Frederick Nattrass Primary Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school The principal is relentless in her ambition to ensure that pupils receive a high-quality education.

Leaders and all staff care passionately about ensuring pupils' well-being. The trust and members of the governing body provide strong challenge and support to leaders to ensure that the school continues to improve. The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good and improving.

This is partly because : there are many opportunities for staff to receive bespoke training in order to enhance their skills. Pupils behave well and show respect and tolerance towards one another. They know how to keep themselves safe and say they feel safe.<...br/>
Children in the early years make good progress because their needs are identified early and addressed quickly so that they are ready to learn. Pupils make good progress from their starting points to reach standards by the end of Year 6 that are broadly as expected. Disadvantaged pupils make rapid progress and, last year, exceeded the achievement of their peers.

This is a highly inclusive school that is at the heart of the community. All pupils, whatever their needs, are welcomed and nurtured so that they are enabled to achieve their best. Pupils flourish in this environment.

It is not yet an outstanding school because : Pupils do not always have enough opportunities to develop their deeper understanding of concepts in mathematics. Pupils' skills in spelling, grammar, punctuation and handwriting are not as good as they could be because teachers do not always model these effectively enough. Marking and feedback are not always incisive enough to promote pupils' deeper understanding.

Adults do not always have high enough expectations of pupils' work in the wider curriculum, in contrast to what they expect of pupils' work in English and mathematics. Children in the early years are not always clear about what they are to learn in their independent play activities and therefore do not engage in learning as well as they might.

Information about this school

The school is slightly smaller than the average-sized primary school.

The vast majority of pupils are of White British heritage. The proportion of pupils with special educational needs or disability is more than twice the national average, with a very small number with a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils for whom the pupil premium provides support is well above the national average.

Pupil premium funding is provided to support pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and those who are looked after by the local authority. Children in the Nursery class attend part time and those in the Reception Year attend full time. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

The school's website meets requirements. There is a breakfast club each morning, managed by the governing body. The school converted to an academy on 1 September 2013 and is part of Northern Education Trust.