Langdon Primary School

Langdon Primary School East Langdon, Dover, Kent CT15 5JQ

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 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:

 Pupils’ attainment varies too much between subjects and too few reach higher levels, particularly in writing, by the time they leave the school.  There is not enough effective teaching. The pace of learning in some lessons is too slow. Pupils’ work in Reception and Key Stage 1 is not always challenging enough.  Teaching is not addressing the gaps in some pupils’ phonics skills (knowledge of letters and the sounds they make) quickly enough.  Teachers do not consistently ensure pupils develop good spelling, punctuation and handwriting.  Teaching requires improvement because pupils’ progress is not consistently well sustained from their starting points. Sometimes, pupils’ work is too hard or too easy.  Pupils do not always concentrate as well as they should or take enough pride in their work. Too often, presentation is untidy and some work is incomplete.  The pace of improvement since the previous inspection has not been fast enough.

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

 Leaders’ checks on teaching have not been thorough enough to ensure all groups of pupils make good progress.  Leaders’ plans and actions have not resulted in consistently good achievement and teaching.

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The school has the following strengths:

 More-able and middle-attaining pupils in Key Stage 2 achieve well in reading.  The school is a welcoming community where pupils from different backgrounds get on well together.  Pupils are kept and feel entirely safe. They are happy and most conduct themselves well around the school and in lessons.  The primary school sports funding is used very well to enhance the skills of staff and broaden sporting opportunities for pupils.  Governors are knowledgeable and supportive. They challenge school leaders about how well pupils are doing and hold the school to account well.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed nine lessons, some of which were jointly observed with the headteacher.  Discussions were held with groups of pupils and the inspector listened to a sample of them read and looked at a range of their work.  Meetings were held with members of the governing body, school leaders, teachers and a local authority representative.  The inspector considered the 33 responses to the online Parent View survey and the few letters sent by parents and carers. She also spoke informally to a few parents and carers.  The inspector considered responses to the nine questionnaires returned by staff.  The school’s work was observed and data on attainment and progress examined. The inspector looked at a number of documents, including plans for improvement, safeguarding arrangements, records relating to behaviour and attendance, and records of school leaders’ observations of teaching.

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Inspection team

Eileen Chadwick, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is much smaller than the average-sized primary school although the number on roll has risen since the last inspection.  Children in Year R/1/2 are taught in one class by two teachers.  Almost all pupils are White British with very few pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds. The proportion who speak English as an additional language is average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is above average. The proportion at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is also above average.  The proportion of pupils eligible for pupil premium funding, which is additional funding provided for looked after children, pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and children from service families, is average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations

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Information about this school

for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The number of pupils who join the school other than at the normal time is well above average.  The school runs before and after-school clubs..

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching and increase the proportion of pupils making typically good progress by ensuring that:  teachers consistently give children in Reception stimulating learning opportunities for reading, writing and mathematics  more-able pupils are challenged in their work in Reception and Key Stage 1 and the pace of learning quickens to enable pupils to make more rapid progress  teachers teach literacy at the right level of difficulty and make sure pupils consistently apply their skills in phonics when reading and writing  teachers make sure all pupils fully concentrate and always present high-quality work.  Raise pupils’ overall levels of attainment and speed up their progress in reading, writing and mathematics by:  increasing the proportions reaching the higher levels throughout the school  improving all pupils’ spelling, handwriting and punctuation, and lower-attaining pupils’ ability

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

to write in sentences  closing the gaps in lower-attaining pupils’ phonics skills, ensuring they practise their sounds before reading their books and that they are heard reading very regularly.  Improve the leadership of teaching and learning by:  ensuring the checks made by school leaders identify the impact of teaching on how well different groups are learning so that the quality of teaching improves  making sure that school policies and procedures are consistently carried out  raising teachers’ expectations of what constitutes good and better progress and ensuring teachers’ performance measures show clear targets  sharpening the school improvement plan so that leaders can more readily evaluate the success of actions for promoting good and better progress.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Achievement requires improvement because many pupils do not make good progress, particularly in writing and there are wide gaps in the phonics skills of some lower-attaining pupils and others in the school.  Children’s attainment on entry to Reception is broadly as expected overall. A minority join the school with more advanced skills while some children have weakness in their personal development and communication skills, and a few are at early stages of speaking English.  Children’s attainment remains broadly average at the end of Reception. Their progress slows in Reception when they play and learn independently because their reading, writing and mathematics activities are not consistently challenging.  Pupils’ progress continues to require improvement through the rest of the school. Pupils’ attainment at the end of Year 2 remains average overall, including in reading, writing and mathematics. At the end of Reception and Year 2, fewer pupils attain higher levels than should

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

because their work is sometimes too easy.  In Key Stage 2, pupils’ attainment has fluctuated. In recent years it has been only average in writing and mathematics yet above average in reading. Individual pupils’ attainment has varied too much between subjects, especially at higher levels. For example, in 2013 national tests for Year 6 pupils, two thirds attained higher levels in reading, a half did so in mathematics but only one third did so in writing.  Pupils write for a range of purposes across the curriculum but, on occasions, weaker spelling, punctuation and grammar for pupils of all abilities impair their progress in writing. Pupils’ handwriting is too often untidy and some pupils do not make enough progress in joining their letters. Lower-attaining pupils do not develop their ability to write in sentences as systematically as they should.  In its steps to improve pupils’ phonics attainment, the school has recently introduced phonics

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

teaching throughout the school. Inspection indicates some improvement for the current Year 1 pupils. However, lower-attaining pupils in Key Stage 1 are not given enough opportunities to practise their sounds before reading to an adult, which slows their progress and causes them to read hesitantly.  In Key Stage 2, some lower-attaining pupils are not achieving well enough in reading. They have weak phonics skills and these gaps are not closing quickly enough. Their reading books are sometimes too hard and they are not heard to read to an adult regularly enough.  Well-focused support on an individual basis is given to new pupils who arrive during the year, sometimes with lower attainment because of gaps in their knowledge and skills. Small-group teaching speeds up the progress of disabled pupils, those with special educational needs and speakers of English as an additional language. However, the overall progress of these groups is

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

similar to that of their peers in that it is uneven due to lack of consistently good progress due to inconsistencies in class teaching across the school.  The achievement of pupils who receive pupil premium funding has improved over the last two years and their progress was at least in line with their peers’ in 2013. The cohorts are too small to make valid comparisons between their attainment and that of other pupils in the school. Pupils are currently achieving similarly to their peers.  More-able and middle-attaining pupils in Key Stage 2 make good progress in reading. By Year 6, these groups read avidly and are equally adept when reading for information or enjoyment. Their interest in reading is greatly enhanced through a wide range of literature including good quality class texts.  Inspection indicates a small rise in the proportion reaching higher levels in mathematics in Year 6 this year.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The quality of teaching requires improvement because it is not strong enough to make sure pupils of all abilities make good progress.  The pace of learning in some lessons is too slow, especially in Reception and Key Stage 1 and pupils do not acquire new knowledge and skills quickly enough.  In most classes, teachers do not plan well enough in literacy lessons to meet the wide range of pupils’ attainment. Sometimes work is too easy for more-able pupils, for example, in phonics lessons in Key Stage 1. On other occasions, work is too hard for the younger middle and lower- attaining pupils in the class, for example in literacy lessons in Key Stage 2.  Teachers do not always make sure that pupils apply phonics to reading and writing and this restricts their progress in reading and writing. Teachers do not always make expectations for written work clear enough and this means that pupils do not produce work of a high enough

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

standard.  In Reception, staff are quick to develop children’s communication and personal skills. While the school is improving the quality of outdoor learning there are insufficient challenging literacy and mathematical activities during both indoor and outdoor learning. Staff develop children’s knowledge and understanding well through scientific activities, for example when they learn about ‘minibeasts’.  Good use is made of other adults in the classroom; they give specific support to individuals and groups and use questioning well to promote their understanding. However, they are sometimes restricted by the activities provided by the class teacher, for example when the steps in reading and writing are too hard for lower-attaining pupils  Where learning is most effective, teachers’ careful planning ensures activities within mathematics stretch the more able and are also suitable for the learning needs of other pupils.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The quality of feedback, for example teachers’ marking, is good overall. Pupils have good opportunities to respond to the teachers’ comments and this is helping pupils to understand how they can improve their work. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 were seen to evaluate their own and each others’ progress by checking how well their work was addressing their targets for improvement.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils require improvement

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement. Most pupils conduct themselves well around the school and in class and want to learn. However, a minority of pupils do not show such good attitudes to learning.  A few pupils find it difficult to settle and become distracted when activities are too hard or too easy. Some pupils and staff expressed reservations about a few pupils’ behaviour. Lower- attaining pupils lack confidence when reading their books because they are not developing reading skills quickly enough.  Too many pupils do not take enough pride in their work. Work in their books is untidy and, in some cases, incomplete. Teachers do not consistently give pupils clear enough guidance about how they should present their work so pupils become careless and do not try their best.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils understand potentially harmful situations, including misuse of the internet and mobile phones. They know how to act if

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The behaviour and safety of pupils require improvement

something seems dangerous and know that help is on hand should they need it.  Pupils are aware of the different forms of bullying and pupils and staff agree that bullying is rare. The overwhelming majority of parents and carers who spoke to inspectors or completed Parent View agreed their children are well looked after and kept safe.  Pupils from different backgrounds relate well to one another and learn to appreciate differences in people. The school is effective in promoting good relationships and discrimination of any kind is not tolerated.  Attendance is average and has recovered from a dip last year. The school has applied stringent attendance procedures this year and is working closely with the few families who do not send their children to school as regularly as they should or take holidays during term time.  Pupils are well cared for in the breakfast and after school clubs, which provide pupils with a

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The behaviour and safety of pupils require improvement

nourishing and very welcoming start to the school day.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Leadership and management require improvement because they have not led to good teaching and good progress. School systems and policies have not been monitored effectively to ensure consistent approaches across the school, for example, for the teaching of spelling, punctuation, grammar and handwriting. This has contributed to the decline in the school’s overall effectiveness since the previous inspection.  The headteacher and middle leaders regularly check teaching by observing lessons. However, lesson checks have not consistently identified the impact of teaching on the progress made by different groups of pupils in different subjects. This prevents staff knowing exactly how they can improve their teaching to help all groups to learn.  Pupils’ progress is regularly tracked but some identified weaknesses have yet to be tackled to bring about pupils’ consistently good progress and good teaching by all staff.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 The systems to manage the performance of teachers are well established, objectives are linked to the Teachers’ Standards and there is a definite link between appraisal and any increases in salary. However, some staff are still not fully aware of what constitutes good and better progress and their performance measures do not show clear expectations for this.  The school improvement plan focuses on improving pupils’ achievement by strengthening the quality of teaching. It does not show how actions to ensure different groups make good and better progress will be evaluated, for example the teaching of phonics throughout the school.  The rise in pupils’ attainment in reading by Year 6, improvements in marking and the recent positive impact of steps taken to improve attendance show that there is the capacity to improve further.  The school is committed to ensuring equality of opportunity, although the school recognises that

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The leadership and management require improvement

there is more to be done to ensure pupils achieve consistently well in all subjects.  The curriculum is broad with opportunities for enrichment through a wide range of visits, and includes sporting activities with other schools. Pupils have good opportunities to practise their writing and mathematics skills in different subjects such as science.  Pupils’ spiritual, cultural, moral and social development is well provided for and generates their caring attitudes to one another. Pupils have good opportunities to learn about their own and other cultures.  The primary school sports funding (additional funding provided by the government to promote sport and healthy lifestyles) is being used very effectively to provide a range of physical activities for pupils and training for staff. The school has good systems to evaluate the impact of this on pupils’ and teachers’ performance.  The local authority has helped to foster good links between the group of local schools in order to

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The leadership and management require improvement

broaden teachers’ expertise and pupils’ learning experiences. Other support provided for the school has been light touch..  The governance of the school:  Governors have high expectations and are ambitious for the school. They have requested and taken part in local authority training, for example on performance data analysis. Governors hold the headteacher to account and minutes of meetings show rigorous questioning about pupils’ progress and the quality of teaching. They are fully aware that more pupils should reach higher levels than have previously done so. They rigorously monitor the progress of different groups, including the impact of pupil premium spending on pupils’ progress. They know the actions taken by leaders to improve the quality of teaching, for example new arrangements for grouping by pupils by ability for the teaching of mathematics, and how teachers’ pay is being linked to their performance. Governors set robust targets for the

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The leadership and management require improvement

performance of the headteacher and monitor the impact of financial decisions, such as those about the use of pupil premium funding and primary school sports funding. Governors have carefully monitored the school’s actions for tackling the weaknesses identified at the previous inspection and in most cases these weaknesses have been fully addressed. They ensure that statutory arrangements for safeguarding are met.

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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 118398 Local authority Kent Inspection number 441037

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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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 80 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Christine Hilson Headteacher Lynn Paylor Sutton Date of previous school inspection 22 March 2011 Telephone number 01304 852600 Fax number 01304 853343 Email address headteacher@langdon.kent.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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