Langdon Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Langdon Primary School East Langdon, The Street, Dover, Kent CT15 5JQ

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Outcome

Langdon Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Langdon is a happy school with happy pupils. Pupils like coming to school and are enthusiastic to learn. They have very positive attitudes to all that they do in school. They love the clubs and the trips, which, as some Year 6 pupils said, ‘enliven our learning’. Parents and pupils appreciate the caring community and family feeling in the school. Pupils work and play well together. They develop good and trusting relationships with their friends and their teachers. Older pupils look out for younger ones and act as good role models

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know that leaders, staff and governors want them to do as well as they can. Pupils work hard. They develop their independence and skills to prepare them for their future lives. Staff are ambitious for all the pupils who are nurtured and thrive in the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe and secure and well looked after by adults in school. They learn how to keep themselves safe in and out of school. They say that there is no bullying because everyone is friendly and kind. If anything did occur, they know they can talk to any adult, who will sort things out quickly and fairly.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The headteacher, staff and governors work as an effective team. They share high aspirations for pupils and are proud of the school. Teachers feel valued and well supported by leaders. The school’s values of confidence, motivation, independence and resilience underpin all that the school does.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The curriculum has recently been reviewed. Planning makes it clear what skills and knowledge pupils need to learn over time in all the national curriculum subjects. As a result, teachers know what to teach and when. Teachers ensure that the curriculum supports the learning of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Pupils are helped to catch up with any gaps in their learning. 28 January 2020

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Writing has been developed over a longer period of time and is a real strength of the school. There has not yet been enough time to see a similar impact in all of the subjects where expectations are not yet as consistently high.

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Curriculum planning uses topics to make links between subjects. Pupils remember and discuss what they already know, for example when studying circuits in science and notation and rhythm in music. This helps them to understand new ideas. Pupils are also helped to know and remember more because they have a clear purpose for their learning. For example, they know that to create their own paintings in the style of Matisse, they need to learn and understand about shades and tints in art.

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The teaching of phonics is well organised and starts as soon as children begin in the Reception Year. They build on this as they move into key stage 1 and use their phonics skills well to help them read and write. Teachers foster a love of books and stories right from the beginning. This grows as pupils move through the school. Teachers read regularly to pupils of all ages. This helps introduce pupils to a wide range of authors and styles of writing. Pupils expand their own reading choices as a result. Pupils’ reading has a considerable impact on the quality of their writing. There is a very strong focus on extending and enriching pupils’ vocabulary. This helps them remember and talk about their learning.

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Teaching helps children develop early mathematical skills. In the Reception Year, they understand numbers well and remember what they have already learned. They use resources independently to help them complete tasks. Pupils could confidently explain how they build on their skills of measuring. They described starting with lolly sticks, then cubes, then moving on to using centimetres on a ruler. On occasion, recorded work shows a lack of challenge for the children who have developed their understanding quickly.

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Pupils behave very well and live up to teachers’ high expectations. They work together exceptionally well and know that they can learn from each other. Pupils are respectful of each other and of adults. They thoroughly enjoy initiating their own activities and taking on responsibilities. For example, running their own book club and organising entrepreneurial projects to raise funds. Pupils are proud of their school and their achievements.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Pupils’ well-being and safety are absolute priorities for all staff. The headteacher, who is the designated safeguarding lead, knows the pupils and their families exceptionally well. There are good links with external agencies to help secure appropriate support if needed.

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Safeguarding

All staff are well trained and are alert and vigilant to any cause for concern about individuals. They know the procedures to follow to ensure that concerns are addressed quickly. The appropriate checks are carried out on adults who work in the school. Pupils and their parents agree that the school keeps them safe. 28 January 2020

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The revised curriculum progression maps are relatively new in some subjects and their impact on pupils’ learning is not yet fully established to develop enough depth of knowledge. Leaders and teachers need to embed the curriculum progression across all subjects, with the highest expectations, so that all pupils learn even more effectively and achieve highly.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called a section 8 inspection of a good school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged Langdon Primary School to be good on 6–7 July 2016.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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How can I feed back my views?

If you are the school and you are not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. 28 January 2020

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Mr Antony Brenton

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School details

Date of previous inspection 6–7 July 2016

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school. There are four mixed aged classes, two for the Reception Year and key stage 1, and two for key stage 2.

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Information about this inspection

 We met with the headteacher and teachers.  An inspector met with four members of the governing body, including the chair of governors. The inspector also held a telephone conversation with a representative of the local authority.  We did deep dives in reading, writing and music. For each of these subjects, we met with curriculum leaders, visited lessons, looked at pupils’ work and spoke to pupils and teachers. We also looked at mathematics in the early years, heard some pupils read and visited an art lesson.  To inspect safeguarding, we met with the designated safeguarding lead, looked at the single central record of recruitment checks and safeguarding documentation, and talked informally to staff and pupils. 28 January 2020

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 We considered the 45 responses to Ofsted Parent View, including 30 free-text comments. We also took account of 10 responses to the confidential staff survey.

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Inspection team

Margaret Coussins, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Linda Taylor Ofsted Inspector 28 January 2020

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regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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