Lantern Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have created a welcoming environment where pupils feel safe and well cared for. Relationships between adults and pupils are strong.

Staff know the pupils and their families well. Most parents and carers say good things about the new headteacher.

The headteacher is making changes to improve the quality of education for pupils.

However, these have not yet had sufficient impact on pupils' outcomes. Leaders are ambitious about what the pupils can and should achieve.

The majority of pupils behave well in and around school.

Where lessons are less engaging, pupils sometimes lose concentration. Pupils say that 'bullying doesn't happen'. Pupi...ls are confident that if they had problems, they could tell a teacher, and it would be sorted out.

Pupils take part in a range of clubs, from choir to cookery. They say school meals are 'delicious and nutritious'. Pupils take on responsibilities around the school, such as being a member of the school council or being a playground buddy.

Despite a range of experiences being offered to pupils, teachers are not yet doing enough to teach pupils about British values. Nor do they develop effectively pupils' understanding of different faiths and cultures.

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

Staff have recently designed a curriculum to meet the needs of all pupils in all subjects.

This has been well thought out and is well sequenced. Leaders ensure that the content is being taught in the right order to help pupils learn.

The standards pupils achieve in early years and key stages 1 and 2 are below where they should be.

This is partly due to inconsistency in teaching resulting from changes in leadership. The new headteacher is addressing these issues. He is capable of implementing the needed improvements.

Children in early years are well cared for. Children play with each other kindly and behave well in this class. Observations of children's learning help to identify children's next steps and are shared with parents.

The indoor classroom is well organised and provides opportunities for children to chat, count and explore. The outdoor environment is less engaging and the space available is not always used effectively.

Staff are improving the way they teach reading.

Phonics lessons start in the early years class and continue throughout the school. Recent training for staff and new books that match the sounds pupils are learning are part of these improvements. 'Book-it Mondays' encourage parents to book time off work to share a book with their child.

Staff model reading books to pupils and ask questions about stories. This is popular with parents and successful in helping pupils develop a love of reading.The transfer of reading skills into writing is less successful.

Many pupils in key stage 1 do not form letters correctly or present work neatly.

In other subjects, such as mathematics, teachers have to fill gaps in pupils' knowledge and understanding. This is because previous teaching has not enabled pupils to know and remember more.

Support is in place for pupils who need to catch up. Leaders are looking at how to ensure learning is remembered over time. In other subjects, such as history and science, work has started on developing pupils' enquiry skills.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are included in all aspects of school life. The SEND coordinator has expert oversight of these pupils.

Most pupils behave well.

However, where teaching is less well matched to pupils' interests, they lose focus. Learning time is lost. Pupils' absence is higher than it should be and those pupils are not making enough progress as a result.

Pupils understand the school's values and know the importance of being honest, kind and happy. However, at present, teachers do not do enough to promote pupils' understanding of British values. Pupils do not fully understand what these mean in practice.

Their understanding of different religions and cultures is underdeveloped. The school has strong links with its local church, but pupils do not have a wider understanding of different places of worship.

The governing body holds leaders to account effectively.

Governors know what needs to be improved. They are fully committed to ensuring that staff get the support they need. Staff enjoy working at the school and say their workload is manageable.

They are aware that the school needs to make many more improvements, but feel generally that 'things are getting better'. The headteacher is providing strong leadership and a clear vision. This is acknowledged and appreciated by parents and staff.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

There is a strong culture of safeguarding at this school. Staff work closely with parents and external agencies to keep pupils safe and they swiftly follow up concerns.

Staff are very well trained to fulfil their duties and know what to do if they have concerns about pupils' welfare. The record keeping they maintain is detailed and stored securely.

Pupils feel safe in school and they know that they can share concerns with staff.

Pupils know how to stay safe online and are taught about dangerous drugs and the consequences of illegal use.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

The standards pupils achieve by the end of early years and key stages 1 and 2 are not where they should be. By the end of Year 6, too few pupils are ready for their next stage of education.

The work leaders have done so far to improve the quality of education in English and mathematics has yet to have an impact on outcomes. Leaders need to continue to improve delivery of the curriculum and raise standards across the school. .

In the early years, indoor classroom activities ensure that most children are focused on their learning. However, the outdoor environment is not of the same quality. Leaders should ensure that the resources and range of activities available outdoors are improved so that children have access to a wider range of purposeful learning experiences.

. The new headteacher and subject leaders have made sure the school's curriculum is designed, planned and sequenced effectively in all subjects. The intent is well thought through.

The curriculum is not yet fully embedded so that it has an impact on pupils' knowledge and skills over time. . Some pupils do not attend school regularly enough.

They are not making as much progress as they could because they are missing too many lessons. Leaders and staff need to support these pupils and their families to make sure levels of attendance improve. .

Aspects of pupils' personal development are not secure. For example, pupils do not learn enough about British values. Leaders should ensure that opportunities for personal development, including visits to different places of worship, are embedded across the school so that pupils are better prepared for life in modern Britain.