Langley Green Primary

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

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Alison Wallis Headteacher Langley Green Primary Stagelands Langley Green Crawley West Sussex RH11 7PF

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Short inspection of Langley Green Primary

Following my visit to the school on 3 May 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 March 2014.

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Short inspection of Langley Green Primary

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Together with senior leaders and governors, you are dedicated to improving the school and helping it to become the best it can be. Langley Green Primary School is a warmly inclusive, diverse community, where pupils and families from a wide range of backgrounds all work happily together. You are always on the lookout for ways to improve the school for the benefit of your pupils. Your continual drive to improve has taken you and other staff to other cities and countries to learn from schools and institutions that are particularly successful in some aspect of education. Morale is high because staff know that there are always carefully chosen opportunities ahead for them to extend their skills and further their professional development.

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Short inspection of Langley Green Primary

Pupils enjoy coming to school and exude friendliness and pride for their school. Pupils, in their role as learning ambassadors, welcome visitors to their class and explain clearly what they are learning in the lesson. Older pupils give up their time to be reading buddies for younger pupils. One Year 6 pupil said that she found it rewarding knowing that she was helping younger pupils to overcome difficulties with reading. Pupils take on many such roles of responsibility throughout the school and fulfil their duties diligently. This helps pupils to become thoughtful, confident and polite, and always ready to hold a door open or offer a cheerful greeting. Pupils are motivated to learn, and their behaviour is impeccable. Parents are wholly supportive of the school. They appreciate the way that staff keep in touch with parents to raise any concerns about pupils’ learning or well-being. One parent said: ‘Staff are brilliant and are always there for our every need.’ Leaders make sure that

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Short inspection of Langley Green Primary

parents are kept up to date with developments in teaching and the curriculum, including new approaches to the teaching of mathematics and reading.

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Short inspection of Langley Green Primary

Our tour of the school reflected the high standards of presentation and behaviour for which leaders strive. Numerous high-quality displays throughout the school showcase pupils’ work in a wide range of subjects. Staff have good subject knowledge that enables them to engage pupils’ interest and fuel their appetite for learning. Work in mathematics books was neatly presented and at an appropriate level of challenge. We saw similarly high standards of presentation in pupils’ other books across the curriculum.

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Short inspection of Langley Green Primary

Pupils make strong progress in key stage 2, particularly in writing and mathematics. In 2017, the proportion of pupils who achieved the expected standard in writing was in line with the national average and in mathematics pupils attained above national figures. Pupils’ rapid progress in writing successfully addressed one of the areas that inspectors asked you to improve at your last inspection. Pupils also make good progress in reading in key stage 2, although their attainment at the end of Year 6 in 2017 was well below the national average. Pupils get off to a good start in the early years and achieve well in the Year 1 phonics screening check. However, you acknowledge that pupils’ attainment at the end of key stage 1 in recent years has been too low. You also agreed with me that leaders and governors need to sharpen their focus on these pupils and have higher expectations of what they can achieve.

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Short inspection of Langley Green Primary

At your last inspection, inspectors also asked you to raise attendance at the school and reduce the numbers of pupils who are persistently absent. You have worked hard to impress on all parents the importance of attending school regularly. Consequently, rates of attendance have improved to be in line with those seen nationally. Fewer pupils are persistently absent, although there are still a very few disadvantaged pupils whose attendance remains too low. Leaders are aware of this and are working hard to engage with these families and improve attendance further.

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Short inspection of Langley Green Primary

The welfare and well-being of pupils is central to the school’s work. Leaders ensure that all who work in the school are well trained and kept up to date with safeguarding matters. Policies, procedures and practice all combine to provide a culture in which pupils are safe and flourish. Leaders ensure that all the right checks are carried out before people are allowed to work in the school. Governors are also well trained and fulfil their responsibilities for safeguarding thoroughly.

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Short inspection of Langley Green Primary

All who work at the school are keenly aware of their responsibility to look out for signs that a pupil may be at risk. Posters in the corridor remind everyone that safeguarding is about ‘everybody, every day’. This message is evident in staff’s behaviour throughout the school. Everyone understands that they must report even minor concerns. While these may not represent an immediate risk, they may be a vital piece of evidence that is needed later.

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Short inspection of Langley Green Primary

Pupils feel entirely safe in school and know that there is always an adult who will listen carefully to any concerns. Bullying is very rare and is quickly nipped in the bud if it does happen. Pupils learn how to stay safe in a range of situations, including online, on the road and near fire. They enjoyed learning about basic first aid from a paramedic, who also showed them around his ambulance.

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Inspection findings

 I identified three areas of the school’s work to focus on during this inspection. First, I looked at how effectively teaching enables pupils to make good progress and achieve well in key stage 1. Leaders have implemented new approaches to the teaching of writing and mathematics to accelerate pupils’ progress and to bring about greater consistency across the school. There is clear evidence of this in pupils’ writing. Pupils of all ability levels are currently making good progress, but we saw evidence of particularly strong progress from pupils of lower ability. In mathematics, teachers have a better understanding of how to provide pupils with the knowledge and understanding needed for a secure foundation for learning. Staff expect pupils to think carefully and give reasons for their answers. We saw an example of this where pupils were learning to tell the time. The teacher’s carefully chosen questions probed pupils’ understanding and took their

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Inspection findings

thinking one step further, so that they had a clearer understanding of how to read a clock face.  Although pupils currently in key stage 1 are making better progress, too few are on track to achieve the expected standards in English and mathematics by the end of Year 2. Leaders and governors recognise that outcomes in key stage 1 are still too low. However, the current school improvement plan does not reflect this, nor does it contain a clear strategy to bring about the improvements that are needed. Leaders and governors have set targets for how well cohorts of pupils will achieve, but you accept that these are not challenging enough.  We also investigated how well disadvantaged pupils are achieving across the school. By the end of Year 6, disadvantaged pupils attain in line with their peers in reading, writing and mathematics. These older pupils have a strong love of reading, nurtured by staff at the school, and can explain their preferred authors

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Inspection findings

and books. Teachers use detailed pupil progress information to recognise when pupils, including those eligible for the pupil premium, need additional support. The extra help teachers provide speeds the rate of progress for disadvantaged pupils. We agreed that work in pupils’ books shows that these pupils are mostly making good progress, although this is not consistent across the school.  The third area I considered was the effectiveness of leaders’ drive to improve outcomes in reading. Senior leaders recognise that, in the past, pupils have not achieved as well in reading as in other subjects. Leaders have introduced new approaches to the teaching of reading, which have captured pupils’ interest and sparked a greater desire to read more books. Introducing a competitive element into reading has especially fuelled the enthusiasm of some previously reluctant readers. Pupils are developing greater stamina because they read a lot more than

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Inspection findings

they used to. They are also keen to tackle more challenging books and have greater resilience because staff have taught strategies that enable pupils to understand texts, even when faced with unfamiliar words.  Staff ensure that pupils read regularly and have daily opportunities to develop their skills and extend their vocabulary. Teachers check on pupils’ understanding carefully, but pupils also help each other when reading aloud in pairs. Pupils are engaged, focused and interested in books and reading. A well-stocked library and a knowledgeable librarian help to further develop pupils’ love of reading. The librarian listens carefully to pupils’ preferences and orders books that pupils are eager to read. Pupils are currently making good progress in reading. The proportion of pupils on track to achieve the expected standard at the end of Year 6 this academic year has improved and is close to that seen nationally in 2017.

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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

 outcomes for pupils at the end of key stage 1 improve so that they are at least in line with the national average  development plans focus sharply on the most urgent areas for school improvement and contain challenging, measurable targets for how well pupils will achieve. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for West Sussex. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

I met with you and senior leaders to discuss various aspects of the school’s work. I also met with five members of the governing body and spoke with a representative of the local authority on the telephone. I visited classes from all year groups with you and the deputy headteachers to observe teaching and learning, to talk to pupils and to look at their work. I observed pupils’ behaviour around the school, including at playtime. Several pupils spoke with me in the playground at morning break. I also had a meeting with pupils drawn from Years 1 to 6. I met with six pupils from year 6 to discuss their view on reading. I considered 19 responses to the staff survey and 18 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, as well as speaking to several parents at the beginning of the day. A range of documents, including the school’s self-evaluation documents, school improvement plans, and safeguarding policies, procedures and checks, were also taken into account.

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