Lancaster Lane Primary and Pre-School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Lancaster Lane Community Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Lancaster Lane is a happy school community. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), enjoy their learning in different subjects. They live up to leaders' high expectations by achieving well and behaving themselves.

Pupils told the inspector of the importance of perseverance and dedication when learning gets difficult.

Pupils profit from many musical and sporting opportunities. For example, they learn to play brass instruments as well as the guitar, and take part in cricket competitions.

Just recently, some Year 3 a...nd Year 4 pupils tested their skills at a glow-in-the-dark dodgeball competition.

Pupils take part in a wide range of after-school activities which staff provide. They develop their knowledge in areas such as multiplication, drawing, chess and drama.

Pupils also gain from their annual visit to the pantomime. Those in upper key stage 2 undertake many new activities, such as caving on their annual residential trip.

Pupils learn to develop socially.

They are proud of their membership of the school teams: robins, squirrels, dolphins or beavers. Pupils develop self-control and learn to respect the rules and boundaries that leaders set. They said that they feel safe at school.

Pupils who need extra help to manage their own feelings or behaviour are supported very well by skilled staff. Leaders resolve the rare instances of bullying effectively and work closely with families if cyber-bullying issues arise outside of school.

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

Leaders have worked carefully with staff to think about the knowledge that they want pupils to acquire from the Reception class to Year 6.

This work has resulted in an ambitious curriculum. Subject leaders give staff the advice and guidance they need to understand how to teach different units of work.

Teachers choose the content of pupils' learning activities carefully.

They ensure that pupils' learning is interesting and demanding. Leaders make effective use of subject experts to help staff to improve how they teach the curriculum. Teachers and teaching assistants regularly help all pupils, including those with SEND, to build their knowledge based on previous learning.

Where needed, staff adapt their implementation of the curriculum to help pupils to develop important new knowledge.

Teachers make effective use of assessment strategies to check on pupils' knowledge when deciding what they should learn next. In lessons, teachers give attention to whether pupils understand key teaching points or whether they need further explanation.

Pupils are rarely distracted from their work by low-level disruption. Over time, they know and remember more of the curriculum. Pupils achieve well.

Nevertheless, they do not remember the meaning of some important and interesting new words as well as they should. This makes it harder for pupils to explain some concepts and topics.

Leaders focus carefully on developing pupils' reading.

The daily sharing of books and stories between staff and pupils is a key feature of life throughout the school. Beginning in the Reception class, staff also set out rich collections of books for children to select from and read for themselves. Older pupils read books by a diverse range of authors.

Leaders make certain that staff are well trained to teach phonics, meaning, for example, that staff model letter sounds correctly for pupils. Staff in the Reception class have shared a video of themselves to help parents and carers know how to pronounce letter sounds when reading at home. Leaders ensure that reading books match the sounds and words that pupils know.

They make sure that weaker readers have the regular and focused practice that they need. Many pupils learn to read fluently and accurately. However, in phonics activities, staff do not help pupils to form letters correctly.

Too often, pupils are not taught about how best to sit in order to write clearly and with ease. This weakness negatively affects the quality of pupils' writing.

Leaders train and guide staff to identify early the needs of pupils with SEND.

They ensure that staff cater well for the needs and best interests of these pupils, including those who spend some of their time in a dedicated classroom called 'the nest'.

Children's learning at Lancaster Lane starts well in the Reception class. For instance, staff teach children to talk, count and cooperate, and to be physically active, including in running, climbing and balancing.

Pupils develop as citizens who treat other people with respect, including pupils in school with disabilities. Parents of pupils with SEND who responded to Parent View said that their children are fully included in life at the school and are enabled to flourish. Pupils learn to respect other people's religion and heritage, for example by meeting online with pupils from a Jewish faith school.

Leaders encourage pupils to tally their daily steps as part of being physically active. Pupils told the inspector how to keep himself healthy, for example by avoiding eating too much sugar.

Staff said that leaders support their well-being very well and help them to have a work-life balance.

They are happy in their jobs.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders make sure that staff are well trained and informed about safeguarding issues.

For example, staff understand the specific safeguarding issues that can affect pupils with SEND. They are alert to any change in pupils' comments, behaviour or appearance. Staff report any safeguarding concerns to leaders.

Leaders link effectively with other agencies to protect pupils and their families.

Concerned by a high number of local road traffic accidents, leaders ensure that pupils at the school understand how to stay safe near roads. Pupils develop a wide-ranging and age-appropriate knowledge of the different ways that they can stay safe in their daily lives.

Leaders and staff focus often on online safety with pupils. They also send to parents a regular online safety newsletter.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some phonics activities, when pupils write, staff do not help them to form letters and words well.

This affects their ability to write properly. Leaders should ensure that all pupils learn to write accurately. ? Some pupils lack understanding of the meaning of essential new words that they have discovered in their learning or that staff have taught them.

This means that they are not able to talk about some topics and ideas as well as they should. Leaders should make sure that all pupils remember, can talk about and use important and interesting words with confidence and understanding.

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 December 2013.