Kielder Primary School and Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school The headteacher leads the school with compassion, skill and a keen moral purpose. She leads by example and demands the very best for pupils at the school.

She is constantly seeking to improve the school. The school offers a varied and interesting curriculum. It is expertly and imaginatively taught by staff who are constantly seeking to improve.

The school's work to promote pupils' personal development and welfare is outstanding. Pupils feel safe, and are safe. They are very well cared for by highly trained and effective staff.

Governors are very skilled and know the school and the community it serves very well. They are v...ery effective in supporting and holding the headteacher to account. Disadvantaged pupils make similar, and often better, progress than their peers.

This is because staff know their needs very well and remove barriers to success wherever they can. The school offers a wide range of extra-curricular activities that help pupils understand more about themselves and their place in modern Britain and the wider world. Pupils are keenly aware of the needs of others.

They are very well behaved. They love school and relish learning. Attendance is above the national average.

The headteacher and the governors have a detailed knowledge of the school's strengths and next steps and evaluate its performance accurately. The school is well prepared for its move to primary school status. Reading is a strength of the school.

Pupils speak enthusiastically about the part that reading has in their learning. They enjoy books and have many opportunities to read at school and at home. Parents are very supportive of the school.

They appreciate the care and the range of opportunities that the school offers their children. The proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is much higher than the national average. Because of outstanding leadership and teaching, these pupils make very strong progress from their starting points.

Children in early years get off to a flying start because of strong leadership and carefully focused and challenging teaching. The school is very well supported by the local authority.

Information about this school

Kielder Community First school is much smaller than the average-sized first school.

As a result, there are very few pupils in each year group. There is a class comprising Nursery, Reception and Year 1 in two adjoining rooms and a class consisting of Years 2, 3 and 4. Most pupils are White British.

The proportion of disadvantaged pupils eligible for support through the pupil premium is well below the national average. The proportion of pupils with SEND is well above the national average. The school will become a primary school from September 2019, providing education for pupils up to the age of 11.

The school runs a breakfast and after-school club. The school provides up to eight nursery places in flexible morning, afternoon and all-day provision. The school also provides provision for two-year-olds.