Longthorpe Primary Academy

Inspection of Longthorpe Primary School Bradwell Road, Longthorpe, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire PE3 9QW

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

The headteacher of this school is Kate Trethewy. This school is part of Peterborough Keys Academies Trust (PKAT), which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Ian Young, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Claire Higgins. 24 and 25 April 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils from varying backgrounds come together as one big family at Longthorpe. They celebrate diversity and understand each other’s differences. They learn about why people might have different opinions and how to debate and discuss these, while still remaining friends. This helps prepare them well to be good citizens.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and safe at school. They have friendly relationships with one another. Younger pupils are confident and enthusiastic to tell adults about how they enjoy school. Older pupils support younger ones as part of the playground buddy system. Pupils all feel that staff will listen and help to resolve their worries.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are eager to learn and typically behave well. Staff provide further structure and support where pupils need it, such as with lunchtime football. This ensures that any disagreements are quickly resolved.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils achieve well, overall. They build their knowledge across all subjects effectively. However, the quality of writing they produce could be better as it is not of a consistently high standard across subjects.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy the range of trips and clubs that are on offer because they allow them to make friends and try new things, such as singing in a choir.

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better?

Since the previous inspection, there have been significant leadership changes at both school and trust levels. Leaders have addressed the areas of improvement from the previous inspection effectively.

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better?

The school has redesigned the entire curriculum. It has ensured that in all subjects, what pupils learn is clearly defined and builds over time. Consequently, pupils are well equipped for their next stage of learning. For example, in early years, children develop the independence needed for key stage 1. This includes being able to do up their zips and tidy up after themselves. Pupils in Year 6 are also well prepared for secondary.

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better?

Teachers in early years carefully plan interesting activities that help develop children’s learning through play. However, the outdoor environment does not enable enough opportunities for physical development. This means that children have fewer opportunities to build the early foundations of balance and movement.

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better?

The school has ensured that teachers adapt the curriculum so that pupils with special education needs and/or disabilities (SEND) access it effectively. This includes the ‘sunshine room’, where pupils who need it get the personalised support they need to achieve well. 24 and 25 April 2024

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Teachers use effective questioning to check what pupils know. Where pupils have any gaps in their knowledge, teachers ensure these are quickly addressed. This supports pupils to confidently build their knowledge in each subject area.

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This is also the case for those pupils at the earlier stages of reading. Teachers are skilled at using phonics to teach pupils to read. In early years, children get lots of opportunities for rhyme, song and story time, which all support effective early reading development. All pupils are confident to sound out words and most read with fluency. Pupils enjoy reading, especially the reading corners in their classrooms and library books.

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However, pupils’ writing varies in quality across the curriculum. Teachers do not teach pupils how to write for specific purposes well enough in different subjects. This is because there has not been a clearly enough defined, school-wide approach, to developing writing.

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Pupils’ behaviour and attitudes are positive. They want to learn because lessons are interesting, and they know and follow the behaviour system. There are some isolated examples of silliness, but typically, teachers address these effectively.

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Pupils attend well. Where any pupils do have lower levels of attendance, appropriate work goes on to address this. For example, the school is doing all it can to provide suitable provision for pupils waiting for special school placements.

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The school promotes pupils’ personal development well. A range of trips broadens cultural experiences. These include visiting the theatre and science museum, performing at The O2 and local area walks. Pupils develop leadership skills through the school council, house captains and lunchtime buddy roles, to name a few. There are plenty of opportunities to develop socially through clubs, such as choir, gardening and sports.

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The trust board has worked with the school to help it improve. For example, a trust director of SEND has worked with the headteacher and the school’s special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) to ensure that the needs of pupils with SEND are now well identified and met. This has all been done in a way that has shown due consideration to staff workload and well-being.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school has not ensured there is an effective enough approach to developing pupils’ writing. As a result, pupils sometimes produce writing that is lacking in the necessary quality and depth as they have not developed their writing skills as well 24 and 25 April 2024

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as they should. The school needs to ensure that a clear and suitable approach to developing writing is put in place, across the school, so that pupils develop the quality and depth of their writing consistently well.  The outdoor area in early years does not provide children with high-quality opportunities for physical development. As a result, children do not develop their gross motor skills as well as they might. The school needs to ensure that the outdoor area is further developed to provide children with a range of ways to support children’s physical development as effectively as other areas of learning.

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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’ 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). 24 and 25 April 2024

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 21 and 22 June 2022, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Since the previous inspection, a new trust CEO, trust director of school improvement, trust director of SEND, headteacher, deputy headteacher and SENCo have all been appointed.  The school converted to academy status in April 2018. This is the first section 5 inspection since the school became an academy.  The school uses one registered alternative provision and one unregistered alternative 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

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and 24 and 25 April 2024

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have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  To discuss governance and trust leadership an inspector met with the chair of trustees, CEO, chair of the local academy committee, director of school improvement and director of SEND.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, assistant headteacher, SENCo, designated safeguarding leads, behaviour and personal development leads, school subject leaders and staff.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading expanded to cover English, mathematics, science, art and geography. For each deep dive, inspectors 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 spent time in early years and spoke with children and staff there.  Inspectors also considered the curriculum in some other subjects, including

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personal, social and health education and relationships and sex education, computing and history.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons, around school and at social times.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors 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. Inspectors also held dedicated meetings to explore attendance.  Inspectors considered responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey and Ofsted’s staff survey. They considered responses to the parent survey, Ofsted Parent View, including free-text messages.

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Inspection team

James Chester, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Richard Fordham Ofsted Inspector 24 and 25 April 2024

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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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