St Mary Abbots CofE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.

Senior leaders and governors have raised expectations for pupils' achievement and for the quality of teaching at the school. They have established robust systems for monitoring teaching and holding staff to account. The teaching of letters and sounds (phonics), spelling, punctuation and grammar, and mathematics has improved since 2013.

Pupils' scores in the Year 1 phonic check and Year 6 tests in mathematics, spelling, punctuation and grammar improved considerably in 2014. Progress across Key Stage 2 has improved. In 2014, Year 6 pupils left having made rapid progress across this key stage for the first time.

There is a strong s...ense of community in the school, for pupils and parents. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is extremely well promoted. Pupils conduct themselves with courtesy and respect.

They play and work well together. Pupils leave at the end of Year 2 and Year 6 with high attainment in reading, writing and mathematics. Children in Reception are well supported in their learning and development.

Here and elsewhere in the school, the school's arrangements for keeping children safe and secure are good. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. Many comment effusively about the school's 'warm, nurturing environment' and its beneficial impact on their children's personal development.

Leaders work exceptionally well with parents and attendance has risen to high levels. Senior leaders are very well regarded by the local authority, who views the school now as one in need of little support, and which is able to share its expertise with other schools. In 2013, the school received effective support from the diocese and local authority to improve the quality of teaching and to strengthen assessment systems.

It is not yet an outstanding school because : The checks made on pupils' learning by adults in lessons do not yet ensure that the work given to pupils is consistently at the right level. A small number of the least or most able pupils are not moved on in their learning at the right time. Pupils do not regularly act on teachers' written comments to improve their work.

Leaders do not consider as closely as possible the progress of groups of pupils, including those with special educational needs. Achievement of pupils is not yet outstanding.

Information about this school

St Mary Abbots Church of England Primary School is smaller than the average-sized primary school.

The school is located in the grounds of St Mary Abbots Church in the heart of Kensington. Just over half of the pupils who attend the school are from White British backgrounds. The rest come from a range of other ethnic backgrounds.

Pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds make up a larger than average proportion of pupils at the school. The same can be said for the increasing proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language. The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is roughly a third of that found nationally.

The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives pupil premium funding, additional government funding for disadvantaged pupils, is below average and is less than half that found nationally. In 2014, the school met the government's floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress. There is full-time early years provision in the school with one Reception class.

In the last year there has been a restructuring of the leadership team with the previous deputy headteacher stepping down to focus on her role as special educational needs coordinator. The headteacher, along with an acting deputy headteacher and the Key Stage 2 leader, form the senior leadership team. The Chair of the Governing Body is currently on a sabbatical.