Luckwell Primary School

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

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Mrs Jacquelyn Noble Acting Headteacher Luckwell Primary School Luckwell Road Bedminster Bristol BS3 3ET

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Luckwell Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 22 and 23 May 2018, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave during the inspection and for the time you made available to discuss the actions that have been taken since the school’s recent section 5 inspection.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Luckwell Primary School

The inspection was the first monitoring inspection since the school became subject to special measures following the inspection that took place in July 2017.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Luckwell Primary School

Having considered all the evidence, I am of the opinion that at this time:

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Luckwell Primary School

leaders and managers are taking effective action towards the removal of special measures

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Luckwell Primary School

the local authority’s statement of action is fit for purpose

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Luckwell Primary School

the school’s improvement plan is fit for purpose.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Luckwell Primary School

The school may appoint newly qualified teachers before the next monitoring inspection if they are supported by a specialist leader in education.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Luckwell Primary School

I am copying this letter to the chair of the interim executive board, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Bristol. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely

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place in July 2017

 Urgently address the weaknesses in the school’s system for ensuring pupils’ safety and well-being by:  ensuring that all pupils can use the school site safely and securely  producing high-quality risk assessments for any activity which might compromise pupils’ safety  making sure that child protection records and incidents involving poor behaviour are logged and include a chronological order of events and actions taken by leaders with recorded resolutions  ensuring that leaders carefully monitor pupils that are potentially at risk of harm.  Urgently take action to improve pupils’ outcomes in mathematics and writing, by improving the quality of teaching, learning and assessment in Years 1 to 6 by:  ensuring that teachers accurately check pupils’ understanding of what they know, understand and can do so that they fully grasp concepts before they move onto new work  providing effective support for middle- and lower-attaining pupils

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place in July 2017

 ensuring that the most able pupils have the challenge they need to deepen and extend their thinking  raising teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve and helping pupils to take a greater pride in the quality of their work  insisting that teachers routinely check that pupils’ spelling is accurate and misconceptions are corrected swiftly.  Improve leadership, management and governance by ensuring that:  leaders establish clear systems for monitoring, evaluating and reviewing the quality of teaching, learning and assessment  leaders provide training and guidance for staff to improve the quality of teaching rapidly  subject leaders receive the training they need to be able to carry out their roles and responsibilities effectively  governors hold the school and its leaders to account rigorously to ensure that pupils’ outcomes improve rapidly.

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place in July 2017

 Improve aspects of personal development, behaviour and welfare to ensure that:  leaders take responsibility for developing positive behaviour at break times  leaders provide training for supervisory staff so that pupils understand what constitutes safe play and behave accordingly  leaders support pupils fully to stop using derogatory language to one another and to understand why it is unacceptable  staff provide the support pupils require to come to school ready to learn and to show the determination required to make good progress.

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Evidence

The inspector observed the school’s work, scrutinised documents and met with the acting headteacher, the acting deputy headteacher and the subject leader for mathematics. She met with the chair of the interim executive board and a representative from the local authority who is also a member of the interim executive board. The inspector visited classrooms with the acting headteacher to observe pupils’ learning. Together they looked at the work pupils had completed in their mathematics and writing books during this current academic year. The inspector spoke to groups of pupils both informally and formally. She observed them during break and lunchtimes. The inspector also talked to a small number of parents at the start of the school day.

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Context

Following the resignation of the substantive headteacher in October 2017, the deputy headteacher was appointed as acting headteacher for the remainder of the academic year. The early years leader took on temporarily the role of acting deputy headteacher. The governing body also resigned in October 2017 and was replaced by an interim executive board. There have been a significant number of staff changes during this academic year. A high proportion of teachers are employed either on a part-time or temporary basis. A new headteacher has been appointed for September 2018. The number of pupils on the school roll has declined from 223 to 209. The school is shortly to become part of a local multi-academy trust.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

The acting headteacher has demonstrated a steely determination to drive school improvement and has provided much-needed stability during a period of uncertainty. She has made a positive start in addressing the areas identified as needing improvement in the previous inspection. The improvement plan provides a clear response to the areas for improvement and has prioritised effectively the matters of urgency. Planned actions are specific and success criteria are clear. The acting headteacher communicates clear expectations for all members of staff.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

The acting headteacher has taken prompt and effective action to improve the school’s safeguarding arrangements. As a consequence, these arrangements are now effective. The acting headteacher has swiftly taken action to make sure that all pupils are kept safe and secure during the school day. She has done this working closely with the guidance of the local authority safeguarding team, She has overseen improvements to the security of the site. As a result, adults now control the admittance and departure of pupils, parents and visitors to and from the premises. Potential hazards in both playgrounds have been removed. Pupils are now clear about which areas they are allowed to use during their breaks and lunchtimes. Checks of the adjacent school field take place daily. The checks make sure that the field is clean, free of litter and in a fit state for pupils to use safely.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

A culture of vigilance is now evident in the work of the school. There is a newly introduced central system for recording any concerns that staff may have about individual pupils. The system ensures that there is a clear, chronological record of the relevant details. Staff report that this has helped them have a better understanding of those pupils who are vulnerable. They also feel more confident that action will be taken by leaders when necessary. The acting headteacher and the chair of the interim executive board meet regularly to discuss safeguarding issues. Effective relationships exist with external agencies. The school uses these relationships in a timely manner to support vulnerable pupils. Those parents whose children have not always felt safe in the past were fulsome in their praise for the changes which the acting headteacher has made.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

The requirements of those pupils who present particular challenges with specific social, emotional or physical needs are carefully assessed. Detailed plans now ensure that they are safe at all times in school. Staff rigorously plan for and check visits out of school to make sure that pupils are not exposed to undue risks.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

Local schools, the Teaching School Alliance and specialist advisers provide the school with effective professional development and support. This is enabling improvements to the quality of teaching and learning.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

The acting headteacher has an accurate and precise understanding of the quality of teaching and learning. She monitors it closely through the reviewing of lesson plans, visiting classrooms and scrutiny of pupils’ work. The acting headteacher has identified where teaching has improved, but also recognises that some weaknesses still persist in some classes. All staff have had professional development to help them improve aspects of their teaching. Some teachers are receiving specifically targeted support to help them improve their practice. Training and support has enabled some teaching to improve, However, where staff are resistant to change, pupils do not always make the progress across the curriculum that they are capable of.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

Effective guidance from specialist leaders in education has helped the subject leaders for mathematics and phonics (letters and the sounds they represent) to develop their leadership skills. This has enabled them to gain a sharper focus on monitoring the quality of teaching. It has also allowed them to provide tailored support for those teachers who need to improve their skills. The acting headteacher is currently overseeing the leadership of writing. She is working closely with an experienced headteacher to improve the teaching of this skill.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

There are early signs that the quality of teaching is beginning to improve. This is endorsed by pupils, who comment that the ‘work is harder and we are expected to do much more’. Most teachers enjoy positive relationships with their pupils. In the vast majority of lessons pupils focus on their work and are interested in their learning. They listen well to their teachers and they know what they need to do to complete activities.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

Teachers’ expectations have risen. The quantity and quality of work that pupils have produced during this current academic year reflects this. Where teachers have high expectations of what their pupils can do, they plan interesting work. This enthuses pupils.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

Teachers now use questioning more effectively to promote pupils’ learning. For example, in two Year 4 mathematics lessons pupils were learning about how they could collect information and then display the results they had gathered. The teachers not only asked challenging questions but also expected the pupils to explain their answers. This helped pupils to deepen their learning about the subject.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

Pupils’ work over time shows that most teachers now plan work that they match closely to pupils’ needs. Lower-ability pupils receive specific tasks which help their learning and develop their confidence. Year 6 mathematics books show that teachers provide the most able and average-attaining pupils with activities which challenge their thinking and deepen their knowledge. However, this is not a consistent feature of every year group. Consequently, not all pupils make the progress they are capable of. The acting headteacher knows those year groups where teachers do not provide sufficient challenge for all groups of pupils.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

The acting headteacher is working closely with middle leaders and teachers on the introduction of new assessment systems. This is to ensure that teachers are using the recently introduced systems effectively to plan lessons that fully meet pupils’ needs. Most teachers follow the school’s agreed policy on giving feedback to pupils on their work. However, some teachers still do not use the policy consistently to provide feedback which helps pupils understand what they need to do next in their learning.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

Pupils who spoke to the inspector said that they feel much safer in school now. Pupils are very clear about the reasons why some play equipment has been removed. They are very clear that they cannot leave the premises alone without the permission of their parents.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

The acting headteacher has put into place an effective new system for managing pupils’ behaviour. Staff apply the rewards and sanctions consistently. Pupils confidently report that behaviour has improved. Pupils are proud when their names are put on the ‘rainbow’ which shows they are behaving well. They fully understand what it means when their name is moved to the ‘thunder cloud’ and know they need to improve their behaviour. This system motivates them to behave well and work hard in class. They are proud to receive ‘golden time’ as a reward. Pupils are also beginning to take more pride in their work. This demonstrates an improvement to their attitudes towards their learning.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

The acting headteacher ensures that all staff record and regularly review any incidents of poor behaviour. This enables them to know whether the behaviour of individuals has improved or worsened each term. It also provides them with the information they need to put into place additional help for those pupils who have particular needs. Anti-social behaviour is very rare but staff always take it very seriously. They log and follow up incidents and inform the relevant parents. As noted in the previous inspection, pupils are polite and courteous. They generally move around the school site in an orderly manner. Most socialise well with each other at break and lunchtimes. The acting headteacher and her deputy are visible around school during most break and lunchtimes to reinforce the expectations of sensible and safe play. However, they are fully aware that lunchtime supervisory staff need further training to help them engage more fully with the pupils, both in

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

the dining hall and in the different play areas.

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Outcomes for pupils

Published national Year 6 test results in 2017 confirmed that pupils’ progress was significantly below the national average and in the bottom 10% of all schools. Only half of these year 6 pupils reached the standard expected for their age and very few exceeded it. Assessments for the current Year 6 cohort pupils indicate an improving picture. Most pupils in this year group are working at the level expected for their age. This is as a result of the introduction a new programme of work which ensures that teachers know what pupils need to learn. There are also improved systems for checking progress and better teaching in this current Year 6 class.

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Outcomes for pupils

A sample of mathematics books from each year group also indicates that pupils’ progress has accelerated. Pupils are starting to work within the standards expected for their year group. The exception to this is Year 1, where the most able, and some pupils of average attainment, do not receive sufficient challenge. Published Year 2 test results in 2017 showed that an average proportion of pupils reached the standard expected for the end of key stage 1. However, leaders are aware that current pupils in this year group will not match these results nor sustain this trend of improvement. This is because of the weaker progress pupils made in Year 1 and the high number leaving or newly arrived at the school. A significant proportion of these pupils also have specific special educational needs or delays in their learning. Although this year group are receiving additional support to accelerate their progress, gaps in their learning are taking time to fill.

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Outcomes for pupils

A scrutiny of pupils’ writing books from Years 1 to 6 indicates that writing standards have improved significantly since the previous inspection. The introduction of a common approach to teaching spellings and grammar has enabled teachers to have a sharper focus on these skills. It has brought about greater consistency to the teaching. Teachers now give pupils interesting and exciting themes to write about. They often stem from a topic pupils are studying or a text they are reading as a class. The quality and quantity of written work that pupils have produced since the start of this academic year is impressive. Teachers check spellings carefully and follow through to make sure that pupils correct errors swiftly.

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Outcomes for pupils

School assessment information indicates that the standard of phonics teaching and learning continues to improve. This reflects the continuing help that the phonics leader is providing for teachers. Children continue to make good progress in the Reception class. However, leaders recognise a need to start to prepare the children earlier for the demands of the Year 1 curriculum.

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External support

Initially, the acting headteacher received effective help from a recently retired local headteacher. She continues to receive able support from the designated chief executive of the academy trust which the school is shortly to join. Another local headteacher is supporting the acting headteacher in the promotion of writing skills throughout the school. Funded by the local authority and delivered through the Bristol Teaching Alliance, support from specialist leaders in education has enabled the mathematics subject leader and the phonics leader to develop their roles as middle leaders. Other specialist leaders in education have assisted individual and groups of teachers and learning support assistants to improve their teaching skills. Visits to outstanding schools, where teachers have observed effective teaching and learning, is helping them to focus on how they can improve their own practice. It is very clear that these visits have been worthwhile because they have inspired staff

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External support

and given them confidence to improve. The local authority safeguarding team have provided the acting headteacher with extensive support to make sure that the school is safe and safeguarding arrangements are secure.

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