Langdale CofE School

Inspection Report Langdale Church of England School

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112321 Unique Reference Number Cumbria LEA 278902 Inspection number 19 January 2006 to 19 January 2006 Inspection dates Mrs Jackie Barnes Reporting inspector

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This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Chapel Stile School address Primary Type of school Great Langdale Voluntary aided School category Ambleside, Cumbria 4 to 11 Age range of pupils 01539 437204 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01539 437204 Fax number 35 Number on roll Mr Jonathon Philips Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Mark Squires Headteacher 1 September 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 278902 19 January 2006 - 4 to 11 19 January 2006 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by an additional inspector.

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Description of the school

Langdale Church of England Primary School is a small village school in Chapel Stile on the Cumbrian Fells. Although many of the 35 pupils live nearby, some travel several miles to school. Almost all families have at least one parent in work, many in the tourist industry. All pupils have English as their home language. Overall, they enter the school in the Reception class with the expected skills and knowledge for their age, but individual pupils vary widely in what they know and can do. A small number of pupils have learning difficulties, including physical disability. The school population is reasonably stable, although the number of pupils on roll has fallen slightly in recent years. The number of pupils in each year group varies from 2 to 9, and they are taught in two main classes.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Langdale Church of England School, 19 January 2006 to 19 January 2006

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Grade: 2

This is a good school with outstanding provision for pupils’ personal development and well-being. This overall judgement matches the school’s self- evaluation of its effectiveness. The strong family atmosphere, with good relationships between adults and pupils, encourages learning. Pupils’ achievement is good, with the youngest pupils settling well into school routines. Almost all meet the goals expected for their age by the end of the Reception year and some exceed these. Standards in national tests, although varying from year to year, are generally a little above national figures. Pupils enjoy school, are keen to learn and their behaviour is excellent. Attendance is satisfactory. Pupils are well cared for, have an exciting and adventurous curriculum with good opportunities for involvement in the community, and know how to live a safe and healthy life. Teaching and learning are good, with most pupils meeting

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Grade: 2

challenging targets. There is room for improvement in the way the school links its assessment of pupils’ progress with the planning of lessons, as occasionally a pupil’s progress is too slow. The school is well led and managed, with effective use of the skills of staff to support pupils of different abilities. Systems for planning and assessing pupils’ progress could be more effective especially in keeping governors well informed. The school’s successful development of several initiatives since the last inspection indicates it has good capacity to make further improvements. Value for money is good.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Ensure assessment data and other information about each pupil’s progress and standards are analysed, evaluated and linked firmly to clear planning for their future learning. • Clarify the roles of staff in checking that all pupils achieve as well as they can, and establish a regular way of reporting this information to the governing body.

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Grade: 2

Standards are good overall but vary considerably from pupil to pupil. As each year group is small, these wide differences between pupils mean that the results of any single pupil have a significant impact on the test results for the year group. However, over the last four years, the overall national test results for both Year 2 and Year 6 pupils have tended to be above the national figures, with the best results in Year 6, especially in English and mathematics. In the 2005 tests, all Year 6 pupils achieved at least the expected Level 4 and two out of three achieved the higher Level 5 in English. Too few pupils achieve high standards in science, mainly because their work in lessons is not sufficiently challenging. When children enter school in the Reception year, they all settle quickly and make brisk progress. By the end of the 2005 Reception year, all the children had achieved what was expected for their age and most had considerably exceeded these goals.

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Grade: 2

Throughout the school, most pupils make good progress, helped by their enthusiasm 2 Inspection Report: Langdale Church of England School, 19 January 2006 to 19 January 2006 for learning and their ability to work well with other pupils. Almost all achieve the targets they are set, but for a few pupils these are not sufficiently challenging; their progress is too slow and standards could be higher. Pupils with learning difficulties make very good progress and reach suitably high standards, mainly because of the additional support they receive from staff, and the willingness of other pupils to include them in their activities.

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Grade: 1

The school considers that pupils’ personal development is outstanding and inspectors agree. Parents value the close relationships and the way pupils’ confidence grows. This confidence is evident in pupils’ willingness to ask questions, tactfully comment on the work of others and adjust their ideas in response to other points of view. They have fun, are adventurous and physically active, but know how to keep themselves safe and live healthily. They respect and take care of each other, and their behaviour is outstanding. Both boys and girls are very knowledgeable about environmental issues; their Eco Committee has successfully encouraged parents to reduce packaging in lunch boxes. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Independence, leadership and initiative are actively encouraged, for example, pupils in Years 3 and 4 presented the weather forecast for a week on Lakeland radio. Pupils have opportunities

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Grade: 1

to work with local artists and to visit a parent’s workplace. The school is well integrated into the local community and pupils raise funds and support local events. Using local shops develops skills that will stand pupils in good stead. Attendance is satisfactory.

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Grade: 2

Inspectors agree with the school that teaching and learning are good. As this is a small school teachers know the pupils well. Classroom routines, behaviour and organisation of groups are well understood. This enables pupils of different ages and abilities to make good progress within the same class. Teachers and teaching assistants work well together to provide personal attention and support, particularly for those pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. In lessons, staff skilfully provide a variety of activities and keep pupils motivated to learn. This positive approach usually results in pupils making good gains in knowledge and understanding. Each teacher plans systematically to introduce pupils to increasingly challenging work, particularly in English and mathematics. However, teachers do not always check rigorously what has been learnt, and at times, progress can be too slow. Systems for setting targets and

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Grade: 2

tracking pupils’ progress are not always sufficiently well linked to an individual teacher’s lesson planning and marking, to alert all staff to the occasional need to modify plans. 3 Inspection Report: Langdale Church of England School, 19 January 2006 to 19 January 2006

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Grade: 2

The curriculum is good. Pupils benefit from a lively range of activities in and beyond the school day which supports their personal development very effectively and leads to a mature understanding of the needs of others, environmental issues and personal safety. Basic literacy and numeracy skills are taught effectively with good opportunities to use these in various enrichment activities in the local community. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities have good provision to make progress in personal and academic skills. In science, there are too few opportunities for the most capable pupils to work at a suitably high level. Pupils are particularly enthusiastic about residential visits and involvement in local studies. Recently improved provision for information and communication technology (ICT) has added further opportunities for pupils’ learning and research.

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Grade: 2

Pupils are well cared for and supported by staff. Their welfare and safety is given a high priority, but is successfully set within opportunities for adventure and challenge. The school provides very well for learning about health and safe living. External organisations, such as Barnardos, are used when needed and a member of staff is always available before morning school to give personal attention to individual pupils. Pupils’ targets are usually challenging although these are not always fully reflected in lesson planning. The ratio of adults to pupils in school is good and used effectively to support pupils in lessons and give guidance on how to improve. The involvement of pupils in recognising what they need to do next could be extended to take full advantage of their ability to work independently. Parents are welcome and appreciate the arrangements for regular contact and information. Good arrangements are in place

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Grade: 2

Leadership and management are good. The challenges of managing a small school, where each class contains several age groups and a range of abilities, have been met well. Improvements since the last inspection, particularly in the pupils’ learning opportunities, the physical environment, and the involvement of parents have been well led and successful. The outstanding provision for pupils’ personal development owes much to the leadership of the headteacher, with good support from staff. Governors manage the budget well and have taken difficult decisions about staffing changes when the numbers have decreased. The school gives good value for money. Governors know the day to day working of the school well, although arrangements for keeping them well informed about pupils’ standards and achievement are not sufficiently systematic or detailed. The employment of additional teaching assistants has provided the flexibility needed to teach different groups of pupils, and very good

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Grade: 2

4 Inspection Report: Langdale Church of England School, 19 January 2006 to 19 January 2006 use is made of teachers employed on a part-time basis. Arrangements to cooperate in projects with other schools in the area are working well, such as in using a wider range of expertise to further improve writing in school. The school’s systems for planning what pupils are taught and for checking their learning are not robust enough to be sure that everyone is making suitable progress. As teachers know their pupils well, this is not adversely affecting the progress of most pupils, but occasionally there is a need to be more ambitious in setting targets or in rigorously checking progress. The school’s self-evaluation is generally accurate. 5 Inspection Report: Langdale Church of England School, 19 January 2006 to 19 January 2006 .

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set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s

website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Langdale Church of England School, 19 January 2006 to 19 January 2006

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Overall

Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

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learners?

NA 2 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? NA 2 The quality and standards in foundation stage NA 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation NA Yes The capacity to make any necessary improvements NA Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 How well do learners achieve? NA 2 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners NA 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

NA 2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 1 The behaviour of learners NA 3 The attendance of learners NA 1 How well learners enjoy their education NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles NA 1 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community NA 2 How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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needs and interests of learners?

NA 2 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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needs and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low.

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and supporting all learners?

NA 2 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 3 How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review NA 2 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can NA 2 How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money NA 2 The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities NA Yes The adequacy and suitability of staff to ensure that learners are protected

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The extent to which schools enable learners to be healthy

Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to eat and drink healthily Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to take regular exercise Yes Learners are discouraged from smoking and substance abuse Yes Learners are educated about sexual health

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The extent to which providers ensure that learners stay safe

Yes Procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements Yes Risk assessment procedures and related staff training are in place Yes Action is taken to reduce anti-social behaviour, such as bullying and racism Yes Learners are taught about key risks and how to deal with them

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The extent to which learners make a positive contribution

Yes Learners are helped to develop stable, positive relationships Yes Learners, individually and collectively, participate in making decisions that affect them Yes Learners are encouraged to initiate, participate in and manage activities in school and the wider community

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The extent to which schools enable learners to achieve economic well-being

Yes There is provision to promote learners’ basic skills Yes Learners have opportunities to develop enterprise skills and work in teams NA Careers education and guidance is provided to all learners in key stage 3 and 4 and the sixth form NA Education for all learners aged 14–19 provides an understanding of employment and the economy

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 0207 421 6800 F 0207 421 6707 www.ofsted.gov.uk Langdale Church of England School Chapel Stile Great Langdale Ambleside Cumbria LA22 9JE 19 January 2006 Dear Children Thank you for making me so welcome when I visited your school. I enjoyed speaking to you and watching how well you worked. It was good to hear you describe how much you enjoyed school and looked forward to taking part in all the exciting activities that your school provides. I was particularly pleased to see how well you looked after each other and helped without being asked. Your behaviour is exceptionally good and your parents are very pleased to see how your confidence has grown. Thank you for being so interested and knowledgeable about environmental issues. We all benefit from looking after our world. Your ideas on reducing the amount of packaging in your school lunches were very successful. Your teachers and headteacher work hard to make sure you are successful in your work, well

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

cared for and safe. You help them by being keen to learn and helping each other. Some of you know exactly what you need to do next in order to make your work better, and I have asked your teachers to give more of you the chance to do this. The governors of the school are also keen to know how well you are doing, so your school is going to work out the best way to provide them with that information. My very best wishes to you all. Mrs Jackie Barnes Lead inspector Annex B Annex B

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