Selby, Longman's Hill Community Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Selby, Longman’s Hill Community Primary School Myrtle Avenue, Brayton, Selby, North Yorkshire YO8 9BG

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Inspection dates: 10 and 11 February 2022

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Outcome

Selby, Longman’s Hill Community Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders and staff have high expectations for pupils at Longman’s Hill. This results in pupils behaving well. Pupils focus on their own learning and do not disrupt the learning of others. The challenging behaviour of some pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is sensitively managed. Pupils like the school’s behaviour rules and think they are fair. They know the behaviours that would constitute a ‘peg turn’. This is when a pupil’s peg moves from the green circle to either the yellow or red circles with a sanction.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know what bullying is and know that a teacher would sort it out for them. Pupils describe the school as ‘a place where you can feel safe’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have developed the ‘The Longman’s List’. These are 60 experiences that all pupils will do, specifically linked to their well-being. These activities are carefully planned into the school’s curriculum.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have introduced mindfulness breathing exercises for pupils each day. This is to improve concentration, confidence and resilience. Pupils with SEND are supported with bespoke resources or activities specific to their need to ensure they are appropriately challenged.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff are overwhelmingly positive about working at the school. Staff feel the leadership team listens to them.

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

Leaders have an ambitious vision for the school’s curriculum. They have decided to apply their successful mastery in mathematics approach across the wider curriculum. Curriculum leaders have developed progression documents to support teachers with the knowledge, 10 and 11 February 2022

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skills and vocabulary for each unit or topic. These have been recently refined to identify threshold concepts. These are the golden threads that run through the curriculum from early years to Year 6. One of the threshold concepts in geography is communicating. This concept shows how positional language builds on what pupils already know. For example, in Year 1, they use the terms up, down, left, right, forwards and backwards. In Year 2, they build on this to use the compass points north, south, east and west. The work in pupils’ books reflects a sequence of lessons; however, ambition for higher attaining pupils through deeper learning tasks was not always evident. Assessment in the wider curriculum is in early development as it has been altered to reflect the threshold concepts. This needs time to embed to ensure it gives leaders the information they need to inform future planning.

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Leaders have prioritised reading by making sure phonics lessons happen daily in a structured way. This ensures phonics teaching is consistent across the school as staff use the same phonics terminology. Teachers are assessing pupils’ phonic knowledge during their lessons and when they hear pupils read. This means teachers have an accurate picture of each pupils’ phonic attainment. Through these assessments, pupils who need extra phonics intervention are identified. An experienced teaching assistant plans these sessions to meet the individual needs of pupils. The books that pupils read match the sounds that they know. Children in the early years start learning phonics as soon as they start school. However, due to high levels of COVID-19 absence within the early years staff and pupils, leaders know they have to repeat some phonics teaching to ensure it is secure for all.

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The mathematics curriculum is a strength of the school. Leaders have adopted a mastery approach to ensure that all pupils access the curriculum at the same pace. Mental mathematics is prioritised to build pupils’ speed and fluency in recalling multiplication facts and number bonds. Teachers are seeing the impact of these extra sessions as pupils are faster when applying their knowledge to solving problems. Teachers question pupils to enable them to give detailed explanations using accurate mathematical vocabulary. Mathematics books show a clear sequence of learning through a unit. The work in books shows that pupils are being challenged and supported. Pupils correct any errors with their ‘polishing pen’. Teachers identify pupils who may need further practice and support them in a same day intervention. This allows them to keep up with the pace of the mastery curriculum.

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Leaders previously offered a wide range of extra-curricular clubs. This reduced because of COVID-19. Leaders plan to reinstate many of these in the summer term. Leaders promote equality through their values reading shelf in the library. They have purchased books that foster an understanding of diversity and link to the school’s values.

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Governors hold leaders to account by challenging the details in the report the headteacher provides to the board. Link governors are established and they meet regularly with curriculum leaders to ensure consistency in practice. Governors analyse the annual staff survey so feel well informed about staff workload and well-being. 10 and 11 February 2022

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have processes in place to ensure the checks that are done on staff who work at the school are robust. Leaders ensure all staff complete safeguarding training. The designated safeguarding lead attends termly local authority safeguarding and counterterrorism profile meetings alongside other agencies. This enables leaders to have an insight into local issues. Leaders are clear about when they need to involve external agencies. They make use of the local authority professional advice line to discuss any safeguarding concerns with a social worker before making a referral. There are clear procedures for pupils who are persistently absent. As a result, attendance is improving for this group of pupils.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In the wider curriculum, topic books did not always show greater ambition for the higher attaining pupils. Leaders are replicating the mastery approach throughout the wider curriculum. Some pupils grasp concepts more rapidly than others. However, evidence of deeper learning tasks for these pupils is limited in books. Leaders should ensure that pupils who complete the independent task are further challenged. Leaders can then check the level of ambition for all.  Leaders do not have a fully embedded assessment system across the wider curriculum. Leaders have redesigned their assessment system to align with the threshold concepts. Due to high levels of staff absence from COVID-19, leaders delayed the introduction of the system. Leaders should monitor the use of the system to ensure that it is used to inform future planning.

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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 or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, 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 deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in November 2016. 10 and 11 February 2022

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View 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. 10 and 11 February 2022

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 24 and 25 November 2016, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school has been significantly impacted by staff and pupil absences linked to COVID-19 throughout this academic year.  The school does not use any alternative providers.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the headteacher, curriculum leaders and pupils. Meetings were also held with representatives of the local governing body and the local authority.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and geography. For each deep dive, the inspector met with curriculum leaders, spoke to pupils and teachers, visited lessons and looked at their work. The inspector heard pupils read. 10 and 11 February 2022

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 The inspector examined safeguarding records, attendance figures, curriculum plans and policies.  The views of parents were considered from 32 responses to the Ofsted Parent View questionnaire.  The views of staff were considered from meeting with staff and from the responses to Ofsted’s staff questionnaire.  The views of pupils were considered from meetings with them.

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Inspection team

Alison Stephenson, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector 10 and 11 February 2022

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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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