Langho and Billington St Leonards Church of England Primary School

Langho and Billington St Leonard’s CofE Primary School Inspection report

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Age group 4–11 Inspection date(s) 28–29 February 2012 Inspection number 379796 Unique Reference Number 119417 Local authority Lancashire Inspection number 379796 Inspection dates 28–29 February 2012 Lead inspector Martin Pye

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Type of school Primary School category Voluntary aided Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 275 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Anne Rogerson Headteacher Anne Pickup Date of previous school inspection 21 June 2007 School address Whalley Road Langho Blackburn BB6 8AB Telephone number 01254 247156 Fax number 01254 246625 Email address head@langho-st-leonards.lancs.sch.uk Inspection report: Langho and Billington St Leonards CofE Primary School, 28–29 February 2012 2 of 12

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T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Inspection report: Langho and Billington St Leonards CofE Primary School, 28–29 February 2012 3 of 12

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Introduction

Martin Pye David Halford Additional inspector Additional inspector Kirsty Haw Additional inspector

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days' notice. Inspectors visited 14 lessons taught by nine teachers, observed various group activities and listened to pupils reading. Inspectors also attended two school assemblies, observed break times and held meetings with representatives of the governing body, staff, pupils, and parents and carers. Inspectors observed the school's work and looked at: the school development plan, policies, assessment data, school and local authority monitoring and safeguarding information, lesson plans and pupils’ work. Inspectors took account of the responses to the on-line questionnaire and analysed 119 questionnaires from parents and carers together with questionnaires from staff and pupils.

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Information about the school

St. Leonard’s is slightly larger than the average-sized primary school. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is below average, as is the proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs. Most pupils are from White British backgrounds and only a few speak English as an additional language.

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Information about the school

The school meets the current floor standard. The school has gained a number of awards including: Eco-School Silver Award, Healthy School status, Sports Active Mark and the intermediate level of the International Award. There is an on-site before- and after-school club, which is not managed by the governing body, with capacity for up to 50 children. This provision is subject to a separate inspection Inspection report: Langho and Billington St Leonards CofE Primary School, 28–29 February 2012 4 of 12

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Information about the school

Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Key Findings

 This is an outstanding school. It was judged to be good with some outstanding features at the time of the last inspection and has continued to go from strength to strength since then. Parents and carers are overwhelmingly positive in their views with one typical comment noting that, ‘We are fortunate to have such a fantastic local school.’

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Key Findings

 Outstanding teaching over time, based firmly on the high expectation that all pupils will be supported and challenged to do their very best, means that all groups, including disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, make excellent progress across the school. As a result, pupils’ attainment in English and mathematics has improved year on year and is consistently well above average at the end of Key Stage 2. Imaginative curriculum planning, particularly for outdoor learning, means that learning is purposeful, active and fun.

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Key Findings

 Pupils enjoy school and this is clearly demonstrated by their high attendance and exemplary behaviour. Pupils’ conduct in lessons and around the school is outstanding. They willingly take on responsibilities to assist the smooth running of the school and display caring, courteous and considerate attitudes towards others .

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Key Findings

 The precise and detailed tracking of pupils’ progress is clearly linked to individual targets for both pupils and teachers and informs school development priorities. In this way, assessment procedures are highly effective in driving school improvement. However, the approach to marking pupils’ work varies between classes and this means that written feedback does not always link with pupils’ targets or identify the next steps in learning.

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Key Findings

 Strong and clear-sighted leadership over time, and an ambitious well-informed vision for school improvement, has led to considerable improvements in the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement. Leaders monitor the quality of teaching rigorously and manage the performance of staff to great effect. Pupils are provided with superb opportunities for personal and academic growth. As a result, they are exceptionally well prepared for the next stage of their education when they leave St. Leonard’s . Inspection report: Langho and Billington St Leonards CofE Primary School, 28–29 February 2012 5 of 12

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

  Sharpen the quality of marking across the school so that pupils in all classes get consistent and helpful feedback about the next steps in learning that will help them to improve their work.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils say that they enjoy learning and talk in an informed way about how their targets help them to reflect on what they currently know and to understand what they need to do next. Pupils work hard and take pride and interest in all that they do. This is because lessons are imaginative and fun. Whether pupils are working together to discuss story writing or testing their theories in a science investigation, they display excellent communication skills and have high levels of confidence that they can succeed. This active involvement in learning means that pupils make rapid progress and achieve very well in lessons.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils enter school with skills that are broadly in line with those expected for their age. Effective induction procedures when children start in the Early Years Foundation Stage mean that they settle in quickly and are soon making rapid progress in all areas of learning. Consequently, by the time they start in Year 1, pupils’ attainment is above average. By the time they are six, pupils are reading at a level above that expected for their age. This is because they follow a well-structured and regular programme to develop their understanding of letters and sounds and the pace of learning is brisk.

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Achievement of pupils

As pupils move through Key Stage 1 they continue to learn quickly, making strong gains in learning so that attainment by the end of Year 2 is well above average. High-quality teaching across Key Stage 2, informed by the careful tracking of pupils’ progress and the precise targeting of support for all abilities, means that pupils’ fast rate of progress is maintained very well so that by the end of Year 6 attainment is well above average. These exceptionally high standards have been maintained for the past three years.

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Achievement of pupils

Within this very positive picture, standards in reading are well above average by the end of Key Stage 1 and by the time pupils leave the school. Across the school, all teachers pay excellent attention to the development of reading skills and the enjoyment of books. Pupils receive clear guidance and support, and respond with enthusiasm and confidence. An enquiry-based approach to learning neatly knits together subjects such as history, science and geography. These topics provide pupils with meaningful and imaginative contexts in which to exercise their well-developed basic skills across the curriculum.

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Achievement of pupils

All groups of pupils, including disabled pupils, those who have special educational needs and the few who speak English as an additional language achieve equally well. The school has been successful in closing any significant gaps between the achievement of different groups.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils participate in a variety of whole-school events and celebrations, demonstrating interest in each other and mature social skills. Strong attention to the arts and a wide range Inspection report: Langho and Billington St Leonards CofE Primary School, 28–29 February 2012 6 of 12

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Achievement of pupils

of enrichment activities and trips help to broaden pupils’ horizons. The well-used outdoor facilities support learning across the curriculum and also allow pupils to find a quiet space to pause and reflect within the busy school day.

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Achievement of pupils

Parents and carers are very supportive of the school’s work and their children’s progress. The many parents and carers who returned the questionnaire agreed that the school is successful at helping all children to do their best.

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Quality of teaching

Teaching, over time, is outstanding. Teachers use their detailed knowledge of pupils to set high expectations and provide carefully tailored support and challenge that allows pupils of all abilities to make the best possible progress in lessons. Across the school, teaching is imaginative and moves at a brisk pace. Pupils enjoy their learning and take pride in the presentation of their work. Teachers regularly check how well pupils are doing and, together with teaching assistants, provide timely and very effective support during lessons. Lesson- planning takes good account of pupils’ prior learning and teaching is adjusted carefully in lessons in order to build progressively on their current skills and understanding.

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Quality of teaching

In the very best lessons, high-quality speaking and listening activities and meaningful opportunities for pupils to work together in pairs or groups generate a remarkable enthusiasm for learning. In one outstanding mathematics lesson, for example, there was clear excitement as pupils worked together on a practical task to calculate and measure quantities of liquids in order to solve a real-life problem. This active engagement in a purposeful investigation meant that all pupils were inspired to do their best and to apply and develop their existing skills. As a result, they thoroughly enjoyed their learning and made rapid progress.

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Quality of teaching

Work in books is marked regularly and the school has detailed information about pupils’ attainment and progress. However, while teachers make good use of assessment information to plan lessons and set targets, the approach to giving feedback through marking varies from class to class. This means that the quality of guidance given to pupils about how they can improve their work is inconsistent.

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Quality of teaching

The broad curriculum is enriched by exciting topics and events. Large-scale musical performances such as Aladdin and the many opportunities for pupils to learn outside the classroom – in the superb woodland area, for example – generate an excitement about learning and help all pupils to experience success across many subject areas. The school’s excellent attention to building pupils’ self-esteem and interest in the world around them makes a strong contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. As one pupil stated simply, ‘Our school’s great. We do lots of fun stuff.’

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Quality of teaching

Parents say that they value the high-quality teaching provided by the school and feel well- informed about how to help and support their children at home. Almost all pupils and parents and carers who completed the questionnaires, rightly said that teaching was consistently good or better. Inspection report: Langho and Billington St Leonards CofE Primary School, 28–29 February 2012 7 of 12

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. They have a well-informed awareness of how to keep themselves safe in different situations and readily show care and concern for others. Pupils enjoy coming to school and this is demonstrated by their above average attendance, conscientious attitudes to learning and courteous, respectful behaviour towards others. Pupils confirmed that the behaviour seen by inspectors was typical and this was also the view expressed by parents and carers.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils and adults get on very well together and are clearly comfortable and happy in each other’s company. Adults act as good role models and pupils respond exceptionally well to the school’s high expectations of behaviour in lessons and around school. Older pupils willingly take on responsibilities in school and are able to talk about how roles such as school prefect and playground buddy help to maintain a safe and supportive environment for all. This awareness that they are part of a caring and responsible community, supported by well-established routines and procedures, means that all pupils feel safe in school and are confident that others in school – adults and pupils - will help them with any problems that may arise.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils have a strong sense of right and wrong. They talk maturely about what constitutes bullying stating that it is not tolerated at St. Leonard’s and so it rarely occurs. The school’s logs to monitor any poor behaviour or racist incidents also indicate that such occurrences are extremely rare. There have been no exclusions in recent years.

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Leadership and management

Committed and clear-sighted leadership and management are at the heart of the school’s success. The dedicated headteacher has built a strong leadership team that, despite recent changes, continues to be highly effective at taking action to promote outstanding achievement for all pupils. Senior leaders know how well pupils are doing and this information, together with the findings from lesson observations, is used to identify and shape school development priorities and target support where needed – for staff and pupils - in order to drive further improvement. This extremely well-informed and rigorous approach to continual school improvement means that all are clear about their roles and responsibilities.

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Leadership and management

Teachers have opportunities to share and learn from each other’s practice and this reflective evaluative approach to their work resulting from the shared ambition across the school means there is no sense of complacency about the high standards already achieved. The governing body has a clear understanding of its strategic role and provides a finely- tuned level of challenge and support to its analysis of the school’s work.

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Leadership and management

The proven ability of leaders to bring about significant improvements over time is a very strong indicator that the school has an excellent capacity to improve further.

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Leadership and management

The successful promotion of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is woven through the school’s exciting curriculum and throughout all aspects of school life. Meaningful links between subjects provides pupils with many lively and memorable experiences. Special events such as science week or outdoor learning projects capture pupils’ imagination and make them keen to learn more. Older pupils benefit from a visit to a residential activity centre and all pupils’ cultural development is assisted by a number of Inspection report: Langho and Billington St Leonards CofE Primary School, 28–29 February 2012 8 of 12

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Leadership and management

national and international partnerships. There is an established partnership with a school in Uganda, for example, and this helps to enhance pupils’ global understanding. The strong commitment to tackling discrimination and promoting equality of opportunity can be clearly seen in the high achievement of all groups and the inclusive nature of all school activities. Pupils are kept safe at school because all staff pay proper attention to safeguarding and other statutory procedures.

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Leadership and management

Good communication between home and school is assisted by the school’s ‘open door’ policy. Parents and carers appreciate the various curriculum information events. During this inspection, parents visiting the school for a parents’ meeting talked about the productive partnership between home and school with one parent saying that this helps the children to ‘thrive in every way’. Inspection report: Langho and Billington St Leonards CofE Primary School, 28–29 February 2012 9 of 12

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding These features are highly effective. An outstanding school provides exceptionally well for all its pupils' needs. Grade 2 Good These are very positive features of a school. A school that is good is serving its pupils well. Grade 3 Satisfactory These features are of reasonable quality. A satisfactory school is providing adequately for its pupils. Grade 4 Inadequate These features are not of an acceptable standard. An inadequate school needs to make significant improvement in order to meet the needs of its pupils. Ofsted inspectors will make further visits until it improves.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Nursery schools 46 46 8 0 Primary schools 8 47 40 5 Secondary schools 14 38 40 8 Special schools 28 48 20 4 Pupil referral units 15 50 29 5 All schools 11 46 38 6

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

New school inspection arrangements have been introduced from 1 January 2012. This means that inspectors make judgements that were not made previously.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

The data in the table above are for the period 1 September 2010 to 31 August 2011 and represent judgements that were made under the school inspection arrangements that were introduced on 1 September 2009. These data are consistent with the latest published official statistics about maintained school inspection outcomes (see www.ofsted.gov.uk ).

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

The sample of schools inspected during 2010/11 was not representative of all schools nationally, as weaker schools are inspected more frequently than good or outstanding schools.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Primary schools include primary academy converters. Secondary schools include secondary academy converters, sponsor-led academies and city technology colleges. Special schools include special academy converters and non-maintained special schools.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Percentages are rounded and do not always add up exactly to 100. Inspection report: Langho and Billington St Leonards CofE Primary School, 28–29 February 2012 10 of 12

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning and development taking account of their attainment.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attainment: the standard of the pupils' work shown by test and examination results and in lessons.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Behaviour how well pupils behave in lessons, with emphasis on their attitude to learning. Pupils' punctuality to lessons and their conduct around the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving based on its self-evaluation and what the school has accomplished so far and on the quality of its systems to maintain improvement.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Leadership and management: the contribution of all the staff with responsibilities, not just the governors and headteacher, to identifying priorities, directing and motivating staff and running the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Learning: how well pupils acquire knowledge, develop their understanding, learn and practise skills and are developing their competence as learners.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Overall effectiveness: inspectors form a judgement on a school's overall effectiveness based on the findings from their inspection of the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Progress: the rate at which pupils are learning in lessons and over longer periods of time. It is often measured by comparing the pupils' attainment at the end of a key stage with their attainment when they started.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Safety how safe pupils are in school, including in lessons; and their understanding of risks. Pupils' freedom from bullying and harassment. How well the school promotes safety, for example e-learning. Inspection report: Langho and Billington St Leonards CofE Primary School, 28–29 February 2012 11 of 12

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to share with their children. It describes Ofsted's main

findings from the inspection of their school.

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Blackburn, BB6 8AB

Thank you for your welcome when I inspected your school with two other inspectors. We very much enjoyed our visit. Thank you for telling us about your work and all the other things you do at school.

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Blackburn, BB6 8AB

During our visit, one pupil described St Leonard’s as a great school. We agree. It is an outstanding school. Your headteacher and staff know how well your school is doing and how to improve it in the future.

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Blackburn, BB6 8AB

We were impressed by your excellent behaviour in lessons and around school. You are taught and looked after very well by your teachers. This means that you make excellent progress in your work, grow in confidence and feel safe at school. We discovered that many exciting lessons and events happen at your school and this helps you to enjoy learning. Your attendance is excellent and we were delighted by your good manners and the way in which you willingly take on jobs around the school.

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Blackburn, BB6 8AB

We noticed that your teachers always mark your books, but you do not always get advice about how well you have done or how to improve your work. Your teachers will now be making marking better so that it helps all of you to understand what you need to do next.

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Blackburn, BB6 8AB

You can help by continuing to behave so well in school and by always doing your best in every lesson.

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Blackburn, BB6 8AB

Thank you again and my best wishes for the future.

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Blackburn, BB6 8AB

Martin Pye Lead Inspector Inspection report: Langho and Billington St Leonards CofE Primary School, 28–29 February 2012 12 of 12

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Blackburn, BB6 8AB

procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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