Littleton Green Community School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Littleton Green Community School Colliers Way, Huntington, Cannock, Staffordshire WS12 4UD

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Outcome

Littleton Green Community Primary School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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Outcome

The headteacher of this school is Lynn Thorneycroft. This school is part of the Staffordshire University Academies Trust (SUAT), which means that other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), James Capper, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Mary Walker.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils and staff have a strong sense of belonging at Littleton Green. It provides a happy and supportive environment, where pupils feel valued and achieve well. The school’s ethos is guided by its ‘PURPLE’ values: Proud, Unique, Reflective, Positive, Loving and Empowered. Pupils speak proudly of raising funds to buy their purple school blazers, which they wear with pride.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations for pupils’ academic achievement. In many areas, especially reading and mathematics, these expectations are achieved successfully. Pupils are eager to learn and keen to talk about their work.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to school, as evidenced by their enthusiasm and regular attendance. They are friendly and older pupils regularly supervise and support younger children. Most pupils have positive attitudes to learning and behave well. Those who need extra help talk positively about attending ‘solution circle’ sessions. This is where they learn strategies to manage their emotions positively and resolve any differences responsibly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Many pupils are mature in their outlook and relish the roles and responsibilities they are given. For example, ‘head journalist’ or ‘green guardian’. They enjoy the wide range of clubs, educational visits and exciting events the school provides to enrich and extend their learning. 7 and 8 January 2025

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

The school strives constantly to improve the quality of education pupils receive and raise their achievement further. The revised curriculum is well thought out and ambitious. The small steps that pupils need to learn are set out clearly, ensuring that pupils’ knowledge builds successfully over time. Pupils learn well across different subjects and remember much of what they are taught. For instance, they have impressive computing skills as they practise these regularly.

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

Staff use their strong knowledge to implement the curriculum effectively. This starts in the pre-school for two-year-olds, where the foundations for learning are laid securely. Children benefit from high-quality adult care and attention. They learn to communicate, listen, count, follow instructions and share. These skills effectively sow the seeds for children’s future learning.

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

The school maintains a sharp focus on ensuring that pupils learn to read. The revised phonics programme helps pupils to learn the sounds they need to decode words. Teachers check that all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), get the help they need to master early reading. They ensure that all pupils ‘keep up’ rather than having to ‘catch up’. As a result, very few fall behind. There is a positive culture of reading. The school library provides pupils with an exceptional range of different books and genres to satisfy all abilities and tastes.

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

Early writing is introduced well in the early years. Nursery children enjoy using different media to experiment with mark making. For example, they use feathers to draw shapes in the sand tray. However, beyond this, expectations for developing pupils’ writing are sometimes pitched too high. Additionally, there is an insufficient focus on pupils mastering basic grammar, punctuation and spelling skills, or developing a fluent and legible handwriting style. These aspects affect the coherence and quality of some pupils’ writing.

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

The school welcomes an increasing number of pupils with SEND. Staff are well trained to identify and support pupils with a range of learning needs. They adapt tasks effectively to ensure that these pupils access the same work as their peers. Additional resources, adult help and specialist advice are provided to ensure that pupils with SEND achieve well in all areas of their learning.

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

The majority of pupils show good levels of engagement and positive attitudes to learning in lessons. However, a small number of pupils, parents and carers report that inconsistencies in staffing have led to a decline in behaviour in some year groups. The school is aware of this and has introduced a new approach to behaviour management. Pupils play a pivotal role in this revised approach. For example, the ‘green guardians’ act as peer mediators. They are instrumental in seeking amicable resolutions to solve minor disputes. Nevertheless, sometimes staff are inconsistent in their application of this policy. As a result, behaviour issues occasionally escalate, leading to more serious sanctions.

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

Pupils are well prepared for life beyond the school. For example, cookery club and 7 and 8 January 2025

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fundraising events provide pupils with valuable life skills. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe, especially online. Visiting speakers and trips to different places of worship ensure that pupils learn about a range of religions and cultures.

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The school is led and managed well. The trust and local academy committee provide the school with effective challenge and support. Staff appreciate the consideration given by the school to their 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)

 Sometimes, teachers do not ensure that pupils secure the basic punctuation, grammar and spelling skills needed to write coherently, before moving them on to more challenging writing concepts. Additionally, pupils do not learn to develop neat and cursive handwriting. As a result, some pupils struggle to write simple words and sentences correctly, and their handwriting is not well formed. The school should ensure that teachers provide sufficient opportunities for pupils to practise and secure the essential skills needed to write accurately and neatly, and that common errors are consistently picked up and addressed.  There is variation in how well staff apply the school’s recently revised behaviour policy. In addition, the number of pupils suspended is too high. Low-level disruption is not addressed swiftly enough and where behaviour escalates, can result in some pupils being suspended. The school should ensure that the implementation of its behaviour

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

strategy is implemented consistently to reduce the risk of pupils’ behaviour escalating and lower the number of suspensions. 7 and 8 January 2025

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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 to be good 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 second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in May 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.

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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). 7 and 8 January 2025

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School details

Inspection number 10366642 Type of school Primary

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School details

Website www.littletongreen.staffs.sch.uk

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 12 and 13 November 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation 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 leaders and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  During the inspection, the inspector met with the headteacher and senior leaders.  The inspector met with members of the local academy committee, including the chair of the committee. They also met with representatives from the trust, including the chair of the board and CEO. 7 and 8 January 2025

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 Throughout the inspection, the lead inspector met with staff and talked to pupils about their learning and well-being.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector: checked the school’s single central record; spoke to senior leaders about safeguarding procedures; took account of the views of 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 considered a range of documents, including the school’s self-evaluation and plans for improvement. Records of attendance and behaviour incidents were checked.  The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour at playtime and talked to them about behaviour, bullying and welfare.  The inspector considered the responses to Ofsted’s surveys for pupils, staff and parents. This included any free-text responses in Ofsted Parent View.

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Inspection team

Heather Simpson, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 7 and 8 January 2025

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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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