Penn Wood Primary and Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.

Pupils achieve well throughout the school, given their very low starting points, and make good progress as a result of effective and stimulating teaching. The progress made by pupils is continuing to accelerate as strategies to improve attainment become more embedded. Pupils' good behaviour in and around the school creates a very harmonious community.

Pupils say that they feel safe in school and know how to stay safe. The school makes very effective provision for those who speak English as an additional language, especially through encouraging pupils to talk through their work with adults and develop their vocabulary enabling them to tak...e a full part in all lessons. Teachers' marking is very thorough and gives pupils clear guidance on how to improve their work.

The school has improved significantly since the previous inspection because of the extremely effective leadership and management of the headteacher, senior leaders and governors and their determination to raise the achievement of pupils. The school has a very accurate view of its strengths and weaknesses and uses this information particularly well to determine priorities in the school improvement plan Middle leaders are making a very strong contribution to improving the quality of teaching and supporting those teachers new to the school. It is not yet an outstanding school because : Pupils' attainment is no more than average overall and too few of the most able pupils attain the higher levels in national assessments, particularly in reading.

Effective strategies to raise attainment are not applied consistently across the school. The most able pupils are not always challenged sufficiently.

Information about this school

This school is much larger than most other primary schools.

Very few pupils are White British. The majority come from the Indian sub-continent, with the largest group being those of Pakistani origin. There are increasing numbers of pupils from other European countries.

The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is well above average. The number of pupils who either leave or join the school other than at the normal time is well above average. The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs supported through school action is above average.

The proportion who are supported at school action plus or who have statements of special educational needs is also above average. The most significant areas of need include speech and communication difficulties and behavioural, emotional and social difficulties. A few pupils have physical disabilities.

An above-average percentage of pupils are eligible for the pupil premium (funding to support children in local authority care, children of service families and those known to be eligible for free school meals). The school meets the government's current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress in English and mathematics. The school shares a site with a children's centre, which is subject to a separate inspection.

The school has been awarded Thinking School status by the University of Exeter, has a United Nations Children's Fund Rights Respecting Schools award. It has been recognised as a centre of excellence for an initiative developing systems that improve pupils' written work by focussing closely on talking in great detail as preparation for writing tasks. Seven newly-qualified teachers have been appointed since September 2013.