Long Whatton Church of England Primary School and Community Centre

Long Whatton Church of England Primary School and Community Centre The Green, Long Whatton, Loughborough, LE12 5DB

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Quality of teaching Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Early years provision Outstanding 1

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The headteacher and governors have made improvements to the teaching and achievement in writing, and to the provision for the early years. The effectiveness of governance has improved considerably.  Children get off to an excellent start in the early years.  Pupils make rapid progress in reading and writing because they are taught well.  The headteacher and teachers have created a stimulating climate for learning in the school, the grounds and beyond.  Pupils behave impeccably, are safe at school and learn how to keep themselves safe.  The school is a hive of activity. A very wide range of opportunities extend and enhance the curriculum, reflecting the headteacher’s vision for the school. Pupils are always busy learning - before, during and after school.  Parents hold the school in high regard. They appreciate the ‘family atmosphere’ and the considerable commitment of the staff.  The school’s involvement in the BeSKiLD Trust, a

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

group of local schools, is helping it to continue to improve.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Pupils’ progress in mathematics is not as rapid as it is in reading and writing because sometimes they are moved on to new concepts, before they have a secure understanding.  The school’s policy for marking in mathematics is not yet well established in practice.  Pupils do not have sufficient opportunities to use their mathematical skills and to deepen their understanding in other subjects, for example, science. July 2015 2 of 10

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed learning and teaching in all three classes. He was accompanied by the headteacher on several occasions. The inspector examined pupils’ work, spoke with them in lessons and heard some pupils in Years 1 and 2 read. The inspector also visited the playground and talked to pupils to gain their views.  The inspector reviewed a range of documents, including policies about keeping pupils safe. He also examined a range of data about pupils’ progress.  The inspector held discussions with teachers, the headteacher, members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority.  The views of 37 parents from the Parent View website were analysed. The inspector also spoke to several parents at the start of the school day. The views of teaching and non-teaching staff were analysed through 14 returned questionnaires.

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Inspection team

Christopher Parker, Lead inspector Additional Inspector July 2015 3 of 10

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Information about this school

 This is much smaller than the average-sized primary school. The pupils are taught in three classes.  The children in the early years attend the Reception class full time.  Pupils in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 are taught in two mixed-age classes.  Pupils will leave the school at the end of Year 5. There is no information available to comment on floor standards because the school does not have any Year 6 pupils.  The vast majority of pupils are of White British heritage.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is below average.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium (additional government funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals or looked after by the local authority) is well below the national average.  The school is a member of the BeSKiLD Trust, which is a collaboration to support school improvement with

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Information about this school

Belton Church of England, St Botolph’s Church of England, Kegworth, and Diseworth Church of England Primary Schools.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the teaching of mathematics so that pupils make rapid progress by:  ensuring pupils have a deep and secure understanding before they are introduced to new ideas  following the school’s marking policy to identify what pupils need to do to deepen their understanding  making more effective use of opportunities to practise and extend pupils’ mathematical knowledge and skills in other subjects, such as science. July 2015 4 of 10

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The leadership and management are good

 The strong leadership of the headteacher has created an ethos where teaching is good and within which pupils successfully develop personally, socially and academically so that their behaviour is outstanding. The high priority the headteacher places on providing a wide range of opportunities to participate in outdoor activities, sport and music creates a climate where, as one parent stated, pupils ‘love coming to school and hate it if they are poorly and have to stay at home’

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The leadership and management are good

 The leadership of teaching is effective. Frequent checks on the quality of teaching underpin a constant drive to bring further improvement. Links with other local schools through the BeSKiLD Trust provide opportunities both for teachers to check the quality of teaching in other schools and for teachers from other schools to visit them. This arrangement is proving very beneficial in broadening the range of approaches used by teachers.

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The leadership and management are good

 All three teachers have a range of responsibilities. All of them make a good contribution to the leadership of the school. For example, the literacy leader has been particularly effective in the drive to raise standards. Well-focused staff training has contributed to ensuring pupils make rapid progress in writing. Measures to improve the teaching of mathematics to the same level of effectiveness have not yet been as successful.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school makes good use of pupil premium funding to provide additional support for small groups and one-to-one support. As a result, disadvantaged pupils are making progress at the same rate as their classmates. Similarly, the primary physical education and sport premium is used very effectively to extend the range of activities to include visits to the local climbing wall and an opportunity to participate in wheelchair basketball.

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The leadership and management are good

 The curriculum is broad and balanced. It is extended and enhanced by many exciting and some unusual opportunities for pupils to experience, for example, sleeping overnight in the ‘forest school’ with camp-fire stories. All Years 2, 3, 4 and 5 pupils make a residential visit each year. Pupils have many opportunities to join musical and sporting activities. All pupils are given the same opportunities to succeed.

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The leadership and management are good

 The pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted exceptionally well through the curriculum and through a very broad range of out-of-school activities. Pupils respect different cultures. For example, they visited shops in Leicester selling goods of Indian origin and a Hindu Temple. Discrimination is not tolerated. During the recent general election the older pupils learned about the democratic process. The values the school promotes, prepare pupils very well for life in modern Britain.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school’s arrangements for keeping pupils safe are very effective. They meet national requirements and take full account of the most recent guidance to schools. The headteacher and governors have taken steps, in recent years, to ensure that the school site is as safe and secure as possible.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority keeps a watchful eye on the school’s performance, using a range of data, but does not regularly visit the school.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governance is particularly effective. Steps taken to bring about improvements following the last inspection have placed the governing body in a much stronger position to hold the school to account. Governors ensure that all safeguarding arrangements are in place.  Governors know a lot about the school because they receive data and detailed information about the progress that pupils are making. They visit the school frequently to find out for themselves about the quality of teaching and how well the school is performing. They have recently scrutinised the quality of the marking of pupils’ work. Governors are fully aware of what the school does and where further improvements can be made. July 2015 5 of 10

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The leadership and management are good

 Governors ensure that the performance of all staff, including the headteacher, is managed well. Pay awards are only granted where teachers successfully meet the targets they have been set. They know how any underperformance would be tackled.  Governors keep themselves informed about the spending of the pupil premium funds and the impact this has on pupils’ performance.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. Pupils’ conduct is excellent and, at the start of every lesson, they are ready and eager to learn. This was evident, even on the hottest July day ever recorded in the United Kingdom! In conversation, pupils say how much they learn in lessons and how much they enjoy the activities that the teachers plan for them. They are very appreciative of the many opportunities they have for learning outdoors.

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Behaviour

 Pupils present their work carefully. Their handwriting is neat and their letters accurately formed. The pupils’ work, particularly in their writing books, reflects the high expectations placed upon them by their teachers. Lessons are calm and pupils concentrate fully on the task in hand.

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Behaviour

 The pupils are extremely proud of their school. The members of the school council, known as the ‘Can -Do Committee,’ are elected by their classmates. They take responsibility, for example, for organising events to raise money for playground equipment through Film Nights and non-uniform days. Older pupils greatly enjoy the responsibility of helping younger pupils with reading.

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Behaviour

 Pupils say they are happy at school. This is seen in the enjoyment they show, whether discussing how a piece of writing might be improved or playing the African Djembe drums. The support for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is very effective so that they play a full and successful part in lessons.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. The headteacher takes a very measured approach to providing the correct balance of building the pupils’ awareness of how to keep themselves safe with making sure that they are as safe as possible while at school. The headteacher completes detailed risk assessments to ensure preparations are as thorough as possible for the many interesting visits the pupils undertake and the exciting activities held in the school grounds.

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Safety

 Procedures to keep children safe are followed in full. The school carries out all the necessary checks on adults to make sure that they can work with children. Rigorous policies to keep children safe are in place, and training for all members of staff makes sure that they are fully aware of their responsibilities. For example, all members of staff have read and discussed the most recent guidance provided for schools by the Department for Education.

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Safety

 Pupils say they feel very safe at school. Conversations with pupils in the playground confirm this view. One parent summed up the views of others, saying that their children are ‘thriving, both personally and academically’. High rates of attendance reflect pupils’ enjoyment of school.

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Safety

 Pupils know about different types of bullying and are very aware of how to stay safe. They are well informed about keeping safe on the internet. In conversation, pupils say that ‘bullying isn’t allowed here’ and would have no hesitation in telling an adult should they have any concern.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Pupils respect their teachers because they set out clear and high expectations for their learning, attitudes and behaviour. They create, throughout the school, a climate for learning that is stimulating and engaging. Interesting and varied displays of sculpture, artwork, writing about visits and events illustrate July 2015 6 of 10

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The quality of teaching is good

that high quality work is valued. Teachers plan and promote learning in contexts that interest and excite pupils.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Reading is taught well. In the early years and Years 1 and 2 there is a strong emphasis on developing the children’s knowledge of phonics (the sounds that letters represent). This is built on successfully as pupils become more confident. In a guided reading lesson, older pupils were thoughtfully questioned by their teacher to ensure they understood what they were reading and to further their interest.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In writing, teachers set the pupils challenging tasks which they say they enjoy. There is a sharp focus on pupils improving their work. For example, in Years 3, 4 and 5, the teacher used the interactive whiteboard to illustrate how pupils might improve aspects of their writing. Through careful questioning, the teacher drew pupils into suggesting how they could improve their own and other’s work.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Although pupils are making good progress in mathematics, teachers do not consistently ensure that pupils have a deep and secure knowledge of mathematical concepts before introducing new ideas. Occasionally, younger pupils are set tasks that they are not fully ready to tackle. In addition, they do not have enough opportunities to develop approaches to calculations or setting out their working because, too often, it is done for them on printed worksheets.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The progress of the very few disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, and disadvantaged pupils, is very carefully tracked and analysed. As a result, these pupils benefit from small- group teaching and activities that are modified to help them to succeed.

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The quality of teaching is good

 High quality support is provided by teaching assistants for all pupils. Effective additional help by these adults also contributes to the good progress made by pupils who are disadvantaged, those who are disabled and those who have special educational needs.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Marking, in many respects, is effective. In writing, the teachers’ comments help the pupils to improve their sentence structure, grammar and punctuation. In their books it is clear to see that pupils respond positively and this improves their learning. In mathematics, however, teachers’ marking is not moving pupils’ learning forward in the same way. There are examples of marking that asks a pupil to ‘now try’ in order to deepen their understanding. However, such instances are infrequent.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils’ rapid progress in reading is based on their good knowledge of phonics. The excellent introduction the children receive in the early years is built on effectively in Years 1 and 2 so that pupils are able to tackle unfamiliar words when they encounter them. The results of the national check of pupils’ knowledge of phonics, at the end of Year 1, compare favourably with the national average.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils make rapid progress in writing. Many older pupils produce writing that is interesting to read and carefully presented. The pupils write in a range of contexts; they edit and improve their writing so that it builds towards a finished piece of work. This is currently the case in Years 3, 4 and 5 where pupils are improving their writing based on ‘Jim’ (who ran away from his Nurse and was eaten by a lion) by the poet, Hilaire Belloc.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Although pupils are making good progress in mathematics, it is not as fast as it is in reading and writing. This is evident from the information the school collects about each pupil’s progress, the work in their books and progress in lessons. Pupils are not always as secure in their knowledge and understanding as they could be, before they move on to new work. They are not given sufficient opportunities to deepen their understanding by, for example, carrying out calculations or presenting data in different ways in other subjects, such as science.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Results of tests and assessments at the end of Year 2 over the last three years, in reading, writing and mathematics, have fluctuated between pupils’ attainment being in line with the national average and their attainment being about a term ahead of pupils nationally. These variations reflect the make-up of the July 2015 7 of 10

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The achievement of pupils is good

 At the end of Year 5, the cohort is very small this year, and too small to comment on achievement without identifying individuals. The information the school collects about standards at the end of Year 5 shows that, typically, over the last three years, pupils have left the school two terms ahead of expectations in reading and writing, and one term ahead in mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The most able pupils make good progress because they are set challenges that make them think hard. The school extends the opportunities these pupils have to work at higher levels through collaboration with pupils of similar ability from other schools in the BeSKiLD Trust.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The very few disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make good progress. The very small number of older pupils, who have received additional support, have made marked steps forward to catch up with their classmates because the school meets their needs well.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 There are too few disadvantaged pupils to comment on their progress or attainment compared to their classmates in particular year groups. However, taken overall they are making good progress.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils do well in a range of subjects. Work on display shows pupils reaching a good standard in art. Their work in the style of Rousseau, Kandinsky and Alber is particularly eye catching. As a result of expert coaching by ‘the world’s tallest basketball player’, pupils are developing good catching, passing and moving skills in physical education.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 The provision for the youngest children has improved since the last inspection. They are now taught in a separate classroom. The teacher is sharply focused on preparing the children as well as possible for the future. As a result, over the last two years most of the children have reached a good level of development. They are extremely well prepared for Year 1.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 Many children start school with the skills and abilities typical for their age. A few children have weaker than expected skills in reading, writing and numbers while others have particularly strong physical development and a good understanding of the world. An analysis of the performance of the children in the Reception class over the last year shows that they have made outstanding progress.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 The teaching is outstanding. The teacher and teaching assistant share high expectations of behaviour so that the children listen well, feel confident to ask questions, and offer thoughtful answers. This was the case when they provided excellent suggestions for ‘wow’ words to describe the dinosaurs they had made. The children’s progress is continually assessed, and is recorded in great detail.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 The classroom and outdoor areas are very well organised. They are safe and secure. The outdoor area provides many opportunities for children to recognise and manage risks, so that they know how to keep themselves safe.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 Behaviour is outstanding. Children play and work extremely well together and are happy to pursue their learning through the very broad range of interesting activities planned for them. The classroom is stimulating and lively. The captivating outdoor area provides the children with excellent opportunities for extending learning in many areas, such as reading in the ‘Book Nook’.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 The early years provision is extremely well led. Excellent induction arrangements prepare children very well for starting school. Links with other schools enhance the children’s personal and social development through their involvement in a larger and more diverse group of children. This was evident in a sports activity event, extremely well organised by the early years leader, involving children from four other schools in the BeSKiLD Trust. July 2015 8 of 10

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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. July 2015 9 of 10

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School details

Unique reference number 120142 Local authority Leicestershire Inspection number 449609

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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 Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 4–10 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 61 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Stephanie Hay Headteacher Simon Perkins Date of previous school inspection 26 November 2009 Telephone number 01509 842239 Fax number 01509 843042 Email address office@longwhatton.leics.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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