Arden Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school The high expectations that the headteacher has of staff and pupils feature strongly in all aspects of school life. Ably supported by senior leaders and governors, she has stabilised and united the staff in their ambition to do their best for the pupils. The school has improved since its last inspection.

Standards are rising and pupils make good progress because teaching, learning and assessment are good. Staff who lead and manage different subjects (middle leaders) do so effectively. They have a positive influence on teaching and learning.

Pupils benefit from a well-planned curriculum that contains a wide range of rich and exciting learni...ng experiences in and beyond the normal school day. Nursery and Reception children make good progress. They are being prepared well for Year 1.

Pupils behave well. They have a strong sense of right and wrong. The 'Always' approach helps them understand the importance of managing their own behaviour and making the right choices.

Pupils feel safe in school. The school keeps them safe and continues to do so as the new building is completed and the old one demolished. Pupils also know how to keep themselves safe, including when using the internet.

Pupils' personal development and welfare feature highly in everything the school does. Staff do much to ensure that pupils learn how to be good citizens who care for and respect others and contribute positively to society. Pupils thoroughly enjoy learning and they want to do well.

They are proud of their achievements and of the school. It is not yet an outstanding school because : In Key Stage 2, pupils do not always fully understand what they read. Guided reading sessions do not consistently promote these skills.

When pupils make written corrections, they do not give the same good attention to presentation, or to grammar, punctuation and spelling, as they do to these features in their other writing. In the early years, adults do not always help the children understand how they learn as they play so that children can begin to develop the skills to learn by themselves. A small number of parents voiced concerns about how well the school communicates with them on a range of matters.

Information about this school

The school is larger than the average-sized primary school. Almost all pupils are from White British backgrounds. The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is above average.

The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives pupil premium funding (additional government funding for disadvantaged pupils) is above average. Nursery children attend school part time and Reception children attend full time. Not all Nursery children transfer to the school's Reception classes.

The school meets the government's current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils' progress and attainment by the end of Year 6. The school moved into a new building four weeks before the inspection. Building works are ongoing as the work is completed and the old building is demolished.

There have been a number of staff changes since the previous inspection, including an expansion of the senior leadership team. Privately run before- and after-school clubs operate from the school's premises. They are inspected separately.

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