Glenmere Community Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school. Outstanding leadership at all levels has been effective in making rapid improvements to teaching and pupils' achievement, and motivating pupils to develop outstanding behaviour and attitudes to learning. Pupils make outstanding progress from their starting points and reach high standards in reading, writing and mathematics.

Teaching is outstanding because teachers use their excellent knowledge of what pupils already know to plan work which is highly challenging for pupils of all abilities. Teachers use excellent questioning skills to confirm pupils' understanding and to challenge them further. Teachers give feedback during lessons which h...elps to deepen pupils' understanding.

Teachers' thorough and careful marking helps pupils to understand how to improve their work. A stimulating range of topics across all subjects gives pupils excellent opportunities to apply their reading, writing and mathematical skills in investigations and in solving problems. Pupils' outstanding behaviour and attitudes enable them to concentrate and persevere in all lessons and this supports their learning extremely well.

Pupils are exceptionally happy in school and say that they feel very safe because they trust adults to help them. Staff are trained well to identify any concerns and are very effective in keeping pupils safe. There is an exceptionally calm, purposeful and happy atmosphere in all areas of the school based upon respect, tolerance and thirst for learning.

Pupils, staff and parents express a very high level of satisfaction and confidence in the work of the school. The school's partnerships within the multi academy trust and the teaching-school alliance have successfully supported its very rapid development. The high-quality training provided for all staff ensures pupils' outstanding achievement.

Governors' extensive training enables them to have an excellent understanding of the school's strengths and areas to develop. They are very skilled in checking the school's work and ensure that teaching and achievement are outstanding. Provision in the early years is good because : teachers use accurate assessment to plan exciting activities indoors and outside which help most children of all abilities to make good progress.

However, teaching in the early years is not yet outstanding.

Information about this school

The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school. Children attend full time in the Reception class.

Most pupils are of White British heritage. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils – those supported through the pupil premium is below average. The pupil premium is extra government funding to support the education of those pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals or who are looked after by the local authority.

The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is below average. Glenmere Primary School converted to become an academy school on 1 July 2013. When its predecessor school of the same name was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be good.

The executive headteacher is also executive headteacher of the partner school, Longmoor Primary School, in the Glenmere Multi Academy Trust. He is a National Leader of Education. The Chair of the Governing Body is a National Leader of Governance.

The school is part of a teaching school alliance. There were staffing difficulties, particularly affecting Year 1, in the school year 2013/14. Pupils transfer to the secondary school at the end of Year 5.

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