Casa Clubs @ Lakeside Primary School

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

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Mrs Jennifer Rogers Headteacher Lakeside Primary School Alphington Avenue Frimley Camberley Surrey GU16 8LL

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Short inspection of Lakeside Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 27 September 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 your predecessor school was judged to be good in January 2015.

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Short inspection of Lakeside Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Senior leaders, staff and governors are united in their determination to ensure that all pupils feel welcomed and valued, and that individual needs are fully met. Everyone works to enable pupils to flourish as well- rounded individuals in this warmly inclusive school.

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Short inspection of Lakeside Primary School

Pupils enjoy school. They speak very positively about staff, and say that they are kind, fair and always there to help ‘if someone does not understand something’. Pupils behave well in lessons and work hard. They are confident and self-assured. During the day, several pupils offered a cheerful ‘hello’ and introduced themselves as I walked around the school. Behaviour in the playground and at lunchtime is also good because pupils are considerate and helpful. Those who are new to the school find a friendly welcome and settle in quickly, including pupils who are at an early stage of speaking English as an additional language.

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Short inspection of Lakeside Primary School

Teachers make learning interesting and challenging. Pupils talk excitedly about the many trips and opportunities for outdoor learning that they experience. One said: ‘I love… the activities teachers come up with for us to do.’ As a result, pupils make good progress across the school. By the end of key stage 2, the proportions of pupils achieving both the expected and higher standards in reading, writing and mathematics are above national averages. Disadvantaged pupils make good progress in most subjects and the difference between their attainment and that of other pupils is diminishing. However, senior leaders recognise that there is still work to be done to ensure that pupils achieve as well in writing as they do in reading and mathematics, especially boys and disadvantaged pupils.

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Short inspection of Lakeside Primary School

Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. One parent, expressing the views of many, said: ‘The leadership is strong, consistent, forward thinking and works hard to promote the ability of each child to do their best.’ Many parents said how happy their children are at school and that they feel safe and well cared for.

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Short inspection of Lakeside Primary School

Morale among staff is high. All who completed Ofsted’s survey agree that they are proud to be part of the Lakeside team and enjoy working at the school. Staff benefit from many opportunities to develop their skills and strengthen their knowledge. Their development includes learning from staff in other schools, including those within the multi-academy trust.

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Short inspection of Lakeside Primary School

The curriculum is broad, balanced and imaginative. It provides pupils with many opportunities to develop their writing across the curriculum. Leaders have successfully tackled the area for improvement from the predecessor school’s last inspection.

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Short inspection of Lakeside Primary School

Senior leaders and governors have a good understanding of the strengths of the school and those areas that need further development. Governors gather evidence about the school’s performance from a range of sources, including their own visits. They use this evidence to evaluate aspects of the school’s work and confirm that actions to improve provision are having the desired effect. However, leaders and governors have not fulfilled some of their statutory responsibilities. The school’s website does not have all the required information. In addition, they have not ensured that the equality policy is up to date and that the school has suitable equality targets.

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Short inspection of Lakeside Primary School

Parents, staff and pupils agree that pupils are safe in school. There is a strong culture of safeguarding throughout the school. This is underpinned by up-to-date safeguarding policies, training for all staff and thorough, carefully recorded recruitment checks on all adults working with pupils. Pupils learn how to stay safe in a range of situations, including on the road, around fire and when online.

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Short inspection of Lakeside Primary School

Staff understand how to recognise and report any signs that a pupil may be vulnerable. They report minor concerns, as they appreciate that these may form part of a bigger picture. Senior leaders take all concerns seriously and are quick to seek the support of external agencies when appropriate.

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Short inspection of Lakeside Primary School

Bullying in school is rare. Pupils have a clear understanding of the difference between deliberate bullying and the occasional ‘falling out’. They, rightly, have complete confidence in staff’s ability to deal with any incident promptly and decisively.

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Inspection findings

 We agreed to focus on three aspects of the school’s work during this inspection. The first was to consider the effectiveness of leaders and governors in bringing about improvements in teaching and learning. Senior leaders provide staff, at every stage of their career, with a range of opportunities for professional development. Other schools and officers within the trust work closely together with Lakeside staff to share expertise and learn from each other. This has developed the skills of teachers and support staff, enabling them to be more effective in their roles.  Governors play a role in checking the quality of teaching by asking searching questions and carrying out a range of activities to confirm the accuracy of what the headteacher reports, namely, that teaching is effective.  Recently, senior leaders have introduced a new assessment system. This enables pupils to take greater responsibility for their own learning. Pupils identify what

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Inspection findings

they have learned, as well as the gaps that remain in their knowledge and understanding. It gives teachers a much clearer understanding of pupils’ prior learning and enables them to plan lessons that build securely on it. Consequently, most pupils make strong progress and attain good outcomes.  The second area we focused on was children’s attainment in mathematics in early years. Children get off to a strong start in Nursery and in the Reception class. Staff get to know children very quickly and are alert to what they are interested in, so that they can fuel children’s love of learning by planning activities to spark their interest.  The early years classrooms and outdoor spaces are well equipped. Children access all areas of learning, whether inside or outside. Staff are skilled at spotting opportunities for children to develop their core mathematical skills. For example, children were being timed as they completed an obstacle course, while other

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Inspection findings

children used practical apparatus to measure things that they were interested in. When using trikes and bikes, children had to match shapes with numbers to know where to park them. Pupils new to Reception were counting to 10 confidently and were able to count out the right number of scales to put on the rainbow fish.  As a result of this effective teaching, in 2018 a much higher proportion of children achieved the early learning goals for mathematics. The proportions were above the national averages of recent years.  Finally, we looked at how the teaching of writing enables pupils to make good progress and achieve well, with a focus on boys and disadvantaged pupils. In recent years, pupils’ outcomes have not been as strong in writing as they have been in reading and mathematics, especially at the end of key stage 1. Outcomes in phonics have been below the national average for the past two years.  Leaders recognise that pupils’ outcomes in writing and phonics need to improve,

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Inspection findings

and they have made it a school development priority. Teachers have good phonics knowledge and pupils listen carefully in lessons and try their best. However, at times, staff do not spot and address pupils’ misunderstandings quickly enough, so errors sometimes persist.  Teachers plan exciting lessons to fire pupils’ imaginations so that they will enjoy writing. They focus, particularly, on engaging boys, who, as a group, have not been achieving as well girls. For example, pupils in Year 4 were particularly captivated by their work about a dragon that had been seen in the playground. They were writing enthusiastically. In Year 6, diaries about Harry Potter inspired both boys and girls to write at length.  In some parts of the school, boys are becoming better writers and there is little difference between their attainment and that of girls with the same starting points. However, typically, boys continue to make less progress than girls, and

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Inspection findings

their attainment is lower. Outcomes in writing for disadvantaged pupils are improving, and the difference between their attainment and that of other pupils is diminishing.

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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

 strategies to improve the quality of pupils’ writing and phonics knowledge are further developed and embedded, particularly for boys and disadvantaged pupils  they systematically check that the school meets all of its statutory duties, particularly in relation to information on the school’s website and the publication of its equality objectives. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the chief executive officer of the multi-academy trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Surrey. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

I met with you and the deputy headteacher to discuss various aspects of the school’s work. I also had meetings with some middle leaders, five members of the governing body and three representatives of the multi-academy trust, including the chief executive officer. You and I visited classes in all year groups 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 during morning breaktime. I also had a meeting with 10 pupils from Years 2 to 6 to gather their views of the school.

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Information about the inspection

I considered 39 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey and 10 responses to the pupil survey. I took account of 90 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, including 52 free-text comments and spoke to several parents at the end of the day. A range of documents were looked at, including: the school’s self- evaluation documents; school improvement plans; and safeguarding policies, procedures and checks.

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