Lickhill Primary School

Inspection of Lickhill Primary School Almond Way, Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire DY13 8UA

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Outstanding 26–27 February 2020

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What is it like to attend this school?

School leaders state that the school’s ‘seven secrets of success’ underpin all aspects of school life. They say this approach develops pupils’ self-esteem. Inspectors agree with this.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and confident, and they enjoy being in school. They feel safe because their teachers and friends look after them. A typical comment was, ‘I feel safe here because I know there is always someone to watch over me.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

There have been some improvements to the way teachers plan lessons. However, the curriculum in the foundation subjects is still not well sequenced. Therefore, knowledge and skills do not build well over time. Lessons are not always pitched at the right level and learning time is lost, especially for the brightest pupils.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is a calm environment. In classrooms and around the school, pupils are well behaved. Staff manage behaviour in a consistent and positive manner. Lessons run smoothly. Bullying is rare, but when it happens, staff deal with it immediately. The school supports pupils who have emotional difficulties well through the ‘Thrive’ provision.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers are overwhelmingly positive about the school. They particularly value the level of care that their children receive.

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better?

Leaders have set out an outline of what pupils should learn in each subject. However, teachers are not covering all the areas suggested in the plans. This leads to gaps in pupils’ knowledge and skills. Also, teachers are not always clear about what they need to teach because the curriculum plans are not specific enough. As a result, pupils’ knowledge and skills do not build well over time. This is particularly the case in the foundation subjects.

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better?

Some curriculum leaders are very new to their role. They are keen to improve their subjects. At the moment, they do not have the required subject knowledge and the leadership skills to develop their subjects further.

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better?

In many cases, teachers set work that is matched to pupils’ ability. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are fully included in lessons and all aspects of school life. However, additional confusion can be caused for pupils with SEND during whole-class teaching because lessons do not always build well on what has been taught previously. The interventions that are planned for pupils with SEND are effective in terms of meeting their specific needs. 26–27 February 2020

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In many subjects, including English and mathematics, the most able pupils are not achieving as well as they could. This is because the work set for them is not challenging enough. They often find the work too easy and they become bored.

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Staff in the pre-school and Reception class are caring. They provide welcoming learning environments. Children are happy, settled and keen to learn. Activities are purposeful and build on what children already know. Children enjoy working with each other and sharing their work with adults. Developing children’s language is a priority in the early years. This has a positive impact on all areas of learning. Staff maintain close relationships with parents through regular contact and special events, such as hot chocolate sessions. Parents appreciate this a great deal.

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The teaching of early reading is a school priority. Teachers are working hard to nurture a love of reading with some success. Children and pupils develop their early reading skills successfully. This is because nearly all staff teach phonics well due to effective training. Staff provide extra help for any pupils who are falling behind. In key stage 2, the most able pupils are not given enough opportunities to develop their reading skills in more depth.

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Pupils speak enthusiastically about the outdoor learning that is available in school. They enjoy forest school and looking after the bees. Pupils look forward to the range of trips on offer, especially the residential visit. However, they would welcome more after-school clubs. Pupils have a developing understanding of democracy and they can relate this to the school council. However, their knowledge of different faiths, beliefs and cultures is more limited.

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Leaders have focused on the quality of education. They are starting to secure improvements across the school. Staff say that leaders are considerate of their well-being and that workload is manageable. Staff are keen to support leaders and they work well as a team.

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The governing body contains several new members. Governors carry out many of their roles, such as managing the school’s finances, with great diligence. However, their understanding of the curriculum is more limited.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Keeping pupils safe is the school’s top priority. It is the responsibility of everyone. All staff, including those responsible for leadership, have been trained effectively. Pupils trust staff to help them when required. If staff have concerns about a pupil’s well-being, they know exactly what to do. They record and pass on all concerns to safeguarding leads. Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe, in and out of school, particularly when online. Where necessary, the school works well with outside agencies if pupils need extra help. 26–27 February 2020

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have recently introduced new curriculum plans. Nevertheless, lessons are not systematically building on what pupils have learned in the past. This means that there are gaps in pupils’ knowledge and skills. This slows learning and limits progress in and across year groups. The school needs to continue to build on the work recently started to improve the sequence of learning within and across year groups. This is particularly the case in the foundation subjects.  Some curriculum leaders do not have the required subject knowledge and leadership skills to develop their subjects effectively. This is limiting the development of the curriculum in these areas. The school needs to provide these leaders with the training and support needed, so that they are able to lead the development of their curriculum area.  Teachers are not routinely setting work that is matched to the needs of the most able pupils. This limits their learning and prevents the most able from

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

achieving as well as they could in many subjects, including English, mathematics and reading for older pupils. Teachers need to use what they know about pupils’ abilities to plan and deliver work that challenges the most able pupils and meets their needs.  Governors do not currently have a clear understanding of the school curriculum in terms of strengths and weaknesses. Consequently, they are unable to hold school leaders to account. Governors need to develop their understanding of the curriculum. By doing so, they will be better equipped to hold leaders to account for the quality of education in the school.  Pupils have a limited knowledge of other faiths and cultures. As a result, they are unable to discuss and reflect upon views, beliefs and lifestyles that are different to their own. Leaders need to ensure that pupils develop their understanding of other faiths and cultures.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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 . 26–27 February 2020

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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. 26–27 February 2020

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School details

Inspection number 10133464 Type of school Primary

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School details

Chair of governing body Victoria Campbell

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School details

Website www.lickhillprimaryschool.co.uk/

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School details

Date of previous inspection 7–8 February 2013

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Information about this school

 The school has a pre-school that admits two-year-olds.  The school has a breakfast club and after-school club operating on the school site. This provision is managed by the school.  The new headteacher took up her role at the start of the summer term 2019.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We deemed the inspection a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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Information about this inspection

 The lead inspector held regular meetings with the headteacher. He met with four members of the governing body, including the chair.  We held meetings with the special educational needs coordinator and the leaders who are responsible for attendance, behaviour, the early years and pupil premium expenditure.  As part of the inspection, we carried out deep dives in reading, mathematics, geography and physical education. 26–27 February 2020

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 We met with groups of pupils, curriculum leaders and teachers to talk about the quality of education at the school.  We visited classrooms. Many of these visits were with curriculum leaders or senior leaders.  An inspector listened to several groups of pupils read.  We spoke with pupils formally and informally about their learning and experiences at school. We looked at pupils’ work in a range of different subjects to see how well the curriculum is applied. Two groups of pupils accompanied an inspector on a walk around the school.  Documents relating to safeguarding were checked, including the checks that leaders make on staff’s suitability to work with children prior to employment. We checked that safeguarding policies and procedures are implemented effectively across the school.  We talked to parents before, during and after school. The lead inspector considered the 33 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Ofsted Parent View.

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 We considered a range of documentation provided by the school. We looked at the school’s self-evaluation, the school development plan, school policies, curriculum documents, published information about pupils’ performance, behaviour records, attendance information and minutes of meetings linked to governance.  The lead inspector looked at published information on the school’s website.

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Inspection team

Wayne Simner, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Anna Smith Ofsted Inspector 26–27 February 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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