Landau Forte Academy Greenacres

Landau Forte Academy Greenacres Levett Road, Amington, Tamworth, B77 4AB

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected This inspection: Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Early years provision Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Senior leaders and governors have brought about rapid improvements in teaching, learning and pupils’ behaviour since the academy opened.  The improvements are continuing apace because leaders’ expectations of staff and pupils are high and teaching is good.  Pupils achieve well. They make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics as well as in other subjects. They thoroughly enjoy learning and are eager to succeed.  A well-taught range of stimulating activities in the early years means that reception-aged children make good progress. Staff prepare them well for their work in Year 1.  Governors and the academy trust support leaders well in ensuring that they will not lose pace in the drive to make the academy outstanding.  Behaviour is good and pupils are reflective and caring. They talk about how the good behaviour of other pupils influences their own and say that it is important to be able to manage feelings.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leaders ensure that pupils are safe and looked after well. Pupils say they feel very safe at school. They know how to keep themselves safe, including when using the internet.  The vast majority of parents are pleased with their children’s education and say they would recommend the academy to another parent. The staff do much to involve parents in their children’s learning and progress.  The well-planned curriculum places a strong emphasis on teaching pupils about British values and life in modern Britain. Pupils have a good understanding of both.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Although pupils make good overall progress in writing, spelling mistakes and untidy handwriting often undermine the standard of their work.  Teachers’ marking and feedback do not always give pupils clear guidance on how to improve their work.  Beyond English and mathematics, the roles of subject leaders are underdeveloped.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed learning in parts of 22 sessions. Senior leaders joined inspectors for four of these observations.  Inspectors sampled sessions where phonics (the sounds that letters make) were being taught. They analysed the work in pupils’ books and talked to pupils formally and informally about their work and about the academy. They observed pupils’ behaviour at play and lunchtime and listened to some pupils read.  Inspectors considered the views of the 45 parents who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire Parent View. They gained the views of parents directly as they brought their children to school, and took account of the comments made in two emails from parents.  Inspectors also considered the 24 responses to the questionnaire for staff.  Inspectors scrutinised a wide range of documentation, including the academy’s data on current pupils’ progress, its self-evaluation document and its improvement plan. They evaluated other planning and

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Information about this inspection

monitoring documents, including those relating to teaching, safeguarding, behaviour and attendance.  Inspectors held discussions with senior and other leaders, the chair of governors, various members of staff and the chief executive of the academy trust.

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Inspection team

Doris Bell, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The academy opened in September 2013, sponsored by the Landau Forte Academy Trust. It is larger than the average-sized primary school. This is its first inspection.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is above average.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium is average. This funding is for looked-after children and those known to be eligible for free school meals.  Almost all pupils are from White British backgrounds.  The academy meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  Reception-aged children attend school full time. They are taught in two classes. There are also two classes in each of Years 1 to 6.  The academy has breakfast and after-school clubs and a holiday club.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of pupils’ writing by:  ensuring that teachers focus on improving pupils’ spelling and handwriting  extending the excellent guidance in marking and feedback provided by some teachers, to all classes so that all pupils are consistently clear about how to improve their work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Give subject leaders suitable training so they have the skills they need to be able to improve the quality of teaching and learning in their subjects.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders and managers have high expectations of staff and pupils. The Principal, ably supported by the Vice Principal, has established strong teamwork among the staff, wholly focused on helping pupils to do as well as they can. She has created an atmosphere in which staff have clear direction and pupils can develop well, academically and personally.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders’ accurate awareness of the academy’s strengths and weaknesses informs the priorities in the academy improvement plan, and subsequently the targets set for staff and pupils. Senior leaders manage teachers’ performance well and hold them firmly to account for their pupils’ progress. They arrange further guidance, support and training to help improve teaching and learning when necessary.

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The leadership and management are good

 The leadership of English and mathematics is good. Staff are using new systems well to assess and track pupils’ progress that take good account of changes to the national curriculum. Leadership is underdeveloped in other subjects. However, subject leaders have had a say in planning the new curriculum, and have begun to check work in pupils’ books.

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The leadership and management are good

 The curriculum is good. Pupils understand the relevance of what they are learning about because they have a say in it and can see the purpose of it. Therefore, they are motivated to learn. Pupils can see how what they learn in one subject can help in another. A good range of visits, visitors and additional activities add to pupils’ interest in and enjoyment of learning.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders ensure that pupils of all abilities and backgrounds can make good progress and staff teach pupils that discrimination of any sort is wrong. The new curriculum promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. For example, they learn about democracy through voting for school council representatives and helping to make decisions about their learning and about how to improve the academy. The academy made good use of the general election to promote such learning further.

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The leadership and management are good

 The trust both supports and challenges the academy’s leaders well. It also checks to make sure the academy is promoting British values and challenges the leaders robustly to make sure that staff are making pupils aware of the signs and dangers of radicalisation and extremism, at an appropriate level. The academy prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain. Staff teach pupils about different faiths and cultures and how they influence people’s lives. Pupils recognise that through such learning, they get to know more about, and therefore respect, the diversity of culture that makes Britain what it is today.

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The leadership and management are good

 The leaders responsible for ensuring that the most and least able pupils achieve well are doing an effective job. As a result more pupils are working at higher levels this year, and disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are making faster progress.

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The leadership and management are good

 The gaps between the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and other pupils are closing this year. This is because leaders have used the pupil premium funding effectively to provide additional academic and, where relevant, personal support for the pupils. As a result, the pupils have made faster progress.

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The leadership and management are good

 The academy’s records show that pupils’ participation in sports and exercise activities have increased as a result of using the primary schools sports funding effectively. For example, training has improved teachers’ ability to teach physical education, playleaders have helped pupils to be more active at play and lunchtimes, and sports coaches have helped to open up a wider range of sports to the pupils.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders and governors make sure that the academy’s safeguarding procedures and practices, including those for child protection, are effective and meet statutory requirements. Staff have a good understanding of their role in identifying pupils at risk of harm. The staff responsible for ensuring children’s safety and well-being act quickly to support any child in need.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governance is effective. Governors visit the academy regularly and support leaders well. They are knowledgeable about data relating to pupils’ performance and know the right questions to ask to ensure that leaders are doing everything they can to improve it. They also meet with staff, pupils and parents to gather their views and ensure that the academy is meeting their needs well.  Governors know about the quality of teaching and where it is weaker or stronger. They support the headteacher in making decisions about pay related to teachers’ performance and are very clear about how senior leaders tackle any underperformance.  Governors make sure finances are used effectively to support pupils’ learning. They use their different areas of expertise well and fine-tune their skills through training.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Attendance is above average because pupils enjoy school and are eager to learn. Their good attitudes contribute to their good progress, not least because they work together well in lessons, help each other with their work and look out for each other at play and lunchtimes. They know that by doing these things they are helping to make their school better.

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Behaviour

 The academy’s detailed records of behavioural incidents show that staff follow procedures well. Pupils see the rewards and sanctions as fair. Occasionally, at lunchtimes, sanctions have to be applied because a small number of pupils sometimes cause disruption to others.

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Behaviour

 Pupils treat each other and adults with respect. They wear their uniform with pride, and take pride in their academy and in the displays of their work. This pride is not always reflected in their workbooks and especially in their handwriting, which is sometimes untidy.

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Behaviour

 Pupils have many opportunities to take responsibility for different aspects of school life, for example as playleaders and school councillors. They feel valued and say staff always listen to them. They very much enjoy opportunities to have a say in what they learn about.

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Behaviour

 The breakfast and after-school clubs give pupils a good start and end to their day. Staff are very aware of the needs and abilities of the pupils who attend them. They follow the policies laid down in the main school relating to behaviour, safety and well-being so that pupils are presented with a consistent approach at all times.

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Safety

 The academy’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils feel safe at school. They have a good understanding of different types of bullying. They report that anti-bullying work is given a high profile and includes issues relating to different aspects of e-safety such as misuse of the internet, mobile phones or social media for cyber-bullying.

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Safety

 Pupils know what to do about bullying and are confident that any adult would help them with any concerns. They say that all adults look after them well and there is always an adult to help in the playground. They know what to do in the event of an accident.

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Safety

 The site is secure, and staff make sure that they fully consider the risks associated with all activities. Pupils know that visitors are all checked and should be wearing visitors’ badges, and what to do if they are not.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is typified by high expectations for what all pupils can achieve and activities that are carefully matched to pupils’ different levels of ability. Teachers expect the most-able pupils to work faster and make faster progress. They give them much harder work to do and the pupils respond accordingly. They also brief support staff well and use them effectively in lessons to help disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs to make good progress.  Teachers organise and manage pupils’ learning and behaviour well. They use time effectively in lessons. They plan together to ensure that learning is consistent across each year group so that, over time, pupils can achieve well. All staff show and teach pupils how working together and helping each other benefit themselves, the whole school and, ultimately, society.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The teaching of literacy, reading and mathematics is good. Teachers have responded well to training and have rapidly improved standards in reading. Improvements in the teaching of phonics are helping pupils in Years 1 and 2 to read, write and spell correctly. However, spelling errors occur too often because staff do not regularly insist that pupils spell accurately in all of their written work.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In lessons, teachers quickly reshape tasks to suit pupils’ different rates of learning. Beyond lessons, teachers use information about pupils’ attainment and progress well to plan further work. Teachers always mark pupils’ work. However, teachers’ marking is not always helpful to pupils because it does not identify what they can do to improve. Nor do teachers insist that pupils write legibly so that others can read what they have written.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Many children start at the academy with skills in literacy, numeracy and personal development that are below those typical for their age. In 2014, the proportion reaching a good level of development at the end of Reception was similar to the national figure. Early indications are that this has improved this year. Children make good progress in Reception and throughout the academy. By Year 6, they achieve well.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The results of the check to test how well pupils in Year 1 understand phonics were below those found nationally in 2014. They are at a much higher level this year. The attainment of pupils currently in Year 2, who started from a particularly low level at the end of Reception, is broadly average. Pupils make good progress in Years 1 and 2. Standards were above average overall for pupils in Year 6 in 2014, although only average in reading. Currently, standards are above average in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils’ reading skills and their attitudes to reading have improved because leaders have tackled weaknesses successfully. Pupils now read widely and talk knowledgeably about books and authors. Their comprehension skills are good and they enjoy reading, both for pleasure and to find information.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The content of pupils’ writing is good and pupils use their writing skills well in different subjects. They write at length using a good range of vocabulary and with a good understanding of how to engage with their reader. Pupils in Years 3 to 6 score highly in the recently introduced spelling tests. However, they do not apply the knowledge they have gained to all of their written work, and their handwriting is sometimes illegible. These weaknesses detract from the quality of pupils’ writing.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils are becoming skilled mathematicians who know how to solve problems in different ways and how to explain methods using clear, mathematical language. Some excellent understanding of how to reason in mathematics was noted in pupils’ work in Reception, Year 2 and Year 6 as pupils deepened their understanding of division, how to interpret data, and the use of ratio and proportion in everyday situations.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The most-able pupils make good progress. The work they have to do challenges their thinking and moves their learning on quickly. Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make good progress. Teaching and support staff break down their learning into small steps that help them to show progress, including in whole-class sessions.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In 2014, disadvantaged pupils in Year 6 were approximately three-and-a-half terms behind their classmates and other pupils nationally in reading. In writing, they were approximately one term behind their classmates and half a term behind other pupils nationally. In mathematics, they were approximately two years behind their classmates and more than a year behind other pupils nationally. Leaders quickly responded with better procedures to track and improve the progress of all groups of pupils, and then checked rigorously that they were working. As a result disadvantaged pupils are now making good progress and the gaps are narrowing this year.  Pupils are enjoying the increased range of sports and exercise activities that the effective use of the primary schools sports funding has opened up for them. More pupils are now participating in lunchtime and after-school activities.

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The early years provision is good

 Good leadership and management ensure that all activities in the early years have a clear learning purpose. Teaching is good and staff prepare children well for their work in Year 1.

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The early years provision is good

 Adults give a high priority to ensuring children’s health, safety, welfare and well-being. Procedures are good, children feel safe and staff teach them how to keep themselves safe. Visitors such as the police reinforce this learning.

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The early years provision is good

 Classrooms are vibrant learning places, full of attractive displays and exciting activities that stimulate the children’s curiosity and make them want to find out more. Staff carefully observe and record how well children are learning. They use the resulting information to change existing activities or introduce new ones to help children learn better.

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The early years provision is good

 Children behave well. When working with an adult, they display much resilience as they try to achieve the goals set for them. When not working directly with an adult, they sometimes flit from one activity to another and do not stay long enough to explore and learn. Mostly, however, they listen carefully and follow instructions and routines well.

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The early years provision is good

 Staff ensure that early reading, writing and counting skills have due prominence in all activities. For example, children learned about halving and doubling as they helped to solve Old MacDonald’s problem in having to accommodate the large number of animals on his small farm. Children use their developing knowledge of phonics well to help them read, write and spell. Staff develop children’s language and subject vocabulary well.

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The early years provision is good

 Children take a real interest in how well other children are doing, sharing special moments and spontaneously clapping when someone does well. Staff successfully encourage parents to become involved in their children’s learning. They also liaise well with the many pre-school settings from which the children come to make sure they get a good start at the academy.

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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 139719 Local authority Staffordshire Inspection number 450072

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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 Academy sponsor-led Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 378 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Margaret Bell Principal Louise Bridge Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Telephone number 01827 300490 Fax number 01827 300491 Email address lbridge@lfatg.org.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . 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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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School details

to 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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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