Long Toft Primary School

Long Toft Primary School Inspection report

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133637 Unique Reference Number Doncaster Local Authority 316173 Inspection number 12 °13 November 2007 Inspection dates Derek Pattinson 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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Primary Type of school Community School category 3 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 296 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Fred Turner Chair Mrs Judy Kennedy Headteacher 8 December 2003 Date of previous school inspection Church Road School address Stainforth Doncaster South Yorkshire DN7 5AB 01302 841246 Telephone number 01302 350695 Fax number

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3-11 Age group 12 °13 November 2007 Inspection dates 316173 Inspection number .

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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 three Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

This is a larger than average school, situated in an area of high social and economic disadvantage. Almost all pupils live in the vicinity of the school and are White British. The proportion of pupils entitled to free school meals is above average. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is broadly average. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds and the number for whom English is an additional language are much lower than that found nationally. The school has achieved the Healthy Schools, Design and Technology Challenge and Active Mark awards.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 11 Inspection Report: Long Toft Primary School, 12 °13 November 2007

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Grade: 3

This is a satisfactory and improving school. The acting headteacher provides dynamic leadership and works tirelessly to introduce measures designed to eradicate the legacy of underachievement and ineffective progress since the last inspection. She places significant emphasis on valuing colleagues' work, empowering them and ensuring effective communication so that all are fully involved in the drive to secure improvement. As a result, systems, procedures and arrangements to help raise standards and tackle underachievement are rapidly being embedded into the school's work. Self-evaluation is already largely accurate, and identified priorities for development are the right ones to help the school move forward. For example, the leadership knows that assessment information is not being used systematically to help teachers build carefully on what pupils know and understand. Pupils do not know what they need to do to

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Grade: 3

help them reach the next steps in their learning. The school also knows that systems to analyse the impact of teachers' work on pupils' learning are not rigorous enough. Teachers do not always have the opportunity to learn from each other and improve their work. The supportive governing body is becoming involved in providing clear direction and in challenging underperformance. The senior leadership team and, increasingly, core subject leaders are now actively involved in the rigorous tracking of pupils to help identify those, mostly boys, who are falling behind. Early indications show that targeted extra lessons for groups are already starting to bear fruit. Targets to help raise standards have been amended to make them more realistic, although they are not yet challenging enough. Provision and children's achievement in the Foundation Stage are satisfactory, although the environment for learning is not as stimulating as it should be. Standards by the end of Years

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Grade: 3

2 and 6 are well below national levels in English and mathematics. The rate of learning for the boys in English and mathematics is an area for improvement. Pupils, including those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, make satisfactory progress because of the satisfactory teaching they receive. Secure relationships and teachers' effective management of pupils are features of most lessons. Pupils' personal development is satisfactory. Most pupils enjoy school. They are well behaved and try hard to succeed. This is partly because of the school's recently reviewed behaviour policy, which places strong emphasis on rewarding effort and achievement. Pupils understand well how to keep safe and healthy. However, they are not yet well prepared for later life because of their low levels of literacy and numeracy. The curriculum is satisfactory. The school is working hard at present to break down barriers between subjects and to emphasise important skills to

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Grade: 3

help bring learning alive. The school places sound emphasis on pupils' pastoral care and well-being. The hard work and dedication of the family liaison team is helping to ensure that relationships with most parents are good. Punctuality and attendance are improving and are now close to national levels. The high quality of leadership has led to a rapid rate of recent progress in moving the school forward. It provides satisfactory value for money. These factors, and the valued support, guidance and involvement of the local authority, ensure the school has a satisfactory capacity to improve. 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Long Toft Primary School, 12 °13 November 2007

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Grade: 3

Children's attainment on entry to the Nursery is well below the level typical for their age. The safe and secure learning environment is satisfactory but lacks excitement. However, the outside area is used increasingly well to help promote learning. Teachers work closely with other adults to ensure that children are well cared for and well supported, increasingly through the use of assessment to help them track how well children are doing. There is a sound balance between activities organised by teachers and those initiated by children themselves, which aids learning. Secure relationships and effective management are features of the satisfactory teaching. As a result, children are happy, behave well and make sound progress as they move through the Foundation Stage.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Raise standards and increase the rate of pupils' progress, especially boys, in reading, writing and mathematics. ■ Establish rigorous and regular monitoring of teaching and learning to improve its quality and consistency to that of the best practice. ■ Use assessment information systematically to build on what pupils already know.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Ensure that all pupils know how well they are performing and how they can improve.

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What the school should do to improve further

A small proportion of schools whose overall effectiveness is judged satisfactory but which have areas of underperformance will receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before their next section 5 inspection.

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Grade: 3

In Years 1 and 2 pupils make satisfactory progress, although standards are well below average. They achieve better in mathematics than in reading and writing, where standards have fallen for the last three years. Results of teachers' assessments at the end of Year 2 were exceptionally low in writing in 2007. However, strategies to reverse this decline in results are impacting slowly and standards in reading, writing and mathematics are rising. In Years 3 to 6 pupils make satisfactory progress overall, particularly in science where they reach just below average standards by the time they leave school. Standards are more variable in English and mathematics. Results rose significantly in English in 2007, but remain well below average; results in mathematics fell significantly and are exceptionally low. Girls outperform boys and by much wider margins than nationally. Very few pupils reach the highest standards in English,

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Grade: 3

mathematics and science. Nevertheless, current Year 6 pupils' work shows that standards are slowly rising, particularly in mathematics, and that boys' attainment is improving. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities achieve satisfactorily. The school sets realistic targets to raise attainment, but these are not yet as ambitious as they should be.

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Grade: 3

Most pupils enjoy school, work at a steady pace and show determination to complete set tasks. Behaviour has recently improved and is now satisfactory. Nevertheless, the attitudes of some older pupils towards bullying and racism is an area the school is actively working on. Attendance levels are rising and are now close to the national average, although unauthorised absence 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Long Toft Primary School, 12 °13 November 2007 remains stubbornly high. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is satisfactory. Their preparation for life in a multi-cultural world benefits from themed days on life in Africa, India, France and Spain. The school council gives pupils good experience of working together for the benefit of the school community. Older pupils provide good support for younger pupils in the dining hall and playground. All pupils understand well how to keep safe and healthy.

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Grade: 3

They learn, for instance, about the importance of having a diet that includes fruit and water. However, pupils' low levels of literacy and numeracy hamper their preparation for the workplace and for later life.

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Grade: 3

Secure relationships and effective management of pupils are positive features of the overall satisfactory teaching and learning. Teaching is most successful when time is used to good effect, resources are used well to facilitate learning, pupils are given much encouragement to succeed and demanding tasks bring learning to life. In these instances pupils find their learning experiences interesting and challenging and make good progress. However, the pace of lessons is not always brisk enough. Work is not always matched to pupils' precise needs because assessment information is not used consistently to build on what pupils know and understand. Pupils sometimes have too little opportunity to practise new learning or consider what they have learnt. As a result of these inconsistencies, progress is uneven as pupils move through the school, although satisfactory overall.

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Grade: 3

The school's satisfactory curriculum is inclusive and creative and provides enjoyment through its variety. It places increasing emphasis on the development of important skills, such as speaking and listening, problem-solving and information technology, to aid learning. Teachers are starting to link subjects, such as history and English in imaginative ways to make learning more interesting. They plan and review carefully what is taught, although work is not always matched well enough to pupils' needs to enable them to make good progress. Personal and social development is given increasing emphasis in the school's work. A satisfactory range of visits and visitors, including theatre groups and visiting specialists, and special events, such as French and Divali days, bring learning to life as well as broadening pupils' horizons. Clubs, such as in music and sport help to develop healthy and varied lifestyles and pupils' contributions to the

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Grade: 3

The satisfactory quality of pastoral care, support and guidance is built on good relationships between adults and pupils. Pupils feel safe and well cared for, citing the good site security and the way they are helped if they are unwell. Pupils experiencing difficulties with their behaviour or attendance are well supported. Child protection requirements and health and safety procedures meet requirements. Support for pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is sound because their needs are carefully assessed and they receive appropriate tasks and adult support. Academic guidance, however, remains at an early stage of development. Most 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Long Toft Primary School, 12 °13 November 2007 pupils do not have targets, and marking does not always help them to secure the next steps in their learning. Consequently, opportunities are missed to promote better progress.

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Grade: 3

The acting headteacher has raised the expectations of all staff and developed shared responsibility and accountability at all levels. There is now a very clear direction and an emphasis on raising attainment across all years. The legacy of underachievement and ineffective progress since the last inspection is now being tackled with vigour. Teachers with key responsibilities speak very highly of the way the acting headteacher is managing school improvement, and how she has gained the support of all staff. The extended senior leadership team has been especially empowered and energised. The recently introduced tracking procedures show that efforts are already paying off so that standards are rising. Teachers use information about pupils' progress with increasing confidence to pinpoint individuals who may not be achieving as well as they should and to trigger suitable support. Furthermore, the school has identified, and is already

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Grade: 3

working hard to achieve, the right priorities to sustain and build on these positive developments. However, many of the strategies to improve the provision for, and performance of, pupils, are very new, and have had insufficient time to have a full positive effect. Whilst self-evaluation is accurate, leadership has not yet implemented rigorous systems to analyse the impact of teachers' work on pupils' learning. Governors are supportive of the school and are beginning to hold it to account. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Long Toft Primary School, 12 °13 November 2007 .

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Grade: 3

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Long Toft Primary School, 12 °13 November 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? No Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 3 The effectiveness of the Foundation Stage 3 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

3 How well do learners achieve? 3 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 3 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

3 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 3 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 3 How well learners enjoy their education 3 The attendance of learners 3 The behaviour of learners 2 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?

3 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. 9 of 11 Inspection Report: Long Toft Primary School, 12 °13 November 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 3 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 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? 10 of 11 Inspection Report: Long Toft Primary School, 12 °13 November 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you for making us so welcome in your school. We really enjoyed talking with you and visiting your lessons. It was good to see that most of you are friendly, kind and polite towards each other and the teachers and other adults who work with you. We like the caring atmosphere and the way all adults who work in school take good care of you so that you feel safe and happy. We know that you like the rewards which you are given because some of you told us! Most of you attend school regularly and arrive on time which helps you build on what you learn each day. You know about the importance of having a healthy lifestyle and taking regular exercise. Most of you appreciate the work of the school council, who try hard to get things done. We know that some of your lessons are interesting and enable you to add to what you know and understand, and that visits, visitors and special events like the French Day help to

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

make your time in school more enjoyable. There have been lots of recent changes to help you make good progress, rather than the satisfactory progress that you make now, but there is still much to be done before this will happen. All your teachers want your school to be the best it can be and are working closely together to make it a great place for you to learn. Because of the hard work that has been carried out this term, your school now provides a satisfactory standard of education. We have asked the acting headteacher, staff and governing body to help you make much better progress in reading, writing and mathematics by making sure that the work they give you always helps you learn as well as you can. We have asked the school to ensure that you know how well you are doing and how to improve and achieve your targets. We hope that you will always help your teachers by telling them if you find the work they give you too hard or too easy and by

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

trying hard to do your best. We have also asked your acting headteacher, teachers and governors to look carefully and regularly at how well you are doing in lessons so that you make quicker progress. Thank you again for your help with the inspection of your school. You are very lucky having such a wonderful building in which to learn. I hope that you will continue to work hard and help your teachers so that your school becomes a better school in the near future. 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Long Toft Primary School, 12 °13 November 2007

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