Lanesend Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enthusiastically enjoy coming to school. This is demonstrated by the very high rates of attendance.

School days are full of memories of wonderful events, enjoyable activities and trips to the theatre and museums. There is a different range of interesting clubs for each year group which are well attended. Pupils recall fondly the termly curriculum focuses.

However, they are less likely to remember the key knowledge in the curriculum.

Leaders have high expectations about behaviour and pupils quickly settle into the routines of school life. They behave well in class and around the school.

Pupils make the most of the excellent facilities available... to them at breaktimes, such as the trampolines and tyres. Bullying is not tolerated. The few reported cases are dealt with swiftly by leaders with the help of pupils themselves in their role as anti-bullying ambassadors.

Socially and emotionally, pupils are well prepared for the next stages of their education. Opportunities to take on responsibility or make a difference to the school or wider community are widespread. However, expectations about what pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), can achieve academically are not always as high as they should be.

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

Too few pupils learn to read quickly and accurately. Over a third of pupils in key stage 1 are at least a year behind where they should be. There are low expectations for pupils with SEND, many of whom do not learn to read well enough.

This means they cannot access the full curriculum. The school does not use a recognised phonics programme to help pupils learn to read well. Leaders responsible for reading recognise that staff require further training in the teaching of phonics.

Pupils are sometimes asked to complete tasks when they have not learned the prerequisite skills. For example, pupils in Year 2 were asked to write down a dictated sentence when they were unable to form their letters correctly. While some pupils struggle to read themselves, pupils across the school love to listen to and retell stories in their own words.

The curriculum is not coherently sequenced. Each year, three whole-school, termly curriculum focuses are planned with interesting titles such as '100 Years of the BBC'. Teachers then have to rearrange the national curriculum in each subject to fit these topics.

This means that important curriculum content is not taught in the same order each year so as to ensure that it builds coherently. This results in pupils remembering interesting activities and random facts rather than important knowledge in different subjects, such as science. Key knowledge and vocabulary which pupils need to learn from Reception through to Year 6 has not been identified.

Teachers do plan short sequences of lessons within termly curriculum focuses and check pupils' progress within these with informal assessments. However, this is not built on progressively in future year groups. Other assessments used across the school do not directly test what has been taught.

This leads to teachers continuously and inaccurately trying to fill gaps in knowledge, for example in mathematics, rather than teach the curriculum coherently in the first place.

Throughout the school, pupils with SEND receive individual support from adults who are dedicated to supporting them. Those with the most significant needs work diligently to achieve the small-step targets in their education, health and care plans (EHC plans).

Although most parents and carers are entirely happy with the school, some parents of children with SEND find it difficult to communicate with leaders about their children's education.

Trustees, by their own admission, are inexperienced as trustees despite their helpful individual skills and relevant experience. They have not held the headteacher and other senior leaders to account for low expectations, a decline in performance and the failure to meet statutory duties in the recent past.

Trustees too readily rely on the opinion of senior leaders who are also trustees themselves, rather than getting an external view of how well the school is performing.

Staff enjoy working at the school and feel well supported by leaders. Newer staff work with more experienced colleagues when planning the curriculum in each year group every year.

Children in Reception have settled very quickly into the school's behaviour routines due to the extensive staff support for their arrival. Pupils really like and understand the reward systems. Behaviour is generally good, with poor behaviour dealt with swiftly.

Pupils learn what makes a good friend and are taught to be inclusive 'regardless of sexuality or race'. Pupils have a strong sense of fairness and say 'we have been taught to treat people with equality' so that everyone has what they need.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Training for leaders and staff in safeguarding is appropriate and up to date. This means that they understand their statutory responsibilities and how to identify any concerns that may be affecting the well-being of pupils or their families.

Leaders and teachers identify many opportunities for pupils to learn how to stay safe.

However, as with the rest of the curriculum, these are not coherently planned. Pupils feel safe and are safe in school.

During the inspection, leaders had to update their records of checks on staff, trustees and volunteers to ensure that they complied with statutory guidance.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Too many pupils, including those with SEND, do not learn to read quickly. This is because the school does not have a validated phonics scheme in place to help all pupils make rapid progress. Leaders and trustees should implement a validated phonics programme and ensure that all staff are well trained in how to teach it with fidelity and precision.

• The curriculum in most subjects is not coherently planned and sequenced. Teachers have to plan high-level subject objectives into overarching topics in a different order each year. As a result, pupils do not consistently make good progress in learning and remembering the curriculum.

Leaders should ensure that the curriculum is coherently sequenced in all subjects to help pupils to learn well. The key knowledge and vocabulary to be taught in each year group, including the early years, should be clearly identified. ? Current governance structures do not allow trustees to hold senior leaders to account for low expectations, underperformance and compliance with statutory duties.

At times, leaders lack candour, and trustees do not seek to validate what they are told, for example through an external view of school performance. As a result, trustees have been led to believe the school is performing better than it is. Trustees should take immediate action to ensure that they have an impartial view of school performance and have systems in place to hold leaders to account, including for any breach in statutory guidance or underperformance.