Northbourne Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.

The headteacher, ably assisted by a strong leadership team, has dealt well with the disruption to teaching caused by staff absences. He has made good decisions to ensure that pupils' learning has been affected as little as possible. This has resulted in significantly improved progress by pupils in reading, writing and mathematics in all year groups this year.

One of the key improvements has been in the quality of teaching. Rigorous monitoring has ensured that teachers have been challenged to improve their practice. This has been successful and the quality of teaching is good.

Governors have played an important role in this proce...ss, supporting leaders well. Pupils are achieving well in all year groups in reading, writing and mathematics. A particular strength is in the higher proportion of pupils working at levels above those expected for their age.

Pupils' behaviour is good. Pupils are caring and polite and show consideration for others. They are particularly keen and enthusiastic in class because : they find the teaching interesting.

Pupils say that they feel very safe and their parents agree. Pupils say that bullying is minor, describing it as more like 'big arguments', and that it is dealt with very effectively when reported. Children have a good start in the Reception classes and make good progress, particularly in their personal development.

The early years provision is well organised and planned to meet the specific needs of these young children. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is strong Pupils take seriously their responsibility in bringing about a harmonious society. They are well prepared to move on to their next school and subsequently to play their role in modern Britain.

It is not yet an outstanding school because : Teaching is not yet consistently outstanding. Teachers sometimes miss opportunities to adapt their lessons in response to how well pupils are learning so that they can make faster progress. Teachers' marking does not often enough indicate to pupils how they can improve their work.

Even though they make good progress, children sometimes do not have enough opportunities to practise their newly acquired skills in reading, writing and number in the early years.

Information about this school

Northbourne Church of England Primary School is larger than the average primary school. There are 11 classes, two for Reception and three for Years 1 and 2, three for Years 3 and 4 and three for Years 5 and 6.

Almost all children in the early years attend full time though a few who are not yet of statutory school age still attend part time. The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium, additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and children who are looked after, is a little below average. There are currently no children looked after by the local authority in the school.

Almost nine out of 10 pupils are from White British backgrounds. The remainder are from a wide variety of minority ethnic groups. About half of these pupils speaks English as an additional language.

The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is above average. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress. The school runs a breakfast club.

Pupils from Northbourne attend an after-school club at a local school, which is managed by that school. Long-term staff absences have been much higher than usual over the last two years and there are still three of the 11 classes taken by temporary teachers. The school has a pre-school on site, but this is managed independently and is inspected separately.

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