Langley Hall Primary Academy

Langley Hall Primary Academy Upper School: Station Road, Langley SL3 8BY. Lower School: St Marys Road, Langley SL3 6BZ

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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 Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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This is an inadequate school

 Safeguarding processes do not meet statutory requirements. Governors and leaders do not exercise their responsibilities fully. They have not made sure that all who work at the school have undergone appropriate checks and are recorded on the single central record.  Safeguarding procedures rely too much on one person and processes for sharing information are too informal.  Systems for communicating information about parents’ concerns are not systematic so issues raised are sometimes overlooked or not taken seriously. Leaders do not always ensure that parents’ concerns are acted upon. This has resulted in an unusually high number of complaints to Ofsted.  Staff do not adhere to the sanctions listed in the behaviour management policy.  Processes for recording accidents and informing relevant staff and parents are not sufficiently systematic.  Leaders do not check how well different groups in the school are doing.

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This is an inadequate school

 The leadership of teaching is not strong enough. Too much is expected of the heads of school. Not enough responsibility is given to subject leaders.  Governors do not know how well pupils are doing. They do not hold leaders sufficiently to account for pupils’ achievements.  Performance management targets do not link to pupils’ achievements precisely enough. Leaders and teachers are given tasks to carry out but these do not help improve outcomes for pupils.  Some pupils do not achieve as well as they should. In 2015, floor standards (the minimum standards set by the government) were not reached. Leaders have taken action to improve this. Some groups of pupils, including the most able, do not do as well as they could.  Teaching is variable. Teachers and teaching assistants do not provide sufficient challenge to help pupils do as well as they can.  Issues in the school which affect the safeguarding of children also affect the early years so, although

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This is an inadequate school

day-to-day care meets pupils’ needs well, provision in the early years is inadequate.

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The school has the following strengths

 Pupils benefit from a broad curriculum, which provides high-quality learning experiences in subjects such as music, French and sport.  The school provides an extraordinary breadth and number of extra-curricular activities for pupils.  Pupils behave well in and around the school.

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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?

 Urgently review and sharpen safeguarding and recruitment processes so that:  leaders and relevant staff fully understand safeguarding requirements and ensure that statutory processes are in place  safer recruitment processes are followed and appropriate checks and records are in place for everyone who works in the school  governors fulfil their statutory safeguarding responsibilities in ensuring that pupils are safe, and do not rely solely on what they are told by leaders  safeguarding concerns are communicated effectively between those responsible for leading safeguarding, and systems are in place for sharing details with relevant staff.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of leadership and management by making sure that: processes for recording and sharing parental concerns are systematic, so staff and leaders respond swiftly to these and ensure none are overlooked the behaviour policy states clearly what sanctions should be used and when, and that staff apply it consistently teaching and achievement are monitored systematically and rapid action is taken when improvements are required leaders, other than the heads of school, check teaching in their areas of responsibility and provide support where required to ensure that teaching is effective governors know how well pupils are doing and hold leaders to account for pupils’ achievement staff are set targets which link to pupils’ achievements and by which they can be held to account, so the performance of staff, and the school as a whole, improves over time leaders check that the support provided for disadvantaged pupils is helping them to catch up

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

leaders know how well pupils with special educational needs or disability and other groups are doing in each class and across the school all accidents are recorded and communicated effectively to the relevant staff, leaders and parents.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching and outcomes for pupils by making sure that:  teachers plan and deliver lessons which challenge pupils at different levels, but particularly the most able, so they achieve as well as they can  learning time is used effectively and teachers are clear about what they expect pupils to learn during each lesson  all teaching assistants know what to do and provide effective support throughout the lesson  there is an agreed approach to developing accurate spelling and pupils develop a range of strategies to help them spell correctly  pupils have opportunities to write longer pieces and develop stamina for writing  all teachers have sufficient mathematics subject knowledge to develop pupils’ mathematical understanding.

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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 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 inadequate

 Safeguarding does not meet statutory requirements. Leaders, governors and those responsible for recruiting and managing staff do not use their understanding of safer recruitment practices consistently in practice. As a result, some people who work at the school have not undergone the appropriate checks. Leaders were not aware that temporary teachers should be recorded on the single central record of people who work in the school. Even though the school has experienced safeguarding incidents in the past, governors, leaders and those responsible for safeguarding have not reviewed processes to secure improvement.  Heads of school are clear about strengths and weaknesses in teaching but both the lower and upper schools are too big for them to drive rapid improvements on their own. Although many middle leaders demonstrate a good understanding of their areas of responsibility, they are not held to account for

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

improving teaching.  Leaders check pupils’ attainment in each class, including reviewing the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs or disability. However, they do not check whether pupils are making enough progress, or whether those who have fallen behind are catching up. When pupils do not achieve as much as expected, leaders do not consider whether this is because the teaching is not good enough.  Processes to manage the performance of staff are weak. Staff are often set tasks to accomplish, such as booking a course or carrying out a survey, rather than being set targets which relate to pupils’ achievements. The appraisal process does not support school improvement well enough because targets linked to pupils’ progress are not precise enough.  Systems for communicating parents’ concerns are not systematic, so issues raised with staff are sometimes overlooked or not responded to quickly enough. A number of parents express dissatisfaction

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

with the way their individual concerns are managed by teachers, support staff and leaders. General communication is plentiful through the school’s electronic communication system. Some parents, however, say that sometimes it is hard to find information relevant to their needs because there is so much.  The school does not promote understanding about differing faiths and cultures well enough. The plan of religious education topics does not provide sufficient learning about other faiths and explore where they are similar to and different from Christianity. Opportunities to celebrate and learn about other faiths and cultures are not embedded sufficiently well to meet the needs of the range of pupils at the school.  Leaders’ work to promote British values is not as effective as it should be. Pupils know about democracy, which they experience through voting for school council representatives and other systems, but they are

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

not clear about other values, such as tolerance and justice.  Leaders’ evaluations of how well the academy is doing are inaccurate and too generous. They do not take enough account of how well different groups of pupils are achieving when judging their own effectiveness.  Pupil premium funding (for disadvantaged pupils) is used sensibly for a range of support, such as additional one-to-one teaching, family liaison and educational visits. However, leaders are not clear enough about the impact of this funding as they do not check carefully enough whether disadvantaged pupils are catching up.  Sport funding is used to pay for facilities and coaching. It enables pupils to participate in sport but leaders do not check carefully what impact the funding has.  The executive headteacher’s vision is for pupils to experience a wide range of high-quality learning opportunities and develop relevant skills so that they become aspirational. The heads of school,

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

governors, staff and parents are committed to her vision and believe whole-heartedly in what she wants for the pupils. As a result, since it started less than five years ago, the school has quadrupled in size, adding three extra classes in each year group. The communication, monitoring and record-keeping systems to support this growth are still being developed. Consequently, there are inconsistencies of practice in many aspects of the school, of which leaders are not fully aware.  Leaders have an innovative approach to solving problems. Challenges they have overcome include managing a split site, lack of accommodation for lunches and lack of play space. Through the use of school mini-buses, electronic wrist bands and hire of local facilities, leaders ensure that the school business runs smoothly and government expectations about provision of free lunches, for example, are met.  The curriculum is broad and balanced. Pupils enjoy a range of high-quality experiences, including learning

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

the violin, playing a range of sports and speaking French. Leaders sensibly ensure that additional opportunities do not over-shadow the core subjects by ensuring that they are not timetabled during English and mathematics lessons.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral and social development is supported well through assemblies and lessons, where pupils reflect on religious and moral stories and consider what these tell them. Their personal, social and health education is also supported well; pupils learn about empathy, considering what it might feel like to be in someone else’s situation.  Governors and leaders do not seek external verification to gain an objective view about how well the school is doing.  The governance of the school Governors do not know how well pupils are doing. They are not as concerned as they should be that the school did not meet floor targets in 2015 and they have not put targets in place to hold leaders to

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

account for improving results this year. Governors do not check the single central record rigorously enough. They also do not carry out some important safeguarding responsibilities, such as reviewing practice after incidents come to light and making sure safeguarding processes in the school meet legal requirements. Governors work hard and want the best for pupils. They commit a day each term, which they spend in the school with pupils, staff and leaders. However, the minutes of their meetings show that they do not have a clear understanding of some aspects of their roles.  The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective. Safeguarding processes do not meet statutory requirements. The single central record of staff details, which should list every adult who works within the school, does not include temporary teachers, even if they are working at the school for several weeks. The processes for carrying out police checks are

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

not safe. There are also no arrangements in place to ensure that adults without police checks cannot work on their own with pupils. The person who oversees recruitment and staffing has not completed safer recruitment training. Leaders were not clear why current practices mean that pupils are not kept safe. The designated safeguarding lead has a thorough understanding of concerns raised by staff and parents. She takes effective action to communicate with relevant outside agencies and put support in place. However, safeguarding processes rely too much on one person and the process for sharing information is too informal, because it has not been adapted to the size of the school.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

 Teaching is too variable from class to class, although teaching is stronger in the lower school than the upper school. Teachers plan work at broadly the right level, but they do not check pupils’ understanding and move them on. Leaders and pupils rightly identify that there is insufficient challenge in many lessons. As a result, some pupils, including the most able, do not learn as much as they could.  Some teachers are not clear enough about what they want pupils to achieve from a lesson. This means that teachers sometimes give pupils activities which keep them busy but do not help them to make progress. An example of this was when pupils had to collect information about their favourite foods for a second time, although they had done this for a different activity the previous week. In another lesson, pupils planned their stories in pictures for a specified amount of time, even though many were ready to

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

get started very quickly.  Some teaching assistants do not use all of the lesson time well to support pupils. Frequently, during introductions, teaching assistants’ time was not used to support learning.  The teaching of reading and phonics (letters and their sounds) is good so pupils, including those who speak English as an additional language, make good progress. The daily reading lessons and texts at the right level help pupils to be confident and fluent in their reading. They understand what they read well and demonstrate good understanding of the books they read. However, the reading records are not used as well as they could be to liaise with parents and support pupils’ learning.  Teaching in writing has been an area for development across the school, due to low attainment over several years. A new scheme is helping teachers to be clear what they need to cover, but teaching of writing continues to be variable. In many classes pupils have opportunities to write longer pieces of work

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

and build up much-needed stamina for writing; however, this varies from class to class. The teaching of spelling is erratic and teachers’ spelling errors noted by parents do not model the importance of correct spelling. The subject leader is aware of the need to implement a more cohesive approach.  Mathematics teaching is variable. Where teachers have sufficient subject knowledge, pupils often make progress. However, in some lessons, even though teachers plan together, weak subject knowledge results in teachers modelling incorrect methods, which pupils then copy.  Some of the specialist subject teaching is very effective and pupils make good progress in these lessons. In a Year 1 class, pupils were using a vocabulary in French that was advanced for that age. In Year 6, some girls demonstrated very good netball skills.  In drama productions pupils have opportunities to achieve very well, whether on the stage or behind it.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

Parents and pupils very much appreciate these learning experiences.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.  Pupils are encouraged to stay fit and participate in a wide range of sporting activities, before, during and after school.  The organisation of breakfast and after-school clubs, enabling parents to drop all their children at either site, helps families and pupils to have a calm start to the day. Pupils are safely transported between sites on the school minibuses. The same minibuses are used to transport pupils safely to and from the off-site lunch provision.  The school promotes healthy eating well. The food provided by the school, at breakfast and after-school clubs, at the healthy snack kiosk and at lunchtimes, is healthy.  Pupils enjoy lunchtimes and the atmosphere is relaxed and social. Pupils are able to choose where they sit and lunch supervisors eat with pupils to encourage social interactions.

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Personal development and welfare

 Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe in a range of situations, including not communicating with strangers, either face-to-face or online.  Pupils say they feel safe and are confident that they can talk to adults in school if they have a concern.  There is an expectation that all pupils, from Year 1 upwards, will attend a residential each year. These experiences encourage pupils to develop useful life skills, including independence, decision-making and managing social relationships.  Attendance is improving and is broadly in line with the national average. However, some groups of pupils miss school more regularly than they should.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils are well behaved in lessons and around the school, even when there is little or no supervision.  Behaviour incidents have reduced over time and leaders check recorded incidents each month. Pupils described some incidents in detail which had concerned them, but inspectors found that not all of them had been included in leaders’ files. One of the incidents had been recorded and parents had been informed but it was not communicated to leaders so was not followed up. Others were not recorded at all. This means that leaders do not necessarily have all the information they need to analyse class behaviour and staff management of behaviour.  Pupils in both halves of the school say that bullying does occur but that leaders sort it out. Parents raise concerns that it is not always tackled as well as it could be. Inspectors did not find evidence of this but agree that processes for recording and reporting incidents could be more efficient.

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Behaviour

 Appropriate additional support is in place to help the few pupils who find it difficult to manage their behaviour. This is helping to reduce the percentage of fixed-term exclusions. The alternative off-site provision meets the specific needs of Langley Hall Primary Academy’s pupils well. The head of lower school and other relevant staff check the progress of pupils to ensure their behaviour and learning needs are supported appropriately.

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

 For the last three years not enough pupils have made expected progress between key stage 1 and key stage 2. Leaders are confident that more will make expected progress in this year’s end of key stage tests. These predictions are broadly supported by work in books, which shows that many pupils have made appropriate progress over the academic year. However, some pupils are still working at levels which are lower than is typical for their age.  Last year the proportion of pupils in Reception Year who achieved a good level of development was lower than other schools nationally. However, this year, pupils have made good progress from their starting points and it is likely that the proportion will be larger this year.  In phonics, a smaller proportion of Year 1 pupils achieved the expected level than did nationally. However, phonics teaching is effective now so that pupils look set to do better this year.

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

 At key stage 1, pupils generally achieve in line with other schools. At the higher levels, however, the percentage achieving well is lower than for pupils with similar starting points nationally. At key stage 2, the percentage of pupils who achieve the expected standards, or better, in reading and mathematics is the same as the national percentage. However, in 2015, for example, in writing, pupils did much less well than expected. This has been an area of focus this year and hence they are catching up.  Disadvantaged pupils across the school do not always do as well as their peers. Although support is provided to help these pupils catch up, in some classes they are not making enough progress. Similarly, some pupils with special educational needs or disability are not making as much progress as they should. The special educational needs coordinator has implemented a range of support processes since she

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

joined the school quite recently, which is helping some pupils to make faster progress.  The most able pupils usually achieve standards higher than those of their classmates. They still do not achieve as much as they could. They, their parents and leaders acknowledge this. This reflects the weaknesses in teaching, with insufficient challenge being provided regularly in lessons.  In music, art, singing and sport, many pupils achieve very well. Some of the work and photos on display around the school evidences some high-quality learning in these areas.

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Early years provision is inadequate

 The issues which affect the safeguarding of children also affect the early years. As a result, although some aspects of the early years provision meet children’s needs well, early years provision is inadequate.  Some adult-led activities do not provide appropriate levels of challenge for different groups of children. Where the work is at the right level for children, they make good progress.  The teaching of reading and phonics in the early years is a strength. Children develop good reading skills through the effective lessons which are taught by teachers and teaching assistants.  Children have good opportunities to explore, make choices and investigate problems. The well-planned learning environment supports children to develop these skills.  Adults provide effective support during independent activities. Their questioning helps children to deepen their thinking and explain their reasoning.

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Early years provision is inadequate

 The early years leader has made a number of improvements since she joined last year and is clear about what needs to be developed next. The changes she has made to the environment and the higher expectations of staff are bringing improved progress for children.  Children are generally kept safe and are cared for well by the adults who work with them on a daily basis. These adults know them well and make sure their needs are met.  Systems are in place for sharing information with parents, but only about a quarter are in regular communication with the school. This means opportunities to support children’s learning are missed. The early years leader recognises that this is an area for development.

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School details

Unique reference number 136951 Local authority Slough Inspection number 10007921

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Academy free school Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 728 Appropriate authority Slough Chair Sir Christopher Ball Executive headteacher Sally Eaton Telephone number 01753 580516 Website www.lhpa.co.uk Email address info@lhpa.co.uk Date of previous inspection 13–14 February 2013

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Information about this school

 Langley Hall Primary Academy is much larger than an average-sized primary school. The academy free school, which started as a one-form entry school in 2011, now has four classes in each year group. It has doubled in size since the last inspection.  The proportion of pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium (government funding to support disadvantaged pupils) is smaller than the other schools nationally.  Three quarters of the school’s population are from minority ethnic groups and over a half speak English as an additional language.  The percentage of pupils with special educational needs or disability is high compared to other schools, but only a very few pupils have an education, health and care plan.  In 2015, the school did not meet the government’s floor standards, which set out the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  There is on-site provision for breakfast and after-school clubs. Littledown Special School provides

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Information about this school

alternative off-site provision for relevant pupils for part of the week.  Following some adjustments during the inspection, the school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

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Information about this inspection

 This inspection began as a one-day inspection with two inspectors. When it converted to a two-day full inspection, three further inspectors joined the team.  Inspectors observed teaching and learning in 15 lessons and visited many other lessons for a short time. Six of the lessons were seen jointly with leaders.  Inspectors listened to pupils read from Years 2 and 6, looked at work in books and discussed pupils’ progress and attainment with leaders.  Inspectors met with the executive headteacher, heads of upper and lower school, groups of staff, other leaders and two governors, one of which was the chair.  Inspectors spoke to many pupils informally and met with three groups of pupils to gather their views on the school. 131 pupils also completed the online survey.  Parents’ views were taken into account through face-to-face informal discussions before school, through two letters and through 46 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View.

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Information about this inspection

 In addition to talking to inspectors, 61 staff shared their views through the online survey.  Inspectors checked records and documentation relating to safeguarding, behaviour, minutes of meetings, staff appraisals and monitoring and improvement.

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Inspection team

Louise Adams, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Susan Aspland Ofsted Inspector Darren Aisthorpe Ofsted Inspector Deirdre Crutchley Ofsted Inspector Krista Dawkins 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

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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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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