Chelsfield Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school. Achievement is good. Pupils, including disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, make good progress through the school.

Leaders, managers and governors have secured teaching that is usually good through regular monitoring and a programme of support and coaching for teachers. Detailed planning uses information about pupils' progress to set pupils suitably challenging work to do, particularly during independent work. Pupils have positive attitudes to learning and behave well.

They work well together in groups and have a good awareness of how to keep themselves safe from harm. The school's leaders and members of the gove...rning body have been successful in securing improvements since the previous inspection. These include enhancements to the curriculum and improved outcomes for children in the Reception class.

A sharp focus on teaching letters and the sounds they make (phonics) and prioritising regular reading in all classes is raising pupils' achievement further. It is not yet an outstanding school because : Sometimes during whole-class teaching, the work set for pupils is not consistently well matched to the full range of pupils' abilities within each class. At times, pupils' progress in developing handwriting skills slows because opportunities for them to develop fluent and neat handwriting are not as well planned as other aspects of the school's work.

Information about this school

Chelsfield is much smaller than the average-sized primary school. Pupils are taught in four classes, most of which have pupils from two year groups. Fewer pupils than average are supported through school action.

The proportion who is supported through school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is above the national average. Most of these pupils have specific learning difficulties. Fewer pupils than nationally are eligible for the pupil premium.

More pupils join and leave the school part way through their education than nationally. There has been a number of staff changes in recent years, including to the senior leadership team. The school exceeds the current government floor standards.