Green Lane Primary and Nursery School

Green Lane Primary and Nursery School Green Lane, Worcester Park, Surrey KT4 8AS

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that requires improvement  Leaders’ self-evaluation is not rigorous enough. They do not focus on improving those areas of the school’s work that are most in need of reform with enough precision. This has led to inconsistencies over time in pupils’ attainment and progress.  Leaders’ expectations for the quality of teaching are not high enough to secure the strong teaching needed to raise pupils’ achievement.  Leaders and governors have not checked the achievement of disadvantaged pupils as a group rigorously enough. Although there have been improvements in their achievement in the current year, leaders and governors do not have sufficiently robust plans in place for securing sustained improvement.  Although overall attendance improved this year, leaders have not secured improvement in the attendance of disadvantaged pupils and of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Attendance remains low for these

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

groups.  Leaders do not have successful strategies for managing the particularly challenging behaviour of a small number of pupils.  Teaching requires improvement because adults’ expectations are not high enough. Tasks are not consistently matched well to pupils’ varying abilities. Errors and misconceptions are not corrected quickly enough to help them improve.  The welfare of pupils requires improvement. Pupils who miss more school than they should or who display difficult behaviour are not supported enough.  Pupils’ outcomes require improvement because their progress and attainment in reading, writing and mathematics are not consistently good.  Outcomes, particularly for pupils in key stage 2, were below average in the previous two academic years, and are slowly improving. Pupils’ learning in lessons and in their work does not show an overall pattern of good progress.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

The school has the following strengths  The Nursery and Reception classes provide a safe, nurturing environment where children learn language and number skills well through stimulating and creative activities.  Most pupils behave well. They are keen to learn. Pupils are friendly and confident young people. They enjoy helping younger children with their learning and with play activities.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that adults help pupils make the most rapid progress they can in reading, writing and mathematics by:  expecting the most from them  providing tasks with a good level of challenge for pupils of varying abilities  making sure that pupils do not repeat errors and are helped to overcome misconceptions.  Improve the quality of leadership and governance by:  sharpening leaders’ self-evaluation to enable them to identify and pursue clearer priorities for improving the school  checking the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and highlighting any areas of underachievement to enable governors to hold leaders to account  reducing persistent absence, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities  improving strategies for dealing with the small number of pupils who have particular difficulties in managing their behaviour.

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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 Requires improvement

 Leadership requires improvement because leaders’ self-evaluation is not rigorous enough. Leaders and governors are aware that pupils’ outcomes and attendance have declined over the previous two years. However, they are too ready to blame outside factors for the decline. Their evaluation of the school is over-generous. This does not promote swift improvement.  Leaders’ planning has not been effective in sustaining the school’s good work identified in the previous inspection. Key areas, such as the quality of teaching and pupils’ outcomes that were judged previously to be good, now require improvement.  Leaders do not expect the best from their teachers with enough rigour. Leaders are also inclined to overpraise teaching and learning that are not consistently good. As a result, pupils do not make the rapid progress they need to in order to attain as well as possible.  Although there have been improvements in the current year in the achievement of

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

disadvantaged pupils, leaders and governors do not always plan carefully enough for these pupils as a separate group.  Leaders do not have sufficiently robust plans for improving attendance, particularly of disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. These groups had low attendance in the previous two academic years. Current school information shows that this pattern is continuing, in spite of an overall improvement in attendance.  Leaders and governors do not have sufficiently effective strategies for dealing with the small number of pupils who have specific behavioural issues. Leaders occasionally put these pupils on reduced timetables, rather than finding effective ways of dealing with their behaviour. In these instances, parents told inspectors that they do not feel fully supported by the school. Having reviewed the evidence, inspectors endorse these parents’ views.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 The curriculum is balanced between promoting pupils’ academic, creative and sporting skills. English and mathematics underpin the curriculum. Topics covering different subjects under one heading are popular with the pupils. They enjoy learning and writing about a wide range of history and geography topics. This enjoyment contributes well to their good behaviour in class.  A range of after-school clubs, trips and visits provides a balance to the academic curriculum. For example, pupils have visited places of interest including museums and theatres. The school’s proximity to Hampton Court Palace and Richmond Park is used well to promote a sense of history and a love of nature. In such ways, the school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well, and this contributes effectively to their good behaviour.  The curriculum makes a sound contribution to promoting British values. Pupils are

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

taught to be responsible and tolerant citizens. They are encouraged to discuss topics and to have their say. The school’s policy on equality of opportunity is up to date, and covers all the required information on treating everyone equally. Pupils learn responsibility by looking after younger ones.  Leaders and governors make good use of the additional government funding for primary physical education and sport. They have introduced new sports such as country dancing and running a mile a day, and have improved resources for sports clubs. These initiatives have attracted more pupils to participate in sport. Leaders secure the sustainability of the funding by training class teachers, so that they can confidently deliver good-quality sports teaching.  Leaders and governors use effectively the additional funding for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. As a result, these pupils make good

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

progress in their learning.  The school is popular with most parents. The great majority agree that their children are safe and happy at school. A typical comment from a parent was, ‘There is a strong sense of parent community that extends beyond the school gates and into the wider locale.’  Leaders and governors have created a happy community school. Staff show in their responses to the online survey of their views that they strongly support leadership. Pupils who spoke to inspectors or who responded to the online survey were positive about the school.

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Governance of the school

 Governors do not sufficiently hold leaders to account for inconsistencies in the school’s performance. They have not been vigilant enough in recognising underachievement by disadvantaged pupils over time. They have not held the school to account for the continuing low attendance of disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.  Governors are very supportive of the school. They visit it often to see its work for themselves. They are well trained in keeping pupils safe, for example by undertaking training in identifying early signs of extremism.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  There is a safe culture in the school. Scrutiny of the school’s safeguarding records shows that adults who work with children are carefully checked. The school is on the border of two local authorities and works with both to refer safeguarding concerns to the appropriate authorities. When pupils go on trips or visits, risks are considered in advance. Absences are followed up with the educational welfare officer to ensure that absent pupils are encouraged to come to school. Leaders and staff know where the absent pupils are during the school day. These strategies have raised overall attendance in the current year.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 Teaching requires improvement because it is not consistent in quality and does not lead to pupils making good progress.  Adults’ expectations are not high enough. Pupils are not routinely encouraged to aim as high as they can. Pupils who spoke to inspectors, while generally positive about the school, said that they sometimes found the work too easy. This tied in with inspectors’ observation of pupils’ learning, both in class and in the scrutiny of their workbooks.  Adults set tasks for pupils that do not consistently provide challenge. As a result, the wide ranges of pupils’ aptitudes and abilities are not matched closely enough.  Adults’ guidance and explanations to pupils do not always clear up misconceptions, so that errors tend to be repeated.  The very small minority of pupils on a reduced timetable are provided with work, but adults are not always sure whether the work has been completed.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 Teachers plan lessons with clarity, so that pupils know what they are going to learn. Pupils have opportunities to review their own learning to check that they have understood the topic.  A strength of the teaching is the good use made of cross-curricular topics. For example, the parallel Year 5 classes were researching the life and habitats of South East Asian Draco lizards. Pupils were enthusiastic about these fascinating creatures. This stimulated some effective creative writing, such as, ‘a reptile wriggles from beneath a canopy of crunchy leaves, looking for a good spot in the sunshine.’

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.  The school does not have effective strategies for the very few pupils who display difficult behaviour, often the result of specific and complex needs. Strategies to improve their behaviour are weak, sometimes reducing pupils’ timetables or suggesting a transfer out of the school.  Attendance of disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities remains low, as in the previous two academic years. This has an adverse impact on the learning of those pupils, who miss more school than they should.  Most pupils are confident, friendly and articulate. They are polite to visitors, holding doors open. Class ambassadors greet visitors and explain what the class is learning.  Pupils who spoke to inspectors said that they feel safe at the school. Pupils say that there are occasional instances of name-calling and even bad language. However, they

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Personal development and welfare

are confident that the adults will quickly sort things out. They regard the teachers as good role models, because they are ‘kind and positive and always cheery’.  Pupils understand what bullying means, but agree that, in the words of one, ‘there are no bullies at our school’. Pupils are taught to beware of cyber bullying and to take e- safety seriously.  The potential risks from talking to strangers or from crossing the road are covered well. Pupils say that they feel safe because of the presence of CCTV cameras around the school. They like talks from the police on keeping safe.  Breakfast club and the after-school care provision are well run. Pupils are given healthy food and a range of worthwhile activities, both indoors and in the spacious outside play areas.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Pupils enjoy their learning. They behave well in class. When activities change, they move quietly and responsibly to the next activity.  Pupils keep their classrooms tidy. Inspectors saw them willingly pick up litter. Pupils take care of the many displays of their work on the classroom walls.  Playtimes are well supervised. Pupils play peaceably together. Pupils from a wide range of backgrounds and heritages get on well with one another. One commented, ‘Almost all the kids in this school are friendly.’ Older pupils take seriously their responsibility for looking after younger ones to ensure that they have friends to play with.

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 Pupils’ outcomes require improvement because their progress, particularly in key stage 2, is not consistently good in reading, writing and mathematics.  Pupils’ attainment and progress at key stage 2 dropped sharply in 2015 and remained considerably below average in 2016, particularly in writing and mathematics.  School information indicates that current progress is not consistent in each year group and in every subject. There is too much variation of quality, particularly in key stage 2, both in pupils’ progress and their attainment.  School information shows that disadvantaged pupils throughout the school now make progress in line with that of other pupils. A scrutiny of pupils’ books confirms this.  Writing in key stage 2 was the weakest area of the school’s work in the past two years. However, the pupils are enthused by writing about the interesting topics. As a result, better writing was seen during the inspection.

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 Pupils in key stage 2 are prepared adequately for secondary school. School information suggests that the attainment of current Year 6 pupils in reading, writing and mathematics is broadly in line with national averages. These pupils were similarly broadly average at the end of key stage 1. During their time in key stage 2, pupils have not made as much progress as they are capable of.

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 Younger children achieve well. Children leave the Reception class with language, number and social skills that are above those typical for their age. Year 1 pupils regularly do well in the phonics screening check. Pupils who read aloud to the lead inspector demonstrated that they could effectively use their phonics skills to decode unfamiliar words. The attainment of key stage 1 pupils is broadly average.  School information indicates that pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress overall. Observation of these pupils’ learning in class and in their workbooks confirms this.

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Early years provision Good

 The early years provision is judged to be better than the school as a whole because children make consistently good progress in learning new skills. Teaching by all the adults is stimulating, enabling children to learn well in a safe and caring environment. A typical comment from a parent of a child in the early years provision was, ‘The teachers are supportive and nurturing. My child loves going every day.’  The provision is well led. The early years leader checks children’s progress carefully from the time they enter Nursery to when they leave Reception. These records give evidence of children learning well, and leaving with skills that are above those typical for their age, though not exceptionally high.  The leader makes sure that there is suitable challenge for children of varying abilities, including the most able.  Staff provide support for children who require support for their specific needs promptly.

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Early years provision Good

The close relationship with parents helps promote learning at home as well as at school. Effective additional support for speech and language difficulties is provided.  The small number of disadvantaged children currently in the early years provision are learning as well as other children. This is an improved picture from previous years.  Teaching in the early years provision is stimulating. Children have many opportunities to learn language and number skills in ways that engage their interest and enthusiasm. For example, the mud kitchen is used well to encourage children to ‘cook’ and ‘write’ their recipes on a blackboard. Such opportunities help children to begin to learn to write.  Adults engage children in conversation, and this helps children to develop good social skills as well as fluency in talking. One child proudly told an inspector, ‘I have made a present for my Mum. It is a bee.’  Staff in the Nursery and Reception classes keep children safe, and provide well for their

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Early years provision Good

well-being. Their lunchtime arrangements are pleasant, and develop children’s social skills well. Children sit in family groups, with a jug of water and proper plates and cutlery. Children make choices of what they want to eat and this encourages independence. Lunchtimes are friendly and happy.  Children behave well. They are ready to take turns using the equipment, and to share the toys.

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Early years provision Good

 Resources to stimulate learning through play are generally of good quality. Children have a great deal of space, and adults provide good learning opportunities outdoors as well as indoors. Some of the outdoor resources have seen better days, and are in need of refreshing.

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Early years provision Good

 Transition arrangements are effective. Children leave the Reception classes equipped with the skills they need, and ready to start Year 1 confidently.

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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

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 21 September 2011

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Information about this school

 The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about the curriculum on its website.  Green Lane is larger than the average-sized primary school.  The headteacher has been in post since September 2012. Before that, she was the school’s deputy headteacher.  The proportion of pupils who are eligible for pupil premium funding is slightly below average.  The proportion of pupils who are from minority ethnic backgrounds is higher than average. Pupils come from a wide variety of heritages.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is below average.  Children in the Nursery class can attend morning or afternoon sessions. Some stay for lunch. Reception children stay all day.  The school runs a breakfast club and an after-school care club.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics

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Information about this inspection

 This inspection began as a one-day inspection, the purpose of which was to ascertain whether the school remained good and whether safeguarding was effective. It became clear during the day that more evidence was required before final judgements could be made. The lead inspector was joined on the second day by four team inspectors.  Inspectors visited classes throughout the school and observed pupils’ learning in a range of subjects. The headteacher and members of the senior leadership team joined inspectors on many of their classroom visits.  Inspectors spoke to a number of pupils, listened to them read and looked at samples of their work. An inspector met a group of key stage 2 pupils to hear how they felt about the school. Inspectors took into consideration 132 responses to the Ofsted online survey of pupils’ views.  Meetings were held with leaders, including those who hold responsibility for specific

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Information about this inspection

subjects.  The lead inspector held a meeting with the chair of the governing body and eight other governors; 10 governors were present at the final feedback meeting.  The lead inspector held an interview with a senior school improvement adviser from the local authority.  Inspectors spoke to a number of parents during the inspection. They considered the school’s own survey of parents’ views. There were 143 responses to the Ofsted online survey Parent View, including 30 comments. Inspectors took all these responses and comments into consideration.  Inspectors took account of 44 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire for members of staff.  Inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at a range of documents. These included minutes of meetings of the governing body and external reviews of the school by the local authority. Inspectors looked at documents relating to the school’s evaluation of its performance and discussed these with leaders.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors considered a range of evidence on pupils’ attainment and progress. They also examined safeguarding information, and records relating to attendance, behaviour and welfare.

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Inspection team

Natalia Power, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Margaret Warner 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

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. www.gov.uk/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and- alternative-provision-settings .

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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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection team

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 .

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Inspection team

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, 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.gov.uk/ofsted

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