Green Lanes Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Green Lanes Primary School continues to be a good school. There is enough evidence of improved performance to suggest that the school could be judged outstanding if we were to carry out a graded (section 5) inspection now. The school's next inspection will be a graded inspection.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are confident and charismatic. Leaders and staff celebrate what pupils do well and their efforts to improve their behaviour and learning. Pupils feel happy and safe in school because adults take the time to know and support them.

This also ensures that bullying is rare. When it does occur, pupils understand that leaders and staff take suitable steps to resolve ...it.

Pupils learn a great deal through the school's interesting curriculum.

This shows when they speak about their work. Younger pupils, for example, can explain how to make secondary colours, while older pupils confidently calculate with large numbers. There are whole-school initiatives too that encourage pupils to be scholarly.

For instance, pupils eagerly share the meaning of new words with peers to be a 'word champion' and they read regularly to get a chance to read to the school dog.

Pupils are keen to lend a helping hand. They can choose to serve as a sports leader, a language ambassador or a member of the school council.

Taking on a role includes opportunities to practise public speaking, such as through leading assemblies to share important messages. Pupils also learn to be charitable, willingly giving up their free time to improve the school. Play leaders, for example, run lunchtime activities to ensure younger pupils socialise happily.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

There are many highly positive aspects of the school. These stem from how leaders, including governors, work strategically to improve what is on offer to pupils, parents and staff. Leaders' collaborative work ensures that the school goes from strength to strength.

Children in the early years get off to a flying start. Leaders devise the curriculum carefully, ensuring it prepares children for Year 1. Leaders see the benefit in specifying what exactly children should learn.

This supports teachers with assessment. Teachers quickly identify any shortfalls in children's learning. Staff then seamlessly weave opportunities for children to address any gaps through their play.

For example, they facilitate 'tummy time' to build up children's shoulder and arm strength. This then readies children for writing.

Leaders ensure that staff follow the phonics and reading programmes effectively.

Daily revision means that pupils learn the sounds that letters make. Beyond the phonics programme, teachers access high-quality excerpts from fiction and non-fiction books. These include guidance for teachers to show pupils how to comprehend a text.

Pupils enjoy reading because they access books containing words they can decipher. Also, pupils are motivated to win 'reading gems'. This sets them up with the good habit of reading often, which helps pupils to achieve well across the curriculum.

Leaders' determination to strengthen the curriculum has paid off. Leaders chose to attend conferences and consult research to develop their curriculum. From this, they elected to adopt high-quality schemes of work.

They did this so that teachers have clarity about the specifics that they need to teach. Teachers make effective use of the resources and training available to them. This helps them to provide clear explanations, modelling the activities they expect pupils to complete.

This sets pupils up for success, which shows in their sound recall of what they learn in all subjects.

Teachers balance checking pupils' understanding effectively during lessons and at the end of sequences of learning. Useful assessment approaches help teachers to know how well their pupils are doing.

For instance, teachers can compare their pupils' work to high-quality examples so that they know whether pupils are achieving the aims of the curriculum. When needed, teachers make appropriate changes to what they teach based on their checks on pupils' learning. They may revisit content from the previous year, for example, to ensure pupils are ready for the next step.

This means that pupils typically keep up with the pace of learning.

Leaders and staff have high ambitions for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff realise these through simple adjustments matched to pupils' learning needs in class and around school.

During lessons, well-trained teaching assistants repeat and rephrase the teacher's instructions if required to support pupils with SEND. The 'Banksy room' allows pupils to access high-quality pastoral support, when needed. The multi-faceted approach ensures pupils with SEND behave calmly and focus on their learning to help them achieve their best.

Leaders bring about the compassion and patience they wish to see in staff and pupils. Staff value leaders' training and support. This ensures, for example, that staff script their language carefully to ensure consistency so they resolve behavioural incidents well.

Leaders' small changes to the environment, such as installing soft lighting, make a positive difference. Their efforts combine to make sure that the school is a calm place that is conducive to learning.

There is much on offer to cater for pupils' wider development.

Pupils and parents appreciate the array of extra-curricular clubs and inter-school competitions. Changes to the curriculum foster healthy lifestyles. For example, pupils prepare, cook and eat dishes from around the world.

This also helps to broaden their horizons.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders, including governors, ensure that there are suitable pre-employment checks for all staff and volunteers.

Staff receive termly, fortnightly and weekly 'lite bite' training that helps them to spot and report concerns swiftly about pupils at risk of harm. Leaders maintain positive relationships with parents, so in-school support often resolves issues. However, when required, leaders liaise effectively with external agencies.

This ensures that pupils get the help they need.

Pupils see how staff support them to have a voice in school. Knowing that they can share their ideas means that pupils also feel comfortable talking about their concerns.

Pupils also learn a great deal about keeping safe. For instance, they know what information to keep private when using the internet.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in June 2013.

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