Landywood Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Sustain the improvement in the quality of teaching and learning by:
  • planning a programme of professional development for staff, in line with school improvement priorities
  • making sure that the strongest practice is replicated across classes and stages.
• Continue to strengthen leadership and management across the school by:
  • developing middle leadership to ensure the close monitoring of progress and the sustainable improvement of outcomes.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher has had a significant impact, in a short period of time, on improving the school. His analysis of the issues that were stopping pupils from making good progress was accurate and he took swift and effective action to address these.
• The headteacher has established a cohesive leadership team with clear roles and responsibilities. This has led to increased staff accountability.
• Together, leaders and governors have established a culture of high expectations for both staff and pupils. Consequently, all members of the school community contribute to the purposeful and positive learning atmosphere evident in the school. Relationships between pupils and teachers are harmonious and opportunities for learning and personal development are well planned.
• In addition to appointing new leaders, the headteacher and governing body have appointed a large number of teachers to fill the vacancies or temporary contracts which existed. The school is now fully staffed with well-qualified teachers. New policies and practices have been implemented successfully. Planning is now more effective, the curriculum is more exciting and teaching is good and continuing to improve across the school.
• Leaders have introduced effective and reliable ways of assessing pupils’ progress. Collaboration with three local schools allows teachers to share assessment information and to agree their results through external checks. Senior leaders monitor pupils’ progress throughout the year at regular meetings with teachers. They make effective use of performance management targets to hold teachers to account.
• Teachers are clear that it is their responsibility to make sure that their pupils make good progress. They all approve of the performance management system put in place by the headteacher.
• The curriculum is designed to ensure that pupils make good progress in English and mathematics and develop their skills and knowledge in a range of other subjects through the school’s creative curriculum. Leaders place a strong emphasis on ensuring that pupils receive a well-rounded education. The school makes extensive use of outdoor education, and provision in music and art is strong.
• In order to raise aspirations and broaden pupils’ horizons, the school offers a wide range of enrichment activities. Pupils talk with enthusiasm about the number of trips and visits they have, including museums, castles and the residential visits offered in Years 2, 4 and 6. Themed days and workshops are also provided by external visitors, which focus on science, mathematics, technology or computing. Pupils further develop their knowledge and skills in these sessions. During the inspection, the school celebrated ‘World Book Day’ with engaging assemblies and lively writing workshops led by a children’s author.
• Leaders have clear plans and strategies to support disadvantaged pupils through the use of the pupil premium funding. Leaders and governors closely monitor the impact of the spending of the additional funding. Disadvantaged pupils receive personalised support from teaching assistants, can access all the activities that the school offers and are provided, when required, with the equipment they need to keep up with their peers.
• The school makes good use of the primary physical education (PE) and sport premium to give pupils the opportunity to try a range of sports and develop their physical fitness. The school employs a sports coach to run a wide range of sporting activities and develop the staff’s ability to teach PE. As a result, PE is increasingly well taught. Large numbers of pupils take part in sporting activities at lunchtime and after school, and participation in inter-school competitions is increasing.
• Leaders use funding to support pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities effectively. The school provides extensive training to staff and works with external agencies in order to ensure that the needs of those pupils are met. As a result, pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is at the heart of Landywood Primary School’s ethos. There is clear evidence that pupils are consistently given opportunities to reflect on British values, to learn about their cultural heritage and other cultures and traditions and to understand other peoples’ beliefs. As a result, pupils are considerate, thoughtful and tolerant.
• The local authority has been effective in supporting the headteacher’s drive to improve the school. It has supported the development of the school’s improvement plans. Local authority consultants are currently working with teachers on further improvements in mathematics and the early years.
• The headteacher has created new middle leadership roles to ensure closer monitoring of the quality of teaching and learning. However, middle leaders have not yet fully developed systems to ensure that there is consistency of practice in their subject areas and that differences in progress rates and outcomes across classes and phases are eliminated.

Governance of the school

• Governance of the school is strong. The governing body was reformed following the review of governance that was recommended as a result of the last inspection. The new chair of governors, supported by a national leader of governance, conducted an audit of governors’ skills, which led to the recruitment of new and highly skilled governors. The more effective distribution of roles that resulted from this restructuring allows governors to support leaders and hold them to account for the school’s performance.
• All aspects of the school’s improvement agenda are closely monitored by governors. They are fully involved in the financial management of the school, including the monitoring of the impact of the pupil premium and PE and sport premium. They also monitor the processes of performance management and pay progression. They contribute to the school’s self-evaluation and improvement planning. They have a good understanding of pupils’ progress data and closely monitor how key groups of pupils are doing.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The school has a strong culture of safeguarding. All members of staff have undertaken the statutory training for keeping children safe in schools and they are clear about their duties regarding safeguarding. Pupils are taught how to keep safe in a range of situations, including when they use social media or the internet.
• The school works closely with parents and external agencies to ensure that vulnerable pupils are fully supported. Governors have a clear understanding of their duties to ensure that safe recruitment and child protection policies are adhered to.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• The quality of teaching has improved since the last inspection and is now good. All teachers are well qualified and there is a culture of high expectations. As a result, pupils have a positive experience and the large majority enjoy school.
• Teachers have good subject knowledge and use effective strategies to promote learning in their classes. Activities are well planned and provide opportunities to pupils to make progress in an enjoyable way, thus fostering positive attitudes to learning. Many activities are designed to encourage pupils to collaborate with each other, which pupils do willingly, so that they can develop their social skills and support each other’s learning. Activities in lessons and work in exercise books show that teachers plan learning activities which are aimed at addressing the needs of pupils of different abilities.
• Subjects other than mathematics and English are taught through a creative curriculum. They follow themes that allow teachers to cover all the areas of learning required to prepare pupils for the next stage of their education. At key stage 2, there is an increasing coverage of the subjects that pupils will study when they progress to secondary education. Whenever appropriate, teachers provide pupils with opportunities to apply their literacy and numeracy skills across the curriculum.
• Teachers actively encourage pupils to read widely. The school has a library, which is used extensively by pupils, and each classroom has books related to the creative curriculum. Every day ends with a story-time period for all age groups. During the last 20 minutes of the day, teachers read a story to their class. In some cases, stories are staged with pupils acting the roles of the characters in the story. This helps develop pupils’ drama skills and further develops their enjoyment of literature.
• The teaching of phonics is effective. Younger pupils are able to apply their knowledge of phonics to develop their reading skills. In key stage 1, teachers make effective use of pupils’ prior learning of phonics in the literacy lessons, both in reading and writing.
• The assessment of pupils’ progress is rigorous and aligned to national expectations of what pupils should know and be able to do at different ages. Teachers are required to track the progress of the pupils they teach and provide a report to leaders regularly.
• Teaching assistants provide good support to pupils who need additional help with their learning. They work well alongside teachers and contribute greatly to the progress of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities or those who are disadvantaged.
• Teachers’ professional development needs are identified by leaders who conduct their performance management. However, as processes have only been introduced recently and a large proportion of teachers are new, there is not yet a structured or planned programme for teacher training aligned to school improvement priorities.
• Teachers develop and deepen pupils’ knowledge but, on occasion, pupils’ progress rates vary between classes. Leaders are aware of this and are taking effective action to minimise any remaining variations in the quality of teaching.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Symbolised by the school’s ‘vision tree’, the ethos of Landywood School is clearly centred on the personal development of pupils. The school’s focus on promoting positive attitudes is illustrated by the ways in which pupils take pride in their appearance, their work and their learning environment.
• Pupils feel valued in the school and are keen to become involved as school councillors or playground leaders. They are actively encouraged to take part in the wide range of activities offered. As a result, the proportion of pupils who take part in lunchtime activities and after-school clubs is high.
• Pupils say that the school is a safe place to be. They know they can trust their teachers and they are confident they can always talk to the adults who work at the school if they have a problem. Pupils are taught how to avoid risks at school and outside school. They are well informed on the dangers linked to the use of social media and the internet. The school also runs workshops for parents on these dangers.
• The school organises assemblies, led by a range of external speakers, and visits to places of worship to develop pupils’ understanding of British values and to educate them to become responsible citizens.
• Bullying is very rare at the school. Pupils are well aware of what constitutes bullying and what its consequences are. Pupils say that they trust teachers to intervene if someone uses inappropriate language or displays aggressive behaviour.
• The vast majority of parents who responded to the Ofsted online questionnaire, Parent View, or talked to the inspectors were positive about the ways in which the school cares for their children. They mostly agreed that their children are happy and safe at the school.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• The vast majority of pupils have positive attitudes. They are well behaved in lessons and rarely have to be told to improve their behaviour. As a result, pupils do not have their learning disrupted by others and lesson time is used productively.
• Pupils are respectful to adults. In class, around the school and on the playground, they respect each other and conduct themselves well. They respond well to adults’ instructions throughout the day. Consequently, the school is a calm and pleasant environment in which pupils can happily learn and socialise.
• Historically, attendance has been an issue. Leaders are taking strong action to address this issue and this is beginning to have an impact. Attendance is improving for all groups of pupils and there has been a reduction in the number of persistent absentees. Leaders are aware that they still need to do more and are intensifying their efforts to engage parents to support pupils’ attendance. They also work closely with the local authority to follow up and support pupils who miss school for long periods of time.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• The improvement in the quality of teaching since the last inspection has led to better outcomes for pupils. Pupils of all ages, abilities and backgrounds are currently making good progress across the curriculum and are well prepared for the next stage of their education.
• Attainment at the end of key stage 1 and key stage 2 in 2016 was broadly in line with national averages in reading, writing and mathematics at the expected standard. However, attainment was below the national average in mathematics at greater depth. Pupils made good progress in reading and writing but mathematics was not as strong. Leaders are aware of this and have put actions in place to address this.
• Information provided by the school and work in pupils’ books show that pupils who are currently at the school are making good progress. The school has a rigorous system to track pupils’ progress, based on national age-related expectations and analysis of the progress of key groups.
• Although phonics attainment dipped in 2016, current information on Year 1 shows that all groups of pupils are making good progress. Disadvantaged pupils, pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and the most able pupils are on track to achieve at least as well as, or better than, pupils with similar starting points nationally.
• Disadvantaged pupils benefit from the support the school has put in place with the help of the additional funding. Most disadvantaged pupils currently make good progress. The school monitors the progress of disadvantaged pupils closely, especially that of the most able pupils, to ensure that they fulfil their potential.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities also benefit from the support the school provides them. The school has intervention strategies in place to ensure accelerated progress for these pupils.
• The most able pupils are making good progress. Evidence in exercise books and the school’s assessment information show that the strategies used by teachers to ensure that the needs of the most able pupils are addressed are effective. The progress of the most able pupils is tracked rigorously. Curriculum plans, especially in English and mathematics, include clear progression pathways to allow for these pupils to achieve greater depth of knowledge.

Early years provision Good

• The leadership of the early years provision is effective. Leaders have an accurate picture of the strengths and weaknesses of the early years provision and have a clear action plan for further improvement.
• A large proportion of children start the early years with lower communication skills than expected for their age. Staff analyse the needs of the children when they join the school in order to provide targeted support for their progress. As a result, they make good progress and close the gaps in their learning. The proportion of children currently on track to reach a good level of development in 2017 is above the national average.
• The training and development of early years staff are focused on phonics, writing and numeracy. The close links with the neighbouring nursery school and the use of external consultants have resulted in more effective teaching, learning and assessment in those areas.
• The early years leader has recently revised the Reception Year curriculum. This was done to focus on skills development in the morning and creative activities, with the application of literacy and numeracy skills, in the afternoon. This approach aligns the learning patterns in the early years with those of key stages 1 and 2, in order to allow a smooth progression from early years to key stage 1.
• Children benefit from a pleasant and well-organised learning environment. There are well-established routines. Children interact well with adults and with each other. This is because they have ample opportunities to develop their social skills.
• The school’s strategies to involve parents in the early education of their children are successful. There is a high level of parental engagement. Feedback from parents obtained during the inspection was overwhelmingly positive.
• Safeguarding in the early years is effective. All adults are aware of their duty of care and provide a safe environment in which children can develop their skills free from risks.
• The early years team collects a lot of information to measure the progress of every individual child. As a result, they match activities to the various abilities of the children.

School details

Unique reference number 124190 Local authority Staffordshire Inspection number 10025176 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Maintained Age range of pupils 3 to 11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 302 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Ian Gregorelli Headteacher Andrew Clewer Telephone number 01922 857 020 Website www.landywoodprimary.co.uk Email address headteacher@landywood.staffs.sch.co.uk Date of previous inspection 4–5 February 2015

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• Landywood Primary School is larger than the average-sized primary school.
• The early years comprises a pre-school, a Nursery class for children who attend either morning or afternoon and two Reception classes for children who attend full-time.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium funding is below average.
• The majority of pupils are White British and virtually all speak English as their first language.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is below average. The proportion of pupils who have a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan is below average.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors observed pupils’ learning in 21 lessons. A number of lessons were observed jointly with the headteacher and deputy headteacher.
• The inspectors looked at work in pupils’ books and listened to pupils read. They met two groups of pupils to gain their views of the school. The inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour at breaktime, lunchtime and at the start and end of the school day, as well as in lessons.
• The inspectors looked at a range of documentation, including assessments and records of pupils’ progress, the school’s checks and records related to safeguarding, behaviour and attendance, records of governors’ activities, records of how teaching is managed and the school’s own self-evaluation and improvement plans.
• Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, the assistant headteacher, the special educational needs coordinator, the early years leader and two middle leaders. The lead inspector met with the chair of the governing body and five other governors, and had a telephone conversation with a representative of Staffordshire local authority.
• Inspectors took into account the views of the 23 members of staff who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire.
• Inspectors talked to parents at the start and end of the school day and took into account 19 parental responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire, Parent View.

Inspection team

Patrick Amieli, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Jane Edgerton Ofsted Inspector Michael Appleby Ofsted Inspector