Lodge Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Lodge Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Lodge Primary School enables pupils to succeed. There is a calm, purposeful atmosphere in all classes.

Staff provide an effective level of care and education. Everyone is valued and works hard. If pupils need any extra help, then they usually get it straight away.

Consequently, the school's good performance has been strengthened. Aspects of reading and mathematics could be strengthened further.

Subjects are planned and taught well.

In addition, the school year is punctuated with many visits, visitors, clubs and events that enrich learning and fuel aspiration. These ...extra activities introduce pupils to new things and add an extra level of interest to school life.

As well as learning different subjects, pupils are taught how to stay safe and healthy.

The school teaches them about the importance of respect and sensible decision making. The well-being of pupils and staff is given a high priority. There is a sense of united purpose, which is captured well in the school's motto of 'moving forward as a community'.

Pupils are expected to behave well, and they do. Bullying or poor behaviour rarely happens. If it does, then staff address it effectively.

This means everyone can enjoy school.

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

The headteacher has high expectations and leads a capable staff team.

Since the previous inspection, the teaching of reading has been a key development focus and has improved.

A school motto: 'Lodge Reader, Lifetime Achiever' underpins the school's aspirations for the pupils. In addition to well-organised phonics teaching, the school does a lot to involve everyone in the promotion of reading. For instance, lunchtime supervisors act as 'Reading Rangers'.

They have received training and often stay after the end of lunchtime to listen to pupils read.In the early years, parents can attend weekly reading workshops with their children. In other classes, pupils visit the local library each term and have taken part in a pyjama and bedtime story event.

Staff read aloud to pupils and older pupils listen to younger ones reading and talk to them about books. Pupils love going on 'book hunts' where they have to find clues to work out something about a mystery book. The school runs a book club for more-able readers and gives out rewards for reading at home.

Staff make regular checks on progress to make sure pupils are getting the right books to read. This works well in school, but some of the books that developing readers take home are not well matched to their phonics knowledge.Art is a strength.

It is led well, and the art curriculum is designed to make helpful links with other subjects. Progression within planning is very clear and simple assessments enable staff to build on previous learning. Through the school's 'dream big' projects, pupils can choose from a variety of arts courses, such as fashion design, glass-painting, sculpture and photography.

Pupils can even take part in an art-based residential visit. All of this means that pupils know a lot about different artists and can talk about their styles. 'Dream big' projects also happen in music and drama and pupils have been involved in musical theatre.

Pupils at Lodge Primary School get plenty of opportunities to express themselves and enjoy being creative.Mathematics is also well-organised and well led. Work is planned to build on what has been taught before.

New staff work alongside more experienced colleagues to make sure they know what to teach and when. Staff are confident that they have sufficient resources to provide sufficient challenge to the most able pupils. However, in practice the most able pupils do not always get challenging enough work to do.

In other curriculum areas, work is well planned and interesting. Special 'curriculum weeks' happen each term and are full of extra events that enrich learning. Outside of lessons, there are lots of clubs.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) get extra help. The school plans this carefully so that they do not miss out on the things their peers are doing. Staff pay good attention to pupils' emotional and mental health at this school.

In the Nursery and Reception classes, staff do much to encourage children's early language development. Classrooms are organised to stimulate children's imaginations and engage them in purposeful activities.Pupils behave well in class and are keen to learn, although a few are late and miss the start of lessons.

All mix easily with others. They respect their teachers and are polite to visitors.Parents who spoke with me or put comments on Ofsted Parent View are very happy with the school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Procedures and records are organised and clear. All school staff attend annual safeguarding training and understand procedures for keeping children safe.

Leaders are aware of likely local risks and follow up concerns with appropriate agencies when necessary.

If pupils do not arrive at school in the morning, staff find out where they are.

Staff record all behaviour-related incidents in order to pick up on patterns of behaviour that are harmful to others, such as bullying or racist comments.

Incidents are infrequent but are dealt with properly when they happen.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

In the Reception and Year 1 and Year 2 classes, reading books match pupils' phonics phases. However, the books pupils routinely take home are not phonically decodable.

This means pupils cannot build on their school learning at home. Some get stuck on words or become frustrated and lose interest. To improve this, staff should make sure the books that pupils take home match the phonics sounds they are learning.

. Most pupils get what they need in mathematics lessons. However, sometimes the most able pupils are not challenged as well as they could be.

This holds them back from pushing on to higher standards. Leaders and staff should continue to explore ways to improve this.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called a section 8 inspection of a good school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged Lodge Primary School to be good on 7–8 July 2016.