Lansdowne: A de Ferrers Trust Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Main findings

Lansdowne Infants' School provides a good education which is rapidly improving pupils' attainment and enables all groups and individuals to achieve well.

Underpinning this success is outstanding leadership at all levels and consistently good teaching which has improved since the school's last inspection. Staff are highly motivated and committed to pupils' learning needs and well-being. Parents and carers are overwhelmingly pleased with what the school provides.

The majority of questionnaires and those spoken to rightly agree that this is an exceptionally caring school where pupils do their best in a very safe, secure and stimulating environment. Staff are very skilled at dealing with challeng...es, particularly those concerning pupils and families whose circumstances cause them to be vulnerable, and ensure that pupils attend school regularly, behave well and are ready to learn and do well. Consequently, attendance rates are above the national average and pupils make consistently good progress in relation to their low starting points, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and pupils in the early stages of learning English.

Pupils' attainment is in line with the national average in reading and mathematics and although just below average in writing, it is improving well. Pupils' work shows that they make good gains in their learning but do not always have enough time in lessons to edit and correct their writing. This leads to inconsistencies in the way pupils form their letters, or how they structure and punctuate sentences, and some make repeated spelling errors.

Teachers have improved the accuracy of their assessments but their marking does not always refer pupils to specific targets, particularly in writing, to help them understand what to do next to reach higher levels. The highly skilled teaching of phonics (sounds that letters make) results in pupils making exceptional rates of progress in reading, and the school's focus on raising attainment in mathematics is rapidly improving pupils' acquisition of calculation skills. The most effective and outstanding teaching observed, in about one in five lessons, is more intuitive in adapting tasks to extend learning for pupils of all abilities.

The vast majority of teaching is at least good and, in all classes, teachers plan stimulating, practical and engaging lessons. They use assessment well to aid their planning but in some lessons do not always adapt the work planned to extend or challenge those of average or higher ability. An increasing proportion of pupils are reaching or exceeding the levels expected for their age in English and mathematics.

Teachers check assessments of the progress and performance of pupils, but these are not regular or systematic enough, resulting in a few pupils just falling short of their expected targets. In the Early Years Foundation Stage, children consistently learn well and staff have improved the way they assess children in the Nursery. In addition, there is more good and outstanding practice in both the Nursery and Reception classes, which are significant improvements since the school's last inspection.

More accurate evaluations of Nursery and Reception children's learning enable the staff to predict with increasing precision the English and mathematics targets for children to work towards in Key Stage 1 but these are not always ambitious enough for some children. The teaching has improved exceptionally well since the school's last inspection, reflecting the success of the leadership team and governing body in recruiting, training and supporting the staff team. Attainment is improving rapidly as a result of determined and highly focused leadership, the outstanding partnerships with other schools in the local trust, and through the successful engagement with parents, carers and local community served by the school.

The school demonstrates outstanding capacity to sustain improvements, good value for money, and is building on the secure foundations of sustained improvement to teaching and pupils' learning.

Information about the school

Lansdowne is a smaller than average size infant school with an Early Years Foundation Stage comprising a Nursery class for three-year-olds, who all attend part-time, and two Reception classes for four-year-olds. In addition, there are four single-aged classes for pupils in Years 1 and 2.

Pupils come from a range of backgrounds. The two largest groups, accounting for approximately 90% of the school roll, are represented by pupils of Pakistani heritage and those from White British backgrounds. Other pupils come from a range of other minority ethnic backgrounds; including pupils who belong to families from Eastern Europe, the Indian sub-continent or pupils of African-Caribbean heritage.

A large proportion of pupils join the school learning to speak English as an additional language. The proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, including those with a statement of special educational needs, is lower than that of most schools. The main areas of additional need include pupils with moderate learning or speech and language difficulties.

The school runs a breakfast club each school day for its pupils and their families. The school has achieved the national Active Mark and Healthy Schools status. It is also part of a partnership trust with other schools in the area.