Cooper Perry Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Main findings

Cooper Perry Primary has improved markedly since it was last inspected and now provides its pupils with a good education.

Year 6 pupils underperformed in both 2008 and 2009, but in the last two years their attainment and rate of progress have substantially increased. Unvalidated results for Year 6 pupils in 2011 point to high attainment in both English and mathematics. Assessments for current Year 6 pupils indicate above-average attainment.

This secure trend of improvement is underpinned by good teaching and very effective senior leadership. Children in Nursery and Reception get off to a satisfactory start. Recent discontinuity in staffing and leadership of the Early Years Foundation Stage ha...s affected the quality of provision and reduced the frequency and rigour of monitoring activities.

In particular, not enough robust data at key transition points has been obtained for staff to acquire a secure long-term overview of children's progress and to enable them to refine provision. Pupils make good progress in Key Stage 1, especially in Year 2. The unevenness in pupils' rates of progress in Key Stage 2 noted at the time of the last inspection has almost entirely been eliminated.

Pupils' progress accelerates in Years 5 and 6 as a result of consistently good or better teaching. This ensures that all groups of pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress. Examples of outstanding practice, however, are not shared widely across the school.

Pupils have very positive relationships with staff and, with increasing maturity, steadily acquire the skills they need to reflect on and take responsibility for their learning. The curriculum is thoughtfully constructed to enhance pupils' enjoyment of school and wider spiritual and cultural development, for example, in the creative arts. Some art work is of exceptional quality.

Pupils' pastoral needs are met well and, as a result, pupils have a confident sense of security and well-being in school. The capacity for further improvement is good. Priority areas identified at the previous inspection for attention have been tackled systematically and nearly all issues have been successfully resolved.

Almost all systems are firmly embedded to ensure enhanced accountability and accurate self-evaluation. Senior leaders provide the school with energetic direction, resulting in improved outcomes for pupils. The governing body is supportive of the school's aims, but due to recent changes in its composition and membership its capacity to hold senior leaders to account and set strategic direction for the school is not fully developed.

Information about the school

Cooper Perry Primary is similar in size to most primary schools. The vast majority of pupils are of White British heritage. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is low.

The percentage of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is usually well below average, but this can vary considerably between year groups. These pupils have a range of difficulties, including moderate learning and speech and language difficulties. Provision for the Early Years Foundation Stage is made in two part-time Nursery classes and one Reception class.

At the time of the inspection half the children in Reception had just joined the school from a large number of nurseries. The school runs a daily before-school club, which was observed as part of this inspection. An after-school club operates on the school site.

This provision is not managed by the school and is subject to a separate inspection. The school has Healthy Schools status and holds several other awards. These include Activemark, Artsmark (Gold) and the ICT Mark.