The Lyppard Grange Primary School

Inspection of a good school: The Lyppard Grange Primary School Ankerage Green, Worcester, Worcestershire WR4 0DZ

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Outcome

The Lyppard Grange Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending Lyppard Grange Primary School. They are respectful, perceptive and articulate. Pupils benefit from the school’s balanced curriculum and enjoy work that makes them think.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders ensure that parents and carers are fully involved in their children’s learning, for example in helping them learn to read. Parents appreciate the school’s good communication with home.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils concentrate very well in lessons, and behave responsibly. There is a wide range of playground equipment. Break and lunchtimes are well organised, so that pupils can play happily. Bullying is very rare. Pupils know that there are always adults to talk to, and that any problems will be resolved straight away. They feel safe in school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have high expectations for staff and pupils alike. They have planned an ambitious curriculum for all pupils, including for those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The organisation of teaching helps pupils to move easily from Reception into key stage 1. Pupils benefit significantly from trips and after-school clubs. They have different opportunities to develop their own leadership skills, for example as eco-leaders or sports leaders.

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

Learning to read is an absolute priority. From the early years onwards, pupils follow a structured programme that ensures that they learn about letters and their sounds in an effective sequence. Staff use the correct terms, and expect pupils to do likewise. They establish helpful routines and use resources consistently. Staff make sure that pupils read frequently to an adult, and work closely with parents. Books are well matched to pupils’ knowledge of phonics. Older pupils have a strong understanding of the purposes and joys of reading. 1 and 2 March 2022

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Pupils learn all the subjects of the national curriculum. Learning in some subjects is combined, and other subjects are taught separately. The curriculum is organised and sequenced so that pupils can build up their knowledge over time. Leaders have restarted a wide-ranging programme of educational visits that enrich the curriculum. They have taken account of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, helping pupils to catch up on work and experiences that they may have missed.

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In general, teachers implement the curriculum effectively. They are knowledgeable and ambitious for their pupils. The work they set is varied and often imaginative. For example, in a religious education (RE) lesson, pupils responded very thoughtfully to Renaissance paintings of the Last Supper. Teaching assistants make a valuable contribution to learning in the classroom. However, teachers are sometimes not clear enough about what they want the teaching assistants to do.

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Leaders have established a consistent approach to the teaching of mathematics. They make sure that pupils have a sound knowledge of basic number facts before moving on to more difficult work. Staff use practical equipment and diagrams to help pupils grasp ideas. All pupils have the opportunity to apply their knowledge and to reason mathematically.

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Teachers intend all pupils to ‘keep up’, rather than having to ‘catch up’. Pupils with SEND benefit from this approach. Teachers are effective at adapting work to meet pupils’ needs. They recognise the value of verbal and pictorial responses. For example, many pupils showed their understanding of creation through their artwork.

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Pupils understand and respect the school’s rules and rewards. They appreciate how the school helps them to learn. As a result, the school is an orderly community where disruption is very rare.

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RE contributes well to pupils’ social and cultural knowledge. Pupils learn to respect other people’s beliefs. They understand and debate differing viewpoints. The school gives pupils a range of different opportunities for leadership. These roles enable them to take responsibility and represent the views of others. Pupils enjoy a wide range of extra- curricular activities. These include sport, creative arts and, for example, a gardening club. A high proportion of pupils benefit from instrumental music lessons.

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The acting headteacher and other leaders have a good understanding of the school’s strengths and developmental areas. In the absence of the headteacher, they have drawn up suitable improvement plans. Although leaders have made some important checks on the effectiveness of the curriculum, the COVID-19 pandemic has restricted their scope. Staff appreciate the effective support that they receive from senior leaders.

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Members of the local governing board are insightful and active in their support. The board provides effective oversight of the school. 1 and 2 March 2022

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders are well informed about the risks that pupils may face. They make sure that staff are well trained and remain vigilant. Staff take the right steps to resolve any concerns. When appropriate, they involve other agencies that work with children, showing persistence when the need arises. The school keeps the necessary records. Leaders make the required checks on the staff who join the school. Governors provide effective oversight of safeguarding arrangements.

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Safeguarding

Pupils have full confidence in the staff to resolve any difficulties. They feel very safe in school.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some developments to the curriculum are relatively new. Routines for checking on how well these are working are not fully developed. This means that leaders are not evaluating how well pupils learn in several subjects, including those taught in combination. As leadership capacity increases, senior leaders should ensure that subject leaders have the skills and opportunities to check on the implementation of different subjects, in order to enable them to make further refinements to the curriculum and to provide staff with additional guidance.  In classrooms, teaching assistants’ work can sometimes become unfocused or limited, which reduces their role in supporting learning. Leaders should ensure that all teachers are aware of the most effective ways in which teaching assistants can be deployed, and aware of their responsibility to guide and monitor their work, so as to enable staff to provide all pupils with the most effective support.

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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 predecessor school, Lyppard Grange Primary School, to be good in March 2014. 1 and 2 March 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. 1 and 2 March 2022

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Lyppard Grange Primary School converted to become an academy school in September 2017. When the predecessor school of the same name was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be good overall.  The school is one of two primary schools in The Villages Multi-Academy Trust (MAT).  The headteacher has been absent from school for an extended period. He is also the chief executive officer of The Villages MAT.  The school runs a breakfast club and an after-school club.

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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 his evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the acting headteacher and other senior leaders. Meetings were held with curriculum leaders and the special educational needs coordinator.  The chair and another three members of the local governing board met with the inspector. The inspector spoke by telephone with the chair of the MAT. 1 and 2 March 2022

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 The inspector spoke with pupils at social times, and with groups of pupils more formally.  When inspecting safeguarding, the inspector looked at the school’s procedures for recruiting and checking on staff. He also considered the effectiveness of staff training and the procedures to keep pupils safe.  The inspector reviewed a range of documentation, including leaders’ plans to improve the school and records of local governing board meetings. The inspector also reviewed the school’s attendance and behaviour records.  The inspector took account of responses to Ofsted Parent View, Ofsted’s questionnaire for parents. He met with parents outside the school at the start of the second day of the inspection. The inspector also considered responses to the survey for staff.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics and RE. In these subjects, the inspector considered the school’s curriculum guidance, visited

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lessons and scrutinised pupils’ work. The inspector also met with pupils and teachers to discuss learning in these subjects.  The inspector listened to a sample of pupils from Years 1, 2 and 3 reading to an adult.

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Inspection team

Martin Spoor, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 1 and 2 March 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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