Old Stratford Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school Staff and governors have benefited from the clear direction provided by the current executive headteacher and the head of school. They have also brought stability after a period of turbulence.

The curriculum covers a wide variety of subjects and prepares children well for life in modern Britain. Teaching and learning throughout the school are now good. Pupils said that their teachers make learning fun and that lessons are exciting.

Leaders have created a caring and nurturing learning environment based on mutual respect and positive relationships. Pupils' personal development, behaviour and welfare are good as a result of this. Safeguardin...g is effective.

Leaders and governors make sure systems are in place. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe. The vast majority of parents engage well with the school and feel home-school communication is effective.

Provision in the early years is now good. Children typically make good progress from their starting points because of the exciting curriculum and activities provided. Engagement in lessons is usually high.

Some pupils, however, are not sufficiently challenged throughout the lesson. As a result, they lose focus and learning time is lost. This is particularly true for middle-ability pupils.

Teachers are not consistent in dealing with pupils' errors and misconceptions in spelling, punctuation and grammar. This slows the progress in writing for some pupils. Middle leaders, including in the early years, have helped to improve teaching and learning.

They do not pay enough attention, however, to the progress made by groups of pupils. This makes it difficult to set targets for improvement effectively. The impact of the work of middle leaders is not precisely measured and therefore does not contribute enough to the school's development.

Information about this school

The school has had several changes in leadership over the past four years. The current executive headteacher has been in post since September 2016 and the current head of school has been in post since June 2017. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is well below the national average.

The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is well below the national average. The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school Most pupils are from White British backgrounds. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which set out the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics.