Leonard Stanley Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Leonard Stanley Church of England Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 5 December 2018, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to report the inspection findings.

The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in January 2015. This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

As acting headteacher you, the acting deputy and senior team, have provided good leadership and clear guidance to staff. You have introduced effective systems to support the progress of all pupils in the school an...d to assist teachers in developing their practice. You have been supported well by members of the governing body and local authority.

You and your leaders have developed a positive culture. The school is a caring environment with a focus on enjoyment and achievement for all pupils. You have ensured that whole-school training has maintained a focus on improving pupils' reading and mathematical skills at school and at home.

Pupils are welcoming to visitors and keen to emphasise the support, care and encouragement they receive from their teachers. They commented on their enjoyment of school, especially when presented with challenging work. At the previous inspection the school was asked to improve the outcomes for the most able pupils at key stage 1 and to involve subject leaders in raising standards further.

You and your leadership team have acted swiftly to support new staff to improve the quality and consistency of teaching. You have also empowered staff at all levels to develop their teaching practice, providing support and training. You have deployed staff effectively to support specific classes and pupils currently in the school are making strong progress, especially at key stage 1.

Safeguarding is effective. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Checks are made to ensure that all employees, volunteers and visitors to the school are suitable to work with children.

Accurate records are kept and these meet statutory requirements. All members of staff receive appropriate and regular training on matters of safeguarding and they are fully aware of their responsibilities. Staff and pupils know how to report any matters which concern them.

They feel safe at school. Communication within school and with outside agencies is detailed, timely and relentless. The vast majority of parents who responded to Parent View also expressed the view that their children are happy and safe.

Around the school, pupils are respectful and polite to one another and to adults. Pupils say that they enjoy school. Pupils who met inspectors stated that bullying is rare and that any reported incidents of bullying are dealt with effectively.

Inspection findings ? In 2018 pupils did not make as much progress as other pupils nationally by the end of key stage 1. Your key stage 1 leader (and acting deputy headteacher) has been relentless in analysing the reasons for this and taken decisive steps to address the challenges faced in previous years. A new rewards system has been implemented which supports pupils and encourages them in their learning.

Pupils spoke positively about this system. Staff have received training in identifying individual teaching methods for specific pupils and implementing these. Assessment has focused on ensuring that pupils are clear about the next steps in their learning and equipped to improve.

As a result, pupils are making good progress in key stage 1. ? You and your senior team recognised that pupils were not reading at home enough to help them progress. The school has introduced a new competitive reading scheme which is having a positive impact on the amount of reading pupils do at home.

This has been developed further to recognise individual readers as well as whole classes. The competitive 'round the world' element to reading, involving pupils moving their aeroplane depending on the number of times they read, is very popular with the pupils and parents. You are now focusing on ensuring that all pupils develop their inference skills and have robust plans in place for key stages 1 and 2.

• At the end of key stage 2 in 2018, pupils' progress in mathematics was not as good as in reading and writing. You have identified and addressed the issues. You have changed the curriculum so that there is a greater focus on reasoning in mathematics.

You have also made use of additional funding to put on structured sessions so that misconceptions are addressed more quickly by trained staff who support pupils. The use of these additional adults is a strength of the school. Staff are receiving support in the teaching of mathematics and your own passion for the subject is evident in their lessons.

• As a consequence, current pupils' progress in mathematics is good. You have clear plans in place to continue this development to build upon the positive impact it is already having. ? Since the end of September you have been acting headteacher for the school.

The local authority and governing body have acted swiftly to ensure that leadership at the school is maintained. The work that you and your team have carried out has shown rapid improvement in pupils' outcomes and staff feel supported by you. You have empowered leaders and, with your senior team, supported teachers with all aspects of their classroom practice.

Pupils, staff and parents have responded positively. The local authority and governing body are continuing to work to ensure that pupils at the school make good progress. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? plans to develop and challenge pupils in their mathematics throughout the school are consistently implemented in order to ensure that all pupils make good progress.

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Gloucester, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Gloucestershire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Matthew Shanks Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During this inspection, I spoke with you, other senior leaders, the chair of the governing body and the local authority performance adviser.

You joined me in visiting classes to observe learning and in looking at samples of pupils' work. I also held informal discussions with pupils and staff around the school in lessons and at lunchtime, as well as with parents at the end of the school day. I also held formal meetings with a small group of pupils from key stage 1 to discuss their learning experiences and with members of the governing body.

I scrutinised a wide range of documentation, including the school's self-evaluation and development plans. I looked at examples of the school's systems to track pupils' progress. I took into account 43 responses to Parent View, 20 responses to the staff survey and the 67 responses to the pupil survey.

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