Lanesend Primary School

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

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Mrs C Sice Headteacher Lanesend Primary School Love Lane Cowes Isle of Wight PO31 7ES

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Short inspection of Lanesend Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 12 July 2017, 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 predecessor school was judged to be good in November 2011.

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Short inspection of Lanesend Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have seen the school through a period of significant change and established it as a very popular, well-regarded school within the local and wider community. You have led your staff team with energy and ambition, and have a clear vision for improving the school. You are determined to ensure that all pupils have a wide range of interesting and stimulating opportunities to learn and make good progress within a caring, nurturing and supportive environment. The school’s strong ethos of high expectations, positive reinforcement and a bright, welcoming atmosphere, with corridors adorned with pupils’ work and motivational phrases, encapsulates the school’s motto, ‘love learning’.

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Short inspection of Lanesend Primary School

The school has gone from strength to strength in the last few years. Pupil numbers have significantly increased and parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. Results from the Ofsted online questionnaire, Parent View, shows that 96% of parents who completed the questionnaire would recommend the school to other parents. Many parents took the time to make additional comments in support of their views, with remarks such as: ‘A great school, always striving not just to improve, but to excel. It is clear that all the staff love what they do and are there to make a difference!’ and ‘A stand-out school that inspires and delights the children every day’.

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Short inspection of Lanesend Primary School

School leaders have ensured that each individual pupil’s learning and welfare needs are a high priority. You have established strong teams of staff who work successfully together to support all pupils to become effective learners. School leaders in the progression team focus their work on ensuring that pupils’ individual learning needs are at the heart of their planning and provision in teaching, learning and the curriculum. The inclusion team ensures that pupils with particular needs are provided with targeted support to help them to make better progress. The family team not only support pupils, but also the needs of the wider family, particularly those in challenging circumstances. This breadth of teamwork provides support and guidance to nurture and care for each pupil’s academic and personal needs, raising their self-esteem and belief in their abilities to be successful in their learning and progress. Pupils are proud of their achievements and are keen to talk about their

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Short inspection of Lanesend Primary School

Governors know the school well and make a strong contribution to school improvement. They have ensured that the aspects of the school’s work that were not as effective have been improved. Outcomes in mathematics are now much stronger and the quality of teaching enables pupils to make good progress from their starting points. However, school leaders are aware that there is more to be done to improve outcomes for all groups of pupils in writing, particularly the most able, to enable them to gain a greater depth of understanding and reach high standards.

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Short inspection of Lanesend Primary School

School leaders and governors place a high priority on ensuring the safety and well- being of all pupils and staff. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of high quality. All mandatory checks on the suitability of staff are completed before they begin to work with pupils, and this includes any volunteers within the school. The single central register is a comprehensive document which records all the required checks and is kept up to date. The governor with the responsibility for safeguarding examines school procedures regularly to make sure that the school’s safeguarding policy is being implemented effectively.

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Short inspection of Lanesend Primary School

Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe. They feel safe in school and know that all adults are supportive of their needs and would respond to any concerns they may have. Pupils learn about keeping safe when using the internet and in the wider community and know that regular fire drills take place to help them to know what to do in the event of any emergency.

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Inspection findings

 Pupils are keen to come to school because they enjoy learning. They have positive attitudes to one another and to the adults around them. They say that the curriculum is interesting and exciting because it provides opportunities for them to explore new ideas and discover fascinating facts in a wide range of subjects. They say that teachers make learning fun and help them to know how to be successful in their learning. This is reflected in their high attendance.  Teachers are constantly finding ways to enthuse pupils in their learning and inspire them to try even harder and test themselves. Pupils are enthusiastic about the number ‘clubs’ which challenge them in a range of mathematical calculations, completed at speed. Pupils are proud of their achievements and this motivates them to do even better and be ready to join the next ‘club’ level.  Effective use is made of a wide range of stimulating resources to support pupils’

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Inspection findings

learning. This enables pupils to make good progress and has increased their engagement and motivation to learn. One pupil explained that by the using the stimuli of the poem, ‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling, and persuasive advertisements, the class were inspired to write their own thought-provoking ‘If’ poems about themselves. One pupil read his poem with pride and pleasure, knowing that he had been successful in his endeavours.  School leaders have recently introduced a new system for recording pupils’ achievements in reading, writing and mathematics. Currently, there are variations in the outcomes recorded compared with the evidence seen in pupils’ work. School leaders know that the accuracy of assessment is vital to ensure that their records provide a true picture of pupils’ achievement.  From very low starting points, children in the early years make good progress and increasing proportions of children are better prepared for learning in Year 1.

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Inspection findings

Parents who responded to the online questionnaire, Parent View, say that their children make very good progress in their learning during the Reception Year. Their social skills and confidence also advance strongly.  Inspection evidence confirms that pupils’ achievement in writing is not as strong as in reading and mathematics. School leaders know that the quality of pupils’ writing remains a crucial focus for improvement in the school. Strengthening pupils’ spelling skills is a key contributor to this.  Pupils’ achievement in reading is stronger than in writing and mathematics. A higher proportion of the most able readers achieve the higher standard in reading. In 2016, half of the lowest-prior-attaining pupils achieved the expected standard, which was well above the national average. However, outcomes in phonics remain lower than the national average, particularly for Year 1 pupils.  School leaders have produced a very detailed evaluation of the work of the

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Inspection findings

school. However, some aspects of the document describe what school leaders have done and the activities that have taken place, rather than the impact their actions have had on outcomes for pupils.  The school improvement plan was initially put in place in 2015 to span three years. However, up-to-date information and additional priorities for the school are not fully reflected in the plan. It does not focus well enough on improving outcomes for all groups of pupils. In addition, it is unclear who is responsible for ensuring that each priority is achieved. It does not set out how the success of each priority will be measured, because actions and activities to bring about improvement are not clearly defined.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 school self-evaluation judgements are rooted in secure evidence of the impact of the school’s work  the quality of development planning is sharply focused on improving outcomes for all groups of pupils  clear actions, responsibilities and measures to identify the success of activities to bring about improvement are evident within the school’s plans  the proportion of pupils reaching higher standards, particularly in writing, is increased.

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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 Isle of Wight. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, meetings were held with you, your deputy headteacher, the lower key stage 2 leader, your early years leader, your English and mathematics subject leader team and your inclusion team which supports disadvantaged pupils. I had a meeting with five governors, including the chair of governors, your school development manager and a group of pupils. I scrutinised a range of documents, including information on pupils’ achievement, the school’s self-evaluation and school development plan, external reports and documentation relating to safeguarding. Pupils’ progress in their learning over time was checked by looking at their work in their folders. We observed learning in five classes together.

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