Grand Avenue Primary and Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Main findings

Grand Avenue is a good and improving school. It has a number of outstanding features.

The new buildings already in place have enabled pupils to benefit from a stimulating and well-equipped environment. School leaders have minimised any negative impact of the ongoing building programme on pupils' learning and progress, using it as an opportunity to develop their awareness of potential hazards. The school's arrangements for safeguarding pupils are outstanding.

Pupils feel very safe in school, and have an excellent understanding of what constitute unsafe situations. Their behaviour around the school and in lessons is outstanding, and makes a significant contribution to their learning. Those pupi...ls whose additional needs can result in them exhibiting challenging behaviour receive highly expert and well-targeted support, which enables them to be fully included in school life and to achieve as well as their peers.

Pupils from different backgrounds and with different abilities settle quickly into school, get on extremely well together, and enjoy learning about and celebrating the different cultures to which they belong. The care and respect pupils of all ages show for one another and for their new school buildings, together with older pupils' excellent understanding of, for example, environmental issues facing the world, demonstrate their outstanding moral development. These factors reflect the extremely high standards of care that the school provides for all its pupils.

Pupils make a good start to their learning, and develop their social and independence skills well in the Nursery and Reception classes. By the time they leave the school, their attainment in English and mathematics is above the national average, representing good achievement for all groups of pupils, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders have worked to improve the quality of teaching so that it is now consistently good.

They know that the next step is to make sure that more of it is outstanding. Teachers are knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the subjects they teach, and give students plenty of opportunities for independent learning. The school provides a broad and balanced curriculum, which prepares pupils well for the next phase of their education.

Leaders and managers at all levels carefully monitor pupils' progress, and intervene effectively if they identify any instances of potential underachievement. They have developed an excellent range of formal and informal means of communicating with and consulting parents and carers, including those who are learning English as an additional language. Highly effective partnerships with outside agencies have made an extremely positive impact on pupils' well-being.

Leaders promote community cohesion effectively, especially within the school itself. However, pupils have few opportunities to learn from direct links with communities in other parts of the United Kingdom and elsewhere in the world. The governing body brings a good range of expertise to the school, and is prepared to challenge as well as to support school leaders.

Together, governors have accurately evaluated the quality of the school's performance, and have successfully addressed the areas for improvement and built upon the strengths identified by its last inspection. This demonstrates the school's good capacity for further, sustained improvement.

Information about the school

Grand Avenue is much larger than the average primary school, and there has been a significant rise in the number of pupils on roll in recent years.

The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is well above the national average. The largest groups represented in the school are White British, and Asian or Asian British - any other Asian background. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is much higher than that found nationally.

The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, including those who have a statement of special educational needs, is below the national average. These pupils have a wide range of additional needs, some of which are complex. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is well below average.

The school completed its move into new premises in September 2009. Additional new buildings, intended to accommodate the planned further rise in the school roll, are currently under construction. The current Chair of the Governing Body was elected to the position in September 2010.

The school hosts breakfast and after-school clubs, both run by an outside organisation, which run during term-time only. These facilities are subject to separate inspection arrangements. In recent years, the school has gained Green Flag bronze, Sustainable Travel and Eco-schools silver awards.