Shortlanesend School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.

From their varied starting points, pupils across the school make good and increasingly, for a notable proportion of pupils, outstanding rates of progress. Attainment has improved and is now broadly average in all subjects. Teaching across the school is consistently good and some is outstanding.

Pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, and those receiving support through the pupil premium grant, make at least as good progress as their peers, because teachers are adept at meeting their precise needs. Over time, outstanding leadership by the headteacher, senior staff and governing body has created a powerful sense of ambition..., shared by staff, to do the best for each pupil. Behaviour in lessons and around the school is outstanding.

Pupils get on well together, co-operate with each other and have excellent relationships with staff. The curriculum and extra-curricular activities provide the pupils with rich spiritual, moral, social and cultural opportunities. Parents and carers are overwhelmingly supportive of the school and say it has improved dramatically in recent years.

There are good systems in place for checking the quality of teaching and pupils' learning. These have helped ensure that pupils' progress has improved. It is not yet an outstanding school because : Attainment in writing is not high enough because pupils have too few opportunities to write independently.

In addition, they do not always use their knowledge of phonics (letters and sounds) to help them when spelling unfamiliar words. Pupils' work is not always presented neatly enough, which detracts from the good content. Teachers do not give pupils time to respond to marking in order to improve their work.

Information about this school

The school is a much smaller than average primary school which has three mixed-year group classes and one Reception class. It is led by an executive headteacher, who is also responsible for another small primary school a few miles away. All the pupils are of white British heritage.

The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is below the national average. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium (which is the funding provided by the government to support pupils eligible for free school meals, pupils whose parents are in the armed services or those in the care of the local authority) is below average. The proportion of pupils who are supported at school action is similar to the national average, while the proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is significantly higher than the national average.

There is an on-site 'Earlybird' club, managed by the governing body, which cares for pupils before school. The school has gained the Intermediate International Schools Award and the Eco School Award since the time of the last inspection. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress.