Cherry Dale Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school. The exceptionally high levels of care and personal support offered to pupils, coupled with excellent guidance and academic challenge, lie at the heart of this outstanding school's success.

Children in the early years quickly develop an enjoyment of school life and make rapid progress in all areas of learning. This is because staff are well trained and skilled at providing activities that enable children's learning to flourish. Pupils in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 also make excellent progress in their lessons and over time.

This is once again due to the fact that teachers are skilled in planning activities that fire pupils' imagi...nation. Pupils develop wonderful attitudes to learning, which are also a significant factor in the outstanding progress they make. Pupils reach exceptionally high standards in mathematics, reading, writing, punctuation, grammar and spelling by the time they leave Year 6.

An exciting and vibrant range of topics helps pupils to develop and apply their writing and mathematical skills still further. During lessons, teachers and support staff are skilled in recognising what pupils have understood and step in quickly to move learning on. In class and around the school, there is an exceptionally calm and purposeful atmosphere based on mutual respect and good humour.

Pupils say they are happy at school, and have an excellent understanding of how to stay safe when, for example, using the internet. The headteacher provides outstanding leadership. Her quiet determination and vision for excellence have ensured this outstanding school has gone from strength to strength since the time of the last inspection.

The leadership of the deputy headteacher and assistant headteacher are also of a very high quality. They have a very clear understanding of what is working well and are skilled in supporting and challenging colleagues to ensure all pupils receive a high quality of education and memorable experience of school life. Governors have an excellent understanding because : they are skilled in checking the school's work and holding staff to account.

Leaders are currently developing a new system to track pupils' progress against the expectations of the new National Curriculum and plan to implement it as soon it is finalised.

Information about this school

This is a larger than average sized primary school. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils who are eligible for support through the pupil premium is above average.

The pupil premium is additional government funding provided for children who are looked after by the local authority and those known to be eligible for free school meals. The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is below average. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups or who speak English as an additional language is below average.

The school meets the government's current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6. Since the time of the last inspection, the school's leaders have been supporting schools within the local authority, as well as supporting the moderation of other schools' assessment arrangements. The school provides a daily breakfast club.