Lane Green First School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Lane Green is a school where all pupils are genuinely welcomed.

There are highly positive relationships between staff and pupils, and it is clear how much pupils are cared for. Pupils are happy to come to school and they feel safe.

Pupils now achieve well in reading and mathematics.

However, the quality of education is not the same in all subjects. Sometimes, the work pupils complete does not build on what they have done previously. This is because the curriculum in these subjects is not designed well enough.

Leaders have established high expectations for pupils' behaviour and attitudes. Pupils understand these and most behave well in lessons and on ...the playground. Staff give reminders and effective support to pupils who need it.

Pupils say that bullying does sometimes happen. They also say that staff take action to make it stop. Records of bullying, and parents' comments, support this view.

Pupils have an increasing number of opportunities to develop their talents and interests. They enjoy sports clubs, coding and forest school. Through their roles in the eco-committee and the school council, they become active citizens.

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

Lane Green is on a journey of improvement. It is led with passion and determination by the headteacher, who is well supported by governors. In a short space of time during the COVID-19 pandemic, the curriculum was redesigned.

The aim of the curriculum is to ensure that all pupils develop academically and personally to reach their full potential. Subject leaders have embraced the change. They have systems to check the quality of learning in their subject and have developed actions in response to their findings.

However, they have not made sure that all staff have the subject-specific knowledge they need to teach all subjects equally well.

Children make a good start in early years. Leaders have thought carefully about the knowledge they want children to know and remember in all areas of learning.

Staff have a good understanding of how children learn. They have designed the environment to support the curriculum and to focus on what is most important.

Reading is central to the revised curriculum.

Children listen to and join in with stories in Nursery. Staff read in a way that excites and engages children. This continues in the Reception Year.

There is a new school library with high-quality resources ready to use this year. Pupils develop a love of reading through engaging in clubs such as 'Story Rangers'. Leaders introduced a new phonics curriculum last year.

Staff received training and have secured the expertise they need to teach early reading. Books are well matched to the sounds pupils are learning. Staff use assessment to identify pupils who need extra support.

Additional work, including hearing the pupils read every day, helps pupils to read with increased fluency and confidence.In mathematics, leaders' actions are having a positive impact. Children in the early years learn to count and understand numbers.

They also explore other areas of mathematics. Through the mathematics curriculum, pupils' knowledge steadily builds. They gain a secure understanding of the important concepts.

Staff have good subject knowledge and identify where pupils could have misconceptions. Staff use assessment to identify gaps in pupils' knowledge.

In some of the other subjects, leaders have not identified the important knowledge that pupils need to learn.

They have not thought carefully about how to organise the curriculum. This means that pupils do not always build on what they have learned before.

Leaders work with a range of agencies to accurately identify the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

This starts from the early years. They use a range of specific programmes to target areas such as language and communication and reading. These have had significant impact for individual pupils.

The environment in the school is calm and orderly. Pupils' learning in lessons is rarely interrupted. Staff give pupils appropriate reminders when required.

Most pupils attend school regularly. However, there are some pupils who do not attend as often as they could.

Through the curriculum, pupils learn about fundamental British values, and other religions and cultures.

They make positive contributions to school life through the jobs they do, such as being a milk monitor. The eco-committee organised their very own COP26 and discussed climate change with their local Member of Parliament.

Staff work well together as a team.

They feel well supported by leaders and appreciate the changes made to try and reduce workload.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders make sure that all staff receive appropriate training to recognise the signs that a pupil might be at risk of harm.

There are clear systems for reporting concerns that all staff know, understand and use when necessary. Leaders act swiftly when issues arise. They work closely with families and other agencies to make sure that pupils are safe.

Pupils learn how to stay safe online through the curriculum. They also learn about safe relationships, and how to stay safe around roads and water.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, the curriculum is not coherently sequenced to build on pupils' knowledge from year to year.

Leaders have not thought carefully about the most important knowledge they want pupils to know and remember. As a result, pupils do not achieve as well as they could in these subjects. Leaders must ensure that they identify what they want pupils to know and sequence learning in all subjects so that pupils' knowledge builds progressively year on year.

• Not all staff have the subject-specific knowledge they need to deliver all areas of the curriculum. As a result, some subjects are not taught as well as they could be. Leaders should ensure that staff develop the expertise they need to teach all subjects equally well.

• Some pupils miss too much time from school. As a result, they do not achieve as well as they could. Leaders should ensure that they do everything possible to increase the attendance of these pupils so they can reach their full potential.

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