Banister Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school The headteacher, together with the strong leadership team and governors, has led a determined, successful drive to improve the school since the previous inspection.

Senior leaders and governors place the well-being of pupils at the heart of their work. Staff enable pupils to be academically successful and also prioritise their social and emotional development. The school is a friendly, inclusive place, where everyone values the rich diversity of pupils and their families.

Staff assess pupils' prior learning accurately and plan lessons that help them to make good progress and achieve well. All staff benefit from a coaching programme. This ...strengthens their practice as they learn from colleagues.

This has led to improvements in the quality of teaching. Children get off to a strong start in the early years, and they make good progress, often from low starting points. Adults focus on equipping children with the key skills they need to be successful in school.

Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. Many praise staff's encouragement of their children, which helps them to become happy, eager learners. Pupils behave impeccably, both in lessons and at breaktimes.

They show courtesy, thoughtfulness and kindness to each other and to adults. Classrooms are characterised by positive, respectful relationships and everyone tries their best. Pupils make good progress, including disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Governors know the school well and hold leaders closely to account. Outcomes in mathematics improved in 2018 as a result of a different approach to teaching. Pupils learn the basic concepts and skills of mathematics and build securely on them to achieve well.

Year 1 pupils achieve well in phonics and almost all are ready for the greater challenges of reading in key stage 2. Pupils love reading but, by the end of Year 6, too few have strong higher-order reading skills. Attainment is less strong in reading than in writing and mathematics.

Pupils enjoy a variety of learning experiences across the curriculum. However, they have too few opportunities to develop subject-specific skills and knowledge, including in science. X`

Information about this school

Banister Primary School is larger than the average-sized primary school.

There are 14 classes, two for each year group. Since the previous inspection, the school has grown from being a school with children from Reception to Year 4. It is now a primary school covering the full primary age range.

The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is similar to the national average. Levels of deprivation are higher than those seen nationally. Around 30% of pupils have White British heritage.

Pupils are from several different minority ethnic groups. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is well above that seen nationally. The proportion of pupils with SEND is well above the national figure.