Longtown Primary School

Longtown Primary School Mary Street, Longtown, Carlisle, Cumbria CA6 5UG

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Inadequate

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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This is an inadequate school

 Safeguarding is not effective. The procedures in place to keep children safe in school are insecure, including in the early years.  Leaders’ evaluations of the school’s effectiveness are inaccurate and too generous, not giving enough weight to how well pupils are learning and the quality of teaching.  Leaders do not have a grasp of the changes that need to take place to improve pupils’ learning because they do not systematically check on the quality of teaching and have insufficient awareness of weaknesses.  Leaders and teachers do not all have high enough expectations for pupils’ progress and this leads to underachievement.  While there is good teaching in Year 6, teaching in other year groups is frequently uninspiring and does not stimulate pupils’ curiosity. As a result, pupils do not make enough progress.  Leaders do not identify and tackle bullying decisively and effectively.  There are too many repeated incidences of poor

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This is an inadequate school

behaviour from a very small minority of pupils that make other children feel unsafe in school.  Too few children leave the early years having developed the skills, knowledge and understanding they need to begin Key Stage 1.  Governance is weak. Governors do not take their responsibilities for safeguarding and ensuring equality of opportunity for all groups of pupils seriously enough.  Leaders and governors have not ensured that funding to support disadvantaged pupils is used effectively to ensure that they make as much progress from their starting points as other pupils in the school in all year groups.  The curriculum is not well organised and does not meet the needs of pupils, including boys, disadvantaged pupils, the most-able pupils, pupils with disability and those with special educational needs.

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The school has the following strengths

 Attendance has improved and the proportion of pupils excluded for a fixed period of time has been significantly reduced.  The primary sports funding has been used effectively to support pupils’ active participation in a wider range of sport and physical activities.

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Full report

In accordance with the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Senior leaders and governors, working with the local authority, must urgently ensure that the school is a safe place for pupils to learn. Actions needed immediately include making sure that: – the building is secure at all times from unauthorised access by members of the public – appropriate identity checks are undertaken for all visitors to the school – items that could cause harm are not within reach of children in the early years.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching and learning in order to accelerate pupils’ progress, including in early years, by ensuring that: – all teachers have high expectations of what pupils are capable of achieving from accurately assessed individual starting points and across the full range of subject areas within the curriculum – activities in lessons cater well for pupils’ differing abilities – teachers encourage pupils to read widely and often both to support their learning and for pleasure.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve pupils’ personal development, behaviour and welfare by: – ensuring that all allegations of bullying are treated seriously and logged, even if the outcome is that no bullying took place – ensuring that leaders and teachers act immediately to make pupils aware that racist and homophobic jokes are harmful and totally unacceptable – ensuring that, for the majority of pupils who behave well and treat one another with respect, the poor behaviour of a minority of children is swiftly addressed so that all pupils feel safe in school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management, including governance so that: – the systems in place to check on the quality of teaching, learning and assessment are sufficiently rigorous to allow leaders to identify weak teaching at the earliest possible stage and take decisive action to improve it rapidly – action planning for improvement is sharply focused on driving up standards and improving teaching – actions taken to improve teaching are monitored to ensure that they are effective and improvements are sustained over time – governors and staff receive appropriate safeguarding training, including on preventing radicalisation and extremism – the pupil premium funding is used effectively to narrow gaps in the attainment and progress of disadvantaged pupils in all year groups according to their individual needs – all subjects in the curriculum are taught well and pupils develop and extend their knowledge, skills

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

and understanding as they move through the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve outcomes for pupils so that: – the proportion of children who are ready to access the Year 1 curriculum is at least average – the proportion of pupils reaching the required standard in the Year 1 phonics check is close to or above average – boys’ outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics are closely in line with those of girls at the end of all key stages, including the early years – disadvantaged pupils, pupils with disability and those with special educational needs make consistently good progress from their individual starting points – the most-able pupils, including those who are boys and/or disadvantaged, reach their full potential in all year groups and the proportion of these pupils reaching above expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics is at least similar to the national average at the end of key stages 1 and 2.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of the school’s use of pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

 Leaders and governors do not have a collective vision for the direction of the school. The management of the school lacks rigour and expectations of pupils’ achievement are not high enough.  School leaders do not have an accurate overview of weaknesses in teaching and learning. Monitoring of classroom performance is irregular and does not provide sufficient information to enable teachers to improve their performance. Not enough weight is given to the quality of work in pupils’ books, the appropriateness of the resources used in lessons and the level of the work being set. Consequently, many pupils are not doing as well as they should because they are not being taught well enough to meet their needs.  Leaders’ analysis of pupils’ progress is overly reliant on published outcomes at the end of Year 6 and does not take enough account of that in other year groups and key stages. Pupils’ relatively strong

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

performance in Year 6, where the teaching is effective, masks underachievement in other year groups which limits overall attainment.  The impact of funding for disadvantaged pupils is not properly measured in terms of improved outcomes for these pupils. For example, the funding is used to cover the salary of a learning mentor to work with all pupils and families and break down barriers to learning. However, there is no attempt to measure the impact of this on narrowing the gaps in the performance of disadvantaged pupils as they move through the school.  The school’s vision and values encapsulate equal opportunities for all pupils and staff. However, in reality, leaders have failed to ensure that boys make as much progress as girls and too few of the most-able pupils reach beyond expectations at the end of any year group. Furthermore, leaders and governors do not ensure that the curriculum provides enough opportunities to develop pupils’ awareness of, and

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

tolerance for, sexual and gender differences and this leads some of the older boys to make inappropriate homophobic comments.  Although the headteacher and the designated safeguarding officer have undertaken training on how to keep pupils safe from radicalisation and extremism, this has not yet been properly shared with other staff. Equally, no attempt has been made to assess the extent to which staff understand exactly what they need to do if they suspect a pupil is in danger.  The leadership of the Key Stage 2 phase leader has resulted in some improvements in the quality of teaching in Year 3 and in the introduction of new resources designed to support children in reading more widely.  Subject leadership, and the leadership of early years and of special educational needs are weak. Arrangements to monitor the progress of pupils with disability and those with special educational needs lack rigour and do not give leaders enough information on whether or not support strategies for these

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

pupils are effective. The leadership of science and humanities is tokenistic and has no measurable impact on the quality of provision or improved outcomes. The leadership of early years has not secured children’s good progress across this key stage.  Pupils appreciate that the curriculum is enriched with a wide range of interesting visitors and outings including residential visits. Opportunities to learn outdoors are helping to improve boys’ attitudes to learning but have yet to show an impact on improving their attainment.  Leaders have begun to develop pupils’ awareness of different cultures in modern Britain and of British values such as democracy. However, opportunities to exploit the wider curriculum and extend this further are limited because the curriculum is disorganised and this means that links between subjects to build pupils’ knowledge, skills and understanding are not coordinated.  The primary physical education and sports funding is used well to increase participation in sport and

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

encourage children to develop healthy lifestyles. External coaches give children access to a wider range of physical activities and also support teachers in developing their skills in teaching physical education.  Procedures for safeguarding have over time been far too lax and school leaders have not fulfilled their statutory duty to ensure there is constant vigilance to maintain pupils’ safety and security.  The governance of the school – Governors have not met their statutory duty and requirement to ensure the best possible education for all the children in their care. They have not given sufficient challenge to leaders to secure the school’s continuing improvement and success. Governors have been too ready to accept assurances from leaders that outcomes are good enough and their challenges to leaders to improve them have been shallow. For example, the proportion of pupils who are ready to start Year 1 at the end of the early

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

years has been well below average over the last three years and governors have not challenged this or questioned leaders’ assessments that children have low or very low levels of skill on entry to Nursery and Reception. – Governors undoubtedly have the school’s best interests at heart but currently they lack the training and expertise to be effective in their roles. No governor has completed safe recruitment training and not all governors are aware of their duty to promote all forms of equality, particularly in relation to gender and sexual orientation. Governors do not ensure that the funding to support the progress of disadvantaged pupils is used effectively enough to narrow gaps in their performance as they move through the school. There is too much focus on pastoral support for these pupils rather than driving up standards in reading, writing and mathematics.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

 Teaching is not good enough to ensure that pupils make consistently good progress in all classes.  Most teachers’ expectations are too low and pupils do not make as much progress as they should. In Year 1, for example, pupils do not move on to the Key Stage 1 curriculum rapidly enough and spend too much time on activities more appropriate to children in the early years. This limits their progress and explains why too few pupils reach age-related expectations, particularly in the end of Year 1 phonics check (phonics refers to letters and the sounds that they make). In most classes, work in topic books shows that pupils too frequently waste time in unchallenging activities such as colouring, that do not move them on in their learning or develop their skills in, for example, scientific investigation and historical enquiry.  Teaching does not always cater well for pupils of different abilities. In weak teaching, the activities set do

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

not promote rapid progress because teachers design tasks that do not fit well with the learning intention of the lesson or with pupils’ starting points. For example, in a literacy session in the Reception class almost a third of the children demonstrated they could write the word ‘stormy’ on their whiteboards but then had to sit and watch the teacher model the correct letter formation for ‘s’ when they did not need this instruction.  Pupils in the lower-ability Year 5 and 6 set reported that they do not like being taught all the time in this class because the work is too easy. They say that they are sometimes set targets that they have reached before and that they ‘don’t think the teacher realises this’.  The teaching of reading relies too much on pupils completing comprehension worksheets and exercises to improve their skills in grammar and punctuation rather than enthusing them to read widely, often and for

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

enjoyment. A few pupils are unenthusiastic about completing the worksheets and say that they would much rather read a real book, or part of a book, and then answer questions.  Pupils wait too long for adult support in lessons because they are not encouraged to develop skills as independent learners. Pupils are over-reliant on adults because teachers do not encourage them to think for themselves, to take risks and ‘have a go’.  The quality of marking has improved and sometimes gives pupils really useful guidance on how to improve their work. However, this is not consistent throughout the school. Some marking further demonstrates teachers’ low expectations, for example by congratulating pupils on completing a task well when the work is actually incomplete and not at the standard that the pupils’ other work indicates they are capable of producing.  The teaching of mathematics has improved since the last inspection. Children have more opportunities to

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

apply their skills to a range of practical problems and outcomes for pupils are improving in this subject at the end of Year 6.  Teaching is good in Year 6, and pupils who have underachieved in earlier year groups begin to catch up on their learning. However, this is too late in the day to ensure that all groups of pupils, especially boys, are well prepared for the next stage in their education.  Relationships are strong. Teachers encourage pupils to participate and contribute to lessons and pupils are comfortable in doing so.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is inadequate.  Bullying is not properly recognised by senior leaders and therefore is not treated seriously enough and a few children say that they do not feel safe in school. There are no records kept of any incidents, even though some pupils and parents say that bullying takes place in school and have told staff about this.  Pupils say that there are sometimes incidents of homophobic name-calling or inappropriate racist jokes, particularly involving older boys.  Most pupils want to learn. However, in too many lessons pupils are tolerant rather than interested and engaged, because the work is uninteresting and there are too many low-level tasks.  A recent initiative to help pupils learn how to keep themselves safe on the internet means that older pupils are aware that they should never give details of themselves online and should always tell an adult

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Personal development and welfare

of any inappropriate content. Plans are in place to make this this training available to younger pupils in the near future.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.  The vast majority of pupils behave well and treat one another and adults in the school with respect. However, there are far too many incidents of poor behaviour. The school’s records over time indicate that there has been some repeatedly unacceptable, and on occasions violent, behaviour from a small minority of pupils.  Older pupils enjoy taking responsibility for younger pupils and helping them learn, for example by reading with them.  Pupils’ presentation of their work is generally tidy in their English and mathematics books. However, work in topic books is frequently messy and incomplete.  Attendance has improved and is average, although the attendance of disadvantaged pupils is still lower than that of other pupils in the school.  The number of pupils excluded from school for a fixed period of time has been considerably reduced. There have been no exclusions so far in the current academic year.

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Outcomes for pupils are inadequate

 Standards in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 6 are average, but there is too much variation between the standards reached by different groups of pupils. In 2015, the standards reached by boys in all three subjects were lower than those reached by girls, and disadvantaged pupils were over a year behind other pupils nationally in their reading.  While there is some improvement in standards over time, too few of the most-able pupils, especially boys, reach above-average standards at the end of key stages 1 and 2 in reading, writing and mathematics.  Almost half of the children leaving early years do so without having developed the skills, knowledge and understanding needed for key stage 1. This is because teachers’ initial assessments of their ability are artificially low and lead to low expectations and weak outcomes at the end of Reception. Similarly, outcomes from the Year 1 phonics check are below average and have been so over time.

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Outcomes for pupils are inadequate

 The impact on pupils’ progress of dividing Years 5 and 6 into three smaller classes each morning is variable. Pupils currently in the higher-ability set make good progress because the teaching is strong. However, in the other two sets pupils generally do the same work regardless of their ability or prior attainment and their progress is not rapid enough.  Currently, the progress of disadvantaged pupils is no better than expected in reading, writing and mathematics. There is too much focus on pastoral support for these pupils rather than driving up their standards and narrowing gaps in their performance.  Boys make less progress than girls in all subjects and pupils with disability and those with special educational needs make less progress than similar pupils nationally.  The most-able pupils do not make enough progress in all year groups to reach their full potential because they do not receive enough stimulation and challenge in lessons to extend their thinking and deepen their

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Outcomes for pupils are inadequate

understanding.  Progress in subjects other than English and mathematics is patchy and poor. Weak subject leadership means that coverage of the wider subject areas is fragmented and pupils’ development of skills in, for example, scientific investigation and historical enquiry, is limited.

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Early years provision is inadequate

 Some children join the school with skills and abilities below those typical for their age. However, not all children, including those with typical starting points, make the progress that they should.  Children are not prepared well for key stage 1. Significant proportions do not have the number, writing or reading skills needed for Year 1, especially boys.  Teaching is inconsistent across the early years because there is no shared view of how things should be done. Teachers tend to plan and work as individuals and not as part of a team. Teachers in the Reception class do not capitalise on the progress made for those pupils who have had a year in the Nursery but plan learning on the mistaken premise that almost all children have low starting points. This leads to underachievement.  Children do not have enough opportunities to develop their skills and concentration through independent learning and play. Consequently, children do not always make the progress that they should across all

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Early years provision is inadequate

areas of learning. For example, too many writing and phonics activities consist of colouring or filling in worksheets that are unstimulating and do not extend children’s thinking or develop creativity.  Equally, phonics activities are not precisely matched to children’s stages of development. Too frequently children needlessly repeat work in areas where they are already secure. Additionally, children are not encouraged to develop their understanding further through experimentation or by applying their knowledge to different or unseen words in their continuous provision for learning through play.  Leadership is newly established in early years and has yet to be effective in accelerating progress and securing an accurate baseline.

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School details

Unique reference number 133387 Local authority Cumbria Inspection number 10002266

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Foundation Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 213 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Callum Dawson Headteacher Geoff Norman Telephone number 01228 791203 Website www.longtownprimary.cumbria.sch.uk Email address admin@longtownprimary.cumbria.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 12 September 2013

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Information about this school

 Longtown Primary School is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  Children in the early years receive part-time education in the Nursery and full-time education in the Reception class.  The majority of children are of White British heritage. A very few children are from minority ethnic backgrounds or speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of pupils with disability and those with special educational needs is below average.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium is broadly average. The pupil premium is additional government funding given to schools for disadvantaged pupils who qualify for free school meals or for children who are looked after by the local authority.  The school meets the government floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for attainment and progress in English and mathematics.  The school shares the site with a Children’s Centre which is inspected separately and its report is

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Information about this school

available on the Ofsted website.  The town library shares the same site as the school.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed a wide range of learning activities across both key stages, in the early years and in a range of subjects. One of the observations was jointly undertaken with the headteacher. Pupils’ books from different year groups and subjects were looked at. An assembly was also observed.  Discussions were held with the headteacher and other school leaders. Inspectors met with five members of the governing body. A meeting was held with a local authority representative. Inspectors also met with a group of pupils and spoke to pupils informally throughout the inspection.  Inspectors considered parents’ opinions through the 14 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, informal discussions with parents at the start of the school day and an examination of the school’s latest parent survey.  Inspectors reviewed the 23 staff questionnaires returned during the inspection.  The inspection team studied some information about achievement and the assessment of learning. They

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Information about this inspection

examined any records relating to behaviour and attendance, and looked at documents used by leaders to monitor and evaluate the school’s work.  A review of safeguarding records and procedures was carried out.

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Inspection team

Jan Corlett, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Mavis Smith Ofsted Inspector guidance 'Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-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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Inspection team

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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Inspection team

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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Inspection team

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, further education and skills, 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Inspection team

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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