Langland Community School

Langland Community School Langland Road, Milton Keynes MK6 4HA

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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This is a school that requires improvement

 The great many changes to teaching staff in the last year have undermined the good work of leaders to improve the overall quality of teaching and learning.  Pupils’ progress is inconsistent across the school because there are too many inconsistencies in teaching.  In some classes, some groups of pupils have made less progress than they should.  Disadvantaged pupils make less progress than their classmates in mathematics.  Too often, the work that some teachers prepare for different groups does not meet their needs well enough.  There are weaknesses in how some teachers give pupils feedback on their work, and engage their interest and concentration during lessons.  Too often, some teachers do not modify their teaching during lessons in response to how well pupils are making progress.

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The school has the following strengths

 Good leadership from the headteacher, other leaders and governors has ensured that most pupils make the progress they should overall during their time in the school.  Leaders identify shortfalls in progress for different groups through the school’s good assessment procedures, and seek to address them vigorously.  Leaders are successfully improving the quality of teaching and learning for individual pupils.  The school’s provision to keep pupils safe is of high quality.  Children make good progress in the early years because teaching is consistently good.  Pupils’ behaviour and attitudes have transformed since the last inspection. They are eager to learn and have good relationships with adults and each other. They greatly enjoy school.  Disadvantaged pupils make better progress in reading and writing, and now do as well as their classmates in these subjects, partly because their attendance is now similar to that of others.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve pupils’ achievement by making teaching better, in particular by ensuring that teachers more consistently:

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

make sure that the work they give to different groups of pupils is neither too easy nor too hard for them use strategies to engage pupils’ interest and concentration throughout lessons give pupils clear feedback on how they are doing so that they can overcome difficulties and are challenged to achieve more check how well pupils are learning during lessons, and modify and adapt their teaching in response to how well pupils are getting on.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Help disadvantaged pupils to make the same progress as their classmates in mathematics, by increasing the use of strategies to support those who need help, to match the successful programmes in reading and writing.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external evaluation of the school’s use of the 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 good

 The headteacher, senior leaders and governors have worked relentlessly since the last inspection to improve the school. Pupils’ attitudes and behaviour, weaknesses at the last inspection, are now good. The gap in attendance between disadvantaged pupils and their classmates has been largely eliminated. These pupils now progress as well as others in reading and writing.  Very good systems are in place to monitor the quality of teaching and learning, and to help teachers improve their practice. Teachers are set clear targets for improvement, and are held to account for meeting them. The school provides good training to help individual teachers to address any shortfalls in their practice, and this process is successful in raising quality. However, the overall impact of this is undermined by high staff turnover. The school continually needs to ‘start again’ with new staff, many of whom are relatively inexperienced and need considerable support. Despite extensive use of financial

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

incentives to recruit and retain staff, recruitment remains a difficulty.  The school has successfully introduced an effective system to assess pupils’ progress ‘without levels’ which teachers use to plan work for their classes. Leaders make good use of assessment information to track the progress of different groups in each year. Staff have worked together to share their assessments to make sure they are reliable, but there has been little opportunity for staff to check their practice with colleagues from other schools. Plans for this are being made.  The tracking information shows that, across the school as a whole, pupils’ average progress is in line with what is expected. However, this positive overall picture hides inconsistencies, with pupils in some classes not doing as well as in others. In addition, some groups in different classes fall behind their classmates. Leaders identify these issues and take actions to address them, but the progress of disadvantaged pupils

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

in mathematics still needs more support.  Pupil premium funding to support disadvantaged pupils is spent well. It is used to provide academic support and challenge to those who need it, as well as social, emotional or behavioural help when necessary. Funding is also used to ensure that pupils can take a full part in all aspects of school life, such as school trips, extra-curricular activities and the breakfast club. The latter has had a positive impact on raising attendance. The school evaluates the success of its different strategies, modifying them to gain the best value for money. Some interventions to promote mathematics are clearly effective, but staffing problems have interfered with this programme. The school has identified the need to extend this support to raise the achievement in mathematics of eligible pupils.  The school makes good use of the extra funding to support sports and physical education. The money

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

has been used to buy in specialist expertise, to purchase equipment, and to enable the school to be more involved in inter-school events. Extra-curricular sports clubs have been extended. The funding has a positive impact on increasing participation and in enhancing pupils’ enthusiasm. Pupils in Year 6 reported how much they were looking forward to sports day, for example.  The curriculum is wide ranging and covers the key subjects of reading, writing and mathematics well, in parallel with a range of interesting activities in other subjects that generate pupils’ enthusiasm and support their progress. Music, arts and sport are covered well and greatly enjoyed. The school provides for learning a modern foreign language, but work in pupils’ books shows that not enough attention is given to pupils’ reading and writing skills in French, to complement their speaking and listening. The school provides well for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils learn about

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

important aspects of British values, and their tolerance and respect for others in day-to-day interactions show that these have been internalised well.  The local authority provides good support and challenge to the school. It has helped the school to validate its judgements and provided useful advice and challenge.  The governance of the school Governors have good systems to learn about the school’s strengths and weaknesses and they have a secure understanding of the quality of education in the school, including pupils’ achievement and the quality of teaching. Governors ensure that pay progression is linked to teachers’ success in meeting their targets. Governors use their knowledge to provide a good balance of challenge and support to leaders, and play a full part in setting a strategic direction for the school’s development. Governors fully understand how the leaders’ good work to improve teaching has been disrupted by

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

changes to staffing, and are working with them to address this. They ensure that the school meets its responsibilities with regard to safeguarding, and regularly review procedures. They ensure that the funding is spent appropriately and check the impact of their decisions. Governors have carefully considered how to deal with the transition to a new headteacher. The appointment of an executive headteacher enables the school to draw on expertise from two successful local schools.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. The school keeps a very careful track of any pupils whose circumstances might make them vulnerable. There is a strong culture of checking and actively promoting pupils’ welfare. The school’s learning mentors, in particular, play a significant part in this process. Pupils say they are listened to by staff, and feel safe. Staff are well trained to identify any pupils who might be at risk, and the school liaises very effectively with other agencies and with families to

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

enhance pupils’ well-being. Staff know how to protect pupils from radicalisation and extremism. The provision means pupils rightly feel safe in school and can concentrate on learning.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

 Teaching, despite many strengths, requires improvement because there are too many inconsistencies in practice from class to class that slow pupils’ progress.  Although teachers routinely prepare different work for different groups of pupils, and use assessment information to match it to different levels of ability, sometimes this is not done accurately enough. Tasks are then too hard for some pupils, or too easy for others. This slows the progress for these pupils.  Teachers generally keep an eye on how pupils are getting on in lessons, and intervene to address misconceptions, or challenge others to refine their work and do better. However, there is too much variation in how quickly staff modify their teaching in response to how pupils are progressing. In some lessons, teachers persist in following the activities they had planned without adapting them when pupils’ responses show they are not meeting their needs, or helping them make good progress.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

 The quality of feedback that teachers give to pupils is too variable. Sometimes, teachers give pupils very clear advice, either in writing or orally, that helps them to improve their work and make better progress. At other times, the feedback given is too rudimentary and is not successful in improving progress.  In the majority of lessons, teachers make good use of a range of strategies to engage pupils’ interest and involve them fully in the lesson. This strongly supports pupils’ progress. In other lessons, however, pupils are not actively involved and find it hard to concentrate. At such times their attention wanes and their progress slows, although they seldom misbehave even if they are confused or bored.  Teachers have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and effort. They have established clear routines and a well-understood code of conduct. Pupils like their teachers and are keen to please them, so they follow

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

instructions promptly, behave well and try their best.  In many lessons, teachers give pupils exciting activities that gain their enthusiasm, so they work hard and learn well. The many opportunities that teachers provide for pupils to discuss their work together are very successful in involving everyone, and in promoting social development, as well as pupils’ speaking and listening skills.  Teachers make good use of the skilled teaching assistants in class to promote positive attitudes and behaviour, as well as to help pupils who might otherwise struggle with work to cope academically.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. There are many pupils in the school whose circumstances might make them vulnerable. Staff are particularly vigilant in monitoring pupils’ well-being and welfare. The school devotes considerable staff time and energy to checking that pupils are safe and happy, and providing support to ensure this.  Good links that are made with parents ensure that the school is able to provide timely help and support to pupils to enable them to flourish emotionally and hence academically. The learning mentors, who are easily accessible to parents who need information or advice, play a big part in this. The school is scrupulous in following up any issues with other agencies, when appropriate, so that pupils get the best deal possible.  The many opportunities that pupils have to talk and work together develop their collaborative skills well.

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Personal development and welfare

They are tolerant of each other’s foibles, and value their friendships. The school is a harmonious multicultural community where pupils from different backgrounds work and play together happily.  Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep safe, including on the internet, and value the different visitors who have helped them increase their knowledge. They know about different kinds of bullying, including cyber bullying, and how bullying differs from other kinds of misbehaviour. They say that incidents of bullying are increasingly rare, and are confident that staff deal with them effectively. Pupils rightly feel safe in the school.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. They value the ‘community code’ and pupils in Year 6 explained how this set of values has really improved behaviour, and means that upsets are more easily sorted out.  Pupils behave well around the school and in class. They are polite and friendly and treat adults and each other with respect. Older pupils know that they have an important responsibility to be role models for younger children, and take this seriously.  The school has a number of pupils who struggle to conform to expected standards of behaviour. There are very effective systems in place to deal firmly and sensitively with any incidents. Staff ensure that all children are safe and that the learning of other pupils is not disrupted. Other pupils have learned to avoid being distracted by poor behaviour, and are tolerant of their classmates who sometimes stray from accepted standards.  Pupils now have very positive attitudes to learning. They are keen to do well and are proud of their

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Behaviour

accomplishments. Even when they find work hard, they continue to try hard and behave well, although their concentration can lapse if they are not engaged by the activities provided.  Good behaviour is also seen in the breakfast club, where pupils who attend have an enjoyable start to the school day.  The school has extensive procedures in place to promote pupils’ attendance. It is particularly thorough in following up and supporting any pupils whose absence is too high, but also in encouraging good attendance. The school has successfully reduced the gap between the attendance of disadvantaged pupils and others this year.

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

 Although individual pupils often make good progress, there is too much variation in the achievement of different classes and groups for progress to be good overall. This is because of inconsistency in teaching, and many changes of staffing, as well as a high level of mobility among pupils.  The progress across key stage 2 has been in line with national averages for several years, and continues to be as expected. However, this is not enough to offset the low standards reached by most pupils when they started in Year 3. It is evident that the overall attainment by Year 6 is below average as a result.  Disadvantaged pupils’ progress in mathematics requires improvement, as it is weaker than that of their classmates in most classes. The school has made good use of structured intervention programmes to raise standards in mathematics for some of these pupils. However, disruption through staffing changes,

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

and a less intensive approach than in reading and writing, means that this gap persists.  On the whole, there is no systematic pattern to the weak achievement of different groups. Boys do better than girls in some classes, for example, but worse in others. The pattern is often different between different subjects. In some classes, pupils do best in mathematics, whereas in others writing is the weakest subject. In some classes, the most able pupils do better than others, whereas in other classes the position is reversed.  The most able pupils often achieve well. In many classes, teachers ensure they are given more difficult work, and challenge them to excel. Pupils respond well to this, persevere with challenging tasks, and make good progress. However, their progress is subject to the same variation as that of other pupils. In a few classes, they do not learn enough when work is sometimes too easy for them.

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

 Pupils who have special educational needs or disability often do well, although this is not consistent enough across the school. In most lessons, teachers ensure that these pupils have tasks that are matched to their needs. This work is sometimes easier, but is still challenging. When appropriate, the school provides extra adult support to help these pupils to cope. At times, however, they have tasks that they find too difficult and so make weaker progress. Not enough extra help is provided to address their specific individual needs.  Progress in writing had been weaker for most classes for some time, compared to reading and mathematics. However, a concerted approach to improving writing skills has enthused pupils and progress in writing is catching up with that in other subjects.  Disadvantaged pupils make the same progress overall as their classmates in reading and writing, although this is subject to the same variations from class to class as that of others.

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

 Pupils who speak English as an additional language initially make slower progress than others as they learn the new language. However, they learn English quickly and good support is in place for this. In the older classes they tend to do better than their classmates, catching up the ground lost previously.  Children start in the early years with abilities and skills that are varied but are generally below those typical for their ages. They make good progress in both the Nursery and Reception. Their achievement at the end of Reception is overall just slightly below average.

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Early years provision is good

 The consistency of good teaching in the early years makes this a strength of the school. Children make good progress from relatively low starting points and are well prepared to start Year 1.  There is a good balance of adult-led activities and those that children choose for themselves. Direct teaching is of good quality, with adults continually adjusting their explanations and questions in response to children’s understanding. This promotes good learning.  When children choose their own activities, adults often check how they are getting on, and intervene or join in to extend children’s understanding through careful questioning. This is a particular strength in the Nursery. Occasionally, in Reception, when all the adults are involved in directed activities, such opportunities to extend children’s learning are missed.  A wide variety of activities, indoors and out, enthuses and interests children. Good provision is made for

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Early years provision is good

challenging activities in early mathematics and literacy. During the inspection, children enjoyed sharing books, or playing in the ‘shop’. They ‘bought’ real items labelled with realistic prices, using toy notes and coins. This challenged and extended their understanding of number and their vocabulary. Children make a good start on phonics, and enjoy this learning. This was illustrated in play when one child acted as the teacher, helping a classmate to sound out the letters on flash cards, and praising him when he succeeded.  Good use is made of the outdoor environment, and children happily explore the properties of sand, water or compost, for example. Suitable outdoor clothing is provided so the area can be used effectively in inclement weather.  The provision is managed well. Assessments are used to plan activities that will interest children and build on their existing understanding. Adults are deployed effectively so that their time in helping children learn

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Early years provision is good

is used to good effect. Good liaison with parents helps children to settle into the setting when they start, and the staff have worked well with teachers in Year 1 to ease the transition into key stage 1.  Children’s welfare and personal development are given particular attention. Children are helped to keep safe and secure. Their good relationships with the adults mean they feel safe and happy in the friendly, welcoming environment. They are supported in behaving well and learn to follow routines happily. Children who have difficulties in conforming are given firm but gentle help to develop good behaviour.

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School details

Unique reference number 110354 Local authority Milton Keynes Inspection number 10012275 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 Community Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 351 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Dave Moulson Headteacher Kate Stuart Telephone number 01908 670 712 Website www.langland.milton-keynes.sch.uk Email address office@langlandschool.org.uk Date of previous inspection 11–12 June 2014

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Information about this school

 The school is larger than the average primary school. There are two classes in each age group in key stages 1 and 2. There is provision for nursery-aged pupils to attend part-time in the early years. Reception children are taught full-time.  About 60% of pupils are White British, with the others coming from a range of different ethnic groups. The largest such group is of Black African heritage. About a third of pupils speak English as an additional language. The proportion of pupils who start at, or leave, the school other than at the usual times is much greater than average.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium is well above average, at around 60%. The pupil premium is extra government funding to help the education of those pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, and children who are looked after by the local authority.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs or disability is above average.

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Information about this school

 The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  The school suffers from a very high turnover of teaching staff. For example, of the 12 class teachers in the main school in the current term, only four were on the staff at the end of the last school year. A high proportion of teachers are relatively new to the profession.  The headteacher is leaving at the end of the current term, and the school will be led during the next academic year by an executive headteacher, who is already the head of two successful local schools.  The school runs a breakfast club and an after-school club for its own pupils.  The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection team observed teaching and learning in all classes. They examined examples of pupils’ work in their books, and heard some pupils read. Displays around the school were examined.  Inspectors held formal discussions with staff, groups of pupils and representatives of the governing body. They also chatted informally to pupils around the school. An inspector met with a representative of the local authority.  The team took account of the 14 replies received to the online questionnaire, Parent View. They also examined the results of the school’s own survey of parental views in April, which received 79 replies.  A variety of documentation was checked, particularly that related to keeping pupils safe, and information about their progress.  The team observed pupils in assemblies, at breaktimes and at lunchtime, as well as in the breakfast club.

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Inspection team

Steven Hill, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Simon Yates Ofsted Inspector Margaret Louisy 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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