Oasis Academy Longmeadow Ofsted Report

Full report

In accordance with section 44(2) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires significant improvement, because it is performing significantly less well than it might in all the circumstances reasonably be expected to perform.

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Rapidly improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment across the school by making sure that teachers:
  • have effective guidance on successful strategies for teaching reading, writing and mathematics
  • check pupils’ understanding so that they can adapt their teaching in order to meet the learning needs of pupils more precisely
  • raise expectations of what pupils can achieve and make sure that the most able pupils have the challenge they need to deepen and extend their thinking
  • support pupils who need extra help effectively, such as pupils who speak English as an additional language, disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities
  • help pupils to improve the presentation of their work.
• Continue to improve aspects of personal development, behaviour and welfare by ensuring that:
  • pupils have a greater awareness of how to be tolerant and respectful and that this is demonstrated in how pupils talk to adults and one another around the school
  • staff are able to manage behaviour well so that learning is not interrupted by poor behaviour during lessons
  • attendance levels improve so that levels of absence are no higher than the national averages.
• Ensure that leaders:
  • develop subject leaders’ skills so that they are able to identify the strengths and areas to develop across the school and so that they rigorously check that the improvements they make have a positive impact on pupils’ progress
  • improve communication with parents and carers about the progress their children are making, particularly for those parents whose children speak English as an additional language or have special educational needs and/or disabilities
  • ensure that the additional funding received for pupils who are disadvantaged and for those who have special educational needs has an impact on improved outcomes for these pupils
  • review how teaching assistants are deployed to ensure that their skills are used effectively to support outcomes for pupils.
• Improve outcomes for pupils by ensuring that teachers:
  • have accurate information about what pupils know, understand and can do
  • have guidance about how to use this information to plan activities that meet pupils’ learning needs
  • raise their expectations, so that pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, make at least good progress and more pupils achieve higher standards. A review of how the additional pupil premium funding is used is recommended in order to improve this aspect of leadership and management.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• Due to significant staffing issues, the school has been through a challenging time over the past few months. Leaders have not maintained a focus on improving teaching and learning. This has had a negative effect on both the outcomes for pupils and on pupils’ attitudes towards their learning.
• The work of subject leaders, including the leadership of provision for pupils who have special educational needs, requires improvement. These leaders do not methodically check the progress that pupils make. The interim principals are helping leaders to challenge teachers about the progress that these pupils make. This work is recent.
• Additional funding, including the pupil premium, physical education and sport premium and special needs funding, is used to provide extra staff to support pupils. However, leaders have not evaluated the impact of this additional support on the progress that pupils make, so it is not clear whether it is making a difference to pupils’ outcomes.
• A wide curriculum is in place and pupils learn about a range of subjects along with social, moral and cultural issues. This supports their understanding of the world and begins to prepare pupils well for their future lives. The understanding of values, however, does not translate to pupils showing respect and tolerance to one another or to adults in school. Furthermore, there are few opportunities to extend their learning beyond the classroom. Leaders have, however, ensured that there is an after-school club. Parents value the few clubs that do exist.
• Trust leaders have intervened only recently to support and develop the quality of teaching and learning and this is beginning to have an impact in some classes, particularly the early years class, but this is uneven across the school.
• Trust leaders rightly assessed that standards were declining in recent months. They have appointed two interim principals who are now providing effective leadership. These leaders are in no doubt of the school’s weaknesses. Their first priorities have rightly been to improve the safeguarding procedures and the management of behaviour. In a short space of time, their actions have resulted in noticeable improvements. Parents are pleased with the changes made recently in the school. Many welcome the improved communication between school and home and a typical comment was, ‘the school is calmer and more professional’.
• Pupils have also noticed the changes made by the new interim principals. Many talk about the recent improvements made to encourage pupils and to celebrate their achievements, for example the ‘excellent English’ and ‘magnificent maths’ awards given each week.

Governance of the school

• Trust leaders visit frequently and therefore know the school well. Their interventions to secure effective leadership were tardy and not timely enough to prevent a decline in the school’s performance. However, the interim principals have started to make a significant impact in the school. Trust leaders are determined to make the changes that the school needs in order for it to become good.
• The interim principals are supported well by academy councillors. These councillors have a suitable range of skills and experience in order to fulfil their roles. They visit the school often and are aware of the issues that have prevented the school from moving forward. Councillors work in close liaison with the trust leaders to support them and are working effectively with the current new leaders to secure the improvements needed.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding have recently been improved and are effective. The interim principals are the designated leaders for safeguarding. They have had a suitable range of safeguarding training and they ensure that staff have secure understanding of how to protect children from harm. Systems have been improved and are robust. Staff know pupils well and are vigilant about reporting any concerns they have. Systems for recruiting staff are secure and the trust director checks them frequently.
• Most pupils report that they feel safe in school and say that the school has recently become a safer, calmer place in which to learn. Pupils are secure about talking to staff should they have any concerns. The interim principals have set about involving agencies to support pupils in school who need extra help. They have also improved communications with parents. The majority of parents say that their child is happy and feels safe in school. Some concerns about bullying remain. The interim principals are aware of this and are taking appropriate action to improve behaviour during breaktimes.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

• Assessment across the school is weak. Pupils have a desire to learn and respond well to teachers’ attempts to make learning interesting and relevant to their needs. For example, in a Year 3 class pupils enjoyed performing short plays to the rest of the class. Too often, however, teacher’s expectations of what pupils can achieve are too low. They do not have accurate information about what pupils know, understand or can do. Therefore, activities do not support or challenge pupils, particularly the most able, to make strong progress.
• Despite recent improvements, teachers are still too often engaged in ensuring that behaviour is appropriate during learning time. Although pupils are starting to respond to the consistent approach now in place, learning time is sometimes lost as teachers talk to pupils about their weak attention or poor attitudes during lesson times.
• Too frequently, teachers do not check on pupils’ understanding of the learning that is taking place. As a result, pupils often make mistakes that go unnoticed and they therefore continue to make them. This slows their progress.
• Staff do not have a clear understanding of effective strategies for teaching for reading, writing and mathematics. Approaches are uneven across the school. Checks are not made to ensure that pupils are gaining the knowledge, understanding and skills that they need in order to be successful. Pupils are not challenged to think for themselves or to solve problems that are more complex.
• The quality of the teaching of phonics is inconsistent and too many pupils are not challenged to move forward in their understanding of phonics as quickly as they could. Pupils are not shown the links between phonics and writing clearly and therefore do not successfully use the phonic knowledge they have to improve their writing.
• Teachers do not use strategies that are effective in order to support pupils who may need extra help such as pupils who speak English as an additional language, disadvantaged pupils or those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Staff do not ensure that pupils have the equipment or resources they need in order to become effective learners. For example, too often, pupils expressed anxiety that they lose learning time while waiting for resources to be organised.
• Too often, teaching assistants are firefighting and helping to manage behaviour rather than support learning. The special educational needs coordinator is aware that the deployment of teaching assistants would benefit from a thorough review to ensure that their skills support pupils’ learning.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Inadequate

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is inadequate. Although the schools’ curriculum includes learning about how to stay safe, pupils cannot confidently describe these aspects.
• Too few pupils show pride in their work. Many pupils’ books show scribbling out and general poor care. Too few have strong attitudes towards their learning and some do not value the views of others.
• Pupils’ understanding of how to be a successful learner is not well developed. They also cannot describe confidently how to ensure that they have good physical well-being.
• A number of pupils say that bullying takes place in the school. They agree, however, that this is now starting to be dealt with. Many parents agree that, too often, bullying has not been tackled successfully.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is inadequate. Pupils have not had clear boundaries about what they should and should not do. Due to the focus of the recently arrived interim principals, behaviour is starting to show signs of improvement. Nonetheless, the culture of poor behaviour has not been fully eradicated. Too much learning time is lost due to teachers’ time being taken with improving weak behaviour.
• A significant number of pupils show a lack of respect for each other or staff and there remain some incidents of poor behaviour around the school, including at lunchtimes.
• Teaching assistants are skilled and ensure that these pupils have the help they need to return to their learning, but learning for others is disrupted. In some classes, persistent low-level disruption frequently disturbs the learning for pupils.
• Consistently poor attendance means that for too many pupils lessons are frequently missed. Too many pupils are persistently absent from school. This adds to the weak attitudes some pupils have towards their learning. The interim principals have recently ensured that a number of strategies are in place so that parents have the help they need to support better attendance. While there are early signs that these are helping some pupils to improve how often they attend school, it is too early to show real improvement in overall attendance.
• Teachers are working hard to apply new behaviour systems and this, along with the higher expectations set by the interim principals, is ensuring that incidents of poor and unsafe behaviour are starting to lessen. Many pupils are responding well to the increased high expectations and some are better at managing their own behaviour successfully.

Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

• Children arrive at the school with skills that are broadly typical for their age with some weaknesses in reading and writing. The interim principals have improved the school’s tracking system and there is now an accurate picture of how well pupils are achieving across the school in reading, writing and mathematics. This information shows that too many pupils in each year group have skills that are lower than those expected for their age.
• The proportion of pupils who achieved the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics assessments was below the national average and too few pupils had caught up by the end of Year 2. Progress in reading across the school is weak and only one third of pupils achieved the expected standard by the end of Year 6 in 2016.
• Pupils’ books show that expectations of presentation and general care over learning tasks is weak. Pupils do not have clarity about what they need to do next to improve their work and this slows their progress.
• Progress for all pupils is too slow. All groups are underachieving and this is particularly marked for disadvantaged pupils, meaning that they are not catching up with their peers. The impact of the additional funding that the school receives for these pupils is unclear.
• The most able pupils are not achieving the standards of which they are capable. Activities do not ensure that the most able pupils, particularly in reading and mathematics, are able to extend their thinking or to use their learning in a range of subjects in order to deepen their understanding.
• In 2016, the proportion of pupils who achieved a good level of development in the Reception class was above the national average. In Year 6, due to some stronger teaching during the year, writing progress was good and pupils achieved well compared to the national average. Similarly, in mathematics, pupils achieved around the national expectation.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• Teaching and learning in the early years are more effective than elsewhere in the school. Nonetheless, expectations are not high enough.
• Leaders have not ensured that the additional funding for children who are disadvantaged is used effectively to secure the best possible outcomes for children.
• Expectations for the most able, including the most able disadvantaged children, are not high enough. Leaders have not ensured that staff frequently and precisely assess what children know, understand and can do across a range of learning areas, in order to plan the next learning activities. This means that progress is not as strong as it could be for these children.
• In 2016, however, overall outcomes for children in the early years improved from previous years and were above national averages, meaning that most children were ready for learning as they moved to Year 1. The quality of teaching is improving due to support from leaders and by the trust providing coaching to support good practice.
• Children enjoy a range of activities both inside and outside in the early years class as staff ensure that these activities match the interests of children. Relationships between staff and children are generally strong and respectful. Staff manage any incidents of poor behaviour well. A consistent approach from the adults in the early years means that children are clear about the expectations and they rise to them.
• Staff contact a range of outside agencies to support children as the need arises. Staff are enthusiastic and driven to continue to seek advice in order to improve the provision further.
• Parents say that they are well supported during the transition into school and have good communication about how well their child is progressing.
• Children are enthusiastic about their learning and move confidently from one area of learning to another. There is a wide range of reading material to choose from in the book area and children choose to go there to enjoy a book with a friend. Children also choose to write cards, lists and messages.
• Safeguarding and welfare arrangements are effective.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 139281 Wiltshire 10024932 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 sponsor-led 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 148 Appropriate authority Academy trust Chair Principal Interim principals Telephone number Website Email address Margaret Shipley Caroline Cox Muriel Wilkins Sarah Smith 01225 355511 www.oasisacademylongmeadow.org admin@oasislongmeadow.org Date of previous inspection 3–4 March 2015

Information about this school

• The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish.
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school is smaller than the average primary school. There is one full-time Reception class in the early years provision.
• The proportion of pupils who are disadvantaged is higher than the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above national averages.
• The school has more pupils than the national average who speak English as an additional language.
• The school converted to become an academy sponsored by Oasis Academy Trust in 2013. An academy council provides local governance to the school. A trust director visits the school to provide challenge and support to leaders.
• 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 at the end of Year 6.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors visited all classes to observe learning, usually alongside the interim principals. Inspectors also looked at pupils’ books. A range of school documents were scrutinised including documents related to behaviour and safeguarding, information about pupils’ progress, the schools’ evaluation documents and the development plan.
• The lead inspector had meetings with the interim principals, the trust director and the Trust chief executive officer. A meeting was also held with several members of the academy council (including the chair of the academy council).
• Other meetings were held with newly qualified teachers, the leader for mathematics and the leader for special educational needs.
• Inspectors gathered views from pupils throughout the inspection, including a group of pupils who spoke to the lead inspector.
• Parents’ views were also gathered during the inspection as were the 24 views recorded on the online system, Parent View. Staff views gathered through an online survey were also considered.

Inspection team

Tonwen Empson, lead inspector Maddy Kent

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector