Lakeside Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching so that it is consistently good or better to raise pupils’ attainment in reading and mathematics by:
  • ensuring that assessment is used to plan lessons so that work is pitched at the right level of difficulty
  • planning activities which develop pupils’ skills to be independent and self-assured learners
  • providing pupils who have limited English with appropriate support and tasks to develop their language
  • ensuring that mathematics lessons provide opportunities for pupils to master mathematical concepts and provide appropriate challenge
  • developing pupils’ reading skills and ensure that pupils understand what they need to do to improve
  • continuing to improve the progress of the most disadvantaged pupils.
• Improve leadership and management by:
  • swiftly addressing the weaknesses in teaching
  • developing the skills and expertise of leaders so they improve their areas of responsibility and accurately measure the impact of the actions they take
  • establishing good levels of pupil attendance and punctuality and further reducing the persistent absence of a small minority of pupils.
• Improve the quality of provision in the early years by:
  • responding quickly to children’s interests by providing purposeful tasks to develop the skills the children need to learn
  • promoting spoken and written language through all activities.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• The headteacher has established a positive climate for learning and good relationships with a diverse local community. Pupils, staff and parents are proud of their school. The school provides a safe and calm place for adults and pupils to work. Indeed, one pupil told inspectors, ‘School makes me feel unique.’ Senior leaders have been less successful in ensuring that the quality of teaching is consistently good. Since the last inspection there has been significant turnover of staff, which has resulted in a loss of continuity in teaching. In turn this has contributed to pupils making weak progress from their starting points.
• Professional development has been used to support teachers’ practice. There are clear systems in place to support weaker teaching, but teaching is not consistently good. Teachers do not encourage pupils to take responsibility for their own learning. Consequently, pupils resort too quickly to an adult for further guidance and this is impeding their progress.
• The school has received support from the local authority and has actively sought external verification of its own judgements. Although there are frequent checks on the quality of teaching in lessons and the work in pupils’ books, there has been insufficient emphasis on judging whether pupils’ work is showing secure evidence of progress.
• The impact of the advice which the school has followed has not been accurately evaluated either by the school or the local authority. This is reflected in staff views where some feel that new initiatives impact negatively on their workload.
• The school has received additional resources to support pupils with little or no English. Despite this, teachers’ practice and therefore the impact on improving outcomes for these pupils is variable. Some teachers give consideration to adapting work to ensure that pupils with little or no English are doing similar work to their peers. However, this work is not accurately matched to these pupils’ learning needs.
• The headteacher and her deputy acknowledge that the school continues to require improvement and the development plan identifies a range of areas that need to be addressed. Evaluation by subject leaders is not secure and lacks precision in prioritising areas for improvement and in providing a clear steer for governors.
• Pupil premium funding has been used to provide additional teaching for disadvantaged pupils. This is improving the progress for these pupils in some year groups although this is not consistent across the school.
• Leaders have successfully addressed some of the points for improvement following the last inspection. Standards in writing have improved and pupils apply these skills well across all curriculum areas. The most able pupils are now achieving well. Pupils with SEND are supported well to ensure that they make good progress.
• Recent changes to the teaching of mathematics are beginning to have a positive impact but have yet to be reflected in final outcomes at the end of each key stage. Changes to the teaching of reading for the older pupils are also reflected in an improvement in standards at the end of key stage 2.
• The school has a good relationship with parents and the diverse local community. Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain and have a good understanding of British values because the curriculum is tailor-made to meet the needs of pupils from a range of backgrounds. This good planning means that the curriculum provides a range of experiences with an emphasis on promoting pupils’ spiritual, social, moral and cultural development. As a result, pupils have a very good understanding of people from other backgrounds and with different beliefs.
• The funding for pupils with SEND is used effectively to ensure that this group of pupils receives good support for their welfare and learning needs. Leaders with responsibility for managing provision for this group track the progress that the pupils make. In turn, intervention is well matched to ensure that these pupils make good progress and their needs are well met.
• The primary school physical education (PE) and sports funding is used effectively to provide greater opportunities for pupils to access a wide range of sports and develop teachers’ skills. The cycle club has been particularly effective in encouraging pupils to adopt a healthy lifestyle.

Governance of the school

• New governors bring to the governing body a sharper focus and commitment in addressing weaknesses than has been the case in the past. Governors have a good understanding of their role and responsibilities in holding the school to account.
• Governors regularly carry out monitoring visits to see the work of the school for themselves. They have an overview about the quality of teaching and learning and understand that standards are not yet good enough.
• Governors are prepared to challenge the headteacher but have not so far been fully effective in speeding up the rate of improvements in the quality of teaching so that pupils achieve as well as they should.
• There is a high proportion of disadvantaged pupils in the school and governors have directed funding to supporting some of these pupils with additional teaching in smaller teaching groups. This has had a positive impact on the progress of these particular pupils. Governors regularly monitor the expenditure of this grant but the progress made and the standards reached by disadvantaged pupils throughout the school are both still too variable.
• Governors are fully conversant with their statutory duties for safeguarding, ensuring that staff are recruited with careful consideration.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders have created a culture of safety in school and are vigilant in checking that procedures are implemented to protect pupils. All staff understand their obligations for safeguarding and this is emphasised throughout the school’s work.
• The school’s strategies to make pupils feel safe in all areas of the school have been successful. Pupils told inspectors that they feel safe, and they explained about the importance of fire drills and staying safe online. Although there was a low response to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, the majority of parents agree that their child is safe in school.
• The school conducts a range of risk assessments to keep pupils and staff safe. Pupil members of the school council also carry out health and safety checks as part of their responsibilities.
• All members of staff are checked for their suitability to work with children. Accurate and up-to-date records of these checks are maintained.
• Leaders, teachers and other staff are aware of the school’s procedures for safeguarding. They take appropriate action when necessary. They liaise with outside agencies when they have a concern and they work hard to support families in need.
• There are systems in place to follow up absences on the first day either by phone or with a home visit if necessary. Staff involve external agencies to ensure that pupils are safe when not in school.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teaching across the school is inconsistent. There is some high-quality teaching in the school, but not all teachers use assessment effectively to plan carefully to ensure that activities are well matched to what pupils need to learn. Too often pupils are not engaged in clearly focused tasks designed to improve their progress. Time is wasted while pupils wait for adult intervention, support or additional work when they have completed the set task.
• Some teachers give consideration to adapting work to ensure that pupils with little or no English feel included by doing similar work to their peers. However, this work is not always accurately pitched to develop pupils’ spoken and written English language effectively.
• Additional teaching in smaller groups is provided for pupils who are falling behind. In some year groups this is having a positive impact on improving the amount of progress that disadvantaged pupils make, but this is not so in all year groups, where teaching is not consistently good.
• The teaching of phonics is effective in ensuring that pupils grasp the basic sounds that letters represent. Pupils are moved on quickly to learn more complex letter combinations. Reading lessons in key stage 1 do not effectively build on this good start. Some pupils benefit from high-quality input from an adult but too much time is wasted on activities which do not develop pupils’ reading skills in any depth.
• Recent changes to the teaching of reading in key stage 2 mean lessons are now better planned and this has particularly benefited the older pupils. This mostly results in high levels of engagement and pupils’ genuine pleasure in reading. Pupils are given opportunities to read a book of their choice and this is often influenced by recommendations from their teachers. However, pupils are given insufficient guidance on what they need to do to improve their reading.
• There is a tightly structured approach to the teaching of mathematics and this provides good support where teaching is weaker. The use of apparatus is effectively used by teachers to help pupils understand mathematical concepts but some less able pupils are not given sufficient opportunities to consolidate this learning. There is also insufficient challenge for pupils when they have completed a task.
• The quality of teaching writing across the school has resulted in improved outcomes for pupils in key stages 1 and 2. Pupils have good opportunities to write across a range of genres and other curriculum areas.
• The teaching of other subjects such as science, art, music and history is effective and has had a positive impact on pupils’ enjoyment of school as well as on developing their skills soundly in these subjects. As a result, pupils are able to talk knowledgeably about what they have learned.
• Pupils with SEND are well integrated into the life of the school because their needs are well met. Well-trained teaching assistants deliver specific programmes of learning which are mapped out and tracked to ensure that provision is effective and so these pupils make good progress. Pupils with physical disabilities are well integrated into the life of the school.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• The school puts a great deal of emphasis on supporting the most vulnerable pupils and their families and understands their needs well.
• The emphasis on pupils’ physical and mental well-being is reflected in pupils’ confidence in staff to resolve any problems. The school has been successful in making pupils aware about the value of choosing healthy lifestyles. Consequently, pupils talk about healthy eating choices, stating that the school meals ‘are the best’. They are keen to engage in physical exercise, particularly in the school’s bike club. As pupils told inspectors, they want to ‘be able to participate in the Tour de Yorkshire one day’.
• The school’s ethos promotes effective reflection on faith, culture and personal choices. Pupils are very well informed about how people might choose to lead different lifestyles. Pupils have a good understanding of British values and are accepting and welcoming of people’s differences. These attributes prepare them well to be good citizens in modern Britain.
• Pupils have a good understanding of bullying, including bullying related to race and gender. They say that there is little or no bullying in school and any misbehaviour is dealt with quickly. Pupils respect the school rules and know that there are consequences to bad behaviour.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.
• Although the school has worked hard to ensure that pupils attend school regularly, a small minority of pupils are persistently absent. Too many turn up to school late. When the school operated a ‘late gate’ system this improved punctuality, but this has not been maintained.
• Pupils generally have positive attitudes to learning. They are enthusiastic about their lessons and about the support they receive to help them achieve. Although pupils are encouraged by staff to be independent in their personal skills, pupils do not always apply their skills of independence in lessons to be effective learners. They often rely on adult intervention and lack the strategies to try for themselves and this is reflected in their weak progress.
• Pupils conduct themselves well in and around school and they are polite and use good manners. They believe most pupils behave well and the school deals effectively with any bad behaviour and bullying. Pupils have a thorough understanding of the school’s behaviour policy, the consequences and sanctions.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Throughout the school, pupils’ progress, particularly in reading and mathematics, is variable. Progress overall is still not sufficient to close the gap in pupils’ attainment when compared to the national average. This reflects the inconsistencies in the quality of teaching.
• Pupils’ attainment in phonics has been broadly in line with that expected for their age. Standards at the end of key stage 1 in reading, writing and mathematics have been consistently below the national average but now there is a closing of this gap for the most able pupils.
• By the end of key stage 2 pupils’ progress from their starting points in reading and mathematics is insufficient. However, there has been a significant improvement in pupils’ achievement in writing since the school’s previous inspection. This is clearly evident in the work in their books, which shows a lively writing style using a range of vocabulary that they would not usually use when speaking.
• The school’s new approach to improving the teaching of mathematics is beginning to raise standards, particularly for the most able pupils. Pupils use mathematical apparatus with confidence, for example to calculate division and multiplication and accurately record the calculations in their mathematics books.
• Pupils’ achievement in reading is inconsistent across the school. Some pupils are reading books which are not well matched to their needs and this is hampering their fluency. The most able pupils can discuss a text, express their views about their preference and compare the styles of different authors. Less-confident readers often have a limited understanding of what they are reading and pupils are not aware of what they need to do to improve the quality of their reading.
• Pupils talk with enthusiasm about the topics they learn and enjoy a range of different subjects. In science using the correct terminology they can accurately explain some of the experiments they have done. In other subjects such as geography and history pupils show a good grasp of what they have learned. They are particularly knowledgeable about different customs and celebrations of different religions.
• The achievement of pupils who speak English as an additional language varies. Those pupils with little or no English are often given similar work to their English-speaking peers but because it is not well matched to what they need to learn, this impedes their progress.
• The progress of disadvantaged pupils varies across the school. Pupils who have benefited from specific intervention and high-quality teaching are now catching up and, in some cases, making better progress than their peers in school.
• The achievement of pupils with SEND is good. Work is well planned to meet the needs of these pupils. Those with specific learning difficulties benefit from specialised support and this, alongside good support from teaching assistants, ensures that they make good progress.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• Children enter the early years at a stage of development lower than is typical for their age, particularly in speech and language. Provision in the early years is not sharp enough to develop these skills to enable children to make good progress from their starting points, and standards at the end of this stage have declined since the school’s previous inspection.
• The children who start in the school’s Nursery quickly learn the expectations and routines. They settle quickly to play with their peers and are confident in a safe and secure setting.
• Some children move from the school’s Nursery to the school’s Reception classes but many children are new to school at this stage, with no pre-school experience and often with little or no English. Although staff know the children well, assessment of children’s needs, specifically the development of language, is not used effectively to identify the skills that children need to learn next and to provide appropriate tasks.
• During activities there is insufficient focus from staff on targeting appropriate vocabulary, modelling good language and using questions and prompts to encourage children to extend one-word responses into phrases and simple sentences.
• Children are keen and eager to learn. This is not always effectively exploited to ensure that learning is meaningful to them. Opportunities are sometimes missed to share pupils’ excitement and enthusiasm, pursue their interests and enrich the language of all the children.
• The outside classroom area provides some good learning activities for physical play and investigation, for example an activity to observe the flow of water which engaged pupils’ interest. However, there are few independent activities to effectively promote early reading and writing skills. The book area is not well used or inviting enough to attract children to want to read.
• The improvements in the teaching of writing are evident in the early years. Children independently and accurately identify and write the initial sounds of words. During the inspection children were retelling the Nativity story using small-world play and then competently writing simple sentences to describe the birth of Jesus.
• Leaders view provision in the early years as being better than it is. Consequently, actions to improve the quality of learning for children are not accurately identified or evaluated. The leader of the early years has received support to develop her role. This has been effective in providing more scope for children to make independent choices. Children play and work independently such as painting ‘baby Jesus in the stable’ and making cakes in the role play area.
• Transition arrangements are adequate and parents are encouraged to be involved and participate in the various workshops and ‘stay and play’ sessions. The welfare and safety requirements in the early years are met. Children’s personal needs and health and safety requirements are ensured. The Nursery and Reception classes provide a safe place for children.

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School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 106740 Doncaster 10052875 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 Community 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 376 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Patricia Astbury Janet Witton 01302 368879 www.lakeside.doncaster.sch.uk admin@lakeside.doncaster.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 12–13 July 2016

Information about this school

• Lakeside Primary School is a larger than average-sized primary school.
• Just under half the pupils are of White British heritage and speak English as their first language.
• The majority of pupils are from a range of ethnic groups and many speak English as an additional language.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium is well above average.
• The proportion of pupils with SEND and who have an education, health and care plan is average.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors visited lessons in all classrooms, and some together with the headteacher and deputy headteacher. In addition, inspectors observed the teaching of small groups of pupils.
• Inspectors scrutinised some pupils’ work and listened to some pupils read. They spoke with a number of pupils about their views of school and their opinions of behaviour and safety. There were no responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey.
• Inspectors held discussions with staff and governors and took into account the 41 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey.
• Inspectors considered a wide range of school documents. These included the school’s self-evaluation report, development plan, behaviour and attendance records, governing body documents and documents relating to safeguarding and the monitoring of teachers’ performance.
• Inspectors talked to some parents to seek their views about the school. They took into account the four responses of parents who submitted their views to the inspection team, as well as the 10 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View.

Inspection team

Karen Heath, lead inspector Jo Bentley Eleanore Pickard

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector