Gallions Mount Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.

Pupils achieve well. Over the past two years pupils have made consistently good progress in reading, writing and mathematics in both key stages. Attainment is broadly average at both key stages, though it is a little lower in mathematics at the end of Year 6 than in reading and writing.

The most able pupils attained the higher Level 6 in reading, writing and mathematics. Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage make good progress and are well prepared for the move to Year 1. The quality of teaching is mostly good and some of it is outstanding.

It is well pitched to the needs of individual pupils who are trained to develop in...dependent thinking skills. Potentially vulnerable pupils are well provided for and receive very effective support. Senior and middle leaders, governors and staff make rigorous checks on the quality of teaching and on pupils' progress with a critical eye towards improvement.

This contributes to maintaining the good quality of teaching and learning. Governors are very supportive of the senior leaders in all they do to provide good education. They care deeply about the children in this school, no matter what their home circumstances or backgrounds might be.

Behaviour is good in and around the school. Pupils are at ease with themselves and this is reflected in the way they quietly get on with learning tasks as if they were the most natural thing to do, with no fuss. It is not yet an outstanding school because: Not enough teaching is outstanding.

Although pupils get clear feedback and information on how to improve their learning in English, the same is not happening in mathematics. In mathematics, the youngest pupils, the disabled and those with special educational needs are not always provided with practical resources that would help them solve problems more easily.

Information about this school

This is a much larger than average size primary school, with three quarters of the pupils representing many different ethnic backgrounds, the largest group being Black African.

Half of the pupils speak English as an additional language. The proportion of pupils in receipt of additional funding (the pupil premium) is greater than the national average. In this school the grant is provided for those pupils eligible for free school meals, for service children and for looked after children.

More than half of the pupils in Year 6 are in receipt of this funding. The proportion of pupils identified with special educational needs at school action is above the national average. The proportions of those supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs are much larger than the national average.

Mobility is much greater than the national average. Over the last three years new pupils have entered the school during Year 5 and Year 6. Some have come to this school from within the borough but most of these late entries arrive from abroad having had a very different education.

Children enter the school either in Nursery at age three or in Reception at age four, some with little or no English on arrival. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress. The school is a partner in a cluster of nine schools, eight primaries and one secondary.