Littlebourne Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Evidence gathered during this ungraded (section 8) inspection suggests that aspects of the school's work may not be as strong as at the time of the previous inspection. The school's next inspection will be a graded inspection.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are eager to come to school and keen to learn.

They embrace and enjoy the opportunities the school offers from the early morning breakfast club through to their enthusiastic singing in assembly.

The school has high expectations for pupils' behaviour, to which they willingly rise. Pupils feel safe and secure as they happily go about their daily business.

They are confident and courteous. Pupils ar...e encouraged to respect and accept difference. They are warm, friendly and engaging with their friends and visitors alike.

Pupils aspire to the school's positions of responsibility, such as 'well-being warriors', and learn to conduct themselves responsibly in any situation.

Pupils try hard with whatever they are asked to do. They rightly take pride in their well-presented workbooks.

However, the school knows that pupils should achieve more than they do presently. The new headteacher is already leading helpful steps towards realising these higher academic aspirations for pupils.

Pupils develop a strong understanding of how to keep themselves healthy and safe, particularly the risks associated with being online.

They report that bullying is not an issue. Records show that any concerns are thoroughly investigated and dealt with.

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

The school is calmly continuing through another challenging period of significant changes to staffing at all levels, including governance.

The new headteacher has rapidly formed an accurate picture of the school's strengths and where it needs to do more. While the school has ensured that pupils continue to have a positive experience and enjoy school, aspects of the quality of education are more variable than they should be.

Although pupils gain an increasing range of useful knowledge and skills, the school does not promote positive progress consistently well through the curriculum.

For example, most younger pupils successfully use the phonics they have learned to read and spell well. However, there is not enough emphasis on checking carefully that all children keep up with their phonics learning from the start.

The school lays the right foundations early for future learning in mathematics.

Work in older pupils' books generally shows their continued success, and their clearly presented methods support accurate calculations. Occasionally, pupils have not securely learned the prior knowledge they need to tackle the tasks they are set.

The school has achieved much in establishing a coherent curriculum to cater for the school's combination of single- and mixed-aged classes, but there is more to do.

Some subject curriculums are not precise enough about exactly what pupils should learn. Sometimes, tasks do not readily promote the learning that teachers are seeking. At other times, they do not provide ideal opportunities for pupils to practise something and get better.

Teachers typically have good subject knowledge. They usually present new information clearly. Teaching assistants provide helpful support to pupils who need it.

They check pupils' understanding and offer encouragement, as well as revisiting and reinforcing important points. More broadly in lessons, there is some effective checking of pupils' understanding, but this is not consistently secure across the school.

The school has a clearly defined strategy for identifying and supporting pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Individual and group plans for pupils are detailed and specific. The school is well aware that where classroom practice is less secure, this can have a bigger impact on pupils who, for any reason, need the most help.

Staff feel well supported as part of a close-knit team, and the school is mindful of their workload and well-being.

The new headteacher has rightly put development opportunities and support for staff among the school's top priorities. Partly due to the circumstances of this turbulent period, different levels of leadership are not as well established or embedded as they could be. This reduces the potential capacity for making improvements.

Despite an overall positive picture of attendance, the school prioritises doing all it can to make sure every pupil comes to school as often as possible. The school analyses reasons for absence at an individual level to determine the most appropriate response for each family.

Pupils understand well the school's values, which underpin all of its work.

Through the curriculum and other activities, the school encourages pupils to develop their individual personalities, resilience and character. It teaches pupils how to cooperate and what it means to be a good 'team player'. Pupils develop good insight into forming and maintaining positive relationships.

They are taught how to recognise where something is not right and develop the confidence to go to a trusted adult for help.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school has not precisely identified what pupils need to learn and remember.

This means it is not clear what teachers need to emphasise and assess to ensure that all pupils make enough progress through the curriculum. The school should ensure that the curriculum clearly identifies what pupils should know and be able to do at each stage in each subject. ? Teachers are not routinely adept at checking carefully what pupils do and do not already know and adapting teaching accordingly.

The tasks they choose for pupils do not support the intended learning consistently well enough. This hinders pupils' ability to get better through careful and precise practice. The school should ensure teachers use effective strategies for checking pupils' understanding and use this information to select appropriate tasks to promote pupils' learning.

• In another turbulent period for the school, leadership at different levels is either undeveloped or very new. This means that the capacity for securing improvements to the quality of education is not as strong as it could be. The school should prioritise developing and strengthening leadership at different levels to increase capacity and support the sustainability of any improvements.

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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in May 2019.

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