Markland Hill Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school.

Standards in this outstanding school have improved in all areas since the previous inspection. The headteacher's work to enrich the lives of pupils and ensure that they achieve well is exemplary. Together with her outstanding senior leadership team, and dedicated staff, she has ensured that the school has gone from strength to strength over the last three years.

Governors know the school exceedingly well. They spend time talking to pupils about their learning, finding out about the quality of teaching and ensuring that excellent standards are maintained. Pupils' behaviour is of the highest possible standard.

They are wel...coming, inquisitive, passionate about their learning, and take on their responsibilities as prefects and play leaders in earnest. The school is well on the way to fully implementing its outstanding new curriculum, which is already engaging and exciting pupils and supporting their excellent progress. The school's work to develop all aspects of pupils' spiritual, moral, cultural and social development is exceptionally effective.

The quality of teaching is outstanding. Teachers and teaching assistants are well trained and dedicated to their work. They know pupils very well, ensure that learning is both interesting and exciting, and set exceptionally high standards for all pupils.

The teaching of phonics (linking letters and sounds) is outstanding, and has been so for the last three years. Aside from a dip in performance in mathematics, grammar, punctuation and spelling in 2013 in Key Stage 2, pupils' attainment in all subjects has been above average at the end of Key Stages 1 and 2 for several years. Pupils' performance is now back on track and was significantly above average in all subjects, including reading and writing, by the time they left Year 6 in 2014.

The overwhelming majority of pupils make good and often outstanding progress throughout the school. This includes disabled pupils, those with special educational needs and disadvantaged pupils. The vast majority of parents are of the opinion that their children are happy at school, and are unanimous in their view that they are safe and well looked after.

The early years is led and managed exceptionally well. The excellent work of teachers and teaching assistants coupled with rich and varied learning experiences helps to ensure that children make outstanding progress.

Information about this school

This school is larger than an average-sized primary school.

The proportion of pupils supported through school action is below average. The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is well below average. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils for whom the school receives pupil premium funding is well below the national average.

The pupil premium is additional funding for those pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and those who are looked after by the local authority. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is just above average. A below average proportion of pupils speak English as an additional language.

All early years provision is full time. The school meets the government's current floor standards which are the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress in English and mathematics. Since the previous inspection there have been a number of new appointments including the headteacher, the Chair of Governors and four teachers.

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