Launcelot Primary School and Nursery

Age group 3–11 Inspection date(s) 30–31 May 2012 Inspection number 395567 Launcelot Primary School Inspection report

p.1

Unique reference number 100692 Local authority Lewisham Inspection number 395567 Inspection dates 30–31 May 2012 Lead inspector Jon Carter

p.1

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

p.1

Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 417 Appropriate authority Interim executive board Chair Calvin Pike Headteacher Helen Johnston Date of previous school inspection 18–19 November 2008 School address Launcelot Road Downham Bromley BR1 5EA Telephone number 020 8697 2304 Fax number 020 8697 2304 Email address headteacher@launcelot.lewisham.sch.uk achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked

p.1

after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

p.2

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when.

p.2

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk, or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.2

Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days' notice. Inspectors observed 24 lessons taught by 17 teachers. They listened to pupils read and discussed different aspects of their work with them. Meetings were held with a representative from the interim executive board, members of staff holding leadership responsibilities at the school and groups of pupils. Inspectors took account of the responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection. They observed the school’s work, and looked at assessment information, the school’s analysis of pupils’ progress, curriculum plans and records of the school leaders’ lesson monitoring. Inspectors also analysed responses from the 56 questionnaires received from parents and carers, as well as those from pupils and staff.

p.3

Information about the school

Launcelot is a larger than average primary school. The Early Years Foundation Stage is made up of a Nursery class, with morning and afternoon sessions, and two Reception classes. The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs supported by school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is broadly average. The largest ethnic group in the school is made up of pupils from White British backgrounds. The school has an above average percentage of pupils of minority ethnic heritage. A larger than average proportion of pupils speak English as an additional language. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is approximately double the national average.

p.3

Information about the school

Since the previous inspection, there have been significant changes to staffing, including a new headteacher in September 2010 and the subsequent appointment of a new deputy headteacher. The local authority used its powers of intervention to appoint an interim executive board to replace the governing body in November 2011.

p.3

Information about the school

The school meets the government’s floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress. 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

p.3

Key findings

 This is a good school. It is not yet outstanding because the impact of teachers’ marking and feedback on improving pupils’ learning is inconsistent across the school and middle leaders do not have full responsibility and accountability for leading teaching and learning in their areas. A decline in performance since the previous inspection has been successfully addressed through changes to leadership and well-targeted staff training.

p.4

Key findings

 Pupils’ progress and achievement are good. Rapid progress is being made in reading and mathematics. This is ensuring that pupils are reaching levels of attainment in line with, and sometimes better than, national averages. Over time, progress in writing is less strong, although inspection evidence indicates this is now accelerating and pupils are catching up quickly.

p.4

Key findings

 Teachers make good use of assessment information so that learning activities are well matched to pupils’ levels of development. Pupils are engaged and motivated by regular opportunities to work together in small groups. Lessons are often well paced because teachers set realistic but challenging goals and regularly review pupils’ learning with them. However, checks are not made consistently on how well pupils use teachers’ feedback to improve their work.

p.4

Key findings

 Pupils have positive attitudes to learning. Their behaviour in class and around the school is good. Pupils behave responsibly towards one another and are aware of how to keep themselves safe. This ensures that bullying is rare and reported quickly if it occurs.

p.4

Key findings

 Skilful management of teachers’ performance by the headteacher has eradicated inadequate teaching and driven swift and concerted improvement. The interim executive board is very effective in supporting and challenging the school’s senior leaders. The wider leadership team is increasingly distributed throughout the school. However, subject leaders are at an early stage of identifying strengths and weaknesses in teaching and learning. 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

p.4

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so that more is outstanding by ensuring that:  teachers’ verbal and written feedback is of consistently high quality throughout the school  marking in pupils’ books always makes the next steps in learning clear and provides pupils with opportunities and time to respond  regular checks are carried out to ensure that marking is helping pupils to improve their work.  Develop the role of middle leaders in leading teaching and learning by:  training all middle leaders to accurately and consistently evaluate the quality of teaching and learning in their areas of responsibility  developing a programme of lesson observations for middle leaders which complements and supports current performance management systems  using the findings of this programme to evaluate the impact of continued professional development on pupils’ learning and to contribute to wider school development planning.

p.5

Achievement of pupils

Children start school with levels of development which are below age-related expectations. Through the Early Years Foundation Stage, children make good progress in their interpersonal, literacy and numeracy skills and become increasingly independent. Their good knowledge of the sounds letters make, known as phonics, is helping their writing skills to improve quickly. This was seen, for example, in Reception where children tried to sound out words to help them write invitations to a Diamond Jubilee party.

p.5

Achievement of pupils

Pupils’ good progress continues throughout the rest of the school, particularly in reading and mathematics. The appropriate focus previously given to promoting pupils’ skills, knowledge and understanding in reading is now beginning to accelerate progress in writing, too. For example, in Year 1 pupils were asked to write a story in chronological order and used their knowledge of story structure and time connectives to help them complete the task quickly. As a result, the gap between pupils’ attainment in reading and writing is now closing rapidly. Inspection evidence, including scrutiny of pupils’ current work and teachers’ records of pupils’ progress, indicates that pupils are working at broadly average levels, especially by the end of Key Stage 2. There is a similar picture in reading at the end of both key stages, where pupils’ attainment is broadly average.

p.5

Achievement of pupils

Pupils enjoy frequent opportunities to work collaboratively with others. For example, in a mathematics lesson for Year 6, more-able pupils gathered their own data in a practical hand-shaking activity while other groups supported each other’s learning. 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

p.5

Achievement of pupils

Pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and pupils who speak English as an additional language often make even better progress than their peers because they are appropriately challenged. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make similar progress to their peers because they are well supported in class.

p.6

Achievement of pupils

Inspectors agree with the views of the overwhelming majority of parents and carers that their children make good progress.

p.6

Quality of teaching

Lesson planning takes good account of teachers’ recent and accurate assessment of pupils’ achievements. A common approach throughout the school ensures that teachers always make the learning intentions clear for each lesson. Pupils have targets that identify precisely the elements of each subject that they are focusing on, based on accurate evaluations of their skills and understanding. Both of these systems are used effectively to review pupils’ learning during lessons and over time.

p.6

Quality of teaching

In the most effective lessons, teachers develop opportunities for pupils to take risks with their learning. In a mathematics lesson for Year 4, for example, high levels of enthusiasm were generated when pupils were asked to investigate one pupil’s response to a question about the area of an irregular shape. This enabled the class to use and apply their mathematical knowledge and find out why the response was, in fact, incorrect.

p.6

Quality of teaching

The use of purposeful written feedback that shows pupils clearly how to improve their work is not consistent across the school, particularly in the marking of pupils’ work in Key Stage 2. Pupils do not always respond to teachers’ written feedback and, where this does occur, the quality of their responses is not rigorously monitored. Consequently the impact of marking on improving pupils’ learning is inconsistent.

p.6

Quality of teaching

Teaching ensures that pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well through regular group activities. Adaptations to the curriculum respond effectively to local circumstances ensuring, for example, that boys are fully engaged by topics that interest them. Learning is often well paced because teachers vary the methods they use frequently and develop pupils’ responses well through good quality questioning. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are effectively supported by teaching assistants who ensure that pupils’ learning is personalised and appropriate progress is made towards targets. The teaching of reading is effective because of the regular opportunities that pupils have to read at school and the good tracking of the progress they make. Inspectors agree with the overwhelming majority of parents and carers who feel that their children are taught well at this school.

p.6

Quality of teaching

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

p.7

Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils are clear that the school is a safe, happy and caring place to learn. They have positive attitudes to learning because of the strong relationships they have with staff, who ensure that a positive learning environment is established in all classrooms. Pupils work well in groups of mixed gender and ethnic background. Behaviour in lessons and around the school is typically good. Teachers use their classroom management skills effectively and respond consistently to the few occasions where pupils’ behaviour does not meet the school’s high expectations. The large majority of parents and carers have positive views of behaviour at school. A few indicated concerns about behaviour in class due to a small number of pupils who experience social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. Inspection evidence indicates that there is effective provision for these pupils which ensures that they receive appropriate

p.7

Behaviour and safety of pupils

support from the special educational needs team. As a result, there is very little disruption to learning.

p.7

Behaviour and safety of pupils

A few parents and carers were also concerned about bullying and racist incidents. Pupils are clear that bullying of any sort is rare and dealt with quickly when reported to school staff. They demonstrate a good understanding of how bullying of all descriptions may occur. Inspection evidence shows that prejudice-based incidents are low and that the school is proactive in promoting pupils’ awareness of racism through activities such as ‘Show Racism the Red Card’ in conjunction with Millwall Football Club.

p.7

Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils’ attendance is broadly average following the school’s concerted efforts to reduce persistent absence. The appointment of a Family Liaison Officer and strategies that engage pupils, parents and carers have been successful in promoting better attendance and celebrating improved attendance. However, the efforts of the school are occasionally hindered by parents and carers who keep all of their children off school when one is ill. The school is continuing to work with these families to further raise attendance.

p.7

Leadership and management

The strategic direction set by the headteacher has ensured that there has been an unwavering focus on successfully reversing a period of decline in pupils’ progress and attainment by improving the quality of teaching. Rigorous processes for monitoring have been established to identify the need for robust management action or further training. These have been used well to swiftly address weaknesses through highly personalised professional development activities for teachers and other staff. Consequently, the quality of teaching has improved. Pupils are now making accelerated progress and achieving at or beyond the level expected for their age in most subjects. Teachers are highly complimentary about the effectiveness of the support they have been given to improve. There is a strong team ethos and all staff fully understand their role in continued school improvement. The significant and rapid changes that have been made indicate that the school has a strong capacity to

p.7

Leadership and management

improve. 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

p.7

Leadership and management

The interim executive board, established by the local authority, has enabled the headteacher and her senior leadership team to receive expert support and challenge. Board members visit the school regularly to ensure they have an accurate view of the impact of improvements on pupils’ learning. They participate in training in preparation for a planned transition to a conventional model of governance in the future. The distribution of leadership responsibilities throughout the school is becoming well established. A structured programme of training and support has ensured that staff new to the role of subject leadership have developed their skills at an appropriate rate. Nevertheless, the headteacher and her deputy still retain most of the responsibility for monitoring the quality of teaching and learning across the school. Middle leaders have not all been trained in lesson observation and do not currently

p.8

Leadership and management

contribute to the school’s programme of monitoring in this way. As a result, some inconsistencies in the quality of provision remain.

p.8

Leadership and management

School leaders regularly review the curriculum provision to take account of their analyses of pupils’ progress. Links between subjects are strong and pupils have regular opportunities to apply their skills, knowledge and understanding to real-life problems within the framework of a broad and balanced curriculum. Good provision is made for developing pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding. For example, resources on permanent display in classrooms give in-depth information about the artefacts and celebrations of different religions and pupils are taught about society’s responsibility to look after endangered animals.

p.8

Leadership and management

Leaders and managers throughout the school promote equality and tackle discrimination well by ensuring, for example, that pupils have opportunities to reflect on the diversity of their local community. Arrangements for safeguarding pupils, including staff recruitment procedures and risk assessment, are managed appropriately.

p.8

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.

p.9

Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Nursery schools 54 42 2 2 Primary schools 14 49 32 6 Secondary schools 20 39 34 7 Special schools 33 45 20 3 Pupil referral units 9 55 28 8 All schools 16 47 31 6

p.9

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. The data in the table above are for the period 1 September to 31 December 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). 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. 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.

p.9

Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100.

p.9

Common terminology used by inspectors

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

p.10

Common terminology used by inspectors

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

p.10

Common terminology used by inspectors

Attendance the regular attendance of pupils at school and in lessons, taking into account the school’s efforts to encourage good attendance.

p.10

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.

p.10

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.

p.10

Common terminology used by inspectors

Floor standards the national minimum expectation of attainment and progression measures.

p.10

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.

p.10

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.

p.10

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.

p.10

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.

p.10

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.

p.10

carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

main findings from the inspection of their school.

p.11

Inspection of Launcelot Primary School, Bromley BR1 5EA

Thank you for your warm welcome when we inspected your school recently. We were pleased to speak with some of you about your work and find out your opinions of the school by reading your questionnaires. This letter is to tell you about the findings of the inspection.

p.11

Inspection of Launcelot Primary School, Bromley BR1 5EA

These are some of the positive things about the school.

p.11

Inspection of Launcelot Primary School, Bromley BR1 5EA

 Launcelot Primary is a good school where pupils make good progress, especially in reading and mathematics.  Teachers give you work which meets your needs because they know how well you are learning. You learn at a good pace in most lessons because teachers give you realistic but challenging objectives. They also review your learning regularly with you.  You have positive attitudes to learning and your behaviour in class and around the school is good – well done! You behave responsibly towards one another and know how to keep yourselves safe; you told us there is little bullying.  The headteacher has made sure that the quality of teaching at the school is improving quickly.

p.11

Inspection of Launcelot Primary School, Bromley BR1 5EA

We have asked the headteacher to do two things.

p.11

Inspection of Launcelot Primary School, Bromley BR1 5EA

 Make sure that teachers always make the next steps clear when they mark your work.  Ensure teachers who are responsible for different subjects regularly check how good teaching and learning are in lessons.

p.11

Inspection of Launcelot Primary School, Bromley BR1 5EA

You can help by reading your teachers’ feedback carefully and taking time to respond to their questions to show that you understand the next steps to take.

p.11

Inspection of Launcelot Primary School, Bromley BR1 5EA

Jon Carter Lead inspector 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 .

p.11