Landau Forte Academy Greenacres

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Landau Forte Academy Greenacres

Following my visit to the school on 27 June 2019, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to report the inspection findings.

The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in June 2015. This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

With strong support and robust challenge from the multi-academy trust's chief executive officer and trustees, leaders have brought about the changes required to ensure that the school continues to improve. After the last inspection, lea...ders were asked to focus on the quality of pupils' writing. A greater emphasis on punctuation, spelling, grammar and vocabulary, coupled with regular opportunities for pupils to practise their writing has had a particularly positive impact on the most able pupils and those of middle ability.

These pupils use interesting words and phrases well to express their ideas and to capture the attention of the reader. Although the achievement of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and pupils who are disadvantaged is not as strong as that of their peers in writing, it is improving. This is because teachers are giving pupils the chance to learn through first-hand experience before they write.

For example, pupils of all abilities were able to write fluently about different types of plants following their visit to the Botanical Gardens. Some teachers do not insist that pupils write neatly or take pride in their work. Consequently, the quality of presentation varies across year groups and between subjects.

At the time of the previous inspection, it was reported that beyond English and mathematics, the roles of subject leaders were underdeveloped. During this inspection, I met with five subject leaders. These leaders are enthusiastic and reflective.

They have embraced the training you have provided and the feedback from the trust. This training and feedback have enabled them to gain a secure understanding of the strengths and weaknesses in their areas of responsibility. In response to any weaknesses, these leaders provide suitable guidance to staff, lead staff training and make appropriate changes to the curriculum.

The work of these leaders is helping class teachers to ensure that pupils acquire the relevant knowledge and develop the appropriate skills in different subjects. The school is a harmonious and inclusive community. Pupils are polite and friendly.

They make their classmates, the adults they work with and visitors feel welcome from the moment they step through the school doors. Most of the parents who spoke with me and who responded to Parent View, Ofsted's online questionnaire, were positive about the work of the school. Reflecting the views of many, one parent wrote, 'My once very shy child has blossomed and become more confident.'

Safeguarding is effective. The leadership team have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Leaders and staff have created an environment where pupils feel safe and learn to stay safe.

Staff work well with a range of agencies to ensure that any pupils and their families who are potentially vulnerable are well supported. You keep a close check on pupils whose attendance is below the national average for primary schools. The actions staff are taking to encouraging these pupils to attend school more regularly are making a positive difference.

Their attendance is improving. Pupils understand the importance of staying safe online and protecting personal information. The older pupils told me about the dangers of online bullying and grooming, and the actions they would take if they had any concerns about these issues.

In the playground, pupils learn to climb playground equipment safely and to be aware of their surroundings while they play. Pupils also learn about keeping safe by water, and particularly the canal near the school. The overwhelming majority of parents who spoke with me and completed the Ofsted questionnaire were positive about all aspects of the school's work.'

The staff ensure that my children are safe and well looked after,' wrote one parent on the Ofsted online questionnaire. A few parents raised a number of different concerns, including concerns about the way in which leaders respond to bullying. School records show that incidents of bullying are rare and that staff follow them up promptly.

The pupils I spoke with stated that the adults in the school listen to them and deal with bullying and any other concerns they may have. Inspection findings ? We agreed to focus on the achievement of pupils with SEND, and pupils who are disadvantaged. The 2018 results showed that not all of these pupils made the progress of which they were capable.

An external review commissioned by the trust and a visit to the school by a trustee also recognised that further work was required to raise the achievement of these pupils. ? Earlier this year, the leader who oversees the performance of pupils with SEND started to monitor more thoroughly the impact of interventions on pupils' learning. This monitoring is ensuring that planned interventions are helping pupils to catch up.

My visits to lessons and work in pupils' books confirm that pupils with SEND are capable of making even stronger progress. During our visits to lessons, we found that some teachers made sure that pupils had suitable resources and knew how to complete their task. This helped the pupils to complete their work successfully.

In contrast, some teachers did not plan well for these pupils. In a few lessons for example, pupils struggled to solve mathematical problems without the aid of practical equipment. This hindered their progress because they could not make sense of the abstract concepts.

Occasionally, the additional adult in the classroom provided pupils with too much support and did not give pupils the chance to find out for themselves. ? You and other leaders use a variety of monitoring strategies to check the progress of different groups of pupils, including pupils who are disadvantaged. Following any monitoring, you meet with teachers and agree the actions individual teachers need to take.

However, these actions do not focus enough on raising pupils' achievement or raise teachers' expectations of disadvantaged pupils. Consequently, teachers do not consistently take account of the learning needs of disadvantaged pupils when planning or presenting new information during lessons. Additionally, I found that some of the intended outcomes within the school's pupil premium strategy are not measurable.

This makes it difficult for trustees and members of the local governing body to evaluate rigorously the impact of this funding on disadvantaged pupils. ? Leaders and staff make sure that the pastoral and emotional support for pupils, and especially for those with SEND and are disadvantaged, is strong. You make sure that pupils take part in a wide range of enrichment activities.

These activities successfully broaden pupils' horizons and knowledge of the wider world. They also have a positive impact on pupils' social skills. ? In addition to the agreed focus areas, I spoke informally with pupils of all ages and abilities so that I could gain their perspective of school and learning.

Pupils are wonderful ambassadors for the school. They express their views with confidence and maturity. Pupils told me that the books they read are interesting and that they enjoy listening to their teachers read to them because they learn 'new words' and they learn 'new facts'.

A group of pupils in Year 5 spoke enthusiastically about History and especially the Tudors. They recalled key facts about life in Tudor times with accuracy. Some of the pupils in Years 4 and 5 said that they want even more challenge in mathematics.

They explained that they would like the chance to solve more problems because problems make them 'think harder'. The actions you are already taking and have planned in relation to this feedback from pupils is appropriate. Pupils who attend the before- and after-school club, The Hive, told me that the club is fun and that they thoroughly enjoy playing the indoor and outdoor games.

Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? teachers plan work that focuses on raising the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND in different subjects ? following monitoring, leaders identify the specific actions teachers need to take to raise pupils' achievement, and especially for pupils who are disadvantaged ? staff make sure that pupils write neatly and present their work to a high standard. I am copying this letter to the chair of the board of trustees, the chief executive officer of the multi-academy trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Staffordshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

Yours sincerely Usha Devi Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I met with you, your deputy headteacher and the leaders with responsibility for pupils with SEND, mathematics, languages, geography, science, history and information and communications technology. I also met with the multi-academy trust's chief executive officer and chair of the local governing body. I spoke with pupils informally about their learning throughout the school day.

At the start of the inspection, I spoke with parents. I took account of 43 responses to Ofsted's Parent View questionnaire. I also considered 31 responses to the staff survey.

Together, we observed learning in lessons, spoke to pupils and looked at examples of their work. I also looked at samples of pupils' work during meetings with some leaders. I examined a range of documents, including information relating to safeguarding documents, the impact of interventions for SEND pupils, the school's pupil premium strategy, and reports from trustees and an external reviewer.