Littledown School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school All groups of pupils, including those with additional special needs and those from minority ethnic backgrounds, achieve well during their time at the school. Achievement in English, mathematics and personal development is good.

Teaching is good which means that most pupils make at least the progress expected of them and often make good progress. Where teaching is most effective, pupils are challenged so that they work quickly and extend their skills. Behaviour is outstanding.

Pupils really value the 'points' system and there are many excellent examples of pupils' behaviour improving quickly once children start at the school. Pupils say th...ey feel safe. Strong leadership by the headteacher results in a clear vision and an accurate view of the school's performance.

Leaders have maintained the good outcomes since the last inspection. Efficient planning by the governing body means money is spent well for the benefit of all groups of pupils, including those who are known to be eligible for premium funding. High quality training includes a strong focus on managing and improving the performance of all staff.

Excellent behaviour support and training, provided by the schools' outreach teams for pupils from other Slough primary schools, has resulted in no permanent exclusions of any primary aged pupils across the borough for the past few years. It is not yet an outstanding school because : In a very few lessons teachers do not provide challenging enough tasks for each pupil and at these times their learning dips. Monitoring by some middle managers and support for staff is not robust enough to bring about further improvements in teaching.

Information about this school

Littledown is a smaller-than-average-size special school for primary-aged pupils with challenging behaviour, social and emotional difficulties. Many pupils also have associated learning difficulties, predominantly because of past absences from school. A few have additional special educational needs, mainly autism spectrum disorders.

The proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium (additional funding for those known to be eligible for free school meals, those looked after by the local authority and those from service families) is high. Most pupils are White British but a few come from ethnic minority backgrounds, although no pupils speak English as an additional language. There are far more boys than girls.

The school provides outreach behaviour support to many local primary schools. The school provides a three-week course, six times a year, for local primary children who are in danger of being excluded from their mainstream schools. Mobility into and out of the school is high.