Ettington CofE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Main findings

Ettington Primary is a good school.

It has made rapid progress since the last inspection when its overall effectiveness was satisfactory. In particular, the quality of teaching and learning has improved at Key Stage 1, resulting in a clear upward trend in the attainment of pupils. The underachievement that was identified at the time of the last inspection has been addressed throughout Key Stage 2 so that pupils in 2010 left with attainment that was significantly above the national average.

Moreover, the current Year 6 pupils are on track to match this. Leaders and managers have a good understanding of the strengths and areas for development in the school and these are clearly written and disp...layed so that all can see what the school is trying to achieve over the current year. The structure of leadership has changed so that all staff are involved in teams, having a positive effect, especially on the quality of the curriculum.

In particular, pupils are excited by the wide variety of experiences they have to enrich their learning, this aspect being outstanding. Through effective self-evaluation the school demonstrates a good capacity to improve. Pupils make good progress in each key stage because staff are working well as a team to provide a consistent approach to learning.

There are occasions, however, where this is less secure, resulting in pupils making satisfactory progress. When this happens, pupils are not fully challenged throughout lessons. Marking is effective, particularly in English, but there are not enough comments to help pupils know the next steps in learning in mathematics.

Teaching assistants are very supportive and give good support when pupils are working individually, although they are not always fully utilised at the beginning and end of lessons. Teachers do not always check during lessons whether all pupils are making good progress. Leaders and managers spend much time monitoring the learning and attainment of pupils to ensure that they are making good progress.

However, there are occasions when this can be over-loaded so that the same priority is analysed too often, detracting from a clear overall analysis of the school's effectiveness. Pupils enjoy coming to school and have good attitudes towards their learning. This is because there are good relationships between staff and pupils.

The standard of care is good and pupils say that they feel safe, both in lessons and on the playground. Parents agree, the overwhelming majority who returned a questionnaire saying that their children are kept safe in school. Consequently, the pupils' positive perception of keeping safe is outstanding.

For example, they have an excellent understanding of how to stay safe in a wide range of circumstances, such as stranger danger, misuse of drugs, road safety, including safe cycling, and the dangers of the internet. Because pupils enjoy school, this has a positive impact on their attendance, which is now high.

Information about the school

Ettington is a smaller-than-average sized primary school.

The overwhelming majority of pupils are of White British backgrounds. The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is lower than the national average; their needs are mostly moderate learning difficulties. The proportions of pupils who speak English as an additional language and those known to be eligible for free school meals are well below average.

The school has a breakfast and after-school club for pupils at the school, which is run by the governing body. Pre-school provision operates next to the school, although this is externally managed and is, therefore, subject to separate inspection. The school has achieved Healthy Schools status.

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