Lane End Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve leadership and management and further raise standards by ensuring that:
  • leaders, particularly subject leaders, check more precisely the progress made in different subject areas and by different groups of pupils
  • teachers robustly implement the school’s marking policy and tackle pupils’ mistakes and misunderstandings so that pupils receive the help and guidance they need to improve their spelling, punctuation and grammar.
• Tackle the remaining inconsistencies in teaching and learning by ensuring that:
  • teachers have high expectations for all pupils and that the most able pupils are given the support and challenge they need to make at least good progress
  • pupils in Years 1 and 2, especially the most able, are regularly challenged to apply their mathematical skills in a wide variety of reasoning and problem-solving activities
  • all teaching assistants consistently support pupils in their learning.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher leads with confidence and determination. She is well supported by the assistant headteacher and other leaders and, together, they form an ambitious and aspirational team.
• Leaders have a clear and accurate view of the school’s priorities for development and talk confidently about what they have done and what they need to improve. Leaders and teachers are very committed to creating a supportive and nurturing learning environment and are culturally sensitive to the context of the school. They are highly committed to providing equality of opportunity and embracing diversity.
• Leaders regularly review and adapt provision, which ensures that pupils and their families are well supported academically, socially and emotionally. Leaders communicate well with other staff and work collaboratively with parents to assure themselves that teaching and pastoral support are making a positive difference.
• Staff morale is high and staff embrace opportunities to develop their practice. The performance management of staff is closely linked to the priorities of the school development plan and is effective. Ongoing professional development and coaching help staff to improve teaching.
• Teachers are held effectively to account for the rates of progress their pupils make in reading, writing and mathematics. Leaders scrutinise pupils’ ongoing assessment information and challenge staff. It was as a result of these professional conversations that an issue of weaker teaching and poor progress of the current Year 2 pupils was identified and dealt with robustly. However, these actions came too late to improve pupils’ performance in key stage 1 assessments to the level leaders desired. Agreed actions link to the school improvement priorities closely. As a result, the quality of teaching is now improving rapidly across the school.
• Owing to the school opening with a small group of children and then increasing by one year group each year, the wider leadership structure has not been in place until relatively recently. A number of teachers have experience as leaders in previous schools. They are ready, able and prepared to provide focused support to develop their subjects or aspects within school. They have already produced well-targeted plans to support pupils and teachers but have yet to start their roles. All leaders are keen to share tasks and accountability. They recognise that it will be necessary to further develop their monitoring skills to accurately assess whether their actions are having the desired effect on school improvement.
• Leadership of provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is strong and special educational needs funding is spent effectively. The coordinator is new to her role but is reflective and is beginning to evaluate provision more rigorously. Along with strong partnerships with families, this enables her to have an insightful view of pupils’ specific and often complex needs. The relatively new system of assessment allows leaders to accurately evaluate the step-by-step progress that pupils make. Leaders can show that pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities receive effective support to help them to make the progress of which they are capable. They plan to monitor learning more regularly to review the impact of teaching and adapt it as required.
• The overwhelming majority of parents are extremely happy with the school. One commented, ‘Excellent staff, excellent school! I cannot fault it. My little girl is always smiling going to and leaving school. Happy child equals happy mummy!’.
• Leaders and teachers are reflective and change things when they are not working. For example, when they felt that the old assessment system was not fit for purpose, they implemented a new one. This is now enabling leaders at all levels to more accurately check pupils’ achievement and determine when they need more support. It will take time for the new system to become fully embedded and used consistently by all staff.
• The school provides an interesting, wide-ranging and relevant curriculum, where pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is enhanced. The curriculum is well planned, based on the school’s good knowledge of pupils’ backgrounds, interests and academic and social needs. Pupils are supported to learn about the environment and different belief systems. The school curriculum and values support the promotion of core British values.
• The school uses pupil premium funding creatively and effectively to support disadvantaged pupils to attend well. The daily breakfast club has proved to be a popular way of enhancing parental communication and gaining their support. A range of opportunities such as visits and additional staff have also improved pupils’ participation in school life. Leaders check carefully to ensure that the progress made by disadvantaged pupils is accelerated and sustained.
• Leaders use the primary physical education (PE) and sport premium effectively to provide to enhanced teachers’ skills and improved confidence in their ability to teach PE. A growing number of sport and fitness activities encourage pupils to participate in the wider curriculum and support their social skills.

Governance of the school

• Governors are extremely proud of their school and have ambitious plans for its future development. They take their responsibilities seriously and realise the importance of their roles. As a result, they have been quick to recognise the reasons for underachievement in the current Year 2 cohort and hold leaders to account. Records of governing body minutes show that governors tackle difficult issues in order to understand how the school might improve.
• Governors ensure that they ask the right questions of leaders by using available evidence, such as performance data and the views of skilled members of the governing body. They are kept clearly informed about any safeguarding issues and make regular visits to the school to speak with leaders, review learning and generally observe the work of the school. This ensures that governors are able to provide an important level of challenge to the headteacher and enables them to gauge how much of a difference they are making to school improvement.
• They are committed to the ethos and values of the school and have a clear idea of the school’s main priorities for improvement as well as the strengths.
• Governors ensure that they are up to date with relevant training, including the government’s ‘Prevent’ duty and safer recruitment.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The school culture supports a robust and consistent approach to safeguarding. Pupils are made aware at a very young age that their actions and choices have consequences. This is because behaviour is well managed in the school and pupils learn the ‘golden rules’ based on being safe, respectful and responsible, which encourages them to be kind and dependable. As a result, pupils know what safe behaviour is, so they work and interact with each other sensibly.
• Pupils also understand the importance of staying safe online and know the steps to take to make sure that they use the internet safely.
• Leaders recognise that many children are vulnerable and they work closely with families and outside agencies to ensure that pupils are kept safe. Staff training and policies clarify that safeguarding is everybody’s responsibility. Staff know how to notice signs of abuse and what to do if concerned about a child’s welfare. Relations with parents are positive and staff work effectively with families to ensure that they have the support they need.
• The relevant checks to ensure that adults are suitable to work with children are in place and all staff have received appropriate training.
• Detailed records are kept securely and provide a clear trail of emerging concerns, follow-up actions and review procedures. The clarity and detail of record-keeping help leaders and teachers to evaluate the impact of safeguarding and determine whether further support is needed.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers know their pupils well and are very committed to forming positive and respectful working relationships with them. Pupils say that their teachers help them and they value the support they are given.
• Teachers use their secure subject knowledge and awareness of pupils’ needs to plan lessons that are motivating and interesting. The enthusiasm of staff permeates through to pupils and it is clear that they really want to learn. Pupils are encouraged to learn from their mistakes, which gives them the confidence to explore and try things out. They know that they will be given support if they do not understand what to do.
• There are still some inconsistencies in the quality of teaching. Most teaching is consistently good and inadequate teaching has been eradicated. However, despite much high-quality teaching, not all areas of weakness have been addressed fully.
• Good use of resources and effective modelling of tasks by adults in mathematics support pupils to use and apply their skills, for example to identify the faces, edges and vertices of a variety of three-dimensional shapes. This ensures that they consolidate their learning and calculate accurately. However, there are times when, in developing their number skills, pupils are not moved on quickly enough in their learning when they have grasped concepts. As a result, most-able pupils sometimes ‘tread water’ and do not make as much progress as they are capable of either in the short term or over longer periods of time.
• Most adults have high expectations of what pupils can achieve and this is maintained throughout lessons. Teachers and teaching assistants usually intervene appropriately and use relevant questions to check pupils’ understanding. This helps them to pick up on and correct their mistakes so that they can make better progress and extend their learning. Targeted support is now being developed further to help disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities to make better progress to catch up.
• There are a few occasions when teaching assistants help pupils too much and this restricts pupils from thinking for themselves. There are also occasions when teaching does not consistently challenge pupils and they say that they find the work too easy. This results either in pupils finishing work swiftly and waiting to be told what to do next, or causing low-level disruption. When this is not addressed, pupils are prevented from achieving as well as they could.
• Teachers work with pupils to create colourful and interesting ‘floor books’ through which pupils develop a range of skills and knowledge in subjects such as science, geography, history and art.
• Phonics teaching is good. Adults use and apply phonic strategies consistently, which helps pupils to acquire secure reading skills. Teachers provide the correct match of activities to pupils’ needs, which keeps pupils on task and focused. When pupils have secured their phonic skills, they apply these to their learning to read accurately.
• Adults make good use of praise and positive behaviour management to foster positive attitudes to learning. Teachers regularly assess how well pupils are learning, and most provide feedback in line with the school’s assessment policy. This allows pupils to understand how well they are achieving and what they need to do to improve. They also give opportunities to revisit and consolidate learning, which supports them to acquire further skills and knowledge. However, not all teachers are consistently correcting pupils’ mistakes in their grammar, punctuation and spelling. This slows the progress for some, especially the most able.
• The development of the school’s new assessment system is being embedded, and this is supporting teachers to make more accurate and timely assessments to support even better progress.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils are happy at this school. This is because staff ‘go the extra mile’ in ensuring that pupils are well cared for and have a stimulating, varied experience. The well-designed personal, social and health education programme ensures that pupils are taught necessary life skills from a young age. This programme complements the academic curriculum.
• Pupils show respect and care towards each other. The school ensures that there is a range of opportunities for pupils to make a valuable contribution to the school community. For example, pupils told inspectors that they were proud to be members of the ‘job squad’, where they can do tasks such as preparing the hall for lunch and support others at playtimes. Pupils mix well and move freely together. They show a strong awareness and understanding of the needs of others.
• Pupils are confident and happy to share their thoughts. Although they are very young, pupils know when to take their turn appropriately during a group discussion and signal that they have something to say by holding their thumbs up. They are able to speak with clarity about their experience of school.
• The diverse school community and school environment are used well to promote British values, including fostering respect and tolerance. This helps to raise awareness of issues and prejudices in society, and to challenge these. Pupils celebrate events from all major faiths and understand why these are important to individuals and their society. Year 2 pupils who spoke to the lead inspector made many positive comments about this. For example, one pupil said, ‘It is good to find out new things from my friends’.
• Pupils who have particular behavioural, emotional or social needs are well supported. This is because they engage with the dedicated support that is skilfully and sensitively managed by key staff. Another pupil said, ‘Some children have special teachers who help them to sort out their problems’. As a result, pupils thrive in school and integrate well with their peers.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils behave in a sensible, orderly fashion. They are kind and considerate to each other because they know what is expected of their behaviour. The school’s behaviour management system makes rewards and sanctions clear to pupils and staff enforce it effectively. Inspection evidence shows that behaviour is carefully monitored and parents agree that staff go to good lengths to ensure that all pupils are safe and happy.
• Pupils told inspectors that there is no bullying in the school and they are sure that if it did occur, it would be effectively dealt with by staff.
• All pupils, regardless of background or ability, arrive at lessons ready to learn. They show good attitudes to learning because they enjoy the work they are set. They have a determination to show ‘superhero values’ and act as ‘Responsible Reggie’ or ‘Thoughtful Theo’ for example. As a result, pupils are conscientiously focused on the task in hand and follow instructions well. Pupils are enthusiastic and generally take pride in their work. There are some occasions, however, when they are less careful with the presentation of their work.
• The attendance of pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, has improved significantly this year. This is because staff are swift and proactive in their efforts to engage with families where attendance is unacceptably low. Regular and sensitive communication has helped to build strong working relationships between staff and parents. Staff also work well with external agencies, including the attendance welfare officer, to tackle poor attendance.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Less than half of the current Year 2 pupils were present in the Reception Year, and many of those joining later had received no early years education. Despite the good progress currently being made by children in the early years and pupils in Year 1, progress over time for some pupils currently in Year 2 has not been good enough. This has been due to a period of inconsistent teaching in the past. Leaders and teachers recognised and tackled the particular factors that have contributed to this. They continue to provide the necessary pastoral and academic support to help them to make better progress to catch up and this is now starting to pay off. However, too many pupils have failed to do so despite the rapid improvements.
• Standards attained by Year 2 pupils in reading, writing and mathematics are not high enough. In addition, the proportions of the most able pupils meeting the higher standards expected of them are too low.
• In Year 2, a small number of the most able pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, are not always sufficiently challenged to achieve the progress of which they are capable. This is because pupils are not being set work that pushes them to think more deeply beyond what is expected of other members of the class. Leaders have correctly identified that higher expectations should be more consistent to ensure that the most able pupils are encouraged to make more rapid progress in every class.
• Disadvantaged pupils typically outperform their peers and are making at least the expected progress in reading, writing and mathematics. Leaders monitor this group’s achievement closely and intervene if there is a risk that they might lag behind. Leaders and teachers closely monitor potential underachievement among this group.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress as the school has a comprehensive plan in place to support their individual needs. Good teaching and effective support from teaching assistants and outside specialists ensure that these pupils’ needs are met. For example, a speech and language therapist provides expert training to enable staff to better support pupils’ needs.
• Pupils from minority ethnic groups achieve well but a significant number do not reach the levels expected for their age. Those who speak English as an additional language, particularly those at an early stage of learning English, achieve as well as others because they have effective support from teachers and staff who speak a number of languages.
• From very low starting points, pupils’ attainment in reading remains low at the end of key stage 1. Although the majority of pupils are making expected progress, very few have made the accelerated progress they need to in order to reach the standards expected of their age. Current analysis of pupils’ work, listening to them read and checking the school’s own assessment information show that pupils are catching up, but there is still some way to go.
• Standards in mathematics are not high enough at the end of key stage 1. There is a good range of work, but pupils’ books show that there are limitations to pupils’ wider mathematical problem-solving skills and reasoning. This is a barrier to them attaining the expected standards. On some occasions, pupils complete many simple calculations correctly without being challenged to deepen their thinking and understanding, particularly for the most able mathematicians.
• Attainment in writing at the end of key stage 1 is also low when compared with other schools nationally. However, the progress in pupils’ writing is very clear in their English books. There are very few opportunities for pupils to complete sustained pieces of writing in subjects across the curriculum to develop their writing further. Pupils’ spelling, punctuation and grammar skills are not yet at the levels expected for their age due to the low starting points and, in a small number of classes, an inconsistent approach in correcting errors and developing this aspect of pupils’ writing.
• Pupils’ understanding of phonics is developing well. The school ensures that all pupils receive sufficient guidance to aid their reading development. The provisional 2017 results of the Year 1 phonics screening check have improved significantly this year and are closing towards the national figure.
• Pupils’ understanding in subjects other than English and mathematics is strong. They are able to relate their skills and knowledge to different contexts.

Early years provision Good

• The majority of children come into early years with skills which are much lower than those typical for their age. Effective teaching and purposeful leadership have ensured that the proportion of children achieving a good level of development at the end of the early years has continued to improve for the third year in a row.
• At the time of the inspection, approximately two thirds of children had achieved a good level of development by the end of Reception Year. This represented good progress from their lower than average skills and abilities on entry.
• The early years leader and staff are exceptionally committed to securing swift progress. They make incisive evaluations of children’s starting points, although ongoing assessments are not always frequent and accurate enough by all staff.
• Parents highly value the support that their children are given before they start school and during their time in the early years. Teachers use very effective strategies, such as home visits and parent workshops, to engage parents. Parents really value the opportunities to be involved in their children’s work and are exceedingly positive about the support they receive.
• Leaders have a very good understanding of the professional development needs of teachers and support staff. This ensures that effective and well-targeted training, advice and coaching support them to improve. All staff in the early years are passionate about improving the early years provision and teaching.
• Teaching is of a high quality. Teachers plan exciting activities based on children’s interests and their incisive knowledge of children’s needs. Personalised support, consistently high expectations of behaviour and a very well-designed curriculum ensure that any gaps in children’s knowledge and skills are swiftly reduced. The highly stimulating environment arouses children’s curiosity and motivates them to learn.
• Teachers skilfully support children to develop their writing. In addition to developing their fine motor skills and ‘pencil grip’ by encouraging children to thread beads and use tweezers to collect beads, they use questions and then model how children can write. As a result, children make good progress and a majority form their own sentences and include descriptive words.
• The outdoor environment is very well used to develop and extend learning, and children participate enthusiastically in different activities. For example, they learn to take risks as they jump and balance on the climbing blocks and safely roll tyres down the hill.
• Safeguarding is effective. Staff take a rigorous approach to ensuring that the health, welfare and safety of children are paramount. Consequently, the early years environment is a safe, secure and welcoming environment. Children who have the potential to become distracted are well supported because behaviour management of all children is consistently strong.
• Children in the Nursery and Reception classes are settled and they understand the routines. They make sensible choices, sustain good levels of concentration and show high levels of self-control.
• Skilful questioning and a wide range of activities inspire and motivate children to develop their thinking and communication skills. For example, in the school’s work on minibeasts, a parent brought in a snake and a spider for children to see and touch. Children were encouraged to consider and share a range of questions, to investigate closely and to look at information in books and on the computer.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 138893 Leeds 10031007 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 Foundation 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 219 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Jason Askham Asa Britton 01138 313449 www.laneendprimary.org.uk abritton@laneendprimary.org.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• Lane End Primary opened in September 2014 and has increased by one year group each year since then. There are currently seven classes: two for each year group from Reception to Year 2 and a part-time Nursery class. The school will increase by one year group every year until it has two classes in each year group from Reception to Year 6, and the Nursery provision.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is higher than the national average.
• The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is very high when compared with most schools nationally.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is also much higher than the national average. The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is lower than the national average.
• Owing to the fact that the school currently only comprises three year groups (Reception, Year 1 and Year 2), there are currently no published assessments for the end of key stage 1 or key stage 2. Inspectors have taken into account the very recent assessments at the end of the year for pupils in Year 2.
• The school provides and manages a breakfast club.
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors visited all classes, some of which visits were accompanied by the headteacher.
• Meetings were held with senior leaders, subject leaders for mathematics and English, the special educational needs coordinator and representatives of the school’s governing body.
• Inspectors scrutinised a number of documents, including governing body minutes, assessment information, the school’s self-evaluation, governors’ monitoring visits, the school development plan, records of the performance of staff and evidence relating to safer recruitment and child protection.
• The inspectors undertook a scrutiny of pupils’ books and discussed these with senior leaders to evaluate the quality of work and check the accuracy of assessment information held by the school.
• The inspectors spoke to pupils throughout the inspection, and one inspector met with pupils from key stage 1. An inspector also heard pupils of different ages and abilities read, including the most able pupils and those in receipt of the additional funding for disadvantaged pupils. They observed pupils’ behaviour at playtime and lunchtime and, briefly, in the breakfast club.
• The 28 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, were taken into account. The inspectors also considered comments provided alternatively, such as meeting directly or via text messages. The online responses of 17 staff were also considered as part of the inspection evidence.

Inspection team

Steve Bywater, lead inspector Ella Besharati

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector