Langley School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Mr Philip Talbot Headteacher Langley School Kineton Green Road Olton Solihull West Midlands B92 7ER

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Short inspection of Langley School

Following my visit to the school on 5 July 2017 with Julie Griffiths, Ofsted inspector, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in May 2013.

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Short inspection of Langley School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. It has a clear understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for development, and has taken effective action to improve the school. Leaders and governors have ensured that all staff are focused on further developing the quality of education provided by the school.

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Short inspection of Langley School

Leadership is strong at all levels. For example, subject leaders are supported and challenged to drive improvements in their areas of responsibility. This has led to pupils making good progress in most subject areas. However, if standards do not meet the high expectations of school leaders, decisive action is taken to remedy the situation.

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Short inspection of Langley School

You have high expectations of yourself, the staff and the pupils. You celebrate success, and support and challenge staff to improve outcomes for all groups of pupils. As a result, most pupils make good progress in this inclusive and pupil- centred school.

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Short inspection of Langley School

Pastoral care is strong and personal development is promoted well. Pupils are eager to take on responsibilities to improve their school. For example, they are keen to become members of the school council, older pupils read with younger ones, and pupils assist staff at school events such as Year 6 induction days and parents’ evenings. Pupils are proud of their school. Pupils’ conduct is exemplary. They behave themselves extremely well in class and during social time. They are kind and considerate, and pupils routinely help each other with their learning in lessons. They are keen to learn, and do so in a calm and purposeful environment.

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Short inspection of Langley School

Leaders have taken effective action to address the areas for improvement identified at the time of the last inspection. Pupils are given more opportunities to learn on their own and with other pupils, and they are given time to respond positively to regular feedback to improve their work. Pupils’ achievements are celebrated on displays and there are examples of high-quality artwork around the school.

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Short inspection of Langley School

Teachers have secure subject knowledge and usually plan to help pupils with different starting points to make good progress. There are examples of high-quality teaching across the school, particularly in English, German and humanities. However, disadvantaged pupils do not make the rapid progress that they require in order to reach the levels of attainment achieved by other pupils.

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Short inspection of Langley School

Performance management and staff training are used well to help to improve the quality of teaching and increase the progress that pupils make. Staff are set targets which are closely monitored to help to improve their practice. Newly qualified teachers are very well supported to make a positive impact on pupils’ learning in a short space of time.

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Short inspection of Langley School

Staff are also given more opportunities to exchange ideas about teaching and learn from each other than they were at the time of the last inspection. This is helping to improve the quality of teaching, but it is still not consistently of the highest standard. Where teaching is less effective, teachers do not plan to help all pupils to make accelerated progress, they do not use questions to develop deep understanding or ensure that all pupils are fully engaged with their learning.

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Short inspection of Langley School

The curriculum is broad and balanced, and is adapted to meet the needs of pupils with different starting points. Learning in the classroom is supported effectively by a wide range of extra-curricular activities. Fundamental British values and spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are promoted well. Pupils are thoroughly prepared for life in modern Britain.

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Short inspection of Langley School

Attendance has been consistently close to the national average since the last inspection and most pupils have excellent attendance. However, some pupils, particularly pupils who have special educational needs and disadvantaged pupils, do not attend regularly. This slows down the progress that they make.

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Short inspection of Langley School

Parents are extremely supportive of the school and value the quality of education provided. A very large majority of parents who made their views known to inspectors believe that the school is well led and managed. Almost all would recommend the school to another parent.

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Short inspection of Langley School

Governance is strong. Governors have the skills, knowledge and experience to support leaders and hold them to close account. They know the school’s strengths and weaknesses, and ask challenging questions about the range of information that they receive. They also attend regular training and staff development days so that they keep up to date with educational matters. Governors have ensured that the school’s website meets requirements and that safeguarding is effective.

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Short inspection of Langley School

Staff have a clear understanding of their responsibilities with regard to keeping pupils safe. They have received up-to-date training and regular updates, and policies and procedures used throughout the school are robust. Staff know what to do if they have a concern about a pupil’s welfare. This aspect of the school’s work is very well led.

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Short inspection of Langley School

Referrals are made promptly and outside agencies are used appropriately. Record keeping is thorough, and careful checks are made on visitors and staff. The site is secure and pupils are taught how to stay safe online and in a range of other situations in an age-appropriate way. As a result of a strong safeguarding culture, pupils, staff and parents believe that pupils feel safe as they are taught to stay safe in an effective way.

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Inspection findings

 Outcomes have been good since the last inspection. The most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, achieve well and most pupils make good progress from their starting points. However, outcomes in science have not matched those of other subject areas. As a result, leaders have provided additional support and challenge for science teachers and they appointed a new head of science in June 2017. The quality of teaching and progress is now improving but, as the leadership of science is relatively new, standards in science do not yet match those found elsewhere in the school.  The provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is well led and of a high quality. Consequently, pupils make good progress from their starting points in mainstream lessons and in the resource centre. Pupils follow a wide range of appropriate subjects which are tailored to meet their individual

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Inspection findings

needs. They also receive effective interventions to help them to achieve well. As a result, almost all pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities have moved onto purposeful and sustained destinations when they leave the school.  Over time, most disadvantaged pupils have not made the rapid progress that they need to make in order to match the attainment of other pupils. Consequently, leaders commissioned an external pupil premium review in November 2016 and they are taking a range of effective actions to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. This is a school priority, and addressing the underachievement of these pupils is a target for every member of staff within the performance management process. Leadership of this aspect of the school’s work is dedicated and ambitious, and pupil premium funding is being used effectively to improve the achievement of disadvantaged pupils. However, their progress is still

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Inspection findings

not fast enough to completely eradicate the difference in the attainment between disadvantaged pupils in the school and other pupils nationally. Processes that are now in place are not fully embedded and their impact has not been systematically evaluated.  Most pupils attend regularly and leaders have put into place systems and structures to help individuals to improve their attendance. However, some pupils are absent too often. The attendance of pupils who have special educational needs and disadvantaged pupils remains lower than that of other pupils.  Leaders have taken effective action to improve the quality of teaching, but it is still not consistently of the highest standard throughout the school. This means that some groups of pupils do not make rapid progress across the curriculum.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:  the quality of teaching improves further so that it is consistently of the highest standard  the use of pupil premium funding is systematically and regularly reviewed and revised in order to have maximum impact on the outcomes for all disadvantaged pupils  attendance improves, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Solihull. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, the deputy headteachers, other leaders and a group of staff. I met with five governors, including the chair of the governing body, and spoke to a representative of the local authority by telephone. We also spoke to pupils formally and informally and heard a small number of pupils read. We made short visits to lessons and to the resource centre with the school leaders and looked at pupils’ work in books. We also considered 189 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire.

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Information about the inspection

Various school documents were scrutinised, including the school’s self-evaluation, and its improvement plan, information about managing teachers’ performance and staff training records. Minutes of meetings of the governing body and information about pupils’ progress, behaviour, attendance and safety were also analysed. We also looked at published information on the school’s website.

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