Jesmond Gardens Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school. The headteacher has high expectations, a strong vision and uses her excellent leadership skills to drive improvement.

She is supported well by senior leaders and a strong team of teachers. Together they have raised standards and developed the school well, including pupils' outstanding behaviour. Teaching is continuing to improve and positive actions have taken place to eradicate any underperformance.

Governors provide good support and challenge to the school. They know the school well, ensuring that standards are continuing to rise and that teaching is improving. Pupils' behaviour and their understanding of how to keep safe are outstandi...ng.

Pupils work and play together in harmony. They benefit from the school's very strong commitment to developing their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Relationships are outstanding.

Pupils have outstanding attitudes to learning because teachers motivate and engage them well. Teaching is good and some is outstanding. Lessons are well planned and ensure that pupils' needs are met fully in lessons.

Pupils have good support from skilled and effective teaching assistants who work flexibly to maximise support for pupils' learning. Pupils respond well to teachers' effective questioning and work industriously in lessons. Achievement is good and continues to improve.

Children have a good start to their time in school, due to a strong focus on their personal development and their speaking and listening skills, and they make good progress across the early years. Pupils make good and increasingly better progress across Key Stage 1, due to consistently good teaching. They make good progress across Years 3 and 4.

They make accelerated progress in Years 5 and 6 and leave the school with standards that are above average and continuing to improve. It is not yet an outstanding school because : Teaching is not yet consistently outstanding. Pupils do not always make accelerated progress in lessons.

Where outstanding practice is evident, this is not shared sufficiently with other teachers. Boys do not always reach a high enough standard in their writing. In the early years, there are insufficient opportunities for boys to write for a purpose.

Boys do not always have boy-friendly activities that meet their needs and are not always challenged to write to the highest standard.

Information about this school

The school is a larger than average-sized primary school. There is a well above average proportion of disadvantaged pupils, those supported by the pupil premium, which is additional funding for those pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and children in the care of the local authority.

The proportions of disabled pupils and those with special needs are above average. The majority of pupils are of White British heritage. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress in English and mathematics.

The early years is taught in a unit including Nursery and Reception classes with children attending both full- and part-time sessions. The school has a breakfast club managed by the governing body. The headteacher provides support to another school.