Gerrans School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school. Pupils make good progress and achieve well. They enjoy coming to school and are keen to learn.

The quality of teaching is good. This has resulted in the good progress pupils make over their time in the school. Teachers plan lessons well to meet the needs of all pupils, including disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs.

Teaching assistants support and lead learning very well. Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage benefit from good and outstanding teaching and develop quickly. Exciting lessons provide a stimulating environment and enable pupils to establish routines and achieve well.

Pupils' behaviour i...s outstanding because they are highly respectful to all members of the school and show great independent skills in their learning, responding positively to their work. Pupils are very proud of their school and talk about it enthusiastically, particularly how they represent it in a wide range of successful sporting and other activities. The well-respected headteacher provides highly effective leadership of a small but strong team, who make sure that this good school retains the values that are important to the local community.

Governors provide good support and challenge to leaders. This has been important in sustaining good achievement for all pupils. It is not yet an outstanding school because : There is insufficient outstanding teaching leading to higher levels of achievement.

Pupils do not have sufficient opportunities for practical work based on their environment, particularly in mathematics. Marking of pupils' books does not provide sufficient guidance for pupils on what they need to do to improve or opportunities for them to do so.

Information about this school

Gerrans is a much smaller than average-sized primary school, located in a village.

Most children who attend are from the local area. The number of pupils who attend the school increased recently, allowing for an extra class to be established in September 2012, but numbers still remain low. Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage are part of a joint class with Key Stage 1 pupils, but are often taught separately.

There is a nursery for a small number of part-time pupils in the morning. All pupils are from White British backgrounds. The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is above average, with the proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs slightly above average.

The proportion of pupils who are known to be eligible for the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, children in local authority care and for children from armed service families, is above average. The school did not meet the government's current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment. However, in a very small group, more than half were not in the school in Key Stage 1, a number had special needs and one had not attended a school for a number of years.