Setting

Version 1 – September 2007 9 November 2007

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Ms D Solla The Acting Headteacher Beaumont Lodge Primary School Astill Lodge Road Beaumont Leys Leicester Leicestershire LE4 1DT

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PRIMARY SCHOOL

Following my visit with Isobel Randall, Additional Inspector, to your school on 6 and 7 November 2007, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector to confirm the inspection findings.

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PRIMARY SCHOOL

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school became subject to special measures in May 2007. The monitoring inspection report is attached and the main judgements are set out below.

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PRIMARY SCHOOL

Progress since being subject to special measures – satisfactory.

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PRIMARY SCHOOL

Newly qualified teachers may not be appointed.

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PRIMARY SCHOOL

This letter and monitoring inspection report will be posted on the Ofsted website. Please inform the Regional Inspection Service Provider of any factual inaccuracies within 24 hours of the receipt of this letter.

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PRIMARY SCHOOL

I am copying this letter and the monitoring inspection report to the Secretary of State, the chair of governors and the Director of Children and Young People’s Services for Leicester City.

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H M Inspector

Tribal Group 1-4 Portland Square Bristol BS2 8RR T 0845 123 6001 F 0845 123 6002 T 08456 40 40 40 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Evidence

Inspectors observed the school’s work, including 9 lessons and a school assembly. They scrutinised documents and pupils’ books, and met with the acting headteacher, the executive headteacher, senior staff, the chair of governors, two representatives of the local authority (LA) and groups of pupils.

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Context

There have been significant changes to the leadership team since the last inspection in May 2007. The headteacher is on maternity leave, and an executive headteacher has been appointed from a neighbouring school to oversee developments. Since June 2007, an acting headteacher has taken up post until the return of the substantive headteacher. One teacher is absent through illness, and this post is being covered by a temporary teacher. Since the inspection the school has lost two part time teachers and three support staff because of a very tight budget.

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Achievement and standards

Achievement and standards remain inadequate. Although there was some improvement in the Key Stage 2 national test results in English in 2007, standards are inadequate overall. The Key Stage 2 results in mathematics fell significantly in 2007 and are a cause for concern. No pupil achieved the higher Level 5 in mathematics. In lessons, the standards of pupils’ work in literacy and numeracy are well below age related expectations.

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Achievement and standards

At the end of Key Stage 1 in 2007, results in reading and writing were very low with just about half of the pupils reaching the level expected for their age; fewer than the previous year. The pupils’ performance in writing was particularly poor. Results in mathematics, although better than in reading and writing, fell in 2007 and were below the national average. In both key stages, very few pupils achieved the higher levels. At the end of the Reception Year, very few children reached the goals that are expected at the end of the Foundation Stage. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities make satisfactory progress because support for their needs is effectively targeted. However, higher attaining pupils make inadequate progress because work in lessons is insufficiently challenging.

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Achievement and standards

The results show that there is still a good deal of work to do to raise standards. Nevertheless, there are early indications that some pupils are beginning to catch up, because the school’s tracking information shows that the proportion working at age appropriate levels, although still very low, is beginning to increase. However, progress is patchy and too few pupils are making satisfactory progress overall. Improvement has not been consistent across the school because of the variations in the quality of teaching between classes. The pupils are starting from a very low base, therefore satisfactory progress is not good enough to ensure that they reach their potential and that the legacy of underachievement is reversed. Children in the Foundation Stage have not, in the past, made a good start because there was insufficient care taken to plan activities that were purposeful and met the learning needs of the children.

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Personal development and well-being

Pupils have responded well to improved lesson planning with the result that, on the whole, they concentrate well in lessons. There is now little disruption caused by poor behaviour and so the pace of learning is more consistent across the school.

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Quality of provision

Improvement since the last inspection has increased the proportion of satisfactory and good teaching but has not yet had a strong impact on pupils’ achievement. Teachers now plan carefully to meet clear lesson objectives that are shared with pupils and referred to during lessons. In all years, but particularly in the Foundation Stage, there is a better focus on what the children need to learn. This clarity is evident in an improved learning environment, with resources on the learning walls providing helpful support for pupils during lessons. Pupils now have ready access to their targets with all ability groups able to see them on their table and on the walls. There is a greater sense of purpose to the lessons, and the pupils are more closely engaged with what they are learning. At times, the pace is too slow and the pupils become bored and distracted and do not make enough progress in their learning.

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Quality of provision

The improved thematic planning, for example around the Harry Potter stories in Years 3 and 4, makes the lessons fun and engages pupils’ interest. Learning is becoming more secure because teachers use lesson introductions effectively to establish a basis for pupils’ work. Teachers reinforce learning further by checking pupils’ understanding at the end of lessons so that they can adjust their planning to meet particular needs. Lower attaining pupils and those with learning difficulties are well supported in all classes because lessons are now planned to meet the needs of a range of different abilities. However, there is still not enough challenge for the most able pupils who report, as at the last inspection, that they find the work too easy. Curriculum planning has improved across the school. Attention to meeting the needs of individuals and groups in English and mathematics is now based on regular assessment, so that all but the higher attaining pupils are appropriately challenged

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Quality of provision

and supported. The Foundation Stage is better focused on helping the children to meeting the early learning goals, with an improved balance of child initiated and teacher directed activity. Although the whole school approach to planning for the development of literacy and numeracy has given learning a greater sense of continuity, opportunities are still missed for the planned development of basic skills across the whole curriculum. In particular, there is relatively little extended writing in Years 5 and 6 seen in pupils’ work. Teachers are now beginning to use marking and target setting effectively to advise pupils about how well they are doing and how they can improve their work. All pupils have ready access to their targets for literacy and numeracy which are referred to frequently when work is set and marked. The school praises achievement and effort, both informally in lessons and in writing when work is marked, providing motivation

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Quality of provision

for pupils to succeed. Marking in literacy not only points to achievement but also gives clear and specific advice on the next step to be taken. The marking of pupils’ numeracy work is not as effective because there is too little detail and advice about how to improve. Some of the references to targets, especially in numeracy, are in terms that teachers understand but these comments are not always clear to pupils.

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Quality of provision

Progress on the areas for improvement identified by the inspection in May 2007:  improve teaching throughout the school, raise achievement and accelerate the progress of all pupils, especially the more able, and particularly in writing – satisfactory.

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Leadership and management

The school’s leadership has been strengthened by the appointment of an acting headteacher and a temporary executive headteacher. They have the support and confidence of the staff and are driving improvement at a rigorous pace. The measures they have introduced are developing the capacity across the staff team to take the school forward. Staff morale is high and everyone is committed to improving performance. However, these gains are recent and fragile, and the uncertainty surrounding the arrangements for the leadership of the school limits the capacity for sustained improvement.

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Leadership and management

The school’s plan for improvement (RAP) gives a clear picture of what actions are to be taken to tackle the areas for improvement identified in the inspection report. Subject leaders are taking the first steps in monitoring the work in their areas, through the evaluation of planning and the levelling of pupils’ work, and the deputy headteacher is taking a more active role in aspects of monitoring the work of the school.

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Leadership and management

During the autumn term the acting headteacher and executive headteacher have carried out lesson observations with a clearly understood focus on pupils’ learning. This has provided them with up to date information on the school’s quality of teaching. This systematic approach to monitoring teaching and learning, combined with the regular pupil progress interviews with teachers, has introduced a new level of accountability for school improvement. The school, with support from the LA, has implemented better systems for tracking pupils’ progress. This has led to the setting of challenging pupil targets for improvement, and has been effective in ensuring that all staff know exactly what needs to be done.

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Leadership and management

The governing body is becoming more involved in the strategic leadership of the school because the information governors receive is reliable and based on systematic monitoring. The chair of governors has identified the need for all governors to access training, for example on data analysis and self-evaluation, and there are plans to implement this. The governor committees have been reviewed and reorganised to focus more directly on school improvement, and to ensure that all governors have an opportunity to be involved in the developments taking place. However, these changes are recent and have not yet resulted in a systematic approach to monitoring and evaluating the work of the school.

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Leadership and management

Progress on the areas for improvement identified by the inspection in May 2007:  strengthen senior management, build the leadership and management skills of all teachers, and adopt a robust approach to ensuring accurate self-evaluation and school improvement – satisfactory  make effective use of assessment information to track pupils’ progress, set meaningful targets for them, and plan learning that properly meets their needs – satisfactory .

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External support

The local authority’s statement of action is satisfactory. There is a detailed programme of advice and support that has been agreed with the school’s leaders. This support is well focused on how standards will be raised in the Foundation Stage and in Key Stages 1 and 2. There is a clear commitment to regular and frequent evaluation of the school’s progress. The local authority’s audit of the school, following the inspection, provides an accurate analysis of what need to be done. The literacy, numeracy and early years’ consultants provide well focused support for teachers’ planning. Training in improving the learning environment and pupil assessment and tracking has been well received by all the staff.

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Priorities for further improvement

 Consolidate the improvements made to the school’s leadership, including the involvement of staff at all levels, so that the satisfactory progress made so far continues.  Increase the proportion of good teaching, particularly raising the level of challenge for the more able pupils, in order to raise pupils’ standards and achievement in English and mathematics.  Improve the quality of guidance to pupils through the development of target setting and marking.

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