Luddenham School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Luddenham School continues to be a good school.

The headteacher of this school is Claire Vincett.

This school is part of a single-academy trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Dominic Deeson.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils grow in confidence at this friendly school where everyone knows and cares for each other.

Parents are positive about the school, which they describe as having a community feel. One parent summed up the views of many saying, 'This is a school which is invested in the potential of the children.'

Pupils are open,... engaging and keen to talk.

They are proud of their leadership opportunities such as being part of the site team, a reading ambassador or a play leader. Pupils feel safe and well cared for. They are confident that there is always someone to help to resolve any problems or concerns.

Pupils enjoy playtimes. The expansive and well-resourced grounds offer a wealth of opportunities to climb or join in with games. Inviting spaces support imaginative play and exploration that helps to keep pupils active.

Pupils are supported to build positive relationships, recognising the importance of being kind and considerate to one another.

Expectations of pupils' attendance and conduct are high. Pupils regularly attend school and behave well in lessons.

Staff kindly reinforce what is expected of all pupils, including the youngest children in Reception. Pupils respond well. They listen to their teachers and follow instructions.

Classrooms are orderly places where pupils work hard and learn well.

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

The school has focused successfully on developing an interesting and engaging curriculum that builds pupils' knowledge in each subject. Much of the curriculum is well sequenced, where pupils' learning is organised in logical steps.

In most year groups, there is a clear focus on ensuring pupils have the knowledge they need for the next stage of their education. The school recognises this is not yet the case for the youngest children in Reception. Here, the early years curriculum is not always as precisely considered as it could be to ensure children have the knowledge they need in readiness for Year 1.

Staff are well trained and have strong subject knowledge. They use this to check what pupils remember of their prior learning and then recap as needed. These processes are particularly well embedded in English and mathematics.

This helps staff to identify and address where pupils have gaps in their understanding before moving on to new learning. Leaders recognise that these processes are not yet securely in place in other subjects. This work is continuing to help pupils achieve well across the curriculum.

Pupils take pleasure in their reading. Learning to read is a priority and a renewed focus on phonics and reading in key stage 1 has raised attainment. Pupils learn phonics as soon as they join Reception and are provided with books that reinforce the sounds that they are learning.

Regular checks identify any pupils who start to fall behind so that they can be given the help that they need to catch up quickly. The school has carefully selected a wide range of books which are used in regular 'novel study' sessions. Pupils develop their vocabulary and deepen their knowledge about the stories and characters they explore.

Pupils enjoy these sessions and engage eagerly with the regular story time, book-sharing assemblies and holiday reading challenges.

The school responded swiftly to lower-than-national published outcomes in mathematics. The curriculum has been revised and a focus on multiplication has improved pupils' knowledge of number facts effectively.

Pupils are increasingly confident and competent mathematicians. They enjoy the challenges they are given and set their work out clearly to show their thinking.

The school's clear behaviour policy is well understood and consistently applied by staff.

This helps pupils to recognise and understand what is expected of them. Where pupils need additional help to manage their behaviour, the school provides support and works closely with outside agencies as needed. This process is also in place to support any pupil with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Staff take time to identify each pupil's individual needs and then ensure appropriate action is taken to help pupils with SEND learn and achieve well.

The programme for pupils' personal development is well developed. In addition to the planned curriculum, pupils' different school experiences are underpinned by the school's FLIGHT values of 'fairness, leadership, imagination, grit, honesty and teamwork'.

Pupils keenly focus on these. They value the ways they are recognised for demonstrating them, such as 'Hot Choc Friday' or being awarded Fred the FLIGHT flamingo.

Trustees know the school well.

They have ensured that they are provided with an appropriate range of information to hold the school to account effectively. They take the right steps to help ensure that pupils are kept safe and that they learn well.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In the foundation subjects, teachers are not yet consistently checking what knowledge pupils can remember and then apply to new learning. Pupils therefore are not always able to build accurately on what they already know. The school should continue to implement how they assess what pupils know to support pupils' achievement across the whole curriculum.

• The curriculum in early years does not always precisely ensure children have the knowledge they need in readiness for the different subjects they will explore in key stage 1. The school should continue to develop the early years curriculum to identify the knowledge and skills that will help prepare children for the next stage of their education.

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 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 would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which 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 in February 2019.