Stanton Under Bardon Community Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school. Children get a good start to school life in the early years class. Exciting activites help them develop skills and make good progress.

Throughout the school, pupils achieve well in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils currently in Year 6 are working at above expected standards. Teachers make sure lessons are lively and interesting.

Their good subject knowledge enables teachers to ask probing questions which move pupils forward rapidly in their learning. Pupils behave well in and around school. Pupils of all ages get on well together and older pupils look out for younger ones.

Pupils are enthusiastic and keen to talk about th...eir lessons. Pupils are completely safe when they are in school because of the good care adults take of them. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe in different situations, such as when using the internet and on the roads.

The school is well led by the headteacher. She knows all the pupils and rigorously checks that none are falling behind. Leaders make sure that the quality of teaching is good and that all groups of pupils make rapid progress.

The progress of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is particularly good. Their needs are accurately identified and the effective support they receive helps them thrive and match the progress made by their classmates. Governors are very supportive and have high aspirations for the school.

They ask the headteacher challenging questions to make sure she is improving the school. It is not yet an outstanding school because : Although leaders have refined the way that literacy and mathematics are taught, these changes are not yet fully embedded in all classes. This means that pupils do not make the really rapid progress that some are capable of achieving.

While some support staff ask pupils questions which extend and deepen their learning, not all support staff have such good questioning skills. Governors' systems for checking how well the school is doing are not systematic enough. They do not allow them to report their findings as clearly as they need to.

Information about this school

The school is much smaller than the average-sized primary school. Until September 2014, the school took pupils up to the end of Year 5. Currently, pupils stay until the end of Year 6; July 2015 will be the first instance of pupils leaving the school at the end of Key Stage 2.

Children in the early years attend full-time in the Reception class at the beginning of the year in which they are five. Most pupils are White British. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is lower than in most schools and no pupils speak English as an additional language.

The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is above average. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium, which is additional government funding for pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals or who are looked after by the local authority, is below average. The headteacher takes responsibility for leading the teaching of literacy and the learning of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs.

The school works closely with other schools in the Symphony Primary Partnership. This is a group of 13 Leicestershire school whose staff share expertise and check that each other's assessments are accurate. The school also works with the Enrich partnership, which is a group of local schools who provide additional learning and sporting opportunities for pupils.