Longton Primary School

Inspection of Longton Primary School School Lane, Longton, Preston, Lancashire PR4 5YA

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Inspection dates: 21 and 22 January 2025

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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 November 2014. Since September 2024, schools have not been awarded an overall effectiveness grade. 21 and 22 January 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel privileged to be part of their school community. They respond well to the many high-quality opportunities and positions of responsibility on offer to them. For example, Year 5 pupils support Reception class ‘buddies’ diligently. They enjoy helping children in the early years to practise their reading and quickly settle into school routines.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils take an active part in the local community. This helps them to understand how they can make a positive contribution to society. Pupils recognise that embracing new challenges helps them to develop character. They are rightly proud of their many achievements in the ‘Longton Primary School Plus’ programme, which introduces pupils to new experiences, such as leading church services. They wear their armbands for this with pride.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is a calm and welcoming place. Pupils behave well during lessons and while moving round the school. They play and chat with each other happily at social times. Pupils develop positive relationships with each other and with staff.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school expects all pupils to succeed academically. Pupils strive to do their best and typically achieve well. They benefit from the support of skilled staff. This is particularly true for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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

The school provides an ambitious and well-organised curriculum for pupils. Teachers understand the order that pupils need to learn new information as they progress from the Reception class to Year 6. This clarity supports teachers in their workload and enables them to focus on ensuring that all pupils access the curriculum as well as they can. Most pupils achieve well in reading and mathematics. However, at times, their achievement in some other subjects is less secure.

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

The school makes sure that staff have a clear understanding of pupils’ differing needs, including SEND. Staff adapt their approaches, where needed, to ensure that any barriers to learning that pupils face are minimised. Pupils with SEND achieve well as a result.

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

Teachers regularly check that pupils can recall key information. However, at times, and especially in subjects other than reading and mathematics, teachers do not probe sufficiently to find out how secure pupils’ understanding is before introducing new information. This means that, occasionally, pupils’ understanding is not as deep as it could be. Moreover, the school’s current systems for checking the quality of education do not identify well enough when some subjects in the wider curriculum need adapting to ensure that pupils secure and deepen their knowledge.

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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. Teachers make effective use of the high-quality books and texts that the school provides to explore a wide range of literature. Pupils enjoy times allocated to reading in class. Staff are adept at supporting pupils in developing secure reading knowledge. 21 and 22 January 2025

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All teachers are trained in using the school’s phonics programme to teach pupils how to read. This begins in the early years. Here, children are keen to apply their new phonics knowledge to reading and writing activities. Most pupils have a secure understanding of how to use phonics to read unfamiliar words by the end of Year 1. Staff use the school’s phonics programme to support the small number of older pupils who find reading more difficult to develop their fluency and accuracy. The school’s oversight of this is variable. Some of these pupils make greater strides in their reading than others.

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Most pupils focus well during lessons and play considerately at breaktimes. However, the school does not check that agreed procedures that underpin its behaviour policy are routinely followed by all staff. This means that, occasionally, some pupils do not receive the guidance that they need to maintain the high standards of behaviour and positive attitudes that the school expects.

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Pupils benefit from a wide range of carefully considered, high-quality activities that support their personal development. For example, pupils from the ‘head’s team’ meet with governors regularly to give their insight about what it means to be a pupil at the school. Pupils selected for roles like these appreciate the value of earning such a position of responsibility. They recognise how these experiences help to prepare them for the world of work when they are older.

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There are strong, professional relationships between the governing body and the school. Staff value the support that they receive from governors. Governors access a wide range of information related to the school’s performance. However, at times, leaders at all levels do not identify as well as they might areas that could be improved at the school. This is because they are too easily assured that pupils are learning as well as they can or that agreed procedures are being followed as expected.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school does not ensure that pupils’ knowledge is developed as well in some foundation subjects as it is in reading and mathematics. At times, the knowledge that pupils develop lacks depth. Consequently, they do not build up their knowledge across the curriculum as well as they could. The school should make sure that pupils build up their knowledge more evenly across the curriculum.  The school does not delve deeply enough at times into how effectively it is performing in supporting pupils to achieve as well as they can. This includes the checks on how well pupils are learning the intended curriculum or if agreed protocols are successfully implemented. This means that the school does not identify as well as it could what is working well and what could be improved. The school should ensure that it has a clear 21 and 22 January 2025

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and accurate understanding of where it most needs to focus its support for staff and pupils.

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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). 21 and 22 January 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 18 and 19 November 2014, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 A new chair of the governing body has been appointed since the previous inspection.  The school does not currently make use of alternative provision for pupils.  The school provides a before- and after-school club 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.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision. 21 and 22 January 2025

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 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 met with members of the governing body, including the chair of governors.  An inspector spoke with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics and geography. They spoke with the leaders of these areas of the curriculum. Inspectors also visited lessons, looked at examples of pupils’ work, held discussions with teachers and talked with pupils.  Inspectors looked at samples of pupils’ work and spoke to them about their learning in other subjects from the curriculum.  Inspectors spoke with groups of pupils about their experiences at school.

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 An inspector listened to pupils from Years 1 to 3 reading to a familiar adult. She also listened to some other pupils reading from Years 3, 4 and 5.  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 spoke with parents and carers as they dropped their children off at school. They also considered the responses to Ofsted’s online Parent View survey and parents’ free-text responses.  Inspectors considered responses to Ofsted’s online surveys for staff and for pupils.

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Inspection team

Claire Cropper, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Alex Keane Ofsted Inspector 21 and 22 January 2025

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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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