Lavant CofE Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Lavant Church of England Primary School West Stoke Road, Lavant, Chichester, West Sussex PO18 0BW

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Outcome

Lavant Church of England Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to be part of this caring school community. They take pride in the school motto by ‘learning together in faith – always aiming for the best’. Pupils know and model the school’s values. These include showing respect to others and working together. The weekly celebration assembly is a time revered by the school community as everyone celebrates pupils’ academic and pastoral successes. One pupil summed up the school’s ethos, saying, ‘Whichever year you are in, you always get pushed to be your best.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils thrive in a calm, positive environment. They make a valuable contribution to the school by taking on roles such as those of school councillor and eco-councillor. Pupils have positive attitudes towards their learning. Pupils respond well to the ‘learning journeys’ that they say make their learning memorable. For example, pupils arrived one morning to find the field transformed with sports activities to begin the ‘healthy bodies, healthy minds’ whole-school learning journey. Pupils behave well in the dining hall and out on the vast, well-equipped play spaces. Almost every pupil has participated in a school club, which cover a range of cultural, sporting and creative activities.

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

Leaders are building an ambitious and engaging curriculum. This is in place for most subjects. The approaches in history and music, for example, provide teachers with everything they need to deliver a well-ordered curriculum to the pupils. In subjects where the curriculum is not as clearly sequenced, such as in design and technology and art, leaders know that they need to do more. This is because pupils are not always supported to connect their past learning with new knowledge.

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

Leaders are prioritising reading. They want all pupils to enjoy reading and to understand what they read. This determination means that more pupils are learning to read well. Pupils engage in the texts that teachers use in class. These texts develop comprehension skills as well as a love of reading. For the pupils at the earliest stages of reading, teachers deliver daily phonics with clarity. Some pupils find learning phonics difficult. Staff identify 18 July 2023

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these pupils and provide extra support. However, this support is not as precise as it could be. While pupils who struggle to read get a great deal of help, it is not as effective as it could be. For example, often a number of adults support individual pupils who are struggling to learn to read. However, this extra help is not coordinated as well as it needs to be in order to have the necessary impact on pupils’ achievement.

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Teachers’ subject knowledge is secure in all areas. This leads to some strong achievement by pupils, especially in the subjects for which the curriculum is well established. Pupils’ work demonstrates the high expectations of leaders. In mathematics, teachers present information with clarity. This means that most pupils learn well and can remember subject-specific vocabulary in mathematics.

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Teachers use a variety of methods to check how well pupils have learned the curriculum. This flexibility, however, leads to some inconsistencies. As a result, teachers sometimes do not address errors and misconceptions as effectively as they could. This is particularly important for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) or those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

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Pupils’ behaviour and attitudes towards learning are strong. Pupils know what bullying is and they are keen to say that it is not part of their school life. They help each other to be respectful and on track to follow the school’s values. When fallings-out happen between classmates, teachers deal with the issues appropriately. Determined leaders ensure that pupils get as many opportunities as possible to develop their wider experiences. Pupils have many opportunities to take part in clubs, trips or cultural experiences. Key to this are the ‘golden learning opportunities’ (GLOs). These are activities where pupils can try something new. A combination of staff and volunteers from the community organise these GLOs. They include activities such as horse riding and pottery using a wheel.

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Staff and parents and carers are overwhelmingly positive about the leadership of the school. There is a strong team and community ethos. Everyone values this. As one parent said, ‘Lavant is a wonderful school. Both of my children are extremely happy and thriving. The whole staffing team care immensely about each and every child and their welfare. I would recommend Lavant to everyone.’

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

A robust system is in place to create a strong safeguarding culture. Governors make appropriate safeguarding checks to assure themselves that the system is effective. Pupils say that they feel safe. Leaders keep staff knowledge regularly updated so that everyone knows how to identify and report concerns. Leaders keep clear and detailed logs of pupils about whom they have safeguarding concerns. Leaders ensure that pupils who are at risk receive the help they need.

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Safeguarding

Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe in real life, as well as when online. They know to ‘think before you type’ when interacting with others to maintain positive friendships. 18 July 2023

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders are developing an ambitious curriculum, but some subjects need further development. In these subjects, leaders have not fully identified the important knowledge and vocabulary that pupils need to learn. Consequently, pupils are not building their learning in all subjects as strongly as leaders aspire them to. Leaders should continue to develop the curriculum and ensure that their assessment procedures check the impact of the curriculum effectively.  Leaders are ambitious for pupils with SEND and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. However, provision for these pupils is not always as precise as it could be. As a result, some of these pupils are not achieving as well as they could. Leaders need to ensure that targets and precise support for these pupils are clear to enable all adults help these pupils do even better.

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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.

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Background

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

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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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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. 18 July 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 13 March 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is much smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The school is designated as having a religious character. Its most recent Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools took place in May 2017, when it received an outstanding judgement in all areas.  The school uses no alternative provision.  The school runs its own before-school breakfast club.

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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 senior leaders and seven members of the governing body, including the chair of governors. Inspectors also met with a representative of the local authority, a representative of the diocese and other leaders in the school. The headteacher was absent at the time of the inspection. 18 July 2023

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 Inspectors carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics and history. 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.  In addition, the inspectors also looked at other curriculum areas, including art and design, design and technology, and geography.  The inspectors reviewed the arrangements for safeguarding by scrutinising safeguarding records, interviewing staff and through discussions with pupils.  The inspectors considered the views of parents in the responses to Ofsted Parent View. They gathered the views of pupils and staff through surveys, interviews and discussions conducted throughout the inspection.  The inspectors reviewed a range of the school’s documentation, including self- evaluation reports, minutes of governing body meetings and behaviour incident logs.

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Inspection team

Chris Parker, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Carl McCarthy His Majesty’s Inspector 18 July 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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