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Institutional Inspections and Frameworks Division 4 th Floor Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE Direct Tel 020 7421 6594 Direct Fax 020 7421 6855

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Mrs M Vine Headteacher Langenhoe Community Primary School Bracken Way Abberton Colchester Essex CO5 7PG

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Implementation of Langenhoe Community Primary School's Action Plan

Following the visit of Mr K Gilbert and Mrs P Cox, Additional Inspectors (AI) to your school on 30 June and 1 July 2005, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector to confirm the inspection findings which are recorded in the attached note.

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Implementation of Langenhoe Community Primary School's Action Plan

The visit was the fourth monitoring inspection since the school became subject to special measures. The focus of the inspection was to assess: the pupils' standards of attainment and their progress; the quality of education provided; the leadership and management of the school; the pupils' attitudes and behaviour; and the progress that has been made in implementing the action plan.

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Implementation of Langenhoe Community Primary School's Action Plan

The school has made good progress since the last monitoring inspection and reasonable progress overall since being subject to special measures.

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Implementation of Langenhoe Community Primary School's Action Plan

I am copying this letter and the note of the inspection findings to the Secretary of State, the chair of governors and the Head of Schools Service for Essex. This letter will be posted on the Ofsted website.

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Implementation of Langenhoe Community Primary School's Action Plan

Andrew Reid Head of Institutional Inspections and Frameworks Division

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ACTION PLAN

Findings of the fourth monitoring inspection since the school became subject to special measures

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ACTION PLAN

During the visit 15 lessons or parts of lessons, three registration sessions and two assemblies were inspected. Meetings were held with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, the special educational needs co-ordinator and the chair of governors. Informal discussions were held with other members of staff and with pupils and samples of work were examined. A range of documents was scrutinised. Using this evidence, AI made the following observations to the headteacher, the chair of governors and two representatives of the LEA.

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ACTION PLAN

The unvalidated results of the 2005 National Curriculum tests for Year 2 were encouraging, particularly in reading and mathematics, where all pupils reached the expected level and almost half attained Level 3. This was also the case for the teachers' assessments for science. These results were well above the national average and the school’s targets. However, in 2004, results in writing were below the national average, with only about three-quarters of pupils reaching the expected standard and less than a third the higher level. All pupils write independently and at some length, many with a rich vocabulary, a good structure and accurate punctuation. However, because their phonic skills had not been developed well enough in the past, their spelling is weak. Although most join their writing, it is often untidy, with poorly-formed letters. Nevertheless, it is evident that the pupils have made at least satisfactory progress recently, and that the

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ACTION PLAN

standards of most of the pupils in Year 1 are significantly higher in writing.

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ACTION PLAN

The unvalidated Year 6 test results for 2005 are an improvement on those of 2004, especially in English, when 100 per cent of the pupils gained the expected Level 4 with 67 per cent gaining Level 5. Although the mathematics results were below the national average for 2004, the proportion reaching the higher Level 5, 38 per cent, was above the national average; in science, 76 per cent gained Level 4 and above.

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ACTION PLAN

The quality of teaching was satisfactory or better in all but two of the lessons; in seven of the lessons the teaching was good and in one it was very good. Learning objectives were shared with the pupils and were referred to during concluding plenary sessions to evaluate the learning that had taken place. The teachers used the recently installed interactive whiteboards effectively to stimulate the pupils and to speedily move from information to task. Regular assessments were used in most classes to ensure that the pupils were challenged appropriately and tasks and activities were increasingly targeted at specific needs. The teachers’ presentation was generally lively and engaging and relationships were of good quality. There were examples of skilled questioning, targeting from time to time the more diffident pupils, rather than taking answers from the more confident students. There was good practice among learning support assistants, with some effective interventions

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ACTION PLAN

assisting pupils while they developed ideas and concepts. Where the teaching was less successful and in some satisfactory lessons, the teachers did not have a clear enough idea of what the pupils were to learn and how to plan tasks that would achieve the learning intentions. Lessons were slow and undemanding, with too little consideration of the pupils’ different ages and levels of attainment. Consequently the pupils’ concentration slipped.

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ACTION PLAN

The behaviour of the pupils in classrooms and social areas was good. There is now a much more positive attitude among the pupils towards their learning. They followed instructions quickly, involved themselves productively in their tasks and approached group and pair work sensibly, even when only loosely supervised. There is an increasing pride among the pupils in what they achieve and a willingness to complement other pupils on their successes. The presentation of work is still a weakness in many exercise books and folders in most classes.

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ACTION PLAN

The attendance and the punctuality of the pupils at the start of the day have improved. Attendance for the year of 95 per cent is close to the national average and nearly three per cent better than last year.

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ACTION PLAN

The headteacher’s evaluation of the progress made clearly identifies successes but also indicates the areas for improvement. The LEA’s attached adviser has done much to support the school and her advice and availability have been appreciated by the staff and governors.

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1: improve leadership and management

Governors are increasingly involved in the work of the school. The committee meeting structure has proved time effective and given all governors an opportunity to be conversant with current issues and developments. Four governors are enrolled on BTEC courses in governance, two of whom took a lead role in compiling the annual report to parents. The minutes of meetings clearly indicate the governors’ proactive role and their mechanisms for holding the school to account.

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1: improve leadership and management

The headteacher has done much to guide the school successfully during the year through the challenges of staff absence, the raising of standards and the improvements in the quality of teaching. With her recently appointed deputy headteacher, she is working with co-ordinators to evaluate standards in their subject areas.

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1: improve leadership and management

Performance management reviews for all teaching, learning support and administrative staff have been completed and this has made a positive contribution to the development of the school.

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1: improve leadership and management

Good progress has been made on this area for improvement.

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2: improve the quality of teaching and learning

Further monitoring of the quality of teaching has taken place and support from the LEA’s advanced skills teachers has been targeted at areas for development. Having identified that writing was still the weaker element in literacy across the school, a consultant has supported all teachers. The change of teachers and the need to use supply teachers to cover absences has made it difficult to consolidate some improvements. However, the headteacher has taken classes on several occasions to maintain consistency and to reduce the number of supply teachers required.

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2: improve the quality of teaching and learning

Assessment procedures for English and mathematics are now generally good; part of the development plan for the next academic year is to make further progress on the assessment of science and the foundation subjects. Marking has improved and is giving the pupils the detail necessary to help them improve their work.

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2: improve the quality of teaching and learning

Good progress has been made on this area for improvement.

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3: raise standards of achievement

The school now has good data to show the pupils’ progress, to set challenging targets, to identify weaknesses in performance and to apply intervention strategies. It demonstrates that pupils in most classes, particularly where the teaching has not been disrupted, have made at least satisfactory progress over the year, and in many cases they have exceeded their targets. The school has already analysed the results to identify patterns and trends.

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3: raise standards of achievement

Reasonable progress has been made on this area for improvement.

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