Leeming and Londonderry Community Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Leeming and Londonderry Community Primary School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils rightly describe their school as a happy and safe place. The school's behaviour expectations support pupils to be kind, resilient and inquisitive.

Pupils are very respectful. In this small school, pupils of all ages learn, play and support each other well.

The school has high expectations for its pupils.

It has undertaken considerable work to ensure that the curriculum meets the needs of the mixed-age classes. Typically, pupils achieve well.

Pupils experience a rich and b...road range of educational activities.

For example, pupils in key stage 2 have opportunities to strengthen their independence, communication and social skills through various residential visits. These range from outdoor adventure trips in the countryside to visiting cities, such as London.

Pupils enjoy 'Federation Friday'.

They speak enthusiastically about the friendships and shared learning opportunities they experience when meeting pupils from another federation school.

Many pupils participate in the school's extensive extra-curricular offer. They can choose from a variety of clubs, such as baking, craft or sport.

Pupils are given leadership opportunities, such as becoming a 'little leader'. These experiences encourage pupils to develop their understanding of responsibility. For example, by organising games as play leaders or keeping the library tidy as a reading ambassador.

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

Since the last inspection, the school has sequenced the curriculum to build knowledge and skills from Reception to Year 6. The curriculum is ambitious for pupils, including those with special educational needs and or disabilities (SEND). The school uses the curriculum expertise of staff across the six schools in the federation to continue to refine the curriculum.

This manages the workload for the staff in this small school and strengthens the curriculum.

The curriculum has been designed to include the essential knowledge the school wants pupils to know. The school has made careful decisions about when it is best to teach each subject.

This is to ensure that teaching supports pupils to embed important facts into their long-term memory. Staff use a range of strategies to help pupils to remember important knowledge in each subject. For example, staff uses quizzes and questions at the beginning of lessons to encourage pupils to recall their learning.

The school uses this information to check for any gaps in learning. It also uses these checks to identify additional support for pupils with SEND.

The school ensures that phonics teaching is appropriate for each year group in the mixed-age class.

Staff provide extra phonics sessions for pupils who are not keeping up with the programme. Some pupils, at the early stages of learning to write, struggle to apply their phonics knowledge when spelling words. For example, they cannot identify the correct sounds when spelling words.

On occasions, these errors are not addressed quickly enough. Consequently, pupils repeat the error in subsequent writing. This hinders pupils' ability to write with fluency and accuracy.

Pupils enthusiastically use technology in their lessons. For example, children in Reception competently scan QR codes to listen to an adult explain a task. This supports them to access some activities independently.

Pupils are taught how to stay safe online.

Leaders build an atmosphere where pupils develop a sense of responsibility. Older pupils, in the mixed-age class are excellent role models for the Reception children.

They are patient and reassuring in their support, enabling the Reception children to be successful.

The school effectively prepares pupils for life in modern Britain. Pupils confidently talk about diversity, religion, equality and world issues.

This knowledge is used to help them to show respect for other cultures and beliefs. Pupils know how to stay healthy. They relate this to having a healthy lifestyle that includes exercise, a balanced diet and adequate sleep.

The school enhances its personal development programme with educational visits and carefully selected visitors. Pupils excitedly recall the many visits linked to the curriculum. The school invites the emergency services in to speak to pupils about road safety.

This is particularly pertinent as the school is positioned on the main road through the village.

The governors are clear that the federation has supported the school's improvement journey. Governors are mindful of staff workload and well-being, particularly in the context of being a small school.

They encourage collaborative working across the federation. This impacts positively on the delivery of the curriculum.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• On occasions, the school does not address errors in pupils' writing as effectively as it could do. This means that pupils continue to make the same errors over time and do not develop their writing fluency as well as they could. The school should ensure that it works with teachers to better support those pupils who need help with their writing.

Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted's website. From September 2024 graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade.

This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. 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's work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection 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 for overall effectiveness in December 2015.