Elmwood Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school. The headteacher and other school leaders have successfully improved teaching and its impact on pupils' learning since the last inspection.

The pupils' progress is accelerating and their attainment is rising as teaching improves. Teachers are sensitive to the needs of different ability groups and often adapt lesson activities swiftly in response to the pupils' learning. Strong teamwork is increasingly becoming the key to the school's success.

Teachers and support staff are united in working to meet the headteacher's aims and ambitions for the pupils. Teaching and the environment have improved considerably in Reception. Children become imm...ersed quickly in the wide range of stimulating activities provided, both inside and out.

Pupils are polite, considerate and show considerable respect for adults and each other. They feel very safe in school, and have great confidence that staff will look after them and sort out any problems. Hard work, concentration and perseverance are all features of the pupils' very positive attitudes to learning.

The school engages well with parents. It keeps them informed and encourages them to contribute to their children's learning. The teaching of subjects through topics and themed events provides a wide range of interesting and exciting experiences for the pupils and contributes much to their learning.

The promotion of the pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development runs through all that the school does. It is not yet an outstanding school because : Not all teachers are skilled at checking how well pupils understand what is being taught. Teachers do not develop pupils' writing skills as well in topic work or in different subjects as they do in English.

Sometimes pupils go over work they can already do instead of practising their skills and deepening their understanding.

Information about this school

The school is above average in size. Almost all pupils are from White British backgrounds and very few speak English as an additional language.

The school receives pupil premium funding for a below-average proportion of the pupils. This is extra government funding given to schools to support pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, in local authority care, or with a parent in the armed services. The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is below average, as is the proportion supported through school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs.

The privately-run Elmwood Pre-School and Little Learners operate on the school site, as does the Woodykins Baby and Toddler Group. Both are inspected separately, as is Woody's Breakfast and After-school Club. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress.

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