Langton Green Primary School

Age group 4–11 Inspection date(s) 19–20 June 2012 Inspection number 379624 Langton Green Primary School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 118465 Local authority Kent Inspection number 379624 Inspection dates 19–20 June 2012 Lead inspector Kevin Hodge

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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 Community Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 229 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Rosie Holder Headteacher Judith Lees Date of previous school inspection 19 September 2007 School address Lampington Row Tunbridge Wells Kent TN3 0JG Telephone number 01892 862648 Fax number 01892 2864028 Email address headteacher@langton-green.kent.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

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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’.

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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.

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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

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days’ notice. The inspectors observed seventeen lessons or part lessons taught by nine different teachers and support staff. Joint observations were carried out with the headteacher and assistant headteacher. Inspectors held informal discussions with pupils, staff and the Chair of the Governing Body and one other member. The inspectors took account of responses to Ofsted’s on-line questionnaire (Parent View), information on the school’s and governing body’s websites, observed the school’s work, and looked at development planning, self-evaluation information showing learners’ progress, teachers’ planning and pupils’ written and pictorial records of their learning. In addition, the inspectors analysed the questionnaire responses of 106 parents and carers, 62 pupils in Years 3 to 6, along with those returned by 37 staff.

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Information about the school

This average-sized primary school has Early Years Foundation Stage provision for children in two Reception classes. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic heritages is small and few pupils speak English as an additional language. The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs supported by school action plus is lower than average, but is above average for the number of pupils with a statement of educational needs. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is below average. The school has met the current floor standards, which are minimum standards for attainment and progress expected by the government.

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Information about the school

The school has a number of awards reflecting its commitment to developing staff performance, environmental awareness, healthy lifestyles and in promoting pupils' basic skills. 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. Pupils reach much higher levels in their work by the time they leave than is typically found and they achieve extremely well on a broad range of fronts. Pupils are exceptionally mature, polite and courteous, to both adults and each other.

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Key findings

 Senior leaders provide an extremely clear vision for setting priorities and have very high expectations in terms of pupils' behaviour, achievement, the curriculum and the quality of teaching. Staff are very well managed and routines to enhance their performance are innovative. The governing body’s excellent monitoring, challenge and support aid the drive for continuous improvement. Parents and carers are overwhelmingly supportive of the school’s work.

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Key findings

 Pupils’ outstanding achievement has its roots set in the extremely good start to their school life in the Reception classes. Their skills develop well in all areas of their learning. All groups of pupils, including disabled children and those with special educational needs, learn and progress exceptionally well. Pupils from minority ethnic heritages achieve at the same high level as classmates.

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Key findings

 Pupils say that learning is ‘really fun and exciting’, which is not surprising as staff work together extremely well to develop lively approaches to teaching, which include combining very effective teaching of basic skills to high levels, with applying these skills in other subjects through exciting independent- learning activities covering other curriculum subjects. The school is now seeking to develop better use of its extensive grounds, which are sometimes underutilised in extending pupils' outdoor learning.

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Key findings

 Pupils behave exceptionally well and their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered to high levels. This aids their learning brilliantly. It allows pupils to collaborate well, discuss different approaches to solving problems together, recognising and encouraging the skills and talents of others. 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

Not unsurprisingly, pupils enjoy attending school and attendance is above average.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Extend the pupils’ knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the natural environment by extending the use of the school grounds in promoting pupils' outdoor learning.

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Achievement of pupils

Children start at the school with skills above those expected for their age in most areas of their learning, apart from early writing skills. Children confidently play together and explore different areas of their well thought out and resourced classrooms and outside learning environment. They benefit from well-structured approaches to teaching letters and sounds (phonics) to develop reading and writing skills. Children are confident to spot omissions and misspellings in simple sentences and their writing is often coherent and meaningful, such as when they had to discuss and write about their ‘best day’. Children support each other very well when pursuing their activities, both inside and outside the classroom, so their creative and physical skills develop to high levels. Pupils build on this excellent start as they move through the school and, by the end of Year 2, pupils read, write and calculate number very

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Achievement of pupils

confidently, which reflects their above average levels of ability.

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Achievement of pupils

By the time pupils leave Year 6, they reach high levels of attainment and their achievement is outstanding. This includes disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. They acquire high levels of skills of English and mathematics, and achieve extremely well on a broad range of fronts, such as information and communication technology (ICT) and project-based work. Pupils enjoy their ‘independent learning activities’ (ILAs) which successfully promote their spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding, as well as their academic skills. Pupils often make their own choices in how they would like to investigate the chosen project area, which increase their motivation and enjoyment to high levels. Pupils apply their English and mathematical skills most successfully to enhance their work in other subjects. For example, while pupils wrote high-quality and sensitive poems using examples of similes and personification in a Year 6 English lesson, they also used

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Achievement of pupils

their writing skills effectively to record key events from the Second World War. Pupils in another class used the class ‘travel agency’ to decide where an inspector could potentially spend his holiday, and avidly wrote out his requirements! The few pupils from minority ethnic heritages or who speak English as an additional language make the same excellent rates of progress as their classmates as activities are both exciting and innovative in engaging their learning. Studies of other countries, such as Ghana and France, help widen their horizons and knowledge of others’ lifestyles. Pupils learn a range of musical instruments and French is taught widely to good 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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Achievement of pupils

effect. The school is currently investigating how it can use its extensive grounds in extending pupils' outdoor environmental learning even further, as this is an aspect that is relatively underdeveloped. Pupils are extremely well prepared when they leave for their next schools as standards by the end of Year 6, including reading, are high, a view echoed by parents and carers.

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Quality of teaching

The outstanding quality of teaching over time has succeeded in fostering pupils' high levels of attainment and achievement throughout the school. Teachers are very adept at setting tasks that challenge pupils' thinking and in making provision for all ability groups, including disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. This ranges from developing their early writing, reading and number skills in the Reception classes, through well-structured phonics and number-based activities, to constructing clinometers to measure the heights of trees in Year 6. In Year 5, an excellent lesson fostered a wide range of activities, such as calculating the cost of holidays, by studying the cultures and traditions of others in Ghana and Brazil, making models of hot air balloons, learning a musical piece on the recorder or designing a new currency. Teachers set high expectations in terms of developing pupils' resilience, problem-solving abilities and independence in guiding their own

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Quality of teaching

learning. For example, some excellent teaching in the Reception classes meant children felt confident to make model buses, knowing they had different levels and features. They were keen to use a real one to visit the Queen. Older pupils say they appreciate the teachers’ ‘tickled pink’ comments or those written in green ink as an area for growth, as they are helpful in guiding their learning. Teachers often plan excellent activities to foster pupils' collaborative learning in both basic skills and in their ILA work that enables pupils to both support and, on occasions, point to areas where fellow pupils can improve. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs benefit from in-class support and small group work, often outside classrooms, taught by well-briefed teaching assistants. The high quality and wide range of display work within classes, corridors and hall reflects the pupils' spiritual, social and moral

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Quality of teaching

awareness and their success in completing tasks both at home (takeaway tasks ) , and in class. The vast majority of parents and carers acknowledge the high quality of teaching that takes place.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils are extremely polite and courteous and show high levels of respect both to adults and to each other. Their behaviour over time has improved to typically outstanding levels. Pupils themselves say that the school is ‘a great place to be’ as everyone ‘gets on with each other so well’. No pupils who spoke to inspectors highlighted any problems with bullying in any form and others said that bullying was ‘all but extinct’ – a view shared by most, but not quite all, parents and carers. Some felt there is some very occasional bullying. However, the school is vigilant about ensuring that should it occur in any form, including internet based, it is dealt with quickly and effectively. Pupils say they feel extremely safe as staff and helpers are always quick to listen and solve problems where needed. That said, pupils’ mature Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

attitudes and respect for each other mean problems are kept to a minimum. Parents also state that they feel children are very safe at school. The extremely good attitudes to learning of pupils enable them to tackle class-based tasks with enthusiasm and purpose. A wide range of lunchtime and after-school activities, such as choir and orchestra, help broaden and extend the pupils' enjoyment of school. Their enthusiasm often spills over to more home-based activities, which helpfully bridges learning between home and school. The school council has a very active voice within the school, such as providing questions for staff interviews, managing the pupils' suggestion box and in giving views on lunch menus.

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Leadership and management

The good levels of leadership and management noted in the last inspection have been improved upon as the headteacher, supported by senior leaders, sets very high expectations in terms of improving the quality of teaching, developing an innovative curriculum and in raising the effectiveness of monitoring. Successes in all these areas demonstrate the school’s capacity for continued improvement.

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Leadership and management

Staff say they feel very well supported as their professional development needs are catered for extremely well. Teachers often have coaching and monitoring roles to help develop the expertise of colleagues, while well-developed links with other schools enable best practice to be demonstrated or viewed by others. Some staff have headship qualifications, whilst others act as moderators or lead teachers for the local authority. The senior staff have a very clear vision of what makes high-quality learning for pupils. In this respect, the curriculum makes excellent provision in developing the skills, knowledge, empathy and inquisitive attitudes of pupils in nearly all areas. Projects as diverse as, ‘From peak to puddle’ to study mountains, or capitalising on the visit of a full-size ‘Dalek’ to promote imaginative writing, drama and musical activities, all ensure that pupils’ engagement in learning is high. An

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Leadership and management

annual week long trip to France and the forthcoming Olympics provide a wide range of stimuli for pupils' cultural understanding and social learning and add to the high quality provision that is made for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Senior leaders are now turning their attention to developing the use of the school grounds as a further vehicle for enhancing pupils’ learning as this is an aspect of learning that is relatively underdeveloped.

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Leadership and management

The very well led governing body ensures there are high levels of safeguarding, through regular checks and vetting of staff and by using audio-visual technology to ensure children feel safe and secure. The governing body’s monitoring is regular and insightful and focuses on the most important issues to remedy or develop. Pupils of all abilities achieve equally well as senior staff and the governing body monitors the performance of different groups of pupils very carefully to identify any potential areas where they might underachieve. Discrimination of any sort is neither tolerated nor ignored. Well-developed links with parents and carers, combined with improvements over time, have ensured that all those that responded to the Ofsted questionnaire said they would recommend the school to others.

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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 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

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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. 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 secon dary 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 exactly to 100.

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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

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

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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

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

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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.

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

main findings from the inspection of their school.

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Inspection of Langton Green Primary School, Tunbridge Wells TN30JG

Many thanks for your welcome when we visited your school. We think yours is an outstanding school. Here are some particular things we found out.

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Inspection of Langton Green Primary School, Tunbridge Wells TN30JG

 You achieve really well in your learning, and your attainment in many subjects, especially the important ones of reading, writing and mathematics, is much better than in most schools.  Your information and communication technology (ICT), science, history and geography skills develop well. I liked watching your video and work following the arrival of a Dalek!  Your teachers make learning fun as they plan exciting, and sometimes surprising, lessons. Your independent learning activities are really brilliant.  The headteacher, staff and governing body have improved the school over time and are proud to work at the school. They like finding out small ways of making it even better where possible.  Your behaviour is excellent and has got even better since the last inspection. The school cares for you extremely well, particularly those who find learning hard.  We liked hearing about your musical successes and trips to London and your

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Inspection of Langton Green Primary School, Tunbridge Wells TN30JG

long trip to France. Tr è s bon!  Those we spoke to, and your questionnaires, said nearly all of you feel extremely safe in school.

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Inspection of Langton Green Primary School, Tunbridge Wells TN30JG

We have asked the school to improve one particular aspect of the school to help it get even better:

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Inspection of Langton Green Primary School, Tunbridge Wells TN30JG

 to see how your lovely school grounds can be used to develop your outdoor learning, such as keep fit trails, nature areas or outdoor classrooms.

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Inspection of Langton Green Primary School, Tunbridge Wells TN30JG

You can help too by continuing to be brilliantly behaved and in giving your ideas about how the school can keep improving, even though it is outstanding.

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Inspection of Langton Green Primary School, Tunbridge Wells TN30JG

Kevin Hodge 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 .

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