Ansdell Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Ansdell Primary School Lansdowne Road, Ansdell, Lytham St Annes, Lancashire FY8 4DR

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Outcome

Ansdell Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy the education that is on offer to them at Ansdell Primary School. They are eager to learn the ambitious curriculum that the school provides. As a result, many pupils achieve well and some excel. Typically, they are well prepared for the next stages of their education.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils like coming to this calm and orderly school. They understand and value the rules and expectations. Pupils benefit from helpful routines. They are well supported to develop good habits of behaviour. These help pupils to be ready to learn.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are eager to cooperate with staff. They do their best to behave as staff expect. They are polite and courteous to staff and visitors.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are taught well about how to look after each other. Mostly, they are kind and friendly. They look forward to their time together. They make the most of social time by creating games to enjoy together.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils embrace the wider opportunities that are available beyond the academic curriculum. Through the ‘Ansdell Adventure Passport’ they participate in a wide range of additional activities to explore the world beyond their community. For example, they learn new skills and traits from outdoor adventures. They are eager to make a positive difference to the school community by taking responsibility for the library or acting as a school councillor.

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

The school, including governors, ensure that pupils benefit from a high-quality education and a broad range of opportunities to support their wider development. The school has a strong understanding of its strengths and areas for further development. This aids 1 and 2 November 2023

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continual improvement to ensure that pupils can thrive academically, socially and emotionally.

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Staff benefit from highly effective support and well-matched training. This ensures that they have the knowledge and skills to undertake their roles well. Staff appreciate all that the school does to take account of their workload when introducing change.

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Pupils in Years 1 to 6 benefit from a broad and balanced curriculum. This ensures that they gain a secure and rich body of knowledge over time. This helps them to achieve well. For the most part, children in the Reception class also profit from an ambitious and well- designed curriculum. However, in a few areas of learning, the curriculum does not take enough account of what children need to know in readiness for Year 1. This means that some children are not as well prepared for the key stage 1 curriculum as they could be.

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In most subjects, the school ensures that the knowledge that pupils should learn is clearly defined. Subject content is suitably ambitious for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff deliver the curriculum with clarity. Pupils complete learning activities that help them to learn well. Staff use assessment strategies to accurately identify what pupils can and cannot do. Staff also provide effective additional support for those pupils who need to catch up. However, this is less well developed in a few subjects. Here, it is not as clear what knowledge pupils should learn. This makes it difficult for teachers to design activities that help pupils to build on what they know. Teachers are less sure about gaps in pupils’ knowledge in these subjects. This is because it is unclear what teachers should check to make sure that pupils are learning all that they should.

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Children in the early years benefit from a highly ambitious reading curriculum that begins as soon as they join the Reception class. Staff model how to read with accuracy. As they move through the school, pupils, including those at the earliest stages of learning to read, are supported well with books and resources that are carefully matched to their phonics knowledge. Pupils quickly learn the letters and sounds that they need to become accurate and fluent readers who understand what they are reading. As they grow older, pupils are regularly supported to continue to enjoy and, in many cases, love, reading.

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The school accurately identifies pupils’ additional needs. Staff carefully consider the information that they receive about pupils’ needs to provide tailored support for pupils with SEND. Small group work outside of lessons is focused and effective. This means that pupils with SEND return to class prepared for new learning.

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Pupils benefit from a high-quality personal, health, social and economic education. Pupils confidently recall what they know about making safe decisions, looking after their health and forming positive relationships. Pupils value differences in others and understand the importance of being a good citizen in their school and wider community.

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Children in the early years follow well-established routines. They learn the habits of good behaviour quickly. Pupils across the rest of the school behave well during lessons and social times. 1 and 2 November 2023

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New parents and carers quickly become part of the school community. Parents value the ongoing efforts of the school to engage with them and provide helpful support. Parents are well informed about their children’s education and wider experiences at the school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In a small number of subjects, the school has not identified the knowledge that pupils should learn. In places, this affects how well staff deliver these curriculums and then check on pupils’ learning. This means that gaps in pupils’ learning are not spotted quickly enough. The school should ensure that it is clear what knowledge pupils should learn across the curriculum.  In a few areas of learning, the curriculum in the early years does not take enough account of what children will learn when they start key stage 1. In these areas, this means that some children are not as well prepared for Year 1 as they could be. The school should ensure that the curriculum in the early years prepares children well for all that they will learn in the next stage of their education.

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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 January 2014.

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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. 1 and 2 November 2023

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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’ is used to mean pupils with SEND; pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 1 and 2 November 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 15 May 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school makes use of one registered alternative provider to provide part-time education for a small number of pupils.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.

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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 the school and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the headteacher and senior leaders. The inspector also met with representatives of the 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 held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors also listened to pupils read. 1 and 2 November 2023

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 The inspector also discussed the curriculum in some other subjects.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspector spoke with leaders responsible for SEND and reading. They also looked at information about the support for pupils who have additional needs.  The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour in class and around the school site. They also scrutinised behaviour and attendance records.  The inspector spoke with pupils from all year groups and considered the responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire for pupils.  The inspector held discussions with staff and considered the responses to Ofsted’s questionnaire for staff.  The inspector took account of the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the

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comments received by Ofsted’s free-text facility. The inspector also considered the views of parents that were shared during the inspection.

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Inspection team

Michael Pennington, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 1 and 2 November 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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