Ellington Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school The headteacher ensures that pupils are well supported and cared for. His longstanding position at the heart of the community has been a steadying influence during a period of flux for the school. Pupils achieve well and make good progress.

Middle leaders are new to their posts. They demonstrate good subject knowledge and a keen awareness of the strengths and weaknesses in their areas of responsibility. However, they are in the earliest stages of their career.

Their role in monitoring the impact of the school's work is not fully established. Improvement plans are detailed and identify the right priorities. However, they are not focused sh...arply enough on the desired gains in pupils' outcomes for them to be evaluated effectively.

Governors are dedicated and give generously of their time. They place great emphasis on supporting leaders and staff. They successfully promote pupils' mental health and wellbeing.

However, their monitoring role is not organised effectively. Consequently, they have an overgenerous view of the school's effectiveness. The early years leader knows the children well and has ensured that children's good outcomes have been sustained over time.

The quality of teaching is good. Staffing is settled following a period of turbulence. Staff are keen to share good practice and are creative in planning engaging activities for pupils.

However, occasionally such activities are not sufficiently demanding for pupils. Historically, pupils' outcomes by the end of key stage 2, particularly in mathematics, have not been good enough. However, recent improvements to teaching approaches and to assessment are ensuring that pupils' current outcomes are improving.

Leaders' commitment to pupils' personal development and well-being is excellent. Strong relationships and embedded mutual respect ensure that the school is calm and purposeful. Pupils' behaviour is good.

The highly engaging curriculum is filled with lots of memorable experiences for pupils. However, occasionally activities in subjects like history and geography do not build progressively on what pupils already know and can do and understand. The safeguarding culture is well embedded.

Staff are clear about the important role they play in keeping pupils safe. They are vigilant in reporting concerns, and referrals to other agencies are timely.

Information about this school

The school is an average-sized primary school.

Most pupils are of white British heritage. The proportion of pupils who are disadvantaged is below the national average. The proportion of pupils with SEND is above the national average.

The school offers breakfast club provision. Since the last inspection, the school has extended its age range to include pupils up to the age of 11. At the same time, the admission limit of the school was reduced from 42 to 30 pupils per year group in order to accommodate the extended age range on the same school site.