Leighton Primary and Preschool

Leighton Primary School Orton Malborne, Peterborough, PE2 5PL

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Requires improvement 3 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

 The headteacher, with good support from senior leaders and governors, is providing strong leadership in making rapid improvements. Together, they have raised pupils’ achievement since the previous inspection by improving the quality of teaching. Links with parents have been strengthened and the school continues to improve.  Leaders, staff and governors are promoting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development effectively. The school is preparing pupils well for life in modern Britain.  Pupils behave well around the school and in lessons. Their attitudes to learning are good. Pupils’ attendance has improved year-on-year and is now average. They arrive punctually and are well prepared for lessons.  The school promotes pupils’ safety well. Staff fully implement all policies and procedures to promote the safety and well-being of pupils.  Teachers have high expectations of how much pupils will learn in a lesson and over time.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Teaching assistants provide good support for pupils by breaking tasks down into small achievable steps and clarifying any misunderstandings.  Leaders have successfully addressed the causes of previous underachievement. Most pupils, in all year groups, are now making good progress and are well-prepared for secondary education.  Good leadership of the early years has resulted in good teaching and good achievement. Staff promote children’s well-being effectively so they feel safe and are happy in school.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Occasionally, teachers provide all pupils with the same tasks, which a few find too difficult and others too easy.  Teachers do not always tell pupils how to improve their work, especially on deepening their reasoning skills in mathematics.  Subject leaders are not rigorous enough in checking that teachers implement the school’s marking consistently.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors visited 19 lessons to look at the impact of teaching on pupils’ learning. They saw nearly all teachers teach and carried out nine of these observations jointly with the headteacher.  Inspectors looked at samples of pupils’ work, including that from children in the early years, and heard some pupils read.  Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, senior leaders, subject leaders, pupils, two members of the governing body and the local authority representative.  Inspectors analysed 109 responses to Parent View (Ofsted’s online questionnaire for parents).They took account of the outcomes of the school’s most recent survey of parents and spoke to parents who accompanied their children to school. Inspectors also looked at the 37 questionnaires returned by staff.  The inspectors examined a wide range of documentation including: the school’s action plan to address the areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection; the school improvement plan and the self-

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Information about this inspection

evaluation document; minutes of governing body meetings; safeguarding policies and records of training; behaviour records and attendance data; information about pupils’ progress across the school, including information about the progress children are making in the early years.

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Inspection team

Declan McCarthy, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is much larger than most primary schools.  About two thirds of the pupils are from White British backgrounds, which is below average. The other pupils come from a wide range of different ethnic backgrounds. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is above that found in most schools.  The proportion of pupils who are eligible for support from the pupil premium funding is almost double the national average. The pupil premium is additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those who are looked after by the local authority.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is above average.  A significant number of pupils enter the school at other than the usual times of admission.  Provision in the early years takes the form of two Reception classes with all children attending full-time.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards for pupils in Year 6. These are the minimum

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Information about this school

expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics.  The school no longer provides specially resourced provision for pupils with special educational needs.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so pupils make outstanding progress by making sure that:  teachers always provide pupils with tasks that take account of their abilities, so work is neither too hard nor too easy  teachers always inform pupils how to improve their work, especially in how to deepen their reasoning skills in mathematics  subject leaders rigorously check that teachers implement the school’s marking policy across the school.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher provides strong leadership and receives good support from senior leaders and governors in driving school improvement forward. School leaders have successfully addressed all areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection. Leaders have established a strong ethos of effective teaching and good behaviour throughout the school, which is enabling pupils to make good progress. Staff share the same drive for school improvement as school leaders and their morale is high.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders have developed particularly strong links with parents, who visit the school regularly to hear their children read, join mathematics lessons to look at their children’s work and take part in assemblies. Parents have responded well to the school’s work to improve pupils’ attendance. Leaders enjoy the confidence of parents, whose positive views of the school are reflected in Parent View and in their discussions with inspectors.

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The leadership and management are good

 Good leadership of teaching has led to significant improvement since the previous inspection. Rigorous and regular monitoring by school leaders and governors of the impact of teaching on pupils’ learning has eliminated weaknesses and greatly strengthened teaching. Leaders look at pupils’ work in their books, visit lessons and review the progress pupils make each half term. They use the outcomes of this monitoring to identify strengths in teaching and any areas of weakness. Leaders provide support where necessary and this has led to good teaching over time.

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The leadership and management are good

 The management of teachers’ performance is good. Teachers’ targets are linked the headteacher’s targets for raising achievement and improving teaching. Leaders review these regularly with staff. Consequently, pupils’ progress over time and the quality of teaching are continuously improving.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders who are responsible for different aspects of the school’s work are effective. Subject leaders have implemented the new national curriculum carefully. Topics, such as castles, are well chosen to stimulate learning. There is a strong emphasis on developing the basic skills of reading, writing and mathematics. The new computing curriculum is developing well. There are carefully planned trips based on topics to stimulate learning, particularly writing. For example, pupils visited London to see a production of War Horse as part of their topic on the war and visited Warwick Castle as part of their topic on castles. These visits resulted in improvements in pupils’ writing because they gave pupils greater insight into the topics.

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The leadership and management are good

 Subject leaders are on the way to implementing the new system of assessment. They look at pupils’ books on a regular basis but are not rigorous enough in checking how well teachers implement the marking policy in their subjects to enable all pupils to make good progress.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders and other staff promote pupils’ spiritual, moral social and cultural development well, including their understanding of British values. Pupils study the impact of man on the environment, for example, exploring issues of fair trade and climate change. Pupils learn to respect others and value differences in faith and culture through well-chosen topics in religious education and personal, social and health education. They reflect on spiritual values of peace, love and hope. Pupils are taught specific topics about British values of freedom, tolerance, equality and respect for the rule of law.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leadership of the early years is good and has led to good teaching, strong links with parents and well- planned opportunities to ensure children make good progress in all areas of learning. Consequently, children’s achievement is good.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders promote equality of opportunity well. This is reflected in the good progress all pupils are now making from their different starting points. Leaders tackle any form of discrimination well and promote good relationships among pupils across the school. There have been no incidents of racism and very few incidents of bullying recorded since the previous inspection.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders use pupil premium funds well to provide additional support for disadvantaged pupils. The funding is helping pupils to achieve as well as their classmates, which is helping to narrow the gap between their attainment and that of their classmates and other pupils’ nationally.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders are using primary sports funding well to increase the range of sporting activities, including after- school clubs for pupils, and provide additional coaching. This has led to greater enjoyment and participation in sports and improved teachers’ skills in teaching physical education.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority knows the school well through frequent visits and provides good levels of support and challenge. It regularly reviews the impact of the school’s work on pupils’ achievement and provides training and support for staff and governors.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders ensure that the school meets all statutory requirements for safeguarding and promotes pupils’ safety and well-being effectively. Leaders rigorously assess any potential risk to pupils’ safety, checking thoroughly the suitability of staff and visitors to work with children. They make sure all policies and training in safeguarding are up to date.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governors have fully implemented their action plan to strengthen their role, following the external review of governance after the previous inspection. They now provide good support and challenge to senior leaders, for example, through closer monitoring of the school’s work and frequent focused visits.  Governors have a good knowledge of data and use this well to hold the school to account for its additional spending on pupil premium and primary sports funding to ensure good value for money. They receive detailed reports on the school’s work, particularly on the impact of teaching on pupils’ learning and progress. Governors use all of this information to form an accurate view of the quality of teaching.  Governors have steered the development of good arrangements for managing the performance of the headteacher and staff, by linking targets to whole-school priorities for improving teaching and raising

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The leadership and management are good

achievement. They ensure good teaching is rewarded and tackle any underperformance.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. They respond well to teachers’ expectations. Teachers manage pupils’ behaviour well by applying rewards and sanctions consistently and fairly. Parents, staff and pupils say that behaviour is usually good.

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Behaviour

 Pupils have good attitudes to learning. They listen attentively to teachers, follow instructions well and try hard. Pupils take a pride in their work and nearly always present it neatly. They readily complete their homework tasks.

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Behaviour

 Pupils’ attendance is broadly average and has improved year-on-year. Pupils are punctual and well prepared for lessons.

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Behaviour

 Pupils maintain good relationships with one another and are polite and courteous to staff and visitors. Their good behaviour and positive attitudes to learning have a good impact on their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils’ awareness of the school’s values helps them to show kindness and consideration for others.

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Behaviour

 Children in the early years are well-behaved, and are settled into their routines. They are learning to share and take turns.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Leaders and governors ensure that the school grounds and premises are safe and secure. Pupils say they feel safe in school and can go to any adult if there feel worried about anything. Parents, pupils and staff agree that pupils are safe.  The school carries out all required checks on the suitability of staff and visitors to work with children. Staff make sure that all potential risks for activities in and out of school, are thoroughly checked, with measures put in place to eliminate or reduce any such risks.

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Safety

 Pupils know how to stay safe, especially when using the internet, and use the computers safely. They play safely in the playground and abide by the rules of fair play in team games. Pupils move safely from one area of the school to another and handle tools and equipment carefully.

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Safety

 Pupils have a good knowledge of the harmful effects of smoking, drugs and alcohol on health. Parents are most grateful for the high levels of care and support they receive from the school when they are experiencing difficulties. They greatly appreciate the ‘extra mile’ the school goes to ensuring the well- being and happiness of their children.

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Safety

 Pupils and parents say that bullying is very rare and if it occurs it is always dealt with very quickly. Pupils have a good awareness of the different types of bullying such as cyber-bullying. There have been few recorded incidents of bullying and none of racial harassment of any kind in recent years.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The work in pupils’ books and the school’s information about the progress pupils are making in all year groups demonstrate that teaching is good. This was confirmed in visits to lessons during the inspection.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers’ high expectations were clear in many lessons. For example, in a Year 1 lesson the teacher challenged pupils to use powerful adjectives, separating them with commas in their writing about castles, following their visit to Warwick Castle. In a Year 6 mathematics lesson the teacher provided extremely challenging work as pupils presented and interpreted their survey data on a pie chart.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching assistants support pupils’ learning well, particularly those who require additional help, such as those with disabilities and special educational needs, disadvantaged pupils, those who started school late and those who are learning English as an additional language. Teaching assistants break tasks down into smaller achievable steps, so that pupils do not have too many concepts to cope with at the same time. They also clarify any misunderstandings particularly in relation to the meaning of technical words. This helps these pupils make good progress.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers’ marking of pupils’ work has improved since the previous inspection. They usually inform pupils of how to improve their work but occasionally this opportunity is missed. This is especially the case in showing pupils how to deepen their reasoning skills in mathematics, for example, by checking their answers using inverse operations.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The basic skills of literacy and numeracy are taught well. Teachers use their good knowledge of phonics (the process of linking letters in words to the sounds and using this knowledge to develop reading and spelling) to make sure pupils use these skills in reading and writing. Teachers are providing more opportunities for pupils to use and apply their mathematical skills in solving problems.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Pupils’ books show that, occasionally, teachers provide all pupils with the same learning tasks, which a few find too difficult and others too easy. This slows the progress of the least- and most- able pupils.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children enter the early years with knowledge, skills and understanding that are below those typical for their ages, especially in communication, language and literacy, in personal, social and emotional development and in physical development. In 2014, the majority of children reached a good level of development by the end of Reception and all children made good progress in all areas of learning from their different starting points on entry.  Fewer pupils than average in Year 1 reached the expected standard in the phonics screening check in 2014. All of these pupils who are now in Year 2 have reached the standard. Improved teaching of phonics has resulted in improved standards for pupils currently in Year 1, which are now broadly average.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Attainment in 2014, at the end of Year 2, was broadly in line with the national average in reading and writing, and above average in mathematics. Attainment has risen since the previous inspection. Pupils’ work in their books and the school’s accurate data show that current pupils are making good progress in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In 2014, pupils in Year 6 reached standards below those of other pupils nationally. They made insufficient progress in reading, writing and mathematics over time from their below average starting points in Year 2. This was because they made too little progress when they were in Years 3 and 4. Nevertheless, the school’s data shows that these pupils made good progress in Years 5 and 6 as a result of improvements in teaching. These improvements in teaching have also had an impact in other years. The work in pupils’ books and the school’s accurate assessment data show that progress is now good across the school.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils currently in Year 6 are making good progress from their different starting points at the end of Year 2 with higher levels of attainment than in 2014. The school’s accurate data shows that they are on course to reach at least average standards in reading, writing, mathematics, English grammar, punctuation and spelling and are well prepared for secondary education.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The most-able pupils in Year 6 did not do as well as other such pupils nationally. This was mainly due to the legacy of underachievement in earlier years. Currently, the most-able pupils across the school are making good progress from their starting points. In the current Year 6, school assessments show that many more of these pupils are on track to reach the higher levels in national assessments.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs did not all make good progress relative to their starting points in previous years, as shown by national assessments in 2014. They are now all making at least expected progress in reading, writing and mathematics because of the good support they receive from teaching assistants.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In 2014, the attainment of disadvantaged pupils in Year 6 was four terms behind other pupils nationally and one term behind their classmates in mathematics. Their attainment in reading was approximately three and a half terms behind other pupils nationally and two terms behind their classmates. Their attainment in writing was approximately four terms behind other pupils nationally and three terms behind their classmates. These gaps widened from those in 2013, mainly because of the weak progress made by the pupils when they were in Years 3 and 4. The school’s accurate data shows that currently, disadvantaged pupils are making good progress in reading writing and mathematics with the gaps narrowing between their attainment and other pupils nationally in all subjects.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils who arrive at the school, other than at the usual times are making good progress from their different starting points. The good support provided for their needs enables them to catch up quickly.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils who are learning English as an additional language and those from other ethnic backgrounds are making equally good progress as their classmates because they benefit from good support for their learning.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils make good progress in different subjects such as science, computing, art and music. They make good progress in physical education, exercising vigorously and staying fit at break times and in after- school clubs, such as tag rugby, netball, dodge ball and multisport.

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The early years provision is good

 Since the previous inspection, good leadership has strengthened links with parents, who are more involved in their children’s learning. Leaders have ensured that children are always safe and well cared for. The early years leader has ensured that all children are making good progress from their different starting points as a result of good teaching.

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The early years provision is good

 Staff are well trained in all aspects of early years work. For example, most staff trained in paediatric first aid and leaders ensure that the school’s good procedures to safeguard the safety and well-being of children are implemented. As a result, high levels of staff supervision and engagement in children’s activities ensure that children are always safe. Children are well behaved indoors and outdoors. They enjoy school and are eager to start their activities.

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The early years provision is good

 Teaching is good and teaching assistants provide good support for children’s learning. Staff make good use of the interactive white board, for example, to develop children’s physical skills and creative development as they watched, sang and moved to a karaoke tune. Adults also used this equipment well to display images to generate sentences and promote language using phonics. Teaching assistants work well with a small number of children in using plastic letters to form the words ‘sure’ and ‘manure’, following the teaching of these sounds using the interactive white board. Children were also encouraged to trace initial sounds in the air. A few children with weak pencil control were only able to make a few marks on paper when they entered the Reception class. Now they write clearly formed letters in simple words with finger spacing in between each word and keeping the words on the line.

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The early years provision is good

 Staff provide a variety of interesting and stimulating activities to develop children's curiosity about the world around them. They look at the life cycles of the frog, butterfly and chick, for example, by watching tadpoles hatch from frogspawn and develop into frogs. They also incubated a fertile hen’s egg and saw the chick hatching from the shell, watching it grow and develop.

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The early years provision is good

 The school’s records of the small steps of progress children are making in each area of learning show that children are making good progress in all areas of learning, especially in their communication and language skills, physical development, confidence, and literacy and numeracy skills. The majority of children are continuing to achieve good levels of development as they have done in recent years and are well prepared for Year 1.

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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 110743 Local authority Peterborough Inspection number 462049

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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 388 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair David Farrelly Headteacher Hayley Sutton Date of previous school inspection 16 July 2013 Telephone number 01733 232949 Fax number 01733 237059 Email address hsutton@leighton.peterborough.sch.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

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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