Lancaster Lane Primary and Pre-School

Inspection of a good school: Lancaster Lane Community Primary School Hunters Road, Clayton-le-Woods, Leyland, Lancashire PR25 5TT

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Outcome

Lancaster Lane Community Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Lancaster Lane is a happy school community. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), enjoy their learning in different subjects. They live up to leaders’ high expectations by achieving well and behaving themselves. Pupils told the inspector of the importance of perseverance and dedication when learning gets difficult.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils profit from many musical and sporting opportunities. For example, they learn to play brass instruments as well as the guitar, and take part in cricket competitions. Just recently, some Year 3 and Year 4 pupils tested their skills at a glow-in-the-dark dodgeball competition.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils take part in a wide range of after-school activities which staff provide. They develop their knowledge in areas such as multiplication, drawing, chess and drama. Pupils also gain from their annual visit to the pantomime. Those in upper key stage 2 undertake many new activities, such as caving on their annual residential trip.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils learn to develop socially. They are proud of their membership of the school teams: robins, squirrels, dolphins or beavers. Pupils develop self-control and learn to respect the rules and boundaries that leaders set. They said that they feel safe at school. Pupils who need extra help to manage their own feelings or behaviour are supported very well by skilled staff. Leaders resolve the rare instances of bullying effectively and work closely with families if cyber-bullying issues arise outside of school.

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

Leaders have worked carefully with staff to think about the knowledge that they want pupils to acquire from the Reception class to Year 6. This work has resulted in an ambitious curriculum. Subject leaders give staff the advice and guidance they need to understand how to teach different units of work. 25 and 26 April 2023

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Teachers choose the content of pupils’ learning activities carefully. They ensure that pupils’ learning is interesting and demanding. Leaders make effective use of subject experts to help staff to improve how they teach the curriculum. Teachers and teaching assistants regularly help all pupils, including those with SEND, to build their knowledge based on previous learning. Where needed, staff adapt their implementation of the curriculum to help pupils to develop important new knowledge.

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Teachers make effective use of assessment strategies to check on pupils’ knowledge when deciding what they should learn next. In lessons, teachers give attention to whether pupils understand key teaching points or whether they need further explanation.

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Pupils are rarely distracted from their work by low-level disruption. Over time, they know and remember more of the curriculum. Pupils achieve well. Nevertheless, they do not remember the meaning of some important and interesting new words as well as they should. This makes it harder for pupils to explain some concepts and topics.

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Leaders focus carefully on developing pupils’ reading. The daily sharing of books and stories between staff and pupils is a key feature of life throughout the school. Beginning in the Reception class, staff also set out rich collections of books for children to select from and read for themselves. Older pupils read books by a diverse range of authors.

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Leaders make certain that staff are well trained to teach phonics, meaning, for example, that staff model letter sounds correctly for pupils. Staff in the Reception class have shared a video of themselves to help parents and carers know how to pronounce letter sounds when reading at home. Leaders ensure that reading books match the sounds and words that pupils know. They make sure that weaker readers have the regular and focused practice that they need. Many pupils learn to read fluently and accurately. However, in phonics activities, staff do not help pupils to form letters correctly. Too often, pupils are not taught about how best to sit in order to write clearly and with ease. This weakness negatively affects the quality of pupils’ writing.

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Leaders train and guide staff to identify early the needs of pupils with SEND. They ensure that staff cater well for the needs and best interests of these pupils, including those who spend some of their time in a dedicated classroom called ‘the nest’.

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Children’s learning at Lancaster Lane starts well in the Reception class. For instance, staff teach children to talk, count and cooperate, and to be physically active, including in running, climbing and balancing.

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Pupils develop as citizens who treat other people with respect, including pupils in school with disabilities. Parents of pupils with SEND who responded to Parent View said that their children are fully included in life at the school and are enabled to flourish. Pupils learn to respect other people’s religion and heritage, for example by meeting online with pupils from a Jewish faith school. Leaders encourage pupils to tally their daily steps as part of being physically active. Pupils told the inspector how to keep himself healthy, for example by avoiding eating too much sugar. 25 and 26 April 2023

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Staff said that leaders support their well-being very well and help them to have a work-life balance. They are happy in their jobs.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders make sure that staff are well trained and informed about safeguarding issues. For example, staff understand the specific safeguarding issues that can affect pupils with SEND. They are alert to any change in pupils’ comments, behaviour or appearance. Staff report any safeguarding concerns to leaders. Leaders link effectively with other agencies to protect pupils and their families.

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Safeguarding

Concerned by a high number of local road traffic accidents, leaders ensure that pupils at the school understand how to stay safe near roads. Pupils develop a wide-ranging and age-appropriate knowledge of the different ways that they can stay safe in their daily lives.

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Safeguarding

Leaders and staff focus often on online safety with pupils. They also send to parents a regular online safety newsletter.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some phonics activities, when pupils write, staff do not help them to form letters and words well. This affects their ability to write properly. Leaders should ensure that all pupils learn to write accurately.  Some pupils lack understanding of the meaning of essential new words that they have discovered in their learning or that staff have taught them. This means that they are not able to talk about some topics and ideas as well as they should. Leaders should make sure that all pupils remember, can talk about and use important and interesting words with confidence and understanding.

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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 an ungraded inspection and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately. 25 and 26 April 2023

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This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in December 2013.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents 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. 25 and 26 April 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10286251 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Hilary Harrington

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School details

Date of previous inspection 26 April 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Leaders do not use any alternative provision for pupils.  Some pupils with SEND spend some of their time in a dedicated classroom called ‘the nest’.  Lancaster Lane Early Learners EY439481 is located on the same site as the school. This pre-school is separately registered with Ofsted and was not part of the school inspection.

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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 completed deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and physical education. He met with leaders, visited learning activities and reviewed examples of pupils’ work. The inspector spoke with pupils and staff about the curriculum.  The inspector listened to some pupils from Years 1, 2 and 3 read to staff. 25 and 26 April 2023

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 The inspector met with groups of staff and with pupils. He considered responses from staff and pupils to Ofsted’s surveys.  The inspector reviewed responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments.  The inspector met with an officer of the local authority.  To evaluate safeguarding, the inspector considered the views of parents and pupils, and spoke with leaders and staff, including the outreach family worker. He also checked a sample of leaders’ records and policies.  The inspector met with six members of the governing body, including the chair and deputy chair of governors.

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Inspection team

Tim Vaughan, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector 25 and 26 April 2023

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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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