Lady Joanna Thornhill Endowed Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school. The headteacher's drive and high ambition for the pupils are shared fully by the very effective governing body and the highly committed leadership team.

As a result, the school has maintained the high quality of all aspects of its work since the previous inspection. Outstanding teaching inspires and motivates pupils to work hard in all subjects. As a result, pupils have a passion for learning and take great pride in their achievements.

The determination of the staff team to meet all pupils' needs ensures rapid progress throughout the school. Pupils are exceptionally well prepared for their move to secondary school, attaining high... standards in reading, writing and mathematics. Children make an excellent start to their education in the early years.

The rich and varied experiences enable them to develop an early love of learning. Pupils feel very safe at school and standards of behaviour in all lessons, in the dining hall and on the playground are exemplary. Attendance is high.

Pupils who have special educational needs make excellent progress from their individual starting points. They work with confidence and independence because they are given high quality support. The rich curriculum promotes pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development extremely well.

The governing body is highly effective in both supporting and challenging leaders to keep up the school's high level of performance. Parents speak highly of the school and agree that it is well led and managed. The vast majority who responded to the Parent View questionnaire would recommend the school to others.

Information about this school

The school is much larger than an average-sized primary school. Most pupils are from White British backgrounds and speak English as their first language. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium funding is well below the national average.

There were very few of these pupils in Year 6 in 2014. The pupil premium is additional government funding to support pupils, in this school, known to be eligible for free school meals and those children who are looked after by the local authority. The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is below the national average.

Children receive full-time education in the early years which is made up of two Reception classes. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6. The school has National Support School status and is one of the lead schools initiating the local Teaching School – the Ashford Teaching Alliance.

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