Greenleas School

Inspection Report Greenleas Lower School

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109591 Unique Reference Number BEDFORDSHIRE Local Authority 288441 Inspection number 15 °16 January 2007 Inspection dates Paul Cosway Reporting inspector

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

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Derwent Road School address Primary Type of school Linslade, Linslade Community School category Leighton Buzzard LU7 2AB 3 °9 Age range of pupils 01525 371735 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01525 378492 Fax number 220 Number on roll (school) Mrs S Howley Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs S Readyhough Headteacher 8 August 2002 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 288441 15 °16 January 2007 3°9 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 two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

Greenleas Lower School is a school of average size in the Linslade area of Leighton Buzzard. It is popular with parents and more than half of the pupils come from outside of the immediate area. It educates boys and girls between the ages of three and nine. The local population served by the school represents a wide mix of social backgrounds. Attainment on entry is close to average. The number of pupils eligible for free school meals is below average. Pupils are almost all of white British heritage. There is none for whom English is a second language. The proportion of pupils who have learning difficulties and disabilities, including those with statements, is below average. The school has received many awards, including Charter Mark, Charter Standard for football, Healthy School, the Basic Skills Quality Mark and the International Schools Award.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Greenleas Lower School, 15 °16 January 2007

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Grade: 1

This is an outstanding school that gives excellent value for money. The school succeeds because it is a place where pupils feel very secure and happy. They greatly enjoy their lessons whilst being challenged to give of their best. They love coming to school. The school has been modest in its own estimation of its effectiveness. It has judged itself to be good, reflecting its desire to continue to find ways to improve. Teaching is outstanding and leads to pupils making excellent progress. Achievement is also excellent. Attainment on entry is close to average. Excellent provision in the nursery and Foundation Stage ensures that children's attainment is above expectations for their age by the time they join Year 1. By the end of Year 2 and the end of Year 4 standards are well above average in English, mathematics and science. The school is aware that pupils could achieve even higher standards in mathematics and has

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Grade: 1

introduced a number of new strategies that are making the teaching of mathematics even more effective. Pupils who have learning difficulties or disabilities make excellent progress. The school is passionate in its concern to meet the needs of every child and the care and support for pupils and the relationships between the pupils and adults are outstanding. Pupils' personal development is excellent and as a result they have very positive attitudes towards learning. Their behaviour is excellent, as is their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. They are eager to adopt healthy life-styles, contribute very well to the community and have excellent preparation for their future working lives. Many parents praise the school: 'We are delighted... It offers a fantastic range of opportunities...' and feel that their children are very well cared for and secure. Pupils also benefit from an excellent curriculum that is broad, rich and stimulating.

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Grade: 1

The school's leadership and management are outstanding. Staff and governors work well together and governors are exemplary both in support for the school and monitoring its progress. Arrangements for self-evaluation are good and there is a range of systems in place to track pupils' progress. Some work well, but the multiplicity of them makes it difficult for the school to maintain an accurate overview of pupils' progress. The school is very well resourced. The buildings and grounds are maintained to a very high standard and are an excellent environment for learning. The issues identified in the previous inspection have been addressed successfully and given the strong sense of teamwork and commitment from all staff, the school is excellently placed to become even more effective.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Improve the pupil tracking systems so that they provide a more coherent and useful method of setting targets for pupils and for monitoring their progress towards them. 2 Inspection Report: Greenleas Lower School, 15 °16 January 2007

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Grade: 1

Pupils start school with standards that are close to average for their age. Their achievement is outstanding so that, by the end of Year 2 standards are currently well above average in English, mathematics and science. Most pupils, including those who have learning difficulties and disabilities and the gifted and talented, meet their challenging targets. The youngest pupils also make outstanding progress because of the high quality of provision in the nursery and Foundation Stage. All meet the standards expected for their age by the end of the Reception year and many exceed them. Over the last three years, standards in the national tests at the end of Year 2 have been above the national average in English and science and just above average in mathematics, despite the high proportion of pupils in these cohorts who have special educational needs. There are fewer such pupils in the current Year 2. At the end of

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Grade: 1

Year 4, standards, measured by results in optional tests as well as teacher assessment, have been well above average in English and science and above average in mathematics. Between Years 2 and 4, pupils make excellent progress in writing so that their attainment by the time they leave is well above the expected level. Progress in mathematics is good. The school sets itself high targets and generally meets or exceeds them. Standards are also high in a number of other subjects, including physical education, music and art.

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Grade: 1

Pupils thoroughly enjoy school and are very well behaved. Their extremely positive attitude begins in the early years classes, where interest and excitement in learning is well promoted through a stimulating range of activities. They feel safe in school and have great confidence in the help and support of the staff. Attendance is well above average. The pupils' excellent spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness is enhanced by the school's international links and by the regular focus on values that relate to the school's aims. Relationships are excellent throughout the school. Pupils have a very well developed sense of the importance of healthy eating and living, and the many opportunities to be involved in sports further enhance this. Pupils have excellent opportunities to make a contribution to the school community through, for example, the school council. They work well together in pairs and in groups. They are encouraged to be independent

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Grade: 1

and enterprising and are involved in many decision-making processes within the school, including helping decide topics to be studied in class. This is excellent preparation for later life. 3 Inspection Report: Greenleas Lower School, 15 °16 January 2007

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Grade: 1

Pupils make excellent progress because of the outstanding teaching. Teachers have very positive relationships with their pupils and manage them very well. Consequently, pupils' behaviour is excellent and they work hard, showing great interest and enthusiasm. They all say how much they like and respect their teachers. Teachers' lesson preparation is excellent. They explain tasks very clearly to ensure that pupils understand what to do and learn very well. Very good use is made of information and communication technology (ICT) to present lessons in interesting and inter-active ways. Teachers have very good knowledge of their subjects and specialist teachers for music and physical education have the skills to help pupils to achieve highly in these areas. Teaching assistants are used very effectively and teachers match the work very well to the needs of pupils with differing levels of ability. The relatively small classes help

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Grade: 1

to ensure that pupils get individual help when it is needed. Homework is set regularly and the teachers mark and assess work accurately.

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Grade: 1

As well as meeting statutory requirements, the curriculum is thoughtfully planned to ensure that all groups of pupils are properly supported and build their skills through a broad range of interesting experiences. For example, the school's excellent international links offer many opportunities to develop understanding of other cultures. There is a strong emphasis on the high quality teaching of the basic skills in English and mathematics and this has been recognised by a national award. The strong focus on personal, social and health education promotes outstanding personal development. Children who need extra help are provided for very well. The school organises a wide range of after school activities which are very well attended. Pupils enjoy the many opportunities to go on educational visits. Visitors who come in to school, for example to help the children understand how to stay safe, further enhance the children's

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Grade: 1

learning. ICT is a strength of the school, with excellent opportunities for pupils to use computers and other technology to support their learning.

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Grade: 1

All the required procedures to ensure pupils' health, safety and welfare are in place and are regularly reviewed. Staff know individual pupils very well and respond quickly to any concerns that arise. Pupils who have learning needs or other difficulties are very well supported by teachers and very effective teaching assistants and do extremely well. New pupils are helped to settle in and feel part of the school very quickly. The 4 Inspection Report: Greenleas Lower School, 15 °16 January 2007 provision of care before and after school is welcomed by parents and enjoyed by the children. Almost all parents appreciate the support the school provides for them and their children and say things like, 'Greenleas is a terrific school. It has really excellent values and a family atmosphere'. Teachers check pupils' academic progress regularly and there are individual targets set in English and mathematics so that the children

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Grade: 1

have an excellent understanding of what they need to learn next. The pupils' usually excellent behaviour is closely monitored by staff and records kept to share with parents.

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Grade: 1

The headteacher has an excellent knowledge and understanding of the school. All her efforts are focused on raising standards and providing the best possible education for the pupils in her care. Monitoring procedures are very effective. Supported very well by her deputy, she has identified key areas that need to be addressed to further improve learning and raise standards for all children. Very effective procedures are in place to ensure that pupils are safe. The excellent links with parents and outside agencies help all pupils to make outstanding progress. Everyone is valued and all are given opportunities to succeed. The school provides an excellent learning environment. It is a pleasure to work in, being exceptionally well maintained, bright and welcoming. Every opportunity is taken to maximise the effective use of space. Resources, including ICT, are used very well to help pupils learn. The governing body is very involved in the monitoring and the development of the

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Grade: 1

school. The whole staff works as an excellent team; all have high expectations for continued improvement. The issues from the last report have been fully addressed. The school's capacity to improve is excellent. 5 Inspection Report: Greenleas Lower School, 15 °16 January 2007 .

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Grade: 1

set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Greenleas Lower School, 15 °16 January 2007

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Inspection judgements

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

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Overall effectiveness

How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 1 The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 1 The capacity to make any necessary improvements Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

1 How well do learners achieve? 1 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 1 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

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

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and interests of learners?

1 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average to below average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low. 7 Inspection Report: Greenleas Lower School, 15 °16 January 2007

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and supporting all learners?

How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities Yes Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? No Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 8 Inspection Report: Greenleas Lower School, 15 °16 January 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

16 January 2007 Dear Pupils The School Council, Greenleas Lower School, Derwent Road, Linslade, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, LU7 2AB Thank you very much for all the help you gave to us when we visited your school. You were all very polite and friendly. Your singing was a pleasure to listen to on the second morning. You obviously love music and sing beautifully. You told us that you love your school and we can see why. It is an outstanding school and is giving you an excellent education. It is a lovely place to be: it is very well cared for, warm and welcoming. You work very hard and reach standards that are a lot higher than in most other schools. This is because your teachers are so good and you are so eager to learn. Your behaviour is excellent and you grow up to be very sensible and responsible. The care, support and guidance that you get from all the grown-ups in the school are outstanding. Your headteacher leads the school very well indeed and all the staff are doing a

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

very good job in improving the school and making it an even better place for you. We have suggested just one thing that will help make the school even better. We have asked your teachers to track the progress that you make in a more organised way. Your parents think that they are lucky to be able to send you to such a good school. We think that the school is lucky to have such wonderful pupils! Make the most of your time at this lovely school. Paul Cosway Lead Inspector 9 Inspection Report: Greenleas Lower School, 15 °16 January 2007

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