Lambs Lane Primary SchoolPost – Ofsted Meeting

March 2015

Agenda• Welcome and Introduction – Lesley Holstead, Chair of Governors (5 minutes)

• Action to address the inspection report – Sharon Finn, Headteacher (10 minutes)

• Response to questions from parents – Sharon Finn and/or Chair of Governors

Improvements since previous inspection

‘Significant strides have been made since the last inspection’1. Quality of teaching, particularly writing

2. Progress in phonics

3. Marking and feedback

4. Accuracy of assessment

5. Feedback from parents

6. Pupil behaviour, manners and pride in their school

7. Impact of subject leaders

8. Governance

9. Provision for sport

What does the school need to do to improve further?

1. Raise attainment in reading by: improving the teaching of reading skills

• through better matching the books and activities to the needs and interests of the pupils

teaching a wider range of reading strategies

developing the pupils’ love of reading

• by encouraging them to share their enthusiasm for favourite books and authors

making the school library a focus for reading for all pupils.

What does the school need to do to improve further?

2. Accelerate pupils’ progress through improving teaching by: ensuring teachers plan challenging learning activities

• especially for the most able and for disadvantaged pupils

developing pupils’ independence so they are less reliant on adults supporting them

ensuring activities in mathematics are challenging and never repetitive.

What does the school need to do to improve further?

3. Improve leadership and management by: √ analysing all available information e.g.

• progress made by different groups of pupils

• progress by pupils in each subject

• rapid intervention where appropriate

• continuous focus on improvement

√ raising the expectations of leaders at all levels• greater focus on raising standards

• delegated responsibility for improvement in all areas

√ An external review of pupil premium funding• assessment of leadership and management

• analysis and measurement of impact

How are we going to do this?Action Plan to address recommendations• plan will be published on the website

Streamline and prioritise:• pupil progress and attainment

Use Local Authority support to:• provide additional expertise where required e.g. analysis of data• strengthen governance• support school leadership team

Make reading and support at home the focus of our communication

Parents as part of the solution

Continued support for the school

100% Attendance

Behaviour and appearance

Independence and resilience

Homework

Reading at home

Questions

QuestionsQ What plan was the school following to avoid this level of assessment and why did it fail?A A plan was agreed with HMI and the LA. The plan did not fail in every aspect. Many improvements have been made but outcomes (SATs results) have not yet improved enough.

Q I’m interested to hear how OFSTED came to these conclusions!A Prior to the inspection OFSTED consider the data, looking at results from Foundation Stage, KS1 and KS2 for the last four years. From this they then build an hypothesis e.g. Reading results are not strong and so the teaching of reading must need improvement. Once in school they look for evidence to support or disprove their hypothesis; in our case they heard 8 children read. This then confirms or changes their

findings.

Questions

Q How can the governance of the school have ‘ improved significantly’ yet the results of the inspection be so poor?A Governance is only one aspect of the inspection. Governors are interviewed by the team and have to demonstrate both their knowledge of the school and it’s issues as well as action taken to address them. Governors demonstrated that they were significantly better this time than two years ago.Q How long will it take for the governors and leaders of the school to form a detailed response to the this inspection? In order to give us confidence in the school …A The action plan should be on the website for parents to see w/c 16th March 2015.

QuestionsQ How are the most able students going to be extended exactly?A The verbal answer to this question was quite long and detailed. It covered teacher’s planning, support, monitoring and feedback. A key element under the new curriculum is also ensuring breadth and application.Q Would more homework challenge pupils? I personally feel they need more homework in the Juniors.A In any school homework is a lose: lose situation as approximately 50% of parents love it and 50% of parents loathe it. We have tried to create a flexible system whereby parents and pupils can spend as long on a piece of work as they feel is appropriate. The homework then feeds into the following week’s learning. Other

supporting materials e.g. word lists are on the Learning Platform for parents to use as they see fit.

Other questions were raised at the meeting and we have tried to capture them in the following Q and A.

Q Why don’t we get any feedback on homework – I don’t know if my child should be spending 20 minutes or 2 hrs doing it.

A As mentioned above there is no fixed time set for homework. We expect the children to read at least four times a week as well as completing their home learning/homework. From points made this evening it is clear that parents would like more information and so we will review this ASAP.

Q Could there be a forum on the website where parents can talk to other parents and/or teachers if we have any questions, could it be a class forum?

A Although not impossible, there are some issues around regulation and how it would be managed. It will be considered.

Q Could there be more regular feedback for working parents who don’t get to come into the school very often?

A I would be interested to know exactly what this would look like. We are currently reporting to parents each half term at either a parents evening or through a report and I am not sure what else is required. Please share any ideas to be considered.

Other questions were raised at the meeting and we have tried to capture them in the following Q an A.

Q How can we help with reading and exam prep, can we have examples of comprehension questions or have some test papers?

A There are many examples available commercially which parents can use for practice. We use the old test papers for revision and would be reluctant to give them out but we can consider if there is anything else that we have that could be used by parents.

Q You are working on the action plan but what does the road map look like, when is the next milestone? When will we next get updated? Can you bring this forum back together?

A The action plan is very detailed and will provide the road map. We are determined to improve communication with parents this time and will be reporting back on a regular basis.

Q Could you have a mock OFSTED to better prepare the school – teachers and pupils?A This is possible; schools can use a consultant to provide this service at a cost. However, the LA

does a termly review already and it might not offer anything new.

Other questions were raised at the meeting and we have tried to capture them in the following Q an A.

Q When you had the reading review and you knew there was an issue, why didn’t you tell the parents? If we don’t know the problem, we can’t help.A You are absolutely right, we should have communicated this to parents in a more overt way.Q Can you not do a whole class book project in KS2 as per KS1?A It is more difficult to do this in KS2 where the curriculum is more content driven. We do offer some e.g. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.Q How, as a team (teachers, parents, Govs) do we best support the pupils whilst giving them the independence needed?A There is no easy answer to this. We need first of all to consider what skills our children need to be able to work independently and then find the best and quickest way to teach them. This will be considered as part of the action plan.Q Could parents in each class recommend a reading list? Could the school?A We know that a list is available in Waterstone’s and there are probably others available on the internet. We will look to see if we can add one to each class page on the Learning Platform.Q You don’t need to reinvent the wheel, could you learn from other “good” schools?A Absolutely. We already work closely with other local schools and have already begun to identify where there is good practice that we can learn from.