Langton Primary School

Langton Primary School Langton, Malton, North Yorkshire, YO17 9QP

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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 Requires improvement 3 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3

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

 Attainment by the end of Key Stage 2 has not been rising rapidly enough.  Too few pupils in Year 3 to Year 6 make better than expected progress in writing and mathematics.  Teachers do not always have sufficiently high expectations of what pupils can achieve.  In some lessons, teachers can take too long explaining a task. This does not always allow enough time for pupils to work independently.  The quality of marking is inconsistent and pupils are not always given enough opportunity to respond to the guidance they receive.  Leaders have not ensured that all teaching is at least good and not all pupils display consistently positive attitudes to their learning in every lesson and occasionally can become easily distracted.  Leaders have not made good enough use of assessment information to keep a careful watch on the proportion of pupils making better than expected progress.

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The school has the following strengths

 During last year, the school has improved and there are now examples of good teaching.  Attainment by the end of Key Stage 1 has improved rapidly and pupils are now making good progress.  Pupils who did not read as well as expected by the end of Year 1 have been given extra support. This is helping them to catch up quickly with others in the class.  Across Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, pupils enjoy reading and make good progress.  Recent improvements in behaviour management have significantly reduced incidents of unacceptable behaviour.  Pupils speak positively of the improvements they have seen in school life in recent months.  Pupils enjoy coming to this improving school and their attendance is above average.  Governors have audited their own strengths and now understand their role in holding the school more robustly to account.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed 12 lessons or small-group activities, of which five were conducted jointly with both acting headteachers.  Meetings were held with members of the governing body, senior leaders, school staff and a representative from the local authority.  The inspector talked to pupils about their work in lessons, looked at books, listened to pupils read and met with a group of pupils from Key Stage 2.  The inspector took account of the 23 responses to the online survey (Parent View) and a recent school survey. The inspector also spoke to a number of parents during the two days.  The inspector took account of the 13 questionnaires returned by members of the school staff.  The inspector observed the school’s work, looked at progress data, performance management information, records relating to behaviour and safety, as well as documents relating to safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Jim Alexander, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Langton School is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils who are known to be eligible for the pupil premium fund is below average. The pupil premium fund is additional government funding provided for children in local authority care, those from armed service families, and those known to be eligible for free school meals.  The proportion of pupils supported through school action is below average.  The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or who have a statement of special educational needs is also below average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectation for pupils’ attainment and progress.  Since the time of the last inspection, the school has faced a number of difficult staffing issues.  The headteacher has been on long-term leave since April 2013 and the school has had three acting headteachers in the past two terms.

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Information about this school

 Since January 2013, the local authority, in conjunction with the National College for Teaching and Leadership, has organised a Local Leader of Education (LLE) to support the school and the temporary leadership arrangements. The LLE is a headteacher from an outstanding school within the authority.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching, so that it is consistently good or better, by:  making sure teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve and, when necessary, refocus activities to ensure all pupils make good progress in every lesson  increasing the time available during lessons for pupils to work independently on tasks which capture their interest and imagination, so that pupils display consistently positive attitudes and maintain concentration  using what teachers know of pupils’ individual performance to set challenging work for all abilities  improving the quality of marking so all pupils receive clear guidance about how to improve their work and then respond quickly to the development points identified by the teachers  planning and providing more activities which allow children in the Early Years Foundation Stage to develop their reading, writing and number skills.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise attainment by the end of Key Stage 2, by:  ensuring more pupils make better than expected progress in Year 3 to Year 6  creating more opportunities for pupils to undertake open-ended problem-solving activities in mathematics  consolidating recent improvements to the quality of pupils’ writing by extending opportunities to apply their skills in different subjects across the curriculum.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of leadership and governance, by:  using achievement data more robustly to monitor pupils’ progress, including that of different groups, to respond quickly if pupils are not making better than expected progress  providing support, training and challenge in equal measure to ensure the quality of teaching is at least consistently good.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Achievement requires improvement because the proportion of pupils making better than expected progress is not high enough across Key Stage 2. Leaders recognise that while a high proportion of pupils make expected progress in writing and mathematics, too few make rapid gains in their learning.  Most children start the Early Years Foundation Stage with skills that are in line with those typically expected. However, this can vary considerably from year to year due to the small class sizes. Children make good progress developing their social and emotional skills, but do not make quick enough progress in their reading, writing and number work.  Pupils who did not read as well as expected by the end of Year 1 in 2012 were given additional support last year. All have now caught up and regularly use what they know of letters and sounds to help them read tricky words.  Attainment in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 2 in 2012 was in line with the

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

national average. This did not represent good enough progress from these pupils’ starting points. Throughout last year, however, achievement improved significantly and attainment in reading, writing and mathematics has risen, particularly for the most-able pupils.  By the end of Year 6, attainment has not risen as quickly and remains broadly average. This does not represent good enough progress from these pupils’ individual starting points and too few gain the higher levels of attainment in writing and mathematics. This is in contrast to their achievement in reading, which has remained a high school priority for many years.  In mathematics, the school has ensured that pupils’ knowledge of number facts is secure. However, pupils are not always confident to apply their mathematical skills successfully when asked to solve problems or carry out open-ended investigations.  The school has focused on improving the quality of writing last year and is seeing some success.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

More pupils are now making better progress, particularly in Key Stage 1. These improvements, however, have not been consolidated to ensure they result in raising attainment by the end of Key Stage 2. This is because pupils have not had enough opportunity to extend their writing skills across a range of subjects.  The pupil premium fund is used in a variety of ways, for example to provide small-group activities. This is helping the majority of pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals to make good progress and, as a result, their attainment is typically in line with that of others in their class.  The progress made by pupils who are disabled or who have special education needs is similar to that of others in the school and can vary from class to class. However, the one-to-one support for pupils with more complex learning needs is very effective, resulting in good progress during sessions. This is one example of the school’s commitment to tackle discrimination.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Although the teaching is getting better, it is still judged to require improvement because it is not consistently good enough in every class to ensure all pupils make rapid progress from their starting points.  In lessons that require improvement, teachers can often take too long explaining what they want pupils to do. This does not allow enough time for pupils to work independently, for example in their written work, and limits the progress they make.  In other lessons, teachers’ expectations are not always high enough and all pupils are expected to complete the same task, regardless of their individual ability. This means that some pupils, in mathematics for example, struggle to keep up and become confused, while the most-able pupils find the work too easy, finish quickly and then wait for others to catch up.  The quality of marking has improved and there are now examples of where pupils quickly

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

respond to the guidance being offered. However, this is not typical and too often pupils are not being given clear enough advice about how to improve their work.  There are examples of good teaching. For example, in a Year 3/4 science lesson, no time was wasted and pupils quickly settled to an interesting and challenging open-ended investigation using wires and batteries to create circuits. Pupils cooperated well, rose to the challenge and enjoyed their success.  Teaching in the Early Years Foundation Stage requires improvement. Although the learning environment has improved considerably in the past year, opportunities are missed to ensure the children make the best possible progress in their reading, writing and number work.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Behaviour and safety require improvement because not all pupils display consistently positive attitudes to their learning in every lesson and occasionally some can become easily distracted.  Behaviour around school has improved in recent months, and older pupils talk very positively about the changes to the lunchtime arrangements. They have happily taken on the responsibility of becoming playtime buddies.  Pupils are well informed about all types of bullying and know how to keep themselves safe. They explain that teachers help them to resolve their differences quickly.  Pupils enjoy coming to this improving school and their attendance is above average.  All parents say their children are kept safe and are happy at school.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders have secured improvements to attainment by the end of Key Stage 1, particularly for the most-able pupils. However, leadership and management are still judged to require improvement because they are yet to ensure that the quality of teaching across the school is consistently good. Consequently, not enough pupils make rapid progress.  The local authority has offered effective support and a well-designed package of training is helping middle leaders to have a better overview of progress in the subjects they lead.  The work of the Local Leader of Education has also provided support and challenge for senior leadership and recently overseen the transitional arrangements between acting headteachers.  As a result, the pace of improvement is speeding up. The current acting headteachers have wasted no time getting to know the strengths of the school and are providing encouragement, training and challenge for areas that are not yet good enough.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school’s self-evaluation is now robust and accurate. The recently developed school improvement plan focuses on the correct priorities.  Leaders have brought fresh vision and staff are showing the necessary determination to ensure this school improves and provides a good education for all pupils. This underpins the school’s commitment to provide equality of opportunity for all pupils.  Leaders have not ensured that achievement data has been used robustly to monitor pupils’ progress and have not responded quickly enough when pupils have not been making better than expected progress. The acting headteachers have now made this a high priority.  Senior leaders are currently reviewing the school’s performance management arrangements to establish effective links between teachers’ pay and their performance in class.  The school provides a range of residential visits, trips out and visitors to school.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders have made good use of the additional sports funding. A recently appointed sports coach has reinvigorated sporting opportunities and the after-school club is now attended by over 30 pupils. Pupils explain this is helping both their enjoyment of school life and their self-confidence.  The governance of the school:  Governors are committed to the school and passionate about supporting leaders to ensure the school improves. In effective partnership with the local authority, they have steered the school with a steady hand during the recent unsettled period. They are aware that some teaching is now good but that overall it requires improvement. They have a secure understanding of pupils’ overall achievement, but lack some detail about progress made by different groups within school. They are well informed about how the pupil premium fund is being spent and are working with the acting headteachers to further develop procedures to monitor how well

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The leadership and management requires improvement

this fund helps pupils make better progress. The recently elected Chair of the Governing Body has organised an audit of governors’ skills. This shows what is working well and which aspects of governance require further improvement. Further training has been organised to meet these aspects. The governing body ensures safeguarding arrangements are met and that pupils are kept safe.

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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 121452 Local authority North Yorkshire Inspection number 425836

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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 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 93 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Lucy Hudson Headteacher Louise Partridge Date of previous school inspection 17 January 2012 Telephone number 01653 658236 Fax number 01653 658236 Email address admin@langton.n-yorks.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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