Leigh Stationers' Primary Academy

Inspection of a school judged outstanding for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Leigh Stationers’ Primary Academy Eastcote Road, Welling, Kent DA16 2ST

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Inspection dates: 15 and 16 October 2024

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Outcome

Leigh Stationers’ Primary Academy has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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Outcome

The principal of this school is Rebecca England. This school is part of Leigh Academies Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Simon Beamish, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Frank Green.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love coming to Leigh Stationers’ Primary Academy. The school is determined to help them become thoughtful, well-rounded individuals. Pupils genuinely want to make a positive difference to their school community and the wider world. All adults working at the school understand how to support pupils’ well-being and make sure that they are kept safe. One pupil, summing up the views of many, commented: ‘I love coming to this school every single day.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff have high expectations and pupils are motivated to live up to them. Pupils excel in their learning, work hard and take pride in their achievements. They are keen to share their learning and produce work to a high standard. Pupils speak with great enthusiasm about the variety of wider experiences the school provides for them, such as snowboarding, outdoor team building and seeing their favourite authors at the Royal Albert Hall.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils show exemplary behaviour, both in and out of the classroom. Bullying is very rare and adults deal with it effectively. Pupils treat each other with great care and consideration. They are committed to looking after each other and understand their shared responsibility for making the school a happy place for all. 15 and 16 October 2024

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

Pupils achieve consistently high standards. Many exceed the expected standard for their age in national tests. They develop strong literacy and numeracy skills early on. This sets them up to learn well in different subjects. They are exceptionally well prepared 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?

The school has thought through the curriculum exceedingly well. It has planned the precise knowledge that pupils should build up over time, from Nursery to Year 6. Pupils revisit this knowledge regularly. This helps pupils to remember and make connections between subject content in different topics. For example, in history, younger pupils learn about the Great Fire of London. They remember important information confidently, such as where and how the fire started. They reflect on the reliability of Samuel Pepys’ diary as a historical source. Meanwhile, older pupils grapple with increasingly sophisticated ideas around historical bias. They critically evaluate the reliability of different perceptions of Boudica from the Romans and the Celts.

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

Teachers have excellent subject knowledge. They give clear explanations. They break challenging tasks down to help all pupils to tackle them with success. The school gives effective support to pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). For example, pupils with reading difficulties can use a computer to read out passages of text they find tricky. This helps them access the same challenging content as other pupils in the full range of subjects.

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

Staff in the early years are skilled at promoting children’s communication and language. They encourage children to talk confidently. They model how to use new words in sentences. For example, children in Nursery use words such as ‘build’ and ‘brick’ to describe making a wall.

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

From the time pupils start school, reading is prioritised. Pupils learn phonics quickly because adults teach it effectively. Where pupils are at risk of falling behind, they are identified quickly and supported to catch up. Pupils apply their phonics knowledge to read and write unfamiliar words. The school makes sure that writing tasks help pupils to practise the phonics that they already know. Focused support helps them to become confident in important skills, such as handwriting.

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

Pupils attend school regularly. They love learning and value being with their friends. In the rare instances where this is not the case, the school offers strong personalised support for families to improve attendance.

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

Opportunities for personal development are well planned and are of consistently high quality. Pupils are taught to develop ‘learner profile attributes’, such as being inquiring, principled and open minded. Pupils are also taught to value those who are different from themselves, such as people from different faiths or different types of family. 15 and 16 October 2024

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Pupils take their responsibilities very seriously, such as being peer mentors and language ambassadors. Those on the school council made a substantial contribution, for example, to planning improvements to the key stage 1 playground. Pupils feel a real duty of care towards each other. As one commented, ‘If we show kindness to someone else, it will spread. That’s how our school works.’

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Leaders are committed to ensuring that pupils get the very best education. Staff are overwhelmingly supportive of the school. They value the training and support they receive to improve their teaching skills.

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Governors and trust leaders know the school well. They provide effective support and resources. This helps school leaders to stay focused on providing an excellent education for pupils.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted’s website. From September 2024 graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade. This school was, before September 2024, judged outstanding for its overall effectiveness.

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Background

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. 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’s work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection 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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be outstanding for overall effectiveness on 19 and 20 March 2019. 15 and 16 October 2024

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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). 15 and 16 October 2024

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School details

Website www.leighstationersprimaryacademy.org.uk

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 19 and 20 March 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Since the previous inspection, the school has undergone a name change from Eastcote Primary Academy to Leigh Stationers’ Primary Academy.  The school is part of Leigh Academies Trust. The school is governed by the trust and by a local academy board with delegated powers.  The school is sponsored by the Stationers’ Livery Company.  The school does not currently make use of alternative provision.  The school is an International Baccalaureate World School. It teaches the Primary Years Programme.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision. 15 and 16 October 2024

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 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 held discussions with the principal, the vice principal, senior leaders, curriculum leaders, the chief executive officer, the academies advisor, trustees and members of the local governing body.  The inspector visited a sample of lessons, spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspector considered the views of parents shared through Ofsted Parent View and met with some parents at the start of the day.  The inspector gathered the views of pupils and staff through surveys as well as discussions conducted throughout the inspection.  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

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the extent to which the school has created an open and honest culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.

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Inspection team

Andrew Rigby, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 15 and 16 October 2024

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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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