Langho and Billington St Leonards Church of England Primary School

Inspection of Langho and Billington St Leonards Church of England Primary School Whalley Road, Langho, Blackburn, Lancashire BB6 8AB

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Inspection dates: 19 and 20 November 2024

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

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Until November 2020, the school was exempt from routine inspection because it was judged as outstanding for overall effectiveness at its previous inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. The school has not been inspected under section 5 of the Act since February 2012. Since September 2024, schools have not been awarded an overall effectiveness grade. 19 and 20 November 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to be part of this vibrant school community. They strive to follow the five ‘pupil promises’ and four core values that make up the school badge. This is exemplified in how positively pupils approach their learning. It is also evident in the way that pupils take good care of each other and make sure that no one is left out.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils respond well to the school’s high aspirations for all. Staff help them to develop traits such as self-assurance and resilience. Pupils build up a wide body of secure knowledge. This helps them to achieve well. Pupils in Year 6 are amply prepared to embrace the new challenges of Year 7 and beyond.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils value the strong friendships that they develop at school. They learn to understand and respect people’s differences. Pupils benefit from the effective support that staff provide to broaden their horizons. Pupils willingly participate in opportunities to serve others in their local and wider community. For example, they support a nearby refuge for young people who are homeless and a developing school in Uganda.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils recognise that following the school rules helps them to be the best they can be. Most pupils behave well. They learn how to regain their composure when they begin to feel overwhelmed.

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

The school’s ambitious and well-designed curriculum captures the interest of its pupils. It is focused on making sure that pupils can recall key information with ease. Teachers ensure that all pupils learn their class’s curriculum as well as they can. Pupils listen attentively to their teachers during lessons. They respond well to the effective strategies that teachers use to enhance their learning.

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

Pupils are proud when they are rewarded for making the right choices about how to behave. This helps to motivate them to focus on their learning.

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

In most subjects, pupils achieve well because staff know what to focus on. Teachers make sure that pupils learn key knowledge in a logical order and practise this regularly until it is secure in their long-term memory. However, in a small number of subjects, and in the Nursery Year, some of the intended learning is not as clearly defined. As a result, in these aspects of the curriculum, teaching does not support pupils’ learning as effectively as it could. The rate at which pupils acquire new information slows at times because of this.

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

Teachers check carefully that pupils have a firm grasp of their learning. This is particularly true in reading. Where the curriculum is clearly defined, teachers address misconceptions or gaps in pupils’ learning swiftly. When the intended learning is less clear, some pupils develop misconceptions that go unnoticed.

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

Reading is at the heart of the curriculum. Children in the early years learn about patterns of sounds in words through well-loved stories, songs and rhymes. Teachers share high- 19 and 20 November 2024

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quality classic and contemporary texts with their classes. These inspire older pupils to read books from new authors and genres. Pupils become accomplished readers as they progress through the school.

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Pupils who are at the early stages of reading receive expert support from staff. This helps pupils to quickly build up secure phonics knowledge. Children in the Reception Year use their phonics knowledge effectively to work out what words say. Pupils practise their reading regularly with books that contain the sounds that they know. The small number of pupils who struggle with reading benefit from additional support from skilled staff. By the end of Year 2, most pupils can read fluently and accurately. This helps them to focus on their learning across the curriculum.

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The school provides effective support to help teachers accurately identify pupils’ additional needs, including any that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) have. This helps staff to provide the most appropriate support for these pupils to access the curriculum and the wider life of the school. Pupils with SEND achieve well and make the most of all the school has to offer.

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Pupils respond well to the numerous opportunities that the school provides for their personal development. For example, pupils benefit from carefully planned character- building activities. Many of them carry out leadership roles that support other pupils or the wider work of the school. Some of these pupils work with staff to make improvements to the school. Activities such as these help pupils to build self-confidence, and they prepare them well to make a positive contribution to society when they are older.

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The governing body and the school have a clear, shared vision. They strive to ensure that all pupils achieve as well as they can. The school makes sure that teaching staff are well supported so that they do not feel overwhelmed by their workload. Governors do not make sure that this is consistently the case for leaders. At times, some leaders complete time-consuming tasks that have little impact on the quality of education that pupils receive. This means that sometimes they have less capacity to focus on more important activities.

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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, and in aspects of the Nursery Year’s curriculum, there is a lack of clarity about what the school expects pupils to learn. As a result, pupils do not learn as well as they could. The school should ensure that all teachers know what to focus on with their classes so that pupils build up their knowledge equally well across the curriculum. 19 and 20 November 2024

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 Some of leaders’ time is taken up with unnecessary tasks. This adds to their workload. It also prevents them focusing on further developing the quality of education that pupils receive. Governors should ensure that leaders have the support that they need to focus on their strategic roles when this is needed.

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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 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). 19 and 20 November 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.langho-st-leonards.lancs.sch.uk

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 28 and 29 February 2012, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Diocese of Blackburn. The last section 48 inspection of the school’s religious character took place in March 2024.  The school has nursery provision for children from the age of three, which was not in place when the school was last inspected.  There is a new headteacher in post since the previous inspection.  A new chair of governors been appointed since the time of the last inspection.  The school does not currently make use of alternative provision for pupils.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth-form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade. 19 and 20 November 2024

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 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s educational provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors spoke with the headteacher and other leaders in the school. An inspector also spoke with a group of governors, including the chair of the governing body.  An inspector spoke with representatives of the local authority and of the diocese.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, 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 observed some pupils from Years 1 to 3 reading to a familiar adult.

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 Inspectors carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics, geography, physical education and languages. 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 spoke with pupils about their learning in other areas of the curriculum. They also looked at samples of pupils’ work in these subjects.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour at breaktimes and lunchtimes and when they moved around the school. An inspector scrutinised leaders’ records of pupils’ behaviour.  Inspectors spoke with parents and carers as they dropped their children off at school. They also considered responses to Ofsted’s Parent View, including free-text responses.  There were no responses to Ofsted’s online surveys for pupils or for staff.  Inspectors spoke with groups of pupils about their experiences at school.

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 Inspectors spoke with teachers and support staff to gather their views of the school.

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Inspection team

Claire Cropper, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Alex Keane Ofsted Inspector 19 and 20 November 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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