Lipa School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils appreciate the unique and ambitious setting of LIPA Primary and High School. Staff know pupils and their families well. Many pupils are happy at school.

Typically, there are positive relationships between staff and pupils.

The school has increasingly high expectations for pupils' behaviour, attendance and academic achievement. Most pupils attend school regularly, and they enjoy their lessons.

In most subjects, pupils, particularly those in the primary age phase, achieve well.

During lessons, most pupils follow instructions and focus well on their learning. However, some older pupils do not behave as well as they should.

Some pupils to...ld inspectors that they do not feel safe in school. This is because they are worried by the behaviour of some of the other pupils, especially during break times. Added to this, some pupils do not show sufficient respect for their school environment.

Pupils benefit from an array of additional opportunities, with performing arts being central to building pupils' confidence and talents. For example, the school provides support for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds so that they have access to music tuition. In addition, the school provides a wide range of extra-curricular activities, including sports clubs, art and games.

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

The curriculums in all subjects are ambitious for pupils. In most subjects, the school has thought carefully about the building of knowledge from the early years through to key stage 3. In these subjects, pupils build a secure body of knowledge over time, and there has been an improvement in the attainment of pupils, particularly in key stage 1.

Teachers have secure subject knowledge, and for the most part, they explain concepts to pupils well. Teachers benefit from effective training, which has strengthened their delivery of the curriculum. Activities are carefully designed by teachers to enable pupils to build their knowledge well over time.

Typically, this helps pupils to learn well.

In the main, teachers check what pupils know and remember, and they address misconceptions as they occur. However, in a small number of subjects, the school's assessment processes do not enable pupils to demonstrate the knowledge that they have learned sufficiently well.

From time to time, pupils' learning is uneven. For example, on occasion, some pupils who find writing difficult are not able to complete the written assessments expected of them. This hinders these pupils from demonstrating fully what they have learned.

As a result, teachers are not clear whether these pupils have any gaps in their subject knowledge.

Reading is a priority for all children as they begin the Reception Year. Staff implement the phonics programme consistently well, and pupils are confident in the letters and sounds that they have learned.

Pupils at the earliest stages of reading enjoy the books that they read. Skilled staff identify and support those pupils who find reading more difficult, or who have gaps in their reading knowledge, to catch up with their peers.

The school's reading strategy also benefits older pupils; for example, teachers lead whole-class reading during form time.

Pupils have access to an online library as part of a strategy to encourage them to read more widely beyond their lessons.

The school identifies the additional needs of pupils with SEND quickly and accurately. Pupils with SEND access the same broad curriculum as their classmates.

The school has recently improved the quality of the information that staff receive about pupils' individual needs. This is enabling staff to successfully adapt the delivery of the curriculum so that pupils with SEND can learn well.

The school has thought carefully about pupils' personal development.

For example, pupils build age-appropriate knowledge of healthy relationships, keeping safe online and the differences between people. A range of exciting visits build on the learning that pupils develop in their subject curriculums. Some pupils take on positions of responsibility, for example acting as reading buddies on World Book Day.

The school has recently updated the behaviour policy to reflect its increased expectations. However, the new behaviour policy is not applied consistently well by staff. Pupils and staff reported varying experiences of behaviour between different year groups, especially outside of lesson times.

Added to this, the school does not have a clear enough understanding of the impact of its work to improve pupils' behaviour across the school.

Some older pupils do not share the same sense of belonging to the school as their younger peers. This is partly because, until recently, older pupils have not had consistently positive experiences in their school life.

Changes in staffing and accommodation have left older pupils feeling, at times, unsettled, and this has contributed to some pupils' poor behaviour. Despite issues with some pupils' behaviour, systems to monitor attendance are effective, and the school implements appropriate actions to support pupils to attend school regularly.

The school has grown at pace.

This has resulted in considerable changes to policy and practice, including curriculum design. Some staff reported that their workload is high due to navigating several changes to the school within a relatively short timescale. This has hindered how effectively some of the school's updated policies have been implemented.

Governors and trustees are ambitious for the continued development of the school. They are in the process of refining their roles and responsibilities to increase the effectiveness by which they monitor and evaluate the school. Currently, the schools' perception of the quality of provision, particularly for older pupils, does not match these pupils' lived experiences.

Consequently, some pupils and their parents and carers do not feel adequately listened to. This prevents the school from accurately identifying priorities for further improvement.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a few subjects, the school's approaches to assessment do not enable teachers to accurately identify gaps or errors in pupils' learning quickly enough. This means that, from time to time, some pupils continue through the curriculum with unaddressed misconceptions. The school should ensure that, in these subjects, assessment processes support teachers to identify and rectify pupils' misconceptions swiftly.

• Some staff do not implement the schools' updated behaviour policy consistently well. As a result, some pupils do not behave as well as they should in lessons and around the school sites. The school should ensure that staff are suitably equipped to implement the behaviour policy consistently well and that pupils understand the behaviour that is expected of them.

• Some older pupils do not show appropriate levels of respect towards each other or towards the school environment. Consequently, some pupils do not feel as safe and secure at school as they should, especially during break times. The school should ensure that it supports these pupils to improve their behaviour and to fully understand the impact of their actions on others.

• As the school has grown, several updated policies and curriculums have been implemented quickly. This has increased staff's workload and hindered how well some of these updated processes have been implemented. The school should ensure that due regard is given to the impact on staff workload when making changes to policy and practice.

• The school, including trustees, does not have a detailed view of some aspects of its provision. This prevents the school from accurately identifying where improvements are needed and from listening fully to the views of older pupils and their parents. The school should ensure that, as it continues to grow, systems for quality assuring the provision, including responding to the views of stakeholders, are fully effective.

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