Ludwell 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?

• Urgently take action to improve pupils’ outcomes in mathematics, reading, writing and spelling by improving the quality of teaching, learning and assessment in all year groups by ensuring that:
  • the school’s assessment systems are fit for purpose, understood, and consistently applied by all staff
  • all pupils make rapid progress, particularly in Years 1 and 2
  • pupils’ weak reading skills do not hamper their ability to work independently or hinder their progress in mathematics
  • the progress and outcomes for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities and those who are disadvantaged rapidly improve
  • the most able pupils have the challenge they need to deepen and extend their thinking so they can reach their potential
  • pupils take a greater pride in the quality of their work.
• Improve leadership, management and governance by ensuring that:
  • leaders embed clear, reliable systems for monitoring, evaluating and improving the quality of teaching, learning and assessment
  • leaders provide dedicated training time and guidance for teaching assistants to improve the quality of support for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities
  • subject leaders receive the training they need to be able to carry out their roles and responsibilities effectively
  • governors hold the school and its leaders to account rigorously to ensure that pupils’ outcomes improve rapidly. 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 Inadequate

• Leaders and governors do not ensure that the school provides an acceptable quality of education. They are failing to lead the school effectively. The actions of leaders and governors have not yet had a significant impact in bringing about sustainable improvement. This is reflected in inadequate learning, assessment and pupils’ outcomes. Overall, pupils are not well prepared for the next stage of their education.
• Leaders and the governing body did not seek sufficient external support when it was needed, although some was purchased from the local authority and other providers. Leaders and governors failed to intervene and support the school quickly enough to stop the decline in the quality of education that it provides. The high rate of staff turnover and limited training have inhibited improvement. Consequently, the school’s capacity for improvement is weak.
• The school’s development plan is not strategic enough to speedily drive improvements. Although it identifies key weaknesses, the timescales are too long to ensure that pupils in the school are getting a good quality of education fast enough.
• Leaders and governors are not building strength and resilience in middle leadership. Teachers in their middle leadership roles are not given time to lead and manage their areas of responsibility effectively. They are not yet able to drive forward improvements or secure pupils’ progress in classes other than their own. They have not been able to ensure effective support for pupils and to promote rapid progress in pupils’ knowledge and understanding across the school.
• Class teachers have received some training, for example on the new ways of teaching mathematics. However, more training is needed, both for teachers and for class assistants. This includes further training in interventions known to be effective in supporting and improving the progress of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities, or those who are struggling with their learning.
• The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) checks the effectiveness of support for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. However, the measurement of the impact of targeted interventions takes too long. As a result, leaders do not know whether the planned support is helping pupils to make progress fast enough. This hampers the school’s knowledge of the effectiveness of the use of the additional funding for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities and for those who are eligible for the pupil premium funding.
• Staff are proud to be members of the school. They enjoy working with pupils in lessons and engaging with them in activities beyond the classroom. Teachers and teaching assistants are very considerate and do their best to help and support the pupils in their care. However, there is a lack of clarity among leaders and staff about how improvements will be made and what their roles are in making them happen. This and the lack of timely training hinder teachers’ ability to ensure that pupils are making sufficiently rapid progress.
• The school’s curriculum provides coverage of all the national curriculum subjects. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well and aspects are interwoven throughout the school day.
• Pupils make good use of the rich outdoor facilities, such as the school’s swimming pool, kitchen garden and playing areas, to improve their learning. They also benefit from day and residential visits, for example, to the Magdalen Project in Dorset, a working farm, where pupils develop their teamwork and survival skills.
• The school’s personal, social and health education curriculum is well supported by class discussions and assemblies. Pupils are provided with a range of opportunities to develop their skills to become model citizens. Consequently, pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.
• Leaders and governors track the use of the pupil premium funding to improve provision and outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. This money is being used to fund a new phonics programme, a new mastery approach to teaching mathematics and personalised support for pupils experiencing social and emotional difficulties. These are all relatively new programmes and have yet to have a discernible impact on improving pupils’ learning. As a result, overall, this group of pupils, as others in the school, underachieves, and the differences between these pupils and other pupils from the same starting point are not diminishing fast enough.
• Sports premium funding is used well to provide opportunities for pupils to take part in physical activities, such as the new traverse wall in the playground and sports week. Pupils also enjoy working with specialist coaches and the opportunities to attend an increasing range of clubs during and after the school day.

Governance of the school

• The governing body has been too slow to tackle the endemic weaknesses in the school. For some time, governors have recognised that pupils’ outcomes have not been improving but have been too accepting of how things stand. They do not hold senior leaders to account effectively and have not sufficiently challenged the leadership of the school. As a result, the school’s performance has declined since the previous inspection.
• The governing body has not taken enough effective action to secure improvements. Governing body members have not ensured that their own oversight of key aspects of the school, such as the quality of risk management and the current progress of pupils in the different year groups, is effective. Although they and the headteacher have ensured that teaching has improved, they have taken too long to do this. Governors did not seek sufficient external support when it was needed, for example, to train and support staff new to their leadership roles. They have not made sure that middle leaders have enough time and experience to lead and monitor their areas of responsibility. This has limited the school’s capacity to improve.
• The governing body has not made sure that the extra funds allocated to disadvantaged pupils are making a discernible difference in reducing the achievement differences between them and other pupils with the same starting points.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. The designated safeguarding lead and deputy have a shared understanding of pupils’ needs and vulnerabilities. Records relating to child protection are clear and appropriately stored. The school liaises with parents and carers and other agencies and providers to help protect the safety and well-being of pupils.
• Staff at all levels know what to do if they have any concerns about a pupil and follow the school’s procedures when they do. The school has a strong culture of safeguarding pupils. Staff have appropriate training and regular updates about safeguarding. This provides them with a good understanding of, for example, the issues around the ‘Prevent’ duty, female genital mutilation and safe use of the internet. They use this information to protect the pupils in their care.
• The single central record is accurate and kept up to date. Staff recruitment follows government guidelines.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

• The school’s assessment systems are not fit for purpose. The school realised that the previous assessment system was inaccurate. Leaders noted that the baseline assessments were wrong because the previous internal testing of pupils was flawed. The school is in the process of developing a new system with baseline assessment undertaken in the autumn term. However, this system does not take account of pupils’ knowledge and understanding from when they joined the school, or their outcomes from their previous key stage.
• Teachers over time have not made good use of their assessments of what pupils know, can do and understand. Some pupils have significant gaps in their learning from prior poor teaching. Although teaching has improved, pupils are not learning rapidly enough to fill the gaps sufficiently quickly to reach the standards expected for their age and their ability.
• Some teachers have accepted poor handwriting, including scribbling over mistakes and doodling, without sufficient challenge. Consequently, too many pupils do not take enough pride in their work.
• Overall, teachers do not provide sufficient challenge for the most able pupils. Teaching does not deepen their learning and understanding because they spend too long doing work they have already mastered, or are engaged in activities well below their capabilities and understanding. As a result, these pupils do not achieve the highest standards of which they are capable and sometimes become bored.
• Teachers have worked hard to set up and teach mathematics in a new way to help improve pupils’ mathematical skills. As the system is still evolving, the mathematics leader and staff need further support, guidance and training to maximise their effectiveness.
• Staff ensure that corridors and outside spaces are exciting and inviting, for example, the ‘Dr Who Tardis’ reading room. Classrooms are used to celebrate pupils’ work, provide learning support materials and reflect their activities. Good-quality resources are provided for staff and pupils to use.
• Teachers and teaching assistants work seamlessly together. Pupils are supported by both in lessons. Staff in all classes work collegiately, supporting each other with new ideas and helping those new to the school to settle in quickly.
• Staff regularly read to pupils. Pupils listen enraptured at story time because staff model good reading skills, such as intonation and clarity. Older pupils have increased opportunities to read in class, and the new reading scheme is already showing improvements in their enjoyment of reading and their reading ability.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement. The administration of the school’s risk assessments and documentation to support pupils’ welfare are disorganised. As a result, the school cannot reflect on and mitigate future risks as well as it might.
• Pupils learn to be kind and considerate to each other and staff. They feel safe and secure. They believe that the school encourages them to look after their emotional and mental health, to be independent and to take on responsibilities.
• The strong ethos of a ‘Rights Respecting School’ reinforces pupils’ respect for people from other backgrounds and encourages pupils to treat everyone equally.
• Pupils who were anxious or unhappy in other schools quickly feel more confident and ‘fit in’. They make new friends and enjoy coming to school. Strong pastoral care by staff helps pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities to be part of the school community. Staff are respectful of pupils’ learning needs.
• Pupils are clear about how to keep themselves and others safe when in school and at home. Visits to the Safewise Centre in Bournemouth reinforce what pupils learn in school.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement. Some pupils, particularly in Years 1 and 2, have poor behaviour for learning. Although they do not generally distract other pupils, they often struggle to stay on task without adult support or regular prompts from adults. However, pupils in other year groups increasingly show positive attitudes to their learning and listen carefully to each other.
• Pupils’ presentation of their work, although improving, is often sloppy and lacks care.
• Pupils generally play well together and socialise well with pupils in different classes and year groups.
• The school has a culture that encourages calm and orderly behaviour. Staff act as good role models for pupils and treat all pupils equally well.
• Pupils and their parents are rightly confident that on the rare occasions when bullying or derogative name-calling occurs, that it will be swiftly and effectively addressed. Pupils reported that they feel safe in school. They know staff will help and support them when they are distressed or unhappy.
• Pupils’ attendance is in line with the national average.

Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

• Pupils are not making the progress of which they are capable in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils’ progress and outcomes have significantly declined since the previous inspection. Consequently, pupils are not well prepared for the next stage in their education.
• Although the number of pupils in each year group is sometimes small, there has been a trend of underperformance, notably over the last two years. Individual pupils do not make sufficient progress from their national test results in key stage 1 to those at the end of key stage 2. In particular, the rate of progress made by the middle-prior-attaining pupils, which is the majority in each year group, is far too slow. Their progress is not improving rapidly enough for pupils to catch up in their learning. Too few middle-prior-attaining pupils reach the expected standards.
• In key stages 1 and 2, the most able pupils are not sufficiently challenged, so they do not achieve the high standards of which they are capable. Likewise, pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities and those who are disadvantaged are not reaching the same standards as other pupils from the same starting points.
• As a result of weak teaching in the past, key stage 1 pupils underachieve considerably and are not academically ready for the next stage of their education. Their handwriting is poorly developed, often representing that typically seen in younger children. Although improving, they have not learned how to get on with their work without close adult support or prompts. They are not making rapid enough progress to catch up in their knowledge and understanding.
• Children’s language skills are often not as well developed as other areas when they join the school in Reception. The new phonics programme is helping to develop children’s understanding of words in the early years. It is also helping key stage 1 pupils to improve their articulation. However, progress is still too slow.
• Although improving, pupils’ use of systematic phonics to help them read is underdeveloped. In particular, pupils with poor reading skills do not use phonics to help them ‘unpick’ words in key stage 1. This hinders their ability to understand the questions in their mathematics textbooks. When this happens, they cannot answer the question until someone else, generally an adult, reads the question to them. This slows their progress in mathematics and makes them over-reliant on others.
• Pupils’ use of mathematics outside dedicated mathematics lessons is underdeveloped. Leaders do not plan for mathematics to be supported in other subjects, and this reduces the opportunities that pupils have to practise their mathematical skills. Pupils reported that they are enjoying the new way that mathematics is being taught. Older pupils feel that they have a better understanding of the mathematical concepts that they have been learning. The books of older pupils show how their learning is improving, although not rapidly enough.
• Pupils undertake a good range of activities in all subjects of the national curriculum. Their scientific knowledge and enquiry skills are developing well, through generating hypotheses and exploring their ideas through experimentation and analysis. The curriculum helps pupils to write for different audiences and purposes. This helps pupils to understand the reasons for writing and gives them the practice in writing they need.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• The electronic assessment system used by the school is not fully understood by all staff. More training is needed to ensure that the school leaders have an accurate record of children’s development without overburdening staff with recording activities. Families, as well as staff, can use the system to share what children are doing. The school’s work to encourage parents to participate in their child’s assessment through electronic means is limited. However, parents regularly support children’s assessments by providing staff with notes about their children’s achievements which are celebrated in classrooms. Parents are engaged in their children’s learning by regular informal conversations with staff, coming into the classroom to see their work and through the school’s sharing and celebration assemblies.
• Staff undertake risk assessments for the activities that the children will undertake. However, they are not always well recorded and therefore the school cannot reflect and mitigate future risks as well as it might, for example, when supply or new staff are working with the children.
• Children behave well and learn about safety and personal hygiene. Risk assessments are undertaken by a daily rotation of two children before they use the outdoor spaces. This encourages children to be independent in assessing risks, develops their understanding of appropriate risk taking and gives them a sense of responsibility for others, as well as themselves.
• Children get off to a smooth start to school because staff use the information provided by pre-schools to inform the activities and areas for the development of individual children. Current children are making better progress than in the recent past and are now better prepared for Year 1. The phonics system used by the school is new and has yet to demonstrate sustained progress in developing children’s phonic skills.
• Since the autumn half-term holiday in 2017, children have benefited from the conversion of the main entrance and covered playground area into a new Reception classroom, with easy access to outdoor spaces. Linked to the key stage 1 classroom, staff create opportunities for the children to work and play with older pupils, learning with and from them.
• Children have access to a wide range of good-quality resources, indoors and outside. Staff ensure that children use these to explore and examine the world around them, following the requirements and guidance of the early years curriculum.

School details

Unique reference number 126271 Local authority Wiltshire Inspection number 10045393 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 4 to 11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 85 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Richard Ecclestone Headteacher Sue Evans Telephone number 01747 828519 Website www.ludwell.wilts.sch.uk Email address admin@ludwell.wilts.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 2–3 July 2014

Information about this school

• Ludwell Community Primary School is much smaller than the average-sized primary school. The number of pupils in each year group fluctuates and sometimes is fewer than 10.
• The school has recently separated the early years provision from pupils in key stage 1. This has been done by altering the internal structure of the building to provide specialist early years spaces. The school now has four classes, as opposed to three, and the classes have been renamed.
• Since the previous inspection, there has been a significant change in staffing, which is currently stable. The school appointed one of the class teachers to the role of assistant headteacher in the autumn term 2017. Some staff have new middle leadership roles, and a new class teacher joined the school in September 2017.
• The school provides a breakfast club and after-school club every day, which are to provide care for children while parents are working. The school also has activity clubs that pupils can join at lunchtime and after school.

Information about this inspection

• The inspector worked with the headteacher and middle leaders throughout the inspection. The inspector conducted observations, some jointly with the headteacher, of pupils learning. She reviewed pupils’ work and the records of pupils’ achievements with the headteacher and class teachers. She met with the headteacher, middle leaders, members of the governing body, pupils, parents and the school’s challenge and support partner from the local authority.
• The inspector scrutinised the quality of pupils’ work, listened to pupils reading in class and talked with pupils about their work and life in school.
• The inspector took account of the 17 responses by parents to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. The 19 responses by pupils to Ofsted’s electronic questionnaire were considered, as were the 12 responses submitted by staff. A letter from a parent was also considered.
• The inspector considered a wide range of documentary evidence, including records relating to safeguarding, the quality of teaching, the curriculum, assessment information, the school’s self-evaluation and development plan.

Inspection team

Steffi Penny, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector