Oasis Academy Longmeadow Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve leadership and management by ensuring that curriculum planning enables pupils to acquire knowledge and develop skills across the full range of curriculum subjects.
• Improve the quality of teaching and raise pupils’ achievement by ensuring that:
  • teaching is consistently strong across the school
  • recent initiatives to improve aspects of teaching are fully established
  • high-quality homework is provided routinely to pupils in accordance with the school’s policy.
• Improve behaviour by ensuring that staff use all available means to reduce absence and exclusion so that they are at least in line with national averages.
• Improve provision in the early years by ensuring that:
  • staff have high expectations of children’s behaviour and what they can achieve
  • the quality of teaching is consistently strong
  • inside and outside provision supports children’s development in relation to each of the early learning goals
  • children’s outcomes are at least in line with the national average.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The school has emerged from a period of turbulence. During her time in post, the principal has steadily built a strong team around her, which has led to greater stability. She is supported by capable senior leaders. As a team, leaders have worked hard, and successfully, to establish a calm culture of learning within the school. They have raised expectations of all in the school community and are improving the quality of teaching.
• Leaders know their school well. They are clear about its strengths and the areas that still require improvement. They have worked with diligence and tenacity to move the school forward and make rapid improvements, sometimes in the face of setbacks such as staffing upheaval.
• Leaders work in an open, collegiate way, so that staff find them accessible and supportive. At the same time, leaders expect the highest standards of staff and hold them to account for their work. All staff who responded to the survey issued during the inspection agree that they feel proud to be a member of staff at the school. They all also agree that leaders do all they can to ensure that teaching staff are motivated, respected and effective.
• Good leadership of teaching is ensuring that staff expertise continues to develop. Leaders have been proactive in their efforts to secure high-quality training for staff. Some support is focused on the individual needs of staff, while other training prioritises whole-school responsibilities such as improving the teaching of writing. Teachers have benefited from training that has improved aspects of their classroom practice, such as planning for the different needs of pupils and introducing greater challenge.
• Subject leaders are growing into their roles as they take on greater responsibility. The principal is keen to develop leadership across the school. Consequently, she has empowered those staff ready to take on middle-leadership roles to develop certain foundation subjects, such as performing arts, science and physical education (PE). Subject leaders now play a greater role in determining the topics, skills and knowledge to be taught in their subject areas. They are supporting other staff to teach their subjects more effectively and are forging links with external organisations to provide more enriching opportunities for pupils.
• Newly qualified teachers receive intensive support and mentoring to ensure that they swiftly become familiar with the school’s systems and culture. They are monitored closely to ensure that they meet leaders’ expectations and, when necessary, leaders intervene quickly to tackle underperformance.
• Additional funding to support the development of sports and PE is used effectively because leaders have clear aims. Funding is being used to increase pupils’ participation in competitive sports, provide daily sports activities and develop staff expertise. Leaders can evidence the positive impact of the funding in each of these areas.
• Pupils take advantage of a wide variety of extra-curricular clubs, some of which are funded by sports premium funding. Pupils can choose to participate in football, Zumba, dance, gymnastics and martial arts. Evidence shows that these clubs are well attended.
• Additional funding to support the achievement of disadvantaged pupils is being used to good effect. Leaders have identified strategies that are enabling pupils to make more rapid progress.
• Leaders have worked successfully to increase parental engagement and improve communication between home and school. Nearly all parents who responded to the online survey, Parent View, agree that their child is happy in school. The large majority of parents feel that pupils are well taught, make good progress and that the school is well led. Nevertheless, a quarter of respondents are not satisfied with the homework their child receives.
• The curriculum is a work in progress. The principal articulates an exciting vision for the curriculum that supports the development of the ‘whole child’. As she said to the lead inspector, ‘Curriculum is about how you make a difference.’ The principal believes passionately that the wider curriculum should build pride, broaden horizons and develop a sense of belonging. As such, pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural education is developed through opportunities that help pupils to understand their local context and become contributing global citizens. For example, pupils learn about the lives of pupils attending a school in Uganda, which extends their understanding beyond the local area.
• However, some subjects in the curriculum do not demonstrate the same rigour in planning, content and delivery that is apparent in reading, writing and mathematics. The demands made of pupils, in terms of the knowledge and skills they are expected to acquire, are not as high as they are in core subjects.

Governance of the school

• The multi-academy trust, to which the school belongs, is responsible for the school’s formal governance. This includes financial decision-making, recruitment and the monitoring of teaching. The trust is accountable for the achievement of pupils. Governance is also shared with the academy council, which provides local governance and engages with the local community. Both aspects of governance have helped the school to move forward in different ways.
• Since the previous full inspection, the trust has used leaders from other schools in the trust at various times to shore up leadership, provide strategic direction and introduce stability. Regional directors have conducted helpful and accurate reviews of effectiveness, which have helped leaders to prioritise the most important issues. Other trust staff, who have specific expertise, continue to provide training to teachers and share best practice to improve teaching.
• The academy council, which consists of local community representatives and parents, has helped to establish trust and partnership between the school and the community. It provides a suitable voice for parents.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Designated safeguarding staff are clear about their responsibilities. They have effective oversight of training, procedures and specific cases. They have acted on the findings of external audits to ensure that practice is the best it can be.
• Designated safeguarding leads have established a culture in which staff know the importance of being vigilant for signs of abuse or neglect. Staff know who to speak to should they have concerns about a child and have been trained to use the online referral system. This system efficiently organises chronologies of events, staff involvement and actions taken.
• All parents who responded to Parent View agreed that their child was safe in school. Pupils who spoke with inspectors also agreed that they feel safe in school because they can talk to staff if they have any worries. They also said that they feel safe because behaviour has improved and bullying has declined.
• Checks to ensure that staff are suitable to work with pupils are comprehensive, up to date and complete. Staff who interview adults who apply to work at the school have been trained in safer recruitment.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Since the previous full inspection, the quality of teaching across the school has been erratic, in keeping with high levels of staff turnover. Teaching over time has not secured good outcomes for pupils. Currently, teaching is not consistently good across the school.
• Some initiatives to improve teaching are not fully established because they have been introduced relatively recently. Moreover, six out of seven teachers were either new to teaching and/or new to the school in September 2018, which has influenced the establishment and impact of work to improve teaching.
• Nevertheless, current practitioners are highly enthusiastic, committed and developing their expertise rapidly. They are working to ensure the best for pupils because they care about the work they do. Staff are reflective and receptive to advice about how they can improve their practice.
• Leaders acknowledge that more work needs to be done to ensure that homework is fit for purpose. Currently, the homework policy is not applied consistently by all staff, so pupils have different experiences of homework. Homework does not take sufficient account of subjects other than English and mathematics.
• Staff have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and what they can achieve. Consequently, pupils of different abilities are now challenged to think more deeply and extend their learning. Although this greater challenge is not yet fully evident in outcomes, pupils report that they feel more challenged in lessons. Their committed approach to learning is a result of tasks demanding more of them and being of greater interest. One pupil told the lead inspector, ‘It’s fun to be challenged.’
• Pupils’ attitudes to learning are far more positive now than at the time of the previous inspection. To some extent, this is because staff are consistently applying the behaviour management system. More crucially, however, it is because teachers are planning tasks that stimulate pupils and are tailored to their needs. Pupils enjoy their learning.
• Teachers’ questioning is exploratory and imaginative because their subject knowledge is secure. This enables them to teach with confidence. Teachers ask open questions that encourage pupils to volunteer answers. Pupils feel comfortable participating in class discussion because teachers nurture safe environments in which it is acceptable to get things wrong and make mistakes. Teachers use pupils’ misconceptions to advance learning.
• Teaching assistants are well deployed to work with identified pupils. Often, teaching assistants ‘co-teach’ in partnership with teachers, demonstrating how they take responsibility for their work and use their initiative. Teaching assistants tend to work with less-able pupils to help them understand their work and keep pace with their peers.
• Teachers across the school are providing useful feedback to pupils, which helps them to improve their work. Pupils benefit from the positive relationships they share with staff, which support an ongoing dialogue about their learning. This dialogue encourages pupils to invest in their work, reflect on their mistakes and improve their work.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Staff understand, and are responsive to, individual pupils’ needs and circumstances; they know pupils and their families well. Pupils with behavioural, social and emotional needs benefit from attending the Learning Den. This is a safe, dedicated space in which pupils engage with suitable curriculum activities if they are unable to participate in mainstream classes. They are supervised closely and receive mentoring to help them navigate their issues.
• Pupils’ personal development is supported by the ‘Oasis Nine Habits’. This initiative is part of the work of every school in the multi-academy trust. Examples of habits include kindness, patience and self-control. Pupils are encouraged to demonstrate these qualities and attributes so that they become learning habits.
• Pupils are taught to appreciate and respect diversity, reflecting the community in which the school finds itself. Leaders have fostered a warm, welcoming and accepting school culture. As a result, pupils learn to respect others who are different from them.
• Pupils are taught to take responsibility for their own safety and to manage risk. For example, pupils understand the importance of railway safety, given the school’s proximity to a rail line.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils are friendly, polite and affable. They happily greeted inspectors during the inspection and were keen to ‘chat’. Around the school, during breaktimes and lesson transitions pupils behave well. They move in a calm and orderly fashion, treating each other and adults with consideration and kindness. One pupil told the lead inspector, ‘It’s a lot quieter now.’
• No low-level disruption was observed by inspectors during lessons. Pupils were on task, well equipped and ready to learn. They are attentive to their teachers and follow the instructions they are given.
• Pupils who spoke with inspectors stated that bullying had decreased in the school and that staff dealt with it effectively. They feel comfortable in school because they are well supported by staff and share positive relationships with them. They know that, if bullying issues arise, staff will deal with them swiftly.
• Attendance overall, and for different groups, is not yet in line with the national average. Nevertheless, it is improving. This is because staff apply effective strategies and are persistent in their work with parents to reduce absence. This work has also had a positive effect on persistent absence.
• Fixed-term exclusions are above the national average, although they are reducing for different reasons. Staff are applying the behaviour policy consistently. Behaviour has improved, and the school is better equipped to confront high-level disruption without resorting to exclusion. It is also because the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are being met more effectively.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Over time, pupils do not achieve as well as they should. By the time they leave the school at the end of Year 6, pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics is below average. However, pupils’ progress in these subjects has been in line with the national average over time despite low attainment.
• Pupils’ attainment by the time they finish Year 2 is too low in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils’ starting points when they enter the school are low and teaching over time has not enabled them to catch up sufficiently.
• Over time, the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in the national phonics check has been below average. Nevertheless, phonics teaching is improving and the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard is rising.
• Better-quality teaching is enabling pupils currently in the school to make more rapid progress. Across year groups, particularly Year 3, and subjects, achievement is rising. There has not yet been an opportunity for this to reflect in externally published information.
• Pupils with SEND are now well provided for. The special educational needs coordinator has reviewed and improved processes for the identification of pupils and meeting their needs. She has worked closely with staff to develop their classroom practice to assist these pupils. However, much of this work is recent and it is too soon to gauge its impact.
• Disadvantaged pupils are making more rapid progress. This is because changes have been made to provision and staff adapt classroom practice to help pupils catch up. However, the progress of all pupils is increasing because of improving teaching, so that gaps still remain between the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and their peers.
• Teaching is not enabling enough pupils across the school to achieve at greater depth. Increased levels of challenge, evident in current teaching, and the impact of initiatives to improve reading and writing, are not yet fully evident in outcomes.
• Pupils with English as an additional language achieve well in the school. They do not consider learning English in order to access other areas of the curriculum to be a barrier. Pupils are motivated and have high aspirations. Consequently, they take their learning seriously, persist in the face of adversity and make better progress than other groups of pupils in the school.
• The work in pupils’ books shows that pupils across the school are taking greater pride in their work. They take care over their handwriting and set their work out neatly and appropriately. Pupils take pride in their work because they want to improve it; the work matters to them.
• Notwithstanding pupils’ levels of attainment, they are well prepared for the next stage of their education by the time they leave the school. Leaders have planned curricular opportunities for pupils to become familiar with their new school and adjust to the transition.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• Since the previous full inspection, there has been notable staff turnover in the Reception class. This has hampered efforts to improve the quality of teaching and provision for children.
• The quality of teaching is not good, because it does not sufficiently meet the different needs of children. Weaknesses in planning and delivery are preventing children from making rapid progress from their starting points. Children who are behind their peers are not being helped to catch up.
• Children’s outcomes by the time they leave Reception are not high enough. Too few children achieve the early learning goals. Over time, the proportion of children achieving a good level of development is below average.
• Children’s learning areas, inside and outside the school building, are not suitably equipped and resourced to enable children to achieve all the early learning goals. Teaching and provision do not sufficiently promote child-initiated learning, through which children develop independence and self-reliance.
• Leaders have managed staffing difficulties as well as they can, given the school’s wider recruitment challenges. They have provided intensive support to staff to improve practice and have taken difficult decisions when necessary, in the best interest of the children. Consequently, effective action has been taken to put the early years foundation stage on a more secure footing going forward. There is strong capacity for improvement.
• Most children behave well in Reception. They are subject to the same high expectations as other pupils in the school. Older pupils act as good role models for younger children and help to promote good habits at an early age. However, children’s attitudes to learning are not always positive, because teaching and provision fail to engage them.
• Staff have fostered positive relationships with parents. Consequently, parents feel involved in children’s learning and are invited to play an active part.
• Children benefit from a range of extra-curricular opportunities outside of the classroom, to give them greater exposure to different places, people and experiences. For example, they take part in cookery activities to learn about healthy eating and use the mud kitchen to develop creative and motor skills. Children go on winter and autumn walks to observe the changing seasons.

School details

Unique reference number 139281 Local authority Wiltshire Inspection number 10053341 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Academy sponsor-led Age range of pupils 4 to 11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 137 Appropriate authority Board of trustees Chair Keith Dennis Principal Helen Adams Telephone number 01225 355 511 Website www.oasisacademylongmeadow.org Email address admin@oasislongmeadow.org Date of previous inspection 17 to 18 May 2017

Information about this school

• The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school. There is one full-time Reception class in the early years.
• The proportion of pupils who are disadvantaged is higher than the national average.
• The proportion of pupils with SEND 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. Statutory governance is provided by the trust board of Oasis Community Learning. The academy council serves as a local stakeholder group to offer support, guidance and advice to the school. Another aspect of the academy council role is to enhance the relationship between the school and the local community.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed learning and behaviour in lessons jointly with senior leaders.
• Meetings were held with senior leaders, subject leaders, a regional director for the Oasis Multi-Academy Trust and the chair of the academy council.
• Inspectors scrutinised a wide range of documentation. This included the school’s self-evaluation, progress information, multi-academy trust monitoring reports, curriculum documents, attendance and exclusion records and information relating to safeguarding.
• Inspectors scrutinised pupils’ work and observed pupils’ conduct around the school, during assembly and at breaktimes.
• The lead inspector took account of 35 responses to the online Parent View survey, free-text comments and 13 responses to the staff survey.

Inspection team

Steve Smith, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Susan Horsnell Ofsted Inspector