Five Lanes CofE VC Primary School

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

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Miss Melaine Cunningham Headteacher Five Lanes C E Primary School Blackberry Lane Potterne Devizes Wiltshire SN10 5NZ

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Short inspection of Five Lanes Church of England Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 6 November 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 October 2014.

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Short inspection of Five Lanes Church of England Primary School

Based on the evidence gathered during this short inspection, I have identified some priorities for improvement which I advise the school to address. In light of these priorities, the school’s next inspection will be a full section 5 inspection. There is no

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change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

When you took up the role of headteacher in 2016 you recognised that key aspects of the school’s work needed to be improved swiftly. You built an effective leadership team to support you in developing teaching and learning. Staff, parents and carers recognise the effectiveness of your leadership and the improvements you have brought to the school. A parent expressed this typically by saying, ‘I believe that Five Lanes Primary School is led very well. The headteacher has a fantastic outlook and great respect for all the children.’

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change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

The school is smaller than it was at the time of the previous inspection and continues to be located on two sites. You have improved the environment for learning but even so, current discussions are taking place to take the school forward on one site to maximise resources. Governors are effective in supporting you in making improvements. For example, additional funding for disadvantaged pupils is well used, enabling this group of pupils to make good progress.

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change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

At the time of the previous inspection, leaders were asked to develop the role of middle leaders. In response, for example, the leader for early years has significantly improved aspects of teaching. Standards have risen over time at the end of the Reception Year. Most staff with leadership responsibilities are new to their role this academic year. There is a new leader for English, for early years and a new leader for mathematics. You recognise that the development of leadership will need to continue and are using networks across the authority to support you to do this. You were also asked to ensure that teachers set work which enabled all pupils to achieve to the highest level. Inspection shows that there is still work to do to ensure that this is consistently the case.

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change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

You now hold extensive information about pupils’ progress and can identify if a pupil is falling behind or making progress beyond their last assessment. You make checks on the quality of teaching, including by looking at samples of pupils’ work. You are not yet using this information precisely enough to identify clearly what needs to improve. Actions in the school development plan are not sufficiently linked to improving the outcomes of specific groups of pupils at risk of underachievement.

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change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

Pupils enjoy school and the enrichments that you have developed to the curriculum. They highlight that physical education and opportunities to take part in competitive sport are especially exciting. Pupils enjoy activities which stimulate their interest, such as the recent visit to a tank museum linked to their topic of the First World War.

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change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

Staff are vigilant for pupils’ safety. You have developed highly effective procedures for recording and following up concerns that a pupil may be at risk. These are used in an exemplary manner by staff at all levels. Consequently, the actions taken to secure pupils’ safety are timely and effective. Leadership on safeguarding has been developed across both school sites to ensure that no concerns are overlooked. You and other leaders have undertaken wider training to deepen your understanding of the risks which pupils may encounter. You make comprehensive checks on adults who work with pupils to ensure that they are safe to do so.

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change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

Governors monitor safeguarding and health and safety on both school sites. They have strengthened the security of the school sites and are aware of the need to keep this under review.

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change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

Pupils trust staff to keep them safe. Parents are confident that this is the case. Pupils are vigilant and check that visitors are wearing the school badge. They can explain the use of the ‘anti-bullying box’ and would seek help if they had a concern. Pupils value the teaching about how to stay safe, for example when using the internet. Pupils say almost all of their classmates behave well, especially in the playground.

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change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

A very small number of pupils have significant behavioural needs. Your records and comments from pupils indicate that on occasions these pupils reduce opportunities for learning for others. Over past years, the rate of fixed-term exclusion from the school has been higher than the average for primary schools. You are endeavouring to avoid exclusion and have sought expert advice to secure the integration of pupils with behavioural needs. However, currently the behaviour plans and pastoral support for this very small number of pupils are not effective in reducing the incidents of their poor behaviour.

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Inspection findings

 In the 2018 assessments, the progress pupils made in mathematics across key stage 2 was weaker than that made in reading and writing. You have introduced new programmes for teaching to match the requirements of the current curriculum. You have emphasised developing pupils’ fluency with number. In particular, the workbooks of Year 6 pupils show that they calculate accurately. This is supporting their problem-solving skills. However, teachers are not all using the new resources equally effectively. In some workbooks, the planned sequence of teaching is not building pupils’ skills consistently well.  The mixed-age classes are taught sometimes as a whole class and sometimes as year groups. The most able pupils are not sufficiently challenged in either whole class or year group settings. Pupils’ work shows that the most able pupils are not held accountable for presenting their work neatly and accurately. This limits their

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Inspection findings

achievement particularly in reasoning tasks and work on shape and space. Teachers’ explanations are not consistently clear to enable the least able pupils to begin tasks confidently. A lack of clarity also hinders pupils’ learning when teaching assistants are teaching. However, when teaching assistants are overseeing a task which the teacher had taught, they support pupils effectively.  I reviewed the steps you and other leaders are taking to improve the progress of the most able pupils. Over the past two years, a very small proportion of pupils have reached the higher standard in reading and none has done so in mathematics. The achievement of current pupils in reading is stronger. You are now planning improvements to the teaching of writing. Teachers use subjects across the curriculum to provide a context for pupils’ writing. Pupils in key stage 2 are contributing their thoughts about Remembrance Day to a community display.

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Inspection findings

Their writing shows empathy and an understanding of the history of the First World War.  Pupils are not having sufficient guidance to write at the higher standard. Samples of pupils’ work show that at times teachers are not challenging pupils to consistently apply skills they already have, for example writing in paragraphs. On occasion, pupils are not sufficiently guided to improve their writing or when they are, are not given opportunities to put the guidance into practice. Similarly, there is inconsistency in the degree to which teachers hold the most able pupils sufficiently accountable for the presentation of their written work.  I next reviewed the steps you have taken to improve standards of reading at key stage 1. Standards in pupils’ phonic knowledge have risen significantly since the introduction of the new programme for teaching English. Last year almost all pupils reached the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check. The

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Inspection findings

few pupils who did not are quickly catching up. They are gaining confidence and enjoy their reading. Samples of pupils’ writing show that their knowledge of spelling patterns is helping them to write accurately.  The school has a relatively high proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). You and the special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) have worked closely with specialist agencies to develop relevant targets and plans for pupils who need additional help with their learning. Additional teaching supports pupils well to work towards these targets. However, at times, pupils are not being supported to apply their new skills. Pupils then repeat errors and these new skills are not embedded. This limits their overall achievement.

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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

 leaders, including middle leaders, strengthen the school’s self-evaluation so that development planning and actions lead to good achievement for all groups of pupils  more consistent and effective teaching of mathematics enables pupils to achieve well  most-able pupils are guided and challenged in their learning and reach the higher standard, particularly in mathematics and writing  pupils with SEND make good progress in their classwork by teachers making effective use of the guidance and targets in pupils’ support plans  behaviour plans and pastoral support for pupils with SEN and/or disabilities are effective in improving behaviour and reducing exclusion.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Salisbury, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Wiltshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

Together we visited lessons in all classes and looked at samples of pupils’ work in English and mathematics. I read with a group of pupils. I considered the plans for supporting pupils with SEND and spoke briefly with the SENCo responsible for managing the school’s provision for this group of pupils. I took account of information about pupils’ progress. I reviewed the school’s self-evaluation, school development plan and the school’s policies and procedures for safeguarding. I met with a group of six governors and spoke to a member of the local authority on the telephone. In order to gather their views of the school, I spoke to a group of pupils, pupils in their lessons and at lunchtime. I took account of the 14 responses and eight comments from parents on Parent View. I also considered the views of staff and pupils through the 10 responses to the staff survey and the 47 responses to the pupil survey.

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