Landywood Primary School

Landywood Primary School Holly Lane, Landywood, Walsall, WS6 6AQ

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 Although improving, progress has not risen fast enough to raise attainment significantly at the end of Year 6 in English and mathematics.  Pupils have difficulty in speaking out their ideas and in working out ways to solve problems in mathematics.  The quality of teaching is not yet good. It requires improvement in Years 1 to 4.  In weaker teaching, teachers spend too much time introducing lessons, tasks set and questions asked by teachers are not demanding the best of all pupils, and marking is not good enough.  Phase leaders do not make a strong enough contribution to checking the school’s effectiveness or to school improvement.  The school's evaluation of how well it is doing is not rigorous enough and does not focus sufficiently on what needs to be done, how the school will improve or how leaders will measure the impact of their actions.  Governors do not receive a probing enough evaluation of the school’s performance from

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

senior leaders so they are not able to be robust in holding leaders accountable for school improvement.

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The school has the following strengths

 Although there is much that still requires improvement, the school is nevertheless improving. The quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement have started to improve.  Teaching in the Nursery, the Reception Year and in Years 5 and 6 is consistently good.  Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school, showing positive attitudes to learning. Pupils respect each other and they feel safe in school.

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Information about this inspection

 Eight teachers were observed teaching. Of the 15 lessons seen, three were observed jointly with the headteacher. Pupils from Years 2 and 6 read their books to inspectors and talked about reading.  Pupils in Years 3 and 4 were out of school on a residential visit for the full duration of the inspection. Inspectors carried out an in-depth scrutiny of pupils’ exercise books from each of the three classes. They also looked at teachers’ records and their assessment folders.  Inspectors looked at pupils’ work in lessons and talked to pupils about their work.  Meetings were held with members of the governing body, the headteacher, the senior leadership team and staff with specific responsibilities. The lead inspector had a telephone conversation with a representative of the local authority. An inspector met a group of pupils and other inspectors held informal discussions with pupils.  The inspection took account of 19 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) and the

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Information about this inspection

school’s own recent parents' questionnaire, to which there were 124 responses.  Questionnaire responses from 14 members of staff were analysed.  A range of school documents was scrutinised, including policies for safeguarding, the school self- evaluation documents and improvement plans, results of the school’s monitoring of teaching, tracking of pupils’ progress and lesson planning.  Inspectors examined records of behaviour and attendance.

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Inspection team

David Speakman, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Denise Dalton Additional Inspector Robert Bone Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Landywood Primary School is larger than the average-sized primary school.  No alternative or off-site provision is used by the school.  Most pupils are of White British heritage and very few speak English as an additional language. None is at the early stages of learning English.  The proportion of pupils receiving additional funding through the pupil premium (those known to be eligible for free school meals, children of forces families or in local authority care) is average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs who are supported at school action is average. The proportion supported at school action plus or who have a statement of special educational needs is above average.  The school meets the government’s floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The school is organised into phases: Early Years Foundation Stage with Nursery and two

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Information about this school

Reception classes; Key Stage 1 with one Year 1 class, a Year 2 class and a mixed Year 1/Year 2 class; lower Key Stage 2 with one Year 3 class, a Year 4 class and a mixed Year3/Year 4 class; upper Key Stage 2 with one Year 5 class, a Year 6 class and a mixed Year 5/Year 6 class.  The senior leadership team has been restructured recently. The phase leaders are new to their roles and a new mathematics coordinator has recently joined the school.  The school shares a site with a children's centre and a neighbourhood nursery. There is before- and after-school care, both run by the neighbourhood nursery, independently of the school’s governing body. None of these provisions was inspected as part of this inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so that at least 80% is good or better by July 2013 by:  ensuring pupils have enough time in lessons to practise, consolidate and extend their learning by reducing the amount of time teachers talk at the beginning of lessons  reducing the use of worksheets  using the assessment of pupils’ progress more effectively to plan tasks that are demanding enough to move pupils of all abilities on at a quicker pace  improving questioning to challenge pupils at all levels of attainment to think things out for themselves  improving marking and teachers’ feedback to pupils so there is a consistently good quality of advice to pupils on how to improve their work, and making sure that pupils always respond to teachers’ comments.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise pupils’ achievement in English and mathematics so that it is good at all stages of the school by July 2014 by:  improving pupils’ speaking skills and using these to improve their writing  improving pupils’ problem-solving skills so they are better equipped to tackle mathematics questions  making sure that pupils take more care in the presentation and accuracy of their written work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management by:  ensuring that the school's self-evaluation has a sharper focus on evaluating the impact of actions on pupils’ progress, that it is accurate, and that targets are challenging and impact is measured  making sure that the phase leaders have the skills needed to do their jobs effectively  providing opportunities for teachers to observe outstanding teaching so they are aware of excellent practice  making arrangements for phase leaders, subject leaders and other senior leaders to report regularly to the governing body on school evaluation and improvement.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children start school with knowledge and skills lower than those of most children of their age. They make good progress in developing literacy and numeracy skills and in their social and emotional development. They transfer into Key Stage 1 with broadly average attainment.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Progress in Key Stage 1 has been too slow over the last few years. Although standards in reading, writing and mathematics improved in 2012 and were just below the national average, they were lower than at the time of the last inspection. Progress is improving, but some aspects of pupils’ work still require improvement. In a mathematics lesson for pupils in Years 1 and 2, for example, pupils showed secure number knowledge but struggled when solving problems. The presentation of pupils’ work is too untidy; letters and numbers are not formed properly and work is not organised well.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils’ work samples from Years 3 and 4, and the teachers’ assessment records show that progress is not good enough because there is too much variation in standards and progress in the different classes. Overall, progress in Year 3 is similar to that expected nationally and for some pupils it is quicker than this. In Year 4, progress requires improvement as it is too slow. In the mixed-age class, pupils make at least the nationally expected progress and some Year 3 pupils do better.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Progress is more rapid in Years 5 and 6 because of teaching that is consistently good. Inspection evidence shows pupils are writing at the level expected for their age, with a small minority above and only a few below that level. A number of pupils at all levels of attainment struggle to express their thoughts verbally in a clear and concise way, showing limited vocabulary and difficulty in using properly constructed sentences. In mathematics, pupils still have difficulty in working out strategies to solve problems, even though they are competent in numeracy.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils’ achievement in reading is good. In national tests to check on pupils’ knowledge and understanding of letters and the sounds they make (phonics) at the end of Year 1, the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard was just above the national average. Pupils at all ages have the skills to read unfamiliar words, and persevere when tackling new words, reading fluently and with understanding. Most find pleasure in reading, but they show limited knowledge of different authors.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make similar progress to other pupils because work and methods are usually matched closely to their learning needs. Those with greatest need are supported effectively by teaching assistants, who provide both the academic and the emotional support needed.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Any gaps between the attainment of pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium and that of other pupils are closing with the help of well-targeted support. The most recent data from the 2012 test results show that pupils entitled to claim a free school meal made better progress and achieved higher standards than other pupils in the year overall. In mathematics, they were two terms ahead of other pupils.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching seen during the inspection was good, required improvement or was inadequate. No outstanding teaching was seen and it was not clear that teachers fully understand what makes teaching outstanding.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Where teaching requires improvement, teachers spend too much time at the beginning of lessons explaining what pupils are going to learn. This often leaves too little time for pupils to work independently or in groups to make the progress they are capable of.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching methods do not always support pupils’ learning enough, especially at Key Stage 1. Good practice is not modelled well in the teaching of writing. Pupils are not provided with examples of good quality. For example, having been told about adjectives and connectives, pupils in Year 1 were asked to write sentences without being shown a finished example. In Year 4, pupils have too many worksheets to complete and this limits opportunities to produce neat and well-organised work for themselves.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Marking of pupils’ work does not consistently conform to the school’s marking policy. Some marking is well-focused and detailed, and tells pupils what they have done well and points out clearly their next steps and how they can improve. Other marking does not point out what pupils need to do to improve. In a similar way, ongoing verbal feedback to pupils in Key Stage 1 does not support their learning well.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Some planned activities are too easy. Undemanding tasks, such as asking pupils to repeatedly draw around coins to make up sums of money, do little to move pupils quickly on to the next level. The lack of challenge clearly shows that assessment data are not always used well enough to ensure good progress and tasks are not securely based on pupils’ prior learning.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Even in some lessons where teaching is good, teachers miss opportunities to accelerate the pace of learning by asking well-targeted questions that are planned to make pupils at all levels of attainment think things out for themselves. In Nursery, teachers do not challenge children’s spoken answers enough when their speech is incorrect. This weakens the development of children’s early speaking skills.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In some lessons, it was clear that pupils were ready to move on to the next steps quickly. The teachers failed to recognise this and continued with their planned lesson instead of changing plans and moving pupils on to the next steps, enabling them to achieve more.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Good teaching is more effective in moving pupils at all levels of attainment on at a good pace. Pupils are expected to self-assess their capability and to select their point of entry to a given task. Questions are searching and make pupils think and work things out for themselves, such as the displaying of a question as pupils arrive after a change of lesson. Tasks for different groups are thought out carefully and work gets progressively more demanding, builds on previous learning and moves pupils on quickly. Teaching assistants are deployed effectively and flexibly, so their support is directed to where it is most needed.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils have good attitudes to learning and an enthusiastic approach when their learning tasks are interesting. Behaviour is good and pupils are eager to start their independent or group work. However, pupils do not always take enough care over the presentation and accuracy of their written work.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils speak well about behaviour in school. Pupils know how to keep safe. They feel safe and are happy in school. They know about different forms of bullying, but pupils say it very rarely happens and any instances are dealt with effectively. Attendance is average. Almost all parents and carers who responded to the online questionnaire and to the school’s questionnaire say their children are happy, safe and well looked after, and that behaviour is good.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 A strong feature of the school is the sensitive personal support which is provided for pupils whose circumstances make them vulnerable. The school is proud of the good-quality care it provides for everyone. This helps them fit easily into school routines and make good personal development.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness is developed well. The school’s well- established links with the local community and its international links ensure that pupils develop good social awareness. Pupils work well together, respecting others’ views and showing courtesy. Older pupils said they would like to mix more with children of different ages. They know the difference between right and wrong, generally make good choices and accept any consequences for poor ones. In lessons and assemblies, there are good opportunities for pupils to think and reflect on life’s issues.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leadership and management require improvement because leaders have not moved the school on sufficiently since its last inspection. Leadership is demonstrating the capacity to improve because teaching is improving, pupils’ progress is getting better and, in turn, standards are beginning to rise. However, improvement is too slow.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school’s own evaluation of how well it is doing does not provide a secure basis for school improvement. Senior leaders have not evaluated performance data in enough depth or detail to give a clear picture of what the school does well but, more importantly, where there needs to be improvement. The self-evaluation documents do not record evaluative comment on the impact of the school’s actions on pupils’ progress. For example, teaching and learning are judged to require improvement but all description is positive and does not evaluate the impact of teaching on learning.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Between them, the newly formed senior leadership team covers all main areas of the school’s provision. There are areas, such as the monitoring of teaching, in which they have little experience but there are plans to develop the necessary skills. It is not yet clear how the senior leadership team will model outstanding teaching to staff to improve its quality, as no outstanding teaching to use as an example was observed during the inspection. However, leadership in the Early Years Foundation Stage and for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is good.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Pupil premium income is allocated appropriately. This can be seen in the good progress pupils eligible for free school meals made last year when compared to others. This year, funding is targeted in a similar way to support continued good progress.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The curriculum is developing well in terms of opportunities for pupils to use subjects such as history, geography or science to help them improve the quality of their writing and develop problem-solving skills. Few opportunities were seen during the inspection where pupils used computers and other technology to support learning and develop their independent learning skills. The curriculum is strong on personal, social and health education, and well-developed ‘forest school’ activities make a good contribution to pupils’ personal development and behaviour.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The local authority has a realistic view of the overall effectiveness of the school. It supports the school adequately through evaluation visits and providing written reports. It has provided advice and support in three key areas: Early Years Foundation Stage, literacy and numeracy. Each of these three areas has seen some improvement, particularly the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  The governors have worked with the headteacher well in making some difficult decisions in reducing staff numbers due to reduced pupil numbers. Governors are regular visitors to the school. They have rightly focused their attention on supporting changes in leadership, including the setting up of a new senior leadership team. They understand assessment data clearly and know how the school is performing compared to other schools, and which phases of the school are weakest. They have good levels of relevant expertise and are able to challenge senior leaders on school improvement. However, they do not have enough robust, evaluative information from the school’s self-evaluation, to be rigorous in this process. They set clear targets in managing the performance of the headteacher and staff, making sure that teachers’ pay is linked to competence. They ensure statutory requirements are met, including

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The leadership and management requires improvement

for safeguarding. They make careful financial decisions, ensuring that funding from the pupil premium is used well in supporting those pupils who require additional support.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is

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Grade Judgement Description

failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 124190 Local authority Staffordshire Inspection number 402241

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School details

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

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 311 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Claire Proud Headteacher John Withers Date of previous school inspection 20 January 2010 Telephone number 01922 857020 Fax number 01922 857021 Email address office@landywood.staffs.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', 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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School details

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 and as part of the inspection.

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School details

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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School details

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 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

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School details

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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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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