Landywood Primary School

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

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Requires improvement 3 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Requires Improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Early years provision Good 2

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

 Until recently, the school’s leaders and governors had not ensured fast enough improvements in teaching and learning. As a result, though improved over the past year, pupils’ achievement has not been good since the last inspection.  Teaching over time requires improvement because previously weak teaching has presented major barriers to learning over the last three years. Although now largely resolved, this has left a marked negative impact on standards.  The standards pupils reached by the end of Year 6 in 2014 in mathematics, reading and writing were much lower than they should have been, given pupils’ abilities.  Disadvantaged pupils did much less well than other pupils nationally in the 2014 Year 6 tests, while disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs achieved less well than all other groups in the school.  The checks senior leaders make on pupils’ performance have not been sufficiently rigorous to

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

help raise standards quickly and effectively. Their judgements have sometimes been too generous, masking weaknesses.  The governors have not ensured that additional government funds to support disadvantaged pupils and physical education have been spent effectively.

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The school has the following strengths

 The quality of teaching has been consistently good in all age groups since last September. This is clearly reflected in the work in pupils’ books. In particular, the marking of pupils’ work is often excellent.  Pupils of all abilities who are currently in the school are now making good progress in lessons, although older pupils, in particular, are still catching up on previously lost ground.  The new team of ‘phase’ leaders, responsible for different age groups, are tracking and supporting pupils’ learning accurately and effectively.  Pupils’ attitudes to learning are good. They are kept very safe in school.  The school works very effectively with families. This has led to improved attendance.  Children in the Nursery and Reception classes make a good start to their learning. Teaching for this age group has been more stable than in the other age groups, and has been good for much longer.  The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social

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The school has the following strengths

and cultural development very effectively, through its ingrained culture of tolerance and respect.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed parts of 25 lessons, four of which were seen jointly with the headteacher and a phase leader. They looked at the work in many pupils’ books throughout Years 3, 4, 5 and 6. They also listened to pupils in Years 1 and 2 reading.  Inspectors conducted informal and formal meetings with pupils. They talked to parents, teachers, senior staff, governors and a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors took account of the 12 responses to the staff questionnaire, 11 responses to the online questionnaire for parents, Parent View, and the summary of a recent survey of parents’ views conducted by the school.  Inspectors looked at many different school documents. These included: records of meeting of the governing body; records relating to the attendance, behaviour and safeguarding of pupils; external reports from the local authority; the school’s records tracking the progress of past and current pupils’

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Information about this inspection

performance; the school’s current development plan, and evaluations of previous development plans; and records relating to the monitoring of teaching and learning.

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Inspection team

Terry McDermott, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Landywood is larger than the average-sized primary school.  The school operates morning and afternoon Nursery classes, which the children attend part time. About half of the children in Reception have previously been in the school’s Nursery.  The school is divided into phases, with two year groups in each phase. There are two classes in the early years, and three classes in each of the other phases.  Most of the pupils come from a White British background, and virtually all speak English as their first language.  An average proportion of pupils are supported by the pupil premium. This is additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those in local authority care.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is above average.  The school does not meet the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations

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Information about this school

for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  There have been a number of changes of staffing and leadership since the last inspection.  The school shares its site with a children’s centre and an independent nursery, neither of which was included in this inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching so that pupils’ progress and standards continue to rise, by:  sharing the most effective practice that already exists within the school  ensuring that work is not too easy for the pupils and that it fully engages their interest  providing more opportunities to practise newly learned skills and understanding.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen the impact of leadership and management by ensuring that:  effective support for disadvantaged pupils and less-able pupils is maintained so that their currently improved rates of progress are sustained  leaders’ evaluation of the school’s effectiveness focuses on the impact of teaching over time on the progress and attainment of the pupils.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium and the additional funding for primary physical education should be undertaken in order to assess how these aspects of leadership and management may be improved.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leadership and management require improvement because the changes made to reverse the decline in standards at this school have only recently taken effect.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Senior leaders have an overly positive view of the school’s overall effectiveness. This is because their evaluation of the school’s performance does not focus on the impact of teaching over time on the progress and attainment of the pupils.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The pupil premium has not been used well. The funding has not been specifically directed towards supporting those pupils for whom it is intended. Until recently, this led to disadvantaged pupils not receiving the support they should. Gaps in attainment had been widening, although the school’s accurate tracking data shows that, from the start of the autumn term 2014, this is no longer the case.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Additional funding for primary physical education is used well to encourage healthy lifestyles for pupils, but not well enough to increase the skills of teachers. Pupils are taught by a specialist teacher and enjoy their intensive activity. The class teachers, however, are not actively engaged in increasing their teaching skills, being used instead in a more supervisory role.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs have, until recently, not been supported well enough. The special educational needs coordinator has taken assertive and successful action to rapidly resolve this.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The headteacher has cleared away barriers to learning by moving staff on. This has enabled the transformation of the quality of teaching in the school over the past year. As a consequence, morale has risen and there is an obvious team spirit amongst adults, who are now working more effectively for the benefit of the children.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The current good leadership of teaching, which directly involves the strong team of phase leaders, has successfully improved learning this year and accelerated progress throughout the school. These leaders check closely on the quality of learning in their phases, and provide clear feedback on what could be done more effectively. This has led to marked improvements in the quality of day-to-day learning in lessons, and increased progress since September 2014.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school’s curriculum is good. Though still applying a strong focus on helping pupils to recover previously lost ground in mathematics, reading and writing, the school has moved positively towards a themed approach to learning. For example, a recent theme of ‘The Stone Age’ has led to thoughtful and creative historical, geographic and artistic work in all phases of the school. This has captured pupils’ interest and sparked their imagination, and is leading to an enthusiasm for getting thoughts down onto paper.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school is moving steadily towards a new way of measuring pupils’ progress over time, in response to the national changes being made to assessment arrangements.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school makes effective arrangements for safeguarding. Current statutory requirements are met. Senior staff are well qualified, policies and protocols are strictly adhered to, and always with the best interests of the child at the fore. This very strong aspect of the school’s work is appreciated by the pupils and recognised by parents. It underpins the school’s strongly held moral code of fairness, tolerance, and a safe environment for all.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The headteacher works very effectively to ensure that pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. The pervasive atmosphere of calmness, fair play and understanding the point of view of others begins in the early years and continues through the school to Year 6. Pupils know that any discrimination will be tackled head on. This ensures that pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.  The local authority has provided good support and guidance for the school in recent times. It has arranged support from outside specialists; for example, in guided reading, providing challenge in mathematics, and training for phase leaders.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  The governing body has, until recently, not done enough to challenge leaders over the education the school provides or on the achievement of pupils. Since recently reconstituting, the governing body is much more aware of the real position the school has been in, and now regularly asks questions about how much progress different groups of pupils are making. Governors are directly involved in the work of the school, and have undertaken training to enable them to carry out their roles more effectively.  Governors now have a good understanding of the information available to them about pupils’ achievement and are using it to ask suitably challenging questions about the quality of learning throughout the school. They see to it that good teaching is rewarded by increases in pay. They also know that if staff underperform they are supported by phase leaders to improve. They now oversee the

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The leadership and management requires improvement

school’s use of additional funding for disadvantaged pupils and sports with a rigour that was previously missing.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. This is the case in lessons and around the school. Pupils have a clear understanding of what is expected of them, and they nearly always live up to these high standards because they know the reasons why they should.

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Behaviour

 In some lessons, pupils demonstrate outstanding attitudes to learning. This is not always the case, particularly when teaching fails to challenge pupils or fully hold their interest. However, they respond positively to challenge, and often collaborate productively to deepen their learning.

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Behaviour

 On a small number of occasions, there are lapses in behaviour when pupils do not live up to the standards of behaviour the school expects. Records of these incidents show that they are thoroughly and effectively followed up, and that pupils’ behaviour improves as a result.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. Pupils feel very safe and have been taught how to keep themselves safe. For example, during the inspection, an unexpected fire alarm cleared the building in about two minutes, and a Year 1 pupil being heard reading by an inspector, said immediately on hearing the alarm, ‘I have to go now’ – and left.

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Safety

 Adults have a clear and shared understanding of safeguarding procedures. Communications between adults about matters relating to safety and safeguarding are strong, and encouraged by designated staff.

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Safety

 Attendance is broadly average. Children want to come to school because they are happy, know they are safe, and enjoy exciting lessons. Children arrive on time for lessons. Parents are welcomed into school and teachers at all levels engage in constructive conversations with them. The school works closely and successfully with the hardest to reach families of the community it serves. In this way, it has been successful in improving attendance.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching has not been good enough for long enough. Although inadequate teaching has been eliminated, there are still some lessons where pupils do not learn enough. This is particularly the case when teachers set work that is mundane or too easy. On these occasions, pupils’ attention wanders. Pupils begin to fidget when they are not fully occupied.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The work in pupils’ books shows that the teaching of writing and mathematics is now good throughout the school, and that progress is good in these subjects. This has been the case since September 2014 and represents a stark improvement on previous years. Conversations with pupils about guided reading, and listening to younger pupils read, provide evidence of equally good teaching of reading.  Pupils know what they are expected to learn in lessons. Teachers often ask them to explain their reasoning or their thoughts, and they usually concentrate well on tasks they are given.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The large majority of teachers show that they have good subject knowledge. This gives many of them the confidence to explore pupils’ ideas fully to deepen understanding throughout the class.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Pupils of different abilities are normally set work that stretches them appropriately. This ensures that the most and least able pupils in the same class are able to learn well. This was seen to excellent effect in a Year 3 lesson on making Stone Age pottery. The teacher subtly inspired the pupils to compile a list of actions and materials, using the incentive of making a pot themselves later in the day. Every pupil engaged fully, absolutely focused on the teacher’s very simple demonstration. No pupil realised they were each actually completing a piece of ordered writing, or developing their vocabulary. Learning was obvious and rapid for every pupil in the room.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Pupils are given excellent feedback on their work, and often follow up the comments made by teachers when they mark their work.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Relationships between pupils and adults are good, based on the very strong ethos of respect that pervades the school. Teaching assistants provide good support to pupils because they are clear about their role.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils’ achievement has been inadequate for the last two years, having fallen back after the last inspection, but it is now recovering.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 In the national tests in 2014, the standards reached by pupils leaving Year 6 in mathematics, reading and writing were below the minimum national expectation. Pupils were almost three terms behind the national average in mathematics, almost two and half terms behind in reading, and more than one and half terms behind in writing. The proportion of pupils making and exceeding expected progress in mathematics, reading and writing did not compare favourably with national averages.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The progress made by the end of Year 6 in 2014 by disadvantaged pupils was slower than the average for other pupils in the school. Their attainment was one and a half terms behind their classmates in writing, two terms behind in mathematics, and three terms behind in reading. When compared with pupils nationally, disadvantaged pupils were around a year behind in writing, and more than a year and a half behind in reading and mathematics. However, evidence in pupils’ books and in the school’s records indicate that gaps are now closing rapidly.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 There is clear evidence in pupils’ books that achievement in reading, writing and mathematics has improved markedly throughout the school since September 2014.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Attainment at the end of Year 2 has been broadly average in reading, writing and mathematics for the last two years.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils are developing their reading skills well through well planned and organised guided reading lessons. Pupils are now developing their mathematical skills well, and are being provided with many opportunities to apply them in different subjects throughout the school.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Many Year 6 pupils are writing fluently, and with correct grammar and punctuation. The school’s predictions, which were accurate for Year 6 in 2014, are indicating much-improved results in the 2015 end-of-year tests, although attainment at the end of Year 6 is still expected to be below average because the older pupils still have a long way to go to catch up on past underachievement.  The most-able pupils are consistently set challenging work in lessons and are making good progress as a result.  Pupils who are disabled or have special educational needs are now supported well throughout the school and are making good progress in relation to their starting points.

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The early years provision is good

 Only around half of the children join the Reception Year having previously attended the Nursery. Children join Reception from a range of settings, and sometimes have no previous experience of a Nursery environment. Their skills and knowledge are often below the levels typical for their age. Some children have very little experience of working and playing together with other children.

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The early years provision is good

 Children benefit from well-taught activities that are carefully planned, taking full account of their abilities and interests in a well-resourced and an interesting environment. By the end of the Reception Year, an average proportion of children have reached a good level of development. This represents good progress in relation to the children’s starting points, and it means that the children are well prepared for Year 1.

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The early years provision is good

 Staff place a strong emphasis on helping children to learn how to get on together, and they quickly settle into calm routines, sharing toys and equipment in a polite and friendly manner. This is laying strong foundations for later years.

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The early years provision is good

 Throughout the early years provision, the same rigorous attention to safeguarding is paid as found in the main school.

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The early years provision is good

 Adults engage children in conversation, encouraging then to explain their thoughts and reasoning. This builds and extends children’s vocabulary and underpins the learning of phonics (the sounds that letters make) as preparation for reading.

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The early years provision is good

 Leadership and management of the early years are good. The phase leader has extensive knowledge of every child in the setting. She works closely with her team to ensure that this knowledge is used to enable all children to succeed.

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The early years provision is good

 Parents are very pleased with the way the school cares for their children. As part of the school’s ‘Stay and Play’ scheme in the Nursery, they visit classes regularly when their children first start so that they can help them settle quickly. With ‘Stay and Learn’, this continues into Reception so that parents can see firsthand how their children learn, and are then better able to support them at home.

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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 failing

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Grade Judgement Description

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 453500

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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 319 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Ian Gregorelli Headteacher John Withers Date of previous school inspection 26 February 2013 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 and 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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