Giffard Park Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school Strong leadership from the headteacher and her deputy has helped form a team of staff who have transformed the quality of education in the school since the previous inspection. The governing body is now extremely well informed about the school's work and provides good support and challenge to leaders.

Together, leaders have ensured that both teaching and pupils' progress have improved to be good across the school. Teachers are very successful in promoting pupils' positive attitudes to learning and set high expectations of their work and behaviour. Teachers make good use of the school's much-improved systems for checking pupils' progress to ensure ...that different groups have work that is challenging yet manageable.

Disadvantaged pupils make the same good progress as their classmates; a major improvement since the previous inspection. The leadership of provision for pupils who have special educational needs or disability is now a significant strength of the school. As a result, these pupils achieve well.

The school promotes pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development very effectively. Pupils behave well, enjoy school and have very positive relationships with each other and with adults. They work very well collaboratively.

They rightly feel safe and secure in the school. Children in the early years get off to a good start. They settle happily, behave well and make good progress because of good teaching.

It is not yet an outstanding school because : Not all the many improvements made have been fully consolidated, or had time to make a full impact on teaching quality and pupils' achievement. In particular, some inconsistencies in teaching remain. Aspects that are strong in most lessons are sometimes weak in others.

There are occasional weaknesses in checking pupils' progress during lessons, and in making sure work is sufficiently challenging. Inconsistencies remain in the presentation and marking of pupils' work and in aspects of some adults' subject knowledge.

Information about this school

Giffard Park is larger than the average primary school.

Children in the early years attend full-time in the two Reception classes. About 70% of pupils are White British, with the rest coming from a range of other ethnic heritages. About one in 10 pupils speaks English as an additional language.

The school has a specially resourced provision for pupils with disability and those who have special educational needs. This is in the process of phased closure. It currently caters for eight pupils with moderate learning difficulties in Years 4, 5 and 6.

Many of these pupils have complex needs. Most spend their mornings in the resource base, and join mainstream classes in the afternoons. The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs or disability is a little above average.

However, the proportion of such pupils with high levels of need is well above average. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils who are supported by the pupil premium is similar to that in most schools, at around 20%. The pupil premium is extra government funding to help the education of pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals, or children who are looked after by the local authority.

The school meets the government's current floor standards, which set minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6. The school provides a breakfast club and an after-school club for its own pupils. A privately run before- and after-school provision, which shared the site at the time of the previous inspection, has since closed.

Since the previous inspection, there have been considerable staff changes, particularly in senior positions. A new headteacher and deputy headteacher, and new leaders for early years and for the provision for pupils who have special educational needs or disability, for example, are now in post. The governing body has had many changes in personnel, including a new Chair.

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