Lancaster Lane Primary and Pre-School

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

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Mrs Joanne Geldard Headteacher Lancaster Lane Community Primary School Hunters Road Clayton-le-Woods Leyland Lancashire PR25 5TT

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Short inspection of Lancaster Lane Community Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 26 April 2018, 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 December 2013.

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Short inspection of Lancaster Lane Community Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

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Short inspection of Lancaster Lane Community Primary School

Staff and governors share your high aspirations for every pupil to achieve well in a happy, inclusive and caring environment. You and your deputy headteacher accurately monitor the quality of teaching and the progress that pupils make. This ensures that you have a detailed understanding of the school’s strengths and areas that require further enhancement. You are appropriately focusing on giving pupils more opportunities to develop their skills in mathematics. The information you shared with me indicates that mathematics teaching has improved because of changes that you have made.

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Short inspection of Lancaster Lane Community Primary School

Your hardworking and enthusiastic staff work closely together to improve teaching and learning for all pupils, including those who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities. Staff have planned a creative and broad curriculum which pupils enjoy. You make effective use of the local area to enhance pupils’ learning in subjects including history and geography. Staff plan whole-school learning events to make learning interesting and fun. Pupils told me how much they enjoyed the recent school reading week based on their reading of ‘Peter Pan’. Pupils develop their skills and confidence through a wide range of extra-curricular activities, such as dancing, singing and chess.

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Short inspection of Lancaster Lane Community Primary School

Governors want the best for pupils and share your high aspirations for the school. They frequently review their work to make sure that they are making a positive impact on standards, including for disadvantaged pupils. As a result of frequent visits, governors know the school well. They have an accurate understanding of the appropriate actions you have taken to help middle leaders develop their areas of responsibility. Governors ask probing questions and provide a good balance of challenge and support for leaders.

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Short inspection of Lancaster Lane Community Primary School

Your very polite and well-behaved pupils are proud to be members of the school community. They enjoy learning and in lessons they are keen to try their very best. Pupils show respect for others and appreciate and value other cultures and religions. This is because you teach them to follow the school’s prayer, ‘Treat others as you would like them to treat us.’ Pupils told me that incidents of bullying are very rare. They are confident that teachers would deal with any misbehaviour.

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Short inspection of Lancaster Lane Community Primary School

Parents and carers share pupils’ very positive view of the school. They appreciate how well you know their children. Those who spoke to me at the start of the school day or responded to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, said that their children are very well cared for and that the school is very welcoming and friendly. Parents spoke of how well teachers meet the different needs of their children. A typical comment was, ‘Staff go out of their way to ensure that children are supported and encouraged to learn.’

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Short inspection of Lancaster Lane Community Primary School

You have responded well to the areas for improvement identified at the last inspection. Teachers plan their lessons carefully to make sure that activities meet the needs of pupils. In writing, pupils know exactly what to do to improve their work. Pupils develop their skills by writing at length in different subjects and for different purposes. As a result of improvements that you have made, standards have risen. Pupils, including the most able, make good progress and leave the school with attainment above national averages in writing.

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Short inspection of Lancaster Lane Community Primary School

You have made sure that safeguarding is given a very high priority and is a strength of the school. Safeguarding arrangements are thorough and fit for purpose. Leaders carry out statutory checks on the suitability of staff to work with children. Governors visit the school regularly to check on safeguarding arrangements. They have made sure that the appropriate monitoring and filtering arrangements are in place for the school’s internet connection. Pupils were keen to tell me about the different ways they can keep themselves safe, including when working online and crossing the road. Parents appreciate your weekly newsletter item on internet safety. Staff, parents and pupils strongly agree that pupils are safe.

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Short inspection of Lancaster Lane Community Primary School

Through regular training, staff and governors have up-to-date knowledge of safeguarding. You lead a very useful regular safeguarding briefing for staff. As a result, they are alert and attentive to the potential risks pupils may face. Records relating to pupils’ welfare are of a high quality. Leaders work very closely with parents and other professionals to make sure that pupils are safe.

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Inspection findings

 The inspection focused on a number of key lines of enquiry, the first of which was how well pupils achieve in reading in key stage 2. This was because, in 2017, the progress that pupils made by the end of Year 6 was lower than in writing for some groups. I found that you have improved how pupils develop their skills in reading through carefully planned lessons. Pupils told me that they enjoy the wide range of reading books available. They also value times when their teachers read novels to the whole class. However, they would like more opportunities to read for pleasure. You have identified raising the profile of reading as a school priority and are taking the right steps to improve standards. The changes that you have made are too recent to judge their impact.  The second focus for the inspection related to the progress that the most able pupils make in mathematics. This was because, at the end of Year 6 in 2017, the

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Inspection findings

proportion of pupils working at greater depth was lower than the national average. I found that leaders have taken the correct actions to address this. Staff have received regular training to improve their skills and you have purchased new resources to support pupils’ learning. You have provided pupils with more regular opportunities for reasoning and problem-solving in mathematics. The impact of the changes can be seen in pupils’ work. Pupils told me that they enjoy mathematics and that the work is challenging. In lessons, I saw that pupils were keen to have a go and tackle tricky work. Leaders are making regular checks to make sure that recent improvements are secure and that more pupils achieve the highest standards.  I also looked at how well leaders use additional funding to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. I found that you and your staff take very careful steps to make sure that these pupils get the right additional support. You accurately

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Inspection findings

identify where pupils have gaps in their learning and provide additional teaching, for example in reading. You have taken the right steps to make sure that these pupils attend school regularly, working closely with families and other professionals. Staff meet frequently to check the progress these pupils are making. You and your governors ensure that you spend the pupil premium funding wisely to support pupils’ academic progress and well-being.  During the inspection, I found that leaders provide very effective teaching and support for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. Staff work very closely with families and other professionals to make sure that pupils get exactly the right level of support. You provide additional help to develop pupils’ emotional well- being and skills, for example in speech and language. In class, teachers carefully plan activities which develop pupils’ learning. Leaders check very carefully to

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Inspection findings

make sure that extra provision is improving pupils’ progress. As a result of the steps that you have taken, pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities achieve well.

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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

 they build upon the actions already taken to enhance the progress pupils across the school make in reading  a higher proportion of pupils achieve greater depth in mathematics.

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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 Lancashire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During this inspection, I met with you and your deputy headteacher. I also met with seven governors, including the chair of governors. I spoke with the local authority adviser who works with the school and the educational adviser for the virtual school. I met with eight pupils from key stage 2. I visited classes in each key stage with you and your deputy headteacher, where I observed teaching and learning and spoke with pupils. I looked at pupils’ work in a range of subject areas. I also heard pupils from Year 2 and Year 6 read.

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Information about the inspection

I took account of responses to Parent View, the Ofsted online questionnaire, including free-text responses. I also considered the responses to the online staff questionnaire. I spoke with parents at the start of the school day. I looked at a range of documentation, including the school’s self-evaluation and improvement plan and information about pupils’ attainment and progress. I also evaluated safeguarding procedures, including policies to keep pupils safe, safeguarding checks and attendance information. I undertook a review of the school’s website.

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