Lawn Primary School

Inspection of Lawn Primary School High Street, Northfleet, Gravesend, Kent DA11 9HB

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Inspection dates: 10 and 11 January 2023

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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 Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Good 10 and 11 January 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Respectful, caring relationships permeate throughout daily life in this school. Pupils are friendly and welcoming. They are keen to include newcomers in their play and their learning. Pupils share staff’s high expectations for behaviour. Pupils behave well and are kind. If pupils fall out with one another, teachers sort it out quickly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy learning. They value the wide range of different clubs and experiences on offer. What pupils learn, however, is not consistently challenging enough. In too many subjects, the curriculum is new and not yet embedded. Pupils therefore do not always achieve as highly as they should.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs are supported well. ‘The Nest’, housed in the school bus, offers a calm, relaxing space for pupils when they need it. Well-trained, experienced staff provide effective help for pupils to manage their feelings and emotions. Pupils know whom to talk to if they are worried. They trust that adults in school will help them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe and healthy. They enjoy completing a daily mile to stay fit. They develop a good understanding of healthy eating. They also learn about the importance of road and internet safety.

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better?

Leaders have recently been improving and developing the school’s curriculum. Their work, however, is not yet complete. In several subjects, leaders have introduced new curriculum planning. This sets high expectations for what pupils will learn and what they should achieve. However, for many of these subjects, these plans are very new. Staff have not had sufficient training in delivering the content. The systems for checking what pupils have understood are also not yet fully developed. There are early signs that the changes are beginning to have a positive impact on pupils’ learning. However, these changes are not yet fully embedded.

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better?

In other subjects, leaders have not yet completed their curriculum planning. In these subjects, expectations for what pupils can achieve are not high enough. Teachers are often not clear about what knowledge and skills pupils already know and what they need to learn next. In these subjects, pupils do not learn as well as they should.

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better?

The curriculum in mathematics and phonics has been in place for a longer period of time. In these subjects, teachers explain new learning clearly. They check all pupils’ understanding carefully. Teachers provide additional help to those who need it, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This helps pupils to catch up quickly if they start to fall behind. As a result, pupils develop a good understanding of important mathematical and phonic knowledge. 10 and 11 January 2023

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The early years curriculum is also not yet fully implemented and developed. Sometimes, adults support children’s learning skilfully. They promote high-quality language and engage children in conversations that challenge their thinking. However, this practice is not consistent. Furthermore, too often, activities and resources are not used well enough to support children’s learning. This is most noticeable in the outdoor area.

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Leaders make sure that pupils with SEND get the support they need. The special educational needs coordinator works closely with staff to put appropriate plans in place to meet pupils’ specific needs. Leaders seek guidance from specialist advisers when needed. Pupils with SEND have the resources and support they need in order to learn successfully alongside their peers.

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Pupils are excited to learn. They are enthusiastic in lessons and work hard. When their eagerness becomes too lively, or they begin to lose focus, teachers give them gentle reminders about how to behave well. Pupils respond positively to this and get quickly back to work. This creates a happy, productive atmosphere during lessons and around the school.

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Pupils learn about different cultures and religions and about people from diverse backgrounds through the school’s curriculum. They visit local places of worship and meet people with beliefs that are different from their own. Pupils are interested in, and are respectful of, people’s differences. They see these as something to celebrate. Leaders also plan experiences to broaden pupils’ horizons and raise their aspirations. Pupils are taken to visit the theatre, galleries and museums. A rugby player and a marine biologist have previously visited the school to inspire pupils with talks about their work.

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Leaders are mindful of staff workload and well-being. Staff appreciate that leaders always have an ‘open door’ if they need to ask for support or advice.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have developed clear policies and procedures to keep pupils safe. All the necessary employment checks are made for adults working in the school. Leaders have also trained all staff so that they know what to do if they are concerned about a pupil’s welfare. Where needed, leaders also make sure that pupils and their families get the help and support they need. However, too often, concerns are reported verbally and are not written down. This means that leaders do not always keep detailed enough records of safeguarding decisions and actions to help them consistently assess where additional support may be required. 10 and 11 January 2023

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 While staff report their safeguarding concerns to leaders, too often these are not recorded carefully. Leaders’ records do not outline in enough detail what actions they are taking to keep pupils safe. Leaders must establish robust systems for recording safeguarding information so that chronologies of concerns and actions are sufficiently clear.  In some subjects and key stages, the specific content that pupils will learn and how this will be assessed have not been considered in enough detail. Teachers are not clear about what they need to teach and how to support pupils to know and remember more. Leaders need to ensure that a sufficiently precise, well- sequenced curriculum is implemented in all subjects right from the start of early years to the end of Year 6.  In early years, the activities and resources are not always used well enough to support children’s learning. Children therefore do not learn all the necessary

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

knowledge and skills to prepare them for key stage 1. Leaders need to ensure that both the indoor and outdoor environments are used effectively to enable children to learn and practise the crucial knowledge and skills across the early years curriculum.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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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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 January 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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Date of previous inspection

14 November 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school joined Northfleet Schools Co-Operative Trust in June 2017.  The school does not currently use any alternative provision.  The school runs a breakfast and after-school club.  The school admits three-year-old children to the Nursery provision.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, senior leaders, staff and pupils. They also met with the chair of the governing body and spoke to a representative from the local authority. 10 and 11 January 2023

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 Inspectors carried out deep dives in design and technology, early reading, mathematics and physical education. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors listened to some pupils read. Inspectors also spoke to leaders about the curriculum in some other subjects.  To inspect the school’s safeguarding arrangements, inspectors met with leaders responsible for safeguarding and looked at relevant documentation, staff recruitment checks and training records. Inspectors also talked to a range of staff and pupils.  Inspectors met pupils from different year groups to talk about their learning and experiences at school.  The views of staff and parents and carers were gathered through discussions and through Ofsted’s online surveys.

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Inspection team

Leah Morgan, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Lesley Fisher-Pink Ofsted Inspector 10 and 11 January 2023

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