The Leys Primary School

Inspection of a good school: The Leys Primary School Leys Avenue, Dagenham, Essex RM10 9YR

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Outcome

The Leys Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The Leys Primary School is a happy and caring place, where everyone is important. Pupils feel safe at this school and are considerate of each other’s happiness. They are keen to speak to visitors and make them feel welcome.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school expects high standards of behaviour. Pupils know this and respond well. They behave well in lessons and are respectful and polite around the school. Pupils understand what good behaviour is and follow clear systems, which they say are fair. Bullying is rare, but if it does happen, staff are quick to sort it out.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know and understand the school creed, which is based on the school motto, ‘Resilience to achieve, aspiration to succeed’. It is central to the work of the school. Pupils say it inspires them to try harder in school and helps them in their life out of school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils respond well to the high expectations of the school. The ambitious and engaging curriculum helps to motivate them to want to attend school regularly. Because of both this and the caring staff, pupils enjoy learning and are rightly proud of their work. This prepares them well for the next stage of their education.

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

Leaders ensure that the curriculum they offer pupils is broad and balanced. It is as ambitious as the national curriculum. The curriculum is tailored to the needs of pupils in a number of ways, including linking learning to the real world, adapting it to the needs of all pupils and emphasising the importance of vocabulary. Regular opportunities to speak in lessons give pupils time to practise using the vocabulary they have learned.

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

Staff make sure that pupils in the early years study all the required areas of learning and are well prepared for Year 1 and beyond. Subjects are carefully sequenced from the early years through to Year 6, which ensures that new learning builds on prior learning. For example, in mathematics, pupils use known number facts and strategies to find the most 8 and 9 November 2023

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efficient way to quickly solve calculations. In a small minority of subjects, however, the important knowledge that pupils need to build on is not as clear as it should be. This limits the achievement of pupils. Leaders have identified this and are refining the curriculum in these subjects. These new improvements need time to embed.

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The school ensures that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are quickly identified. Whole-school strategies to adapt delivery of the curriculum include the use of visual resources, allowing more thinking time and additional adult support. These adaptations enable the vast majority of pupils with SEND to take part in the same curriculum as other pupils. Pupils’ progress through the curriculum is carefully checked and reviewed to ensure that they achieve well.

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Leaders have ensured that reading is a high priority. Because of this, pupils get off to a quick start. In the Nursery, children are taught to listen carefully to rhymes, stories and songs. This helps them to be ready to learn phonics straight away in Reception. They are taught to segment and blend sounds in Year 1. This helps them to read more difficult words. Staff are well trained and model these strategies well. They check how quickly pupils are learning through regular assessments. If pupils have gaps in their knowledge, staff quickly find ways to help them catch up. A small number of the weakest pupils are sometimes not supported to read accurately. This limits their ability to segment and blend sounds correctly. Pupils have regular opportunities to read books that are closely matched to the sounds they are learning. They enjoy listening to stories, and this helps to make them excited about their reading.

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Pupils’ personal development is supported well by wider opportunities provided by the school. These include a range of after-school activities and regular planned events. These events enhance the curriculum and help pupils to connect their learning to the real world. Examples include visits to St Pauls Cathedral, visiting musicians and local authority music events. Pupils are excited by the curriculum and by these opportunities, which is why most pupils want to attend regularly.

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Leaders have embedded a culture of caring for everyone. Strong leadership at all levels supports the headteacher in the consideration of staff workload and well-being. Governors, who support and challenge leaders, are proud of the improvements the school has made. Parents and carers appreciate this culture, and those who completed Ofsted’s online survey, Ofsted Parent View, were unanimously positive.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 A small number of the weakest readers are not always supported to read accurately. This limits their ability to segment and blend sounds correctly. The school must make 8 and 9 November 2023

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sure that all staff provide all pupils with effective support to develop their reading fluency.  In a small number of subjects, refinements are being made to the curriculum. These changes need more time to embed. This means that some pupils do not achieve as well as they could. Leaders should ensure that the refinements in these areas of the curriculum meet the needs of all learners.

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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’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (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). 8 and 9 November 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website http://www.leysprimaryschool.com

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School details

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

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Information about this school

 The school does not make use of alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  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 carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, and design and technology. 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.  The inspector also discussed the curriculum in other subjects, including music, geography and history. 8 and 9 November 2023

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 The inspector met with senior leaders, a selection of subject leaders, teachers, the safeguarding lead, business manager, the attendance officer and the school improvement partner.  The inspector met with those responsible for governance, including the chair of the governing body.  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 to pupils during lesson visits and observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and at breaktimes and lunchtimes. The inspector spoke to staff about behaviour and their workload in the school.  The views of pupils, parents and staff were considered through discussions and looking at information collected from Ofsted’s online surveys.

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Inspection team

David Lloyd, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 8 and 9 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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