
• Leaders’ use of funding to support pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is not effective. However, the consultant headteacher and interim headteacher have secured substantial improvements in the quality of support for pupils with additional needs during the past two terms. They have worked very effectively with teaching assistants to ensure that extra help focuses much more sharply on pupils’ individual needs. Consequently, some pupils have made dramatic progress in a short period of time as a result, both academically and personally.
• Until recently, curriculum plans did not build well enough on pupils’ knowledge. The consultant headteacher and interim headteacher have worked with staff to update and review the school’s plans for the teaching of a range of subjects. They have made changes to the teaching of English and mathematics in all year groups. This ensures that teaching gives pupils the breadth of knowledge needed to achieve well and more opportunities to deepen pupils’ learning. Pupils’ progress in the past two terms has improved as a result.
• The school is now benefiting from a more settled phase. The school has a cohesive, purposeful atmosphere. The consultant headteacher and interim headteacher have established a stronger sense of urgency about securing improvements in the school’s work and consequently the pace of development has accelerated. They have strengthened the school’s focus on improving teaching and learning, raised staff morale and renewed parents’ confidence in the school. Higher expectations have secured considerable improvements in pupils’ behaviour.
• The consultant headteacher and interim headteacher have worked constructively with members of staff and governors to review and update all policies, including those relating to safeguarding. Leaders are currently updating the school’s website to ensure that it meets requirements on the publication of information.
• Local authority representatives have held leaders and governors to account rigorously for pupils’ achievement during the past year. They have provided focused and effective training for teachers and successfully organised the current effective consultant and interim headship arrangements.
• All members of staff who completed Ofsted’s staff questionnaire say that they feel leaders treat them fairly and help them to improve their practice. One member of staff commented, ‘We’ve come a long way in the last few months. There’s a change in the air and a change in us... It’s like a cloud lifting.’
• Leaders use physical education and sports premium funding effectively. Training has strengthened teachers’ confidence in teaching physical education, while more opportunities to participate in sport have increased the number of pupils involved.
• The school’s curriculum supports pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. Pupils learn about a number of world religions, including Christianity. Pupils’ work illustrates their interest and respect for different cultures and beliefs. Assemblies are calm, positive occasions, bringing pupils and staff together to reflect and celebrate. Events, trips and extra-curricular activities, such as visits to museums and celebrations of festivals, contribute well to pupils’ enjoyment of school.
• Pupils understand how the school’s values – learning; listening; caring; making friends and smiling – relate to their personal responsibilities and actions. Improvements in behaviour, relationships and attitudes to learning prepare pupils well for life in modern Britain and support their growing appreciation of British values.

Governance of the school

• The governing body has not held leaders to account sufficiently for pupils’ learning and outcomes over time. Until recently, governors have had an unrealistic view of the school’s work and have been complacent about the need to improve the school’s performance.
• The decline in pupils’ outcomes in 2016 came as a shock to the governing body. Since then, governors have worked closely with the local authority and, more recently, with the consultant headteacher and interim headteacher. As a result, governors are more knowledgeable about their roles and responsibilities.
• A number of recent key appointments to the governing body have strengthened its effectiveness. Governors ask increasingly searching questions about the school’s work and hold leaders to account for pupils’ achievement more robustly than previously.
• Governors have worked productively with leaders and with the local authority to structure future developments in their work. They are clear about priorities for the next steps in the school’s development and are committed to playing their part in the school’s improvement.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders ensure recruitment and suitability checks are completed appropriately so that the workforce is secure. The consultant headteacher and interim headteacher have checked that all policies and procedures are fit for purpose, updating information wherever necessary to reflect current statutory requirements. They have clarified safeguarding duties and improved lines of communication. The consultant headteacher and interim headteacher have made sure that staff know what to do if they have any worries about a pupil’s safety.
• Leaders take any safeguarding queries or concerns very seriously. They take prompt and effective action when necessary. Leaders make sure that records are suitably detailed and securely stored. They work well with parents and agencies, such as social services, to support vulnerable pupils.
• The school site is tidy and maintained to a good standard so that pupils can learn and play safely. Leaders ensure robust procedures are in place when there are visitors to the school so that pupils feel confident that they are safe.
• All staff and parents who completed the online questionnaire feel that pupils are safe in school.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Leaders have not secured the necessary improvements in teaching in recent years to sustain pupils’ good achievement.
• The quality of teaching varies between subjects and classes. As a result, all groups of pupils, including the most able pupils, disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, make uneven progress.
• Teaching does not extend and deepen pupils’ understanding sufficiently, including for the most able pupils. Some teachers have higher expectations of pupils’ learning and use assessments of pupils’ learning more effectively than their colleagues to support pupils’ differing needs.
• Teachers’ expectations of pupils’ behaviour are not consistently high enough. They do not always respond promptly when pupils lose focus during lessons. Thus, some pupils complete less work than their classmates and make slower progress.
• The teaching of phonics is not strong enough to ensure that pupils of differing abilities develop secure reading and writing skills. However, in the past few months teachers and teaching assistants have made good use of training and advice to improve their practice. All teachers follow the school’s recently updated policy for teaching phonics so that there is a consistent approach across the school.
• The quality of teaching has improved during the past two terms. Teachers have increasingly high expectations of pupils’ learning and behaviour. Better teaching is rapidly plugging gaps in pupils’ knowledge and quickening pupils’ progress in reading, writing and mathematics, including for the most able. However, these improvements are not yet fully established in all classes and subjects and some variations in the quality of teaching remain.
• Teachers and teaching assistants are increasingly confident about how to support pupils’ differing needs, including those pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.
• In the past, teachers’ and leaders’ low expectations affected pupils’ attitudes to school and their desire to learn. While the quality of teaching has improved, some pupils still find it hard to concentrate during lessons and give up too easily when they find tasks difficult. They make slower progress than their classmates when this is the case. However, they rarely disturb other pupils’ work.
• Most pupils enjoy school, are keen to do well and want to get on with their work. High-quality and caring support for vulnerable pupils with significant emotional and behavioural needs, including disadvantaged pupils, is clearly making a difference; this is improving pupils’ confidence and attitudes to school and behaviour.
• Teaching assistants play a key role in supporting pupils’ emotional needs, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. They develop strong relationships with pupils and establish clear expectations.
• Pupils feel safe in school. They regularly learn strategies to help them to keep safe, including from bullying and when using the internet. Pupils say that their teachers listen carefully to their views and sort out any worries quickly.
• All parents who completed Ofsted’s online questionnaire say their children are safe and well looked after in school.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.
• Attendance rates are consistently lower than national averages for primary schools. Some pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, fall behind in their learning because they do not attend school regularly enough. They then find it difficult to catch up with their classmates.
• Pupils’ behaviour has improved substantially during the past two terms. Most pupils behave well during lessons, when moving around the school and during playtimes and assemblies. Pupils say that they like the new behaviour system. They feel it is fair and are very clear about how it works.
• Relationships are good. Pupils get on well with each other and speak politely to adults. They play happily and sociably during playtimes and enjoy chatting to friends while eating lunch in the dining hall.
• The school’s early morning and after-school clubs provide positive, sociable and secure places for pupils to relax and to play games.
• Most parents who completed Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, feel pupils behave well. While several commented on a decline in the quality of behaviour since the previous inspection, parents also reported notable improvements in the past two terms. They say that pupils are more settled, increasingly enthusiastic about school and doing well.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Historic weaknesses in teaching have led to underachievement at the end of Year 2. In 2016, pupils’ outcomes at the end of key stage 1 were much lower than national averages in reading, writing and mathematics. All groups of pupils currently in the school have gaps in their learning which hamper their progress in a range of subjects.
• Disadvantaged pupils do not make sufficiently rapid progress to make up for previous underachievement. In the past few months, the quality of support for individual pupils has improved substantially. Leaders ensure that extra help is focused more sharply on pupils’ individual needs. However, it is too soon for recent developments in teaching to have accelerated disadvantaged pupils’ progress well enough.
• Until recently, significant weaknesses in teaching and teachers’ low expectations have limited the progress made by the most able pupils in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Pupils do not develop sufficiently secure phonics skills to enable them to read and write effectively. Some pupils have gaps in their phonics knowledge which hinder their progress. In recent years, the results of the Year 1 phonics check have been consistently lower than the national average with very little sign of improvement in 2016. However, recent improvements in teaching mean that pupils are now catching up, with more Year 1 pupils on track to achieve well in the Year 1 phonics check in 2017.
• Pupils enjoy reading and talk with interest about their favourite books. They are proud of how well they are getting on with their reading and are keen to do well. However, pupils of all abilities, including the least and most able, have not yet developed reliable strategies which help them to read more difficult words.
• Pupils have made much better progress in their learning during the past year. Pupils of all abilities, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and the most able, learn increasingly well in English, mathematics and other subjects and have fewer gaps in their knowledge. Considerably more pupils are on course to achieve at least expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of key stage 1 in 2017.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• Numerous changes in staffing have disrupted children’s learning in the early years. The proportion of children achieving a good level of development has been lower than national averages for several years.
• Recent improvements in teaching are not yet fully established. Teaching does not build strongly enough on children’s starting points and some children, including the most able, do not make sufficiently good gains in their learning.
• The consultant headteacher, interim headteacher and the local authority have worked closely and constructively with early years staff to secure marked improvements in the quality of teaching this year.
• Children are making much better progress than previously and are increasingly well prepared for learning in Year 1. More children are on track to achieve a good level of development in 2017.
• Teachers and teaching assistants have welcomed opportunities to improve the quality of provision in the early years and have made a good start. For example, they have reorganised the classroom and the outdoor areas so that children can make more choices about activities. As a result, children are keen to participate and make better progress.
• Teachers plan interesting activities which capture children’s imagination and motivate them to find out more. They give children opportunities to develop all areas of learning and have strengthened the focus on supporting children’s writing skills. Activities give children plenty of opportunities to talk to adults and to each other about their experiences and so contribute well to the development of social and personal skills.
• Adults have much higher expectations of children’s behaviour than previously. Clear routines and strong relationships contribute well to children’s growing confidence and increasingly good behaviour.
• Leaders appreciate that some parents have been understandably concerned about the many changes in staffing during the past year. Leaders have started to strengthen links with parents in recent months by, for example, providing more information about what children are learning in school.
• Leaders ensure that early years staff are knowledgeable about safeguarding procedures and are suitably qualified. They work well with agencies to support pupils’ personal development. Leaders have established good relationships with parents which help children to settle happily and confidently. Leaders make sure that the classroom and outdoor areas are secure.
• This report does not comment specifically on disadvantaged children’s learning in the early years due to the very small numbers of disadvantaged children present each year.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 125822 West Sussex 10032979 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act. Type of school Infant School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Maintained 5–7 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 102 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Gary Ewins Amanda Harkey 01243 782818 www.lancastrian.w-sussex.sch.uk office@lancastrian.w-sussex.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 26–27 September 2012

Information about this school

• The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about the use of pupil premium and the school’s approach to teaching phonics on its website.
• The school is smaller than the average-sized infant school.
• The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium is lower than that found in most schools.
• Most pupils are White British. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is below the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above the national average.
• The school provides full-time early years provision in one Reception class.
• The school has an early morning club (‘Sunrise’) and an after-school club (‘Sunset’) which were included in this inspection.
• There have been numerous changes in staffing since the previous inspection.
• The consultant headteacher has provided support for the school since September 2016 and the interim headteacher was appointed in January 2017. Each is in the school three days a week, including one day when both the consultant headteacher and interim headteacher are in school together.
• The headteacher was not present during the inspection.

Information about this inspection

• The inspector observed learning in 13 lessons or part-lessons with either the consultant headteacher or with the interim headteacher. The inspector also visited the school’s early morning club (‘Sunrise’) during the inspection.
• The inspector held discussions with the consultant headteacher, interim headteacher, senior leaders, a local authority representative, teachers, teaching assistants and other members of staff, parents and pupils. She also spoke informally with parents at the start of the school day. The inspector met with representatives of the governing body including the chair of the governing body.
• The inspector took account of 11 responses to Parent View. In addition, she considered the views expressed by parents who spoke with her informally during the school day. She also took account of six responses to the staff questionnaire.
• The inspector observed the school’s work and considered a range of documents, including safeguarding policies, the school’s improvement plan and information about pupils’ progress and attendance.
• The inspector looked at a sample of pupils’ work provided by the school, as well as looking at pupils’ work in lessons. She also listened to pupils in Years 1 and 2 reading.

Inspection team

Julie Sackett, lead inspector

Ofsted Inspector